Let's check in on the US Treasury yield curve and year to date performance of selected Vanguard funds

The UST yield curve aggregate closed up a net 0.68% week over week on 9/15, to an average of 5.006923, the first Friday close this cycle in the 5s.

 

As expected, fixed income isn't doing well in this rising-rate environment. Stocks have done surprisingly well this year, and even cash has beaten bonds.

 

YTD performance:

 

Treasury VFISX 0.68% VFITX -0.26% VUSTX -4.12%;

Investment Grade VFSTX 2.21% VFICX 1.73% VWESX 0.00%; 

Total Bond VBTLX 0.44%; Cash VMFXX 3.48%; Total Stock VTSAX 16.45%.

 

Other popular vehicles: 

 

$SPX 16.37%

$AGG -2.12%

$TLT -8.38%. 

 

Let's check in on inflation protected securities

 VIPSX, nominal return

Inception 6/29/2000 to August 31, 2023: 4.43% per annum

 

SPX, average nominal return, dividends fully reinvested

June 2000 through August 2023: 6.90% per annum (4.93% without dividend reinvestment)

 

It's been 23 years of not a bull market

 Average real return per annum from $SPX, dividends fully reinvested:

August 2000 to August 2023:  4.23%

August 1977 to August 2000: 11.35%

 

This guy is the political analog to the slip-and-fall lawyer, turning up at every opportunity to exploit it for socialism

 

Bernie Sanders calls out automaker CEOs at UAW rally: ‘It is time for you to end your greed’

Rahm Emanuel: Deceit and deception are traits that run through everything China does . . . That’s unacceptable

 

America's Warrior Diplomat, Rahm Emanuel, Takes On China's Xi Personally...

 

 Can't wait until he calls Xi Jinping a commie retard.

 

Five of the 14 accused in the Gretchen Witchmer kidnapping plot have now been acquitted

 

Corey Lewandowski-approved Kristi Noem is the perfect running mate for Donald Trump lol

She's been road-tested and everything! Plus, she never bothered to show up for a vote to fund the wall, so she's more than perfect.

What a goddamn joke these people are.

 

 PAPER: INSIDE THE MAGA AFFAIR...

MARRIED SDAKOTA GOV AND TRUMP ADVISOR IN YEARS-LONG FLING...

Bridgewater billionaire with a firm grasp of the obvious, for those without

 

Ray Dalio says to hold cash ‘temporarily’ — but don’t buy debt and bonds

DACA again declared illegal by federal judge

 

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday ruled -- again -- that the federal government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is illegal, but he refrained from taking action to remove protections for the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants shielded under DACA.

The program, which began in 2012 under the Obama administration, currently covers around 600,000 young adults, commonly referred to as "Dreamers," who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children.

More.

TSA: Taking Stuff Actually

 Miami TSA officers seen stealing from passengers in released footage...

Midwest expert: Whatever

 

Ivy League expert shares the No. 1 common phrase to never use: It really means ‘I don’t care’

European Central Bank hikes main interest rate to 4% with core inflation running at 5.3%

 Story.

Yeah, that'll work.

Oil market reports suggesting tighter supply and higher prices through the rest of the year and beyond have fueled inflation fears; 

Mitt Romney's takers still in the news

 

47% of Americans say achieving retirement security will take a miracle. Why inflation is to blame

The inflation adjusted average price of ground beef in the United States

 In January 1984, ground beef was $1.29/pound.

Adjusted for inflation to August 2023, it should be $3.89/pound, according to the inflation calculator at bls.gov.

Ground beef is actually $5.08/pound, 30.5% higher.

 

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, 76, will not run for re-election

 No word on whether he plans to join antifa in retirement.

Story.

Overall inflation reversed course and ticked higher in August 2023 on a monthly jump in overall energy prices

 Overall inflation jumped up to 3.7% year-over-year and 0.6% month-over-month on a 5.6% jump in overall energy inflation month-over-month in August 2023.

Month-over-month, electricity was up 0.2%, gasoline was up 10.6%, piped utility gas was up 0.6%, fuel oil and other fuels were up 8.4%. Meanwhile food was up 0.2%.

Core inflation (overall inflation less food and energy) increased mom 0.3% and is still running 4.4% yoy.

Services inflation is still running high at 5.4% yoy, less rent of shelter at 3.1% yoy.

Shelter inflation rose mom 0.3% in both measures, and 7.2% yoy seasonally adjusted.

Going forward I expect inflation pressures to persist because of Biden administration green energy fantasies and hatred of fossil fuels combining with OPEC+ production cuts continuing indefinitely. 

The purchasing power of the US Dollar fell again in August 2023, down 0.3%, now down 15.1% since December 2020

 

The inflation adjusted average price of white potatoes in the United States

 In March 1986, potatoes were $0.21/pound.

Adjusted for inflation to August 2023, they should be $0.59/pound, according to the inflation calculator at bls.gov.

They are actually $1.09, 85% higher.

 

Housing affordability drops for a third straight year, now the most unaffordable on record in 2022, surpassing the 2021 record

 

Real median household income has contracted for a third year in a row in 2022