The End of Artificial Employment

'Soft' Data Soars To 2-Year Highs As Chicago PMI Smashes Expectations Market News International's Chicago Business Barometer smashed expectations this morning, print 57.7 - the highest since May 2022 - and above the highest analysts' expectation. This is the second straight month above 50 (signaling expansion) with new orders and employment surging (but prices also rising)... Prices paid rose at a faster pace; signaling expansion New orders rose at a faster pace; signaling expansion Employment rose and the direction reversed; signaling expansion Inventories fell and the direction reversed; signaling contraction Supplier deliveries rose at a faster...

Huge Parallel Pro-Iran Demonstrations Take Over Sanaa & Tehran  Parallel protests were held in Tehran and Sanaa on Friday - both involving Shia populations expressing defiance at the US-Saudi-Israel axis, at a moment the region is on fire and Iran and its proxies seek to assert dominance and control over global energy transit chokepoints. All the while American bases and forces are largely in retreat, as even Pentagon internal findings confirmed just this week. Supporters of Yemen's Houthis were seen sporting rifles and raising them into the air during a rally...

Downtown Baltimore CRE Crash Signals Deeper Fiscal Crisis Ahead A localized commercial real estate crash has been spreading through downtown Baltimore City's office market like cancer, with more than $1 billion in property value erased since 2020. The rapid decline of the commercial tax base in the downtown area is colliding with deep structural crises, including violent crime, a continued population collapse (now at a 100-year low), fiscal mess, and the increasing risk that the unhinged left-wing politicians in City Hall will hike taxes on working poor households to offset...