#stock market predictions 2023

[alokkhandelwal]

Astrology and Stock Market Predictions

The inventory market is a dynamic and complicated area that is stimulated with the aid of numerous factors, along with economic conditions, investor sentiment, and geopolitical activities. However, there may be another intriguing angle to not forget while reading market trends and making predictions: astrology. In this blog, we can delve into the captivating realm of financial astrology and discover how planetary influences can provide insights into inventory marketplace predictions. Understanding the relationship between astrology and the inventory market can offer a unique facet for traders seeking to make informed decisions.

Know more about Astrology and Stock Market Predictions. Get an online astrology consultation by the world-renowned astrologer Mr. Alok Khandelwal.

The Role of Planetary Energies

Astrology views celestial bodies as active forces that influence diverse components of human existence, together with monetary markets. Each planet incorporates awesome characteristics and vibrations that could affect the collective consciousness and market dynamics. For example, the expansive and constrictive power of Jupiter may additionally make contributions to periods of increase and prosperity, at the same time as the restrictive and cautious nature of Saturn can usher in durations of financial contraction and warning.

Planetary Transits and Stock Market Trends

Astrologers regularly examine the planetary transits, which represent the motion of planets in terms of one another and particular factors inside the zodiac. These transits can indicate capability shifts and trends within the inventory market. For example, while Mars aligns with Jupiter, it can characterize a length of increased market activity and fantastic investor sentiment. Conversely, while Saturn forms difficult elements with Mercury, it could propose a time of marketplace volatility and caution.

Sun Signs and Investor Behavior

The zodiac signs below which people are born also can affect their behavior as investors. For instance, fiery symptoms like Aries and Leo may additionally exhibit boldness and risk-taking dispositions, while sensible signs like Taurus and Capricorn may lean towards greater cautious and conservative investment methods. By understanding their own Sun signal and the way it aligns with the winning marketplace situations, buyers can benefit from insights into their herbal dispositions and regulate their techniques for that reason.

Read Also:- Astrological Rituals and Remedies for Prosperity during Shravan Maas

Eclipses and Turning Points

Eclipses, both solar and lunar, have long been deemed full-size celestial events in astrology. They are believed to mark turning factors and trigger changes in numerous elements of lifestyles, such as the stock marketplace. A solar eclipse, for instance, occurring near key market indicators, can sign a shift in trends or sentiments. Investors who take note of eclipses and their alignments with market indices can also discover valuable clues to make strategic funding decisions.

Retrograde Planets and Market Corrections

Retrograde periods, when planets appear like transferring backwards from our vantage point on Earth, are recognised for causing disruptions and introspection. Retrograde planets inside the delivery chart of rustic or considerable marketplace events can indicate periods of marketplace corrections or changes. Mercury retrograde, especially, is closely watched as it’s far associated with communication and era, regularly leading to short-time period marketplace fluctuations and elevated buying and selling volatility.

Astrological Tools and Techniques

Astrologers appoint various tools and techniques to investigate and predict inventory marketplace trends. These encompass growing and reading delivery charts for international locations or stock exchanges, analyzing planetary components and styles, and utilizing astrological software to tune and interpret celestial movements. By combining economic know-how with astrological insights, experts can provide nuanced predictions and assist buyers in making knowledgeable choices.

While astrology may not offer foolproof stock marketplace predictions, it offers a unique attitude that may complement traditional economic analysis. Understanding planetary effects, reading transits, and thinking about investor behavior primarily based on astrological elements can contribute to an extra holistic knowledge of marketplace trends. Incorporating astrology into investment strategies allows for a comprehensive approach that considers each tangible and intangible effect.

As with any funding choice, it’s vital to discuss with economic specialists and use astrology as a supplementary device for gaining insights into the dynamic world of the stock market. By exploring the captivating connections between astrology and the inventory marketplace, investors can benefit from valuable perspectives and probably enhance their choice-making procedure in pursuit of monetary fulfillment.

Read Also:- Astrological Insights for Motivation and Consistency within the Gym

[alokastrology1]

Astrology and Stock Market Predictions

The inventory market is a dynamic and complicated area that is stimulated with the aid of numerous factors, along with economic conditions, investor sentiment, and geopolitical activities. However, there may be another intriguing angle to not forget while reading market trends and making predictions: astrology. In this blog, we can delve into the captivating realm of financial astrology and discover how planetary influences can provide insights into inventory marketplace predictions. Understanding the relationship between astrology and the inventory market can offer a unique facet for traders seeking to make informed decisions.

Know more about Astrology and Stock Market Predictions. Get an online astrology consultation by the world-renowned astrologer Mr. Alok Khandelwal.

The Role of Planetary Energies

Astrology views celestial bodies as active forces that influence diverse components of human existence, together with monetary markets. Each planet incorporates awesome characteristics and vibrations that could affect the collective consciousness and market dynamics. For example, the expansive and constrictive power of Jupiter may additionally make contributions to periods of increase and prosperity, at the same time as the restrictive and cautious nature of Saturn can usher in durations of financial contraction and warning.

Planetary Transits and Stock Market Trends

Astrologers regularly examine the planetary transits, which represent the motion of planets in terms of one another and particular factors inside the zodiac. These transits can indicate capability shifts and trends within the inventory market. For example, while Mars aligns with Jupiter, it can characterize a length of increased market activity and fantastic investor sentiment. Conversely, while Saturn forms difficult elements with Mercury, it could propose a time of marketplace volatility and caution.

Sun Signs and Investor Behavior

The zodiac signs below which people are born also can affect their behavior as investors. For instance, fiery symptoms like Aries and Leo may additionally exhibit boldness and risk-taking dispositions, while sensible signs like Taurus and Capricorn may lean towards greater cautious and conservative investment methods. By understanding their own Sun signal and the way it aligns with the winning marketplace situations, buyers can benefit from insights into their herbal dispositions and regulate their techniques for that reason.

Read Also:- Astrological Rituals and Remedies for Prosperity during Shravan Maas

Eclipses and Turning Points

Eclipses, both solar and lunar, have long been deemed full-size celestial events in astrology. They are believed to mark turning factors and trigger changes in numerous elements of lifestyles, such as the stock marketplace. A solar eclipse, for instance, occurring near key market indicators, can sign a shift in trends or sentiments. Investors who take note of eclipses and their alignments with market indices can also discover valuable clues to make strategic funding decisions.

Retrograde Planets and Market Corrections

Retrograde periods, when planets appear like transferring backwards from our vantage point on Earth, are recognised for causing disruptions and introspection. Retrograde planets inside the delivery chart of rustic or considerable marketplace events can indicate periods of marketplace corrections or changes. Mercury retrograde, especially, is closely watched as it’s far associated with communication and era, regularly leading to short-time period marketplace fluctuations and elevated buying and selling volatility.

Astrological Tools and Techniques

Astrologers appoint various tools and techniques to investigate and predict inventory marketplace trends. These encompass growing and reading delivery charts for international locations or stock exchanges, analyzing planetary components and styles, and utilizing astrological software to tune and interpret celestial movements. By combining economic know-how with astrological insights, experts can provide nuanced predictions and assist buyers in making knowledgeable choices.

While astrology may not offer foolproof stock marketplace predictions, it offers a unique attitude that may complement traditional economic analysis. Understanding planetary effects, reading transits, and thinking about investor behavior primarily based on astrological elements can contribute to an extra holistic knowledge of marketplace trends. Incorporating astrology into investment strategies allows for a comprehensive approach that considers each tangible and intangible effect.

As with any funding choice, it’s vital to discuss with economic specialists and use astrology as a supplementary device for gaining insights into the dynamic world of the stock market. By exploring the captivating connections between astrology and the inventory marketplace, investors can benefit from valuable perspectives and probably enhance their choice-making procedure in pursuit of monetary fulfillment.

Read Also:- Astrological Insights for Motivation and Consistency within the Gym

[moneymol]

DWAC Stock Price Prediction 2023, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050

The stock market is always an unpredictable roller coaster of highs and lows, and predicting the stock price of a company can be an even more daunting task. As technology advances, digital companies are becoming more prominent in the stock market and investors need to be aware of trends and forecasts in order to make informed decisions. For this reason, many are asking: what will be the stock price of DWAC (Digital World Acquisition Corp.) in 2023, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050? In this blog post, we will explore the current stock trends of DWAC, analyze past predictions, and present our own forecasts for DWAC’s stock price in the years ahead. We’ll look at the company’s past performance and current strategies to provide a comprehensive overview of the stock's future outlook. By the end of this blog post, readers should have a better understanding of the future of the company and its stock price, allowing them to make better informed decisions. Read more

[toddschoenberger]

Navigating the Market's Seasonal Waves: Insights from Jeffrey Hirsch on the Fourth Quarter, Santa Claus Rally and 2024 Outlook

In this compelling episode of Buy Hold Sell, we welcome esteemed guest Jeffrey Hirsch, the editor-in-chief of the renowned Stock Trader’s Almanac. Join us as Jeffrey delves into the fascinating world of market behavior during the holiday season and the all-important Santa Claus rally. Discover why the last five days of the year hold a special significance for investors, and gain exclusive…

[moneyhustlers]

3 Exciting US Stock Market Predictions for the Second Half of 2023: Insights for Investors

US Stock Market Predictions for the Second Half of 2023 Navigating the Future: Expert Insights Unveil 3 Key US Stock Market Predictions for the Second Half of 2023 In this post, we have gathered information from Nasdaq’s website and other reliable financial source. in this article We will discuss, 3 Exciting US Stock Market Predictions for the Second Half of 2023, We have condensed this…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Social Security is class war, not intergenerational conflict

Today, Tor.com published my latest short story, "The Canadian Miracle," set in the world of my forthcoming (Nov 14) novel, The Lost Cause. I am serializing this one on my podcast! Here's part one.

The very instant the Social Security Act was passed in 1935, American conservatives (in both parties) began lobbying to destroy it. After all, a reserve army of forelock-tugging plebs and family retainers won't voluntarily assemble themselves – they need to be goaded into it by the threat of slowly starving to death in their dotage.

They're at it again (again). The oligarch-thinktank industrial complex has unleashed a torrent of scare stories about Social Security's imminent insolvency, rehearsing the same shopworn doom predictions that they've been repeating since the Nixonite billionaire cabinet member Peter G Peterson created a "foundation" to peddle his disinformation in 2008:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.O.U.S.A.

Peterson's go-to tactic is convincing young people that all the Social Security money they're paying into the system will be gobbled up by already-wealthy old people, leaving nothing behind for them. Conservatives have been peddling this ditty since the 1930s, and they're still at it – in the pages of the New York Times, no less:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/opinion/social-security-medicare-aging.html

The Times has become a veritable mouthpiece for this nonsense, publishing misleading and nonsensical charts and data to support the idea that millennials are losing a generational war to boomers, who will leave the cupboard bare:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/opinion/aging-medicare-social-security.html

As Robert Kuttner writes for The American Prospect, this latest rhetorical assault on Social Security is timed to coincide with the ascension of the GOP House's new Speaker, Mike Johnson, who makes no secret of his intention to destroy Social Security:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-10-31-debunking-latest-attack-social-security/

The GOP says it wants to destroy Social Security for two reasons: first, to promote "choice" by letting us provide for our own retirement by flushing even more of our savings into the rigged casino that is the stock market; and second, because America doesn't have enough dollars to feed and house the elderly.

But for the New York Times' audience, they've figured out how to launder this far-right nonsense through the language of social justice. Rather than condemning the impecunious olds for their moral failing to lay the correct bets in the stock market, Social Security's opponents paint the elderly as a gerontocratic elite, flush with cash that rightfully belongs to the young.

To support this conclusion, they throw around statistics about how house-rich the Boomers are, and how much consumption they can afford. But as Kuttner points out, the Boomers' real-estate wealth comes not from aggressive house-flipping, but from merely owning a place to live. America's housing bubble means that younger people can't afford this basic human necessity, but the answer to that isn't making old people homeless – it's providing a lot more housing, and banning housing speculation:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/06/the-rents-too-damned-high/

It's true that older people are doing a lot of consumption spending – but the bulk of that spending isn't on cruises to Alaska to see the melting glaciers, it's on health care. Old people aren't luxuriating in their joint replacements and coronary bypasses. Calling this "consumption" is deliberately misleading.

But as Kuttner points out, there's another, more important point to be made about inequality in America – the most significant wealth gap in America is between workers and owners, not young people and old people. The "average" Boomer's net worth factors in the wealth of Warren Buffett and Donald Trump. Older renters are more rent-burdened and precarious than younger renters, and most older Americans have little to no retirement savings:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2023/10/28/the-new-york-times-greedy-geezer-myth/

Less than one percent of Social Security benefits go to millionaires – that's because the one percent constitute one percent of the population. It's right there in the name. The one percent are politically and economically important, but that's because they are low in numbers. Giving Social Security benefits to everyone over 65 will not result in a significant outlay to the ultra-wealthy, because there aren't many ultra-wealthy people in America. The problem of inequality isn't the expanding pool of rich people, it's the explosion of wealth for a contracting pool of rich people.

If conservatives were serious about limiting the grip of these "undeserving" Social Security recipients on our economy and its politics, they'd advocate for interitance taxes (which effectively don't exist in America), not the abolition of Social Security. The problem of wealth in America is that it is establishing permanent dynasties which are incompatible with social mobility. In other words, we have created a new hereditary aristocracy – and its corollary, a new hereditary peasantry:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/19/dynastic-wealth/#caste

Hereditary aristocracies are poisonous for lots of reasons, but one of the most pressing problems they present is political destabilization. American belief in democracy, the rule of law, and a national identity is q function of Americans' perception of fairness. If you think that your kids can't ever have a better life than you, if you think that the cops will lock you up for a crime for which a rich person would escape justice, then why obey the law? Why vote? Why not cheat and steal? Why not burn it all down?

The wealthy put a lot of energy into distracting us from this question. Just lately, they've cooked up a gigantic panic over a nonexistent wave of retail theft:

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/10/31/the-retail-theft-surge-that-isnt-report-says-crime-is-being-exaggerated-to-cover-up-other-retail-issues/

Meanwhile, the very real, non-imaginary, accelerating, multi-billion-dollar plague of wage theft is conspicuously missing from the public discourse, despite a total that dwarfs all retail theft in America by an order of magnitude:

https://fair.org/home/wage-theft-is-built-into-the-business-models-of-many-industries/

America does have a property crime crisis, but it's a crisis of wage-theft, not shoplifting. Likewise, America does have a retirement crisis: it's a crisis of inequality, not intergenerational conflict.

Social Security has been under sustained assault since its inception, and that's in large part due to a massive blunder on the part of FDR. Roosevelt believed that people would be more protective of Social Security if they thought it was funded by their taxes: "we bought it, it's ours." But – as FDR well knew – that's not how government spending works.

The US government can't run out of US dollars. The US government doesn't get its dollars for spending from your taxes. The US government spends money into existence and taxes it out of existence:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/14/situation-normal/#mmt

A moment's thought will reveal that it has to be this way. The US government (and its fiscal agents, chartered banks) are the only source of dollars. How can the US tax dollars away from earners unless it has first spent those dollars into the economy?

The point of taxation isn't to fund programs, it's to reduce the private sector's spending power so that there are things for sale to the public sector. If we only spent money into the economy but didn't take any out of the economy, the private sector would have so many dollars to spend that any time the government tried to buy something, there'd be a bidding war that would result in massive price spikes.

When a government runs a "balanced budget," that means that it has taxed as much out of the economy as it put into the economy at the start of the year. When a government runs a "surplus," that means it's left less money in the economy at the end of the year than there was at the beginning of the year. This is fine if the economy has contracted overall, but if the economy stayed constant or grew, that means there are fewer dollars chasing more goods and services, which leads to deflation and all kinds of toxic outcomes, like borrowing more bank-created money, which makes the finance sector richer and the real economy poorer.

Of course, most governments run "deficits" – which is another way of saying that they leave more dollars in the economy at the end of the year than there was at the start of the year, or, put another way, a deficit probably means that your economy got bigger, so it needed more dollars.

None of this means that governments can spend without limit. But it does mean that governments can buy anything that's for sale in their own currency. There are a lot of goods for sale in US dollars, both goods that are produced domestically and goods from abroad (this is why it's such a big deal that most of the world's oil is priced in dollars).

Governments do have to worry about getting into bidding wars with the private sector. To do that, governments come up with ways of reducing the private sector's spending power. One way to do that is taxes – just taking money away from us at the end of the year and annihilating it. Another way is to ration goods – think of WWII, or the direct economic interventions during the covid lockdowns. A third way is to sell bonds, which is just a roundabout way of getting us to promise not to spend some of our dollars for a while, in return for a smaller number of dollars in interest payments:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/08/howard-dino/#payfors

FDR knew all of this, but he still told the American people that their taxes were funding Social Security, thinking that this would protect the program. This backfired terribly. Today, Democrats have embraced the myth that taxes fund spending and join with their Republican counterparts in insisting that all spending must be accompanied by either taxes or cuts (AKA "payfors").

These Democrats voluntarily put their own policymaking powers in chains, refusing to take any action on behalf of the American people unless they can sell a tax increase or a budget cut. They insist that we can't have nice things until we make billionaires poor – which is the same as saying that we can't have nice things, period.

There are damned good reasons to make billionaires poor. The legitimacy of the American system is incompatible with the perception that wealth and power are fixed by birth, and that the rich and powerful don't have to play by the rules.

The capture of America's institutions – legislatures, courts, regulators – by the rich and powerful is a ghastly situation, and to reverse it, we'll need all the help we can get. Every hour that Americans spend worrying about their how they'll pay their rent, their medical bills, or their student loans is an hour lost to the fight against oligarchy and corruption.

In other words, it's not true that we can't have nice things until we get rid of billionaires – rather, we can't get rid of billionaires until we have nice things.

This is the premise of my next novel, The Lost Cause, which comes out on November 14; it's set in a world where care and solidarity have unleashed millions of people on the project of maintaining the habitability of our planet amidst the polycrisis:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

It's a fundamentally hopeful book, and it's already won praise from Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben and Kim Stanley Robinson. I wrote it while thinking through and researching these issues. Conservatives want us to think that we can't do better than this, that – to quote Margaret Thatcher – "there is no alternative." Replacing that narrative is critical to the kinds of mass mobilizations that our very survival depends on.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/intergenerational-warfare/#five-pound-blocks-of-cheese

This Saturday (Nov 4), I'm keynoting the Hackaday Supercon in Pasadena, CA.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 6, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 7, 2023

The payroll processing firm ADP said today that private sector jobs jumped by 497,000 in June, far higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate predicted. The big gains were in leisure and hospitality, which added 232,000 new hires; construction with 97,000; and trade, transportation and utilities with 90,000. Annual pay rose at a rate of 6.4%. Most of the jobs came from companies with fewer than 50 employees. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a way to measure the stock market by aggregating certain stocks, dropped 372 points as the strong labor market made traders afraid that the Fed would raise interest rates again to cool the economy. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive, slowing investment. 

Today, as the Washington Post’s climate reporter Scott Dance warned that the sudden surge of broken heat records around the globe is raising alarm among scientists, Bloomberg’s Cailley LaPara reported that the incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act for emerging technologies to address climate change have long-term as well as short-term benefits. 

Dance noted that temperatures in the North Atlantic are already close to their typical annual peak although we are early in the season, sea ice levels around Antarctica are terribly low, and Monday was the Earth’s hottest day in at least 125,000 years and Tuesday was hotter. LaPara noted that while much attention has been paid to the short-term solar, EV, and wind industries in the U.S., emerging technologies for industries that can’t be electrified—technologies like sustainable aviation fuel, clean hydrogen, and direct air capture, which pulls carbon dioxide out of the air—offer huge potential to reduce emissions by 2030. 

This news was the backdrop today as President Biden was in South Carolina to talk about Bidenomics. After touting the huge investments of both public and private capital that are bringing new businesses and repaired infrastructure to that state, Biden noted that analysts have said that the new laws Democrats have passed will do more for Republican-dominated states than for Democratic ones. “Well, that’s okay with me,” Biden said, “because we’re all Americans. Because my view is: Wherever the need is most, that’s the place we should be helping. And that’s what we’re doing. Because the way I look at it, the progress we’re making is good for all Americans, all of America.”

On Air Force One on the way to the event, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates began his remarks to the press: “President Biden promised that he would be a president for all Americans, regardless of where they live and regardless of whether they voted for him or not. He also promised to rebuild the middle class. The fact that Bidenomics has now galvanized over $500 billion in job-creating private sector investment is the newest testament to how seriously he takes fulfilling those promises.”

Bates listed all the economic accomplishments of the administration and then added: “the most powerful endorsement of Bidenomics is this: Every signature economic law this President has signed, congressional Republicans who voted “no” and attacked it on Fox News then went home to their district and hailed its benefits.” He noted that “Senator Lindsey Graham called the Inflation Reduction Act ‘a nightmare for South Carolina,’” then, “[j]ust two months later, he called BMW’s electric vehicles announcement ‘one of the most consequential announcements in the history of the state of South Carolina.’” “Representative Joe Wilson blasted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law but later announced, ‘I welcome Scout Motors’ plans to invest $2 billion and create up to 4,000 jobs in South Carolina.’ Nancy Mace called Bidenomics legislation a…‘disaster,’ then welcomed a RAISE grant to Charleston.” 

“[W]hat could speak to the effectiveness of Bidenomics more than these conversions?” Bates asked.

While Biden is trying to sell Americans on an economic vision for the future, the Republican leadership is doubling down on dislike of President Biden and the Democrats. Early on the morning of July 2, Trump, who remains the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, shared a meme of President Biden that included a flag reading: “F*CK BIDEN AND F*CK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM!” The next morning, in all caps, he railed against what he called “massive prosecutorial conduct” and “the weaponization of law enforcement,” asking: “Do the people of this once great nation even have a choice but to protest the potential doom of the United States of America??? 2024!!!”

Prosecutors have told U.S. district judge Aileen Cannon that they want to begin Trump’s trial on 37 federal charges for keeping and hiding classified national security documents, and as his legal trouble heats up, Trump appears to be calling for violence against Democrats. On June 29 he posted what he claimed was the address of former president Barack Obama, inspiring a man who had been at the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to repost the address and to warn, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell,…Obama’s [sic].” Taylor Tarranto then headed there with firearms and ammunition, as well as a machete, in his van. Secret Service agents arrested him. 

Indeed, those crossing the law for the former president are not faring well. More than 1,000 people have been arrested for their participation in the events of January 6, and those higher up the ladder are starting to feel the heat as well. Trump lawyer Lin Wood, who pushed Trump’s 2020 election lies, was permitted to “retire” his law license on Tuesday rather than be disbarred. Trump lawyer John Eastman is facing disbarment in California for trying to overturn the 2020 election with his “fake elector” scheme, a ploy whose legitimacy the Supreme Court rejected last week. And today, Trump aide Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty to federal charges of withholding documents and conspiring to obstruct justice for allegedly helping Trump hide the classified documents he had at Mar-a-Lago. 

Trump Republicans—MAGA Republicans—are cementing their identity by fanning fears based on cultural issues, but it is becoming clear those are no longer as powerful as they used to be as the reality of Republican extremism becomes clear. 

Yesterday the man who raped and impregnated a then-9-year-old Ohio girl was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. Last year, after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, President Biden used her case to argue for the need for abortion access. Republican lawmakers, who had criminalized all abortions after 6 weeks, before most people know they’re pregnant, publicly doubted that the case was real (Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told the Fox News Channel there was “not a damn scintilla of evidence” to support the story). Unable to receive an abortion in Ohio, the girl, who had since turned 10, had to travel to Indiana, where Dr. Caitlin Bernard performed the procedure.

Republican Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita complained—inaccurately—that Bernard had not reported child abuse and that she had violated privacy laws by talking to a reporter, although she did not identify the patient and her employer said she acted properly. Bernard was nonetheless reprimanded for her handling of privacy issues and fined by the Indiana licensing board. Her employer disagreed.

As Republican-dominated states have dramatically restricted abortion, they have fueled such a backlash that party members are either trying to avoid talking about it or are now replacing the phrase “national ban” with “national consensus” or “national standard,” although as feminist writer Jessica Valenti, who studies this language, notes, they still mean strict antiabortion measures. In the House, some newly-elected and swing-district Republicans have blocked abortion measures from coming to a vote out of concern they will lose their seats in 2024. 

But it is not at all clear the issue will go away. Yesterday, those committed to protecting abortion rights in Ohio turned in 70% more signatures than they needed to get a measure amending the constitution to protect that access on the ballot this November. In August, though, antiabortion forces will use a special election to try to change the threshold for constitutional amendments, requiring 60% of voters rather than a majority.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[seat-safety-switch]

Most folks have a very limited vision for what they would do if they got a time machine. There’s a lot of cliched answers: kill Hitler. Make a bunch of money on the stock market. Prevent a horrible disaster. Tell my mom to stop antagonizing the beehive that formed under the deck, before they get organized and carry her away into the sky, in a roaring swarm one sleepy September morning. You know, the usual things.

Not me: I’d use a time machine to go back and get jobs at all the important companies. Then I’d photocopy their schematics. You see, if you’re a big company, you make stuff all the time without worrying about whether someone in the future will ever be able to repair it. Certainly, you are not possessed of the ability to predict that folks decades from now will be curious about the inner workings of your product so that they can make it stop being on fire. I would do something about this: namely, steal from work, and then hide the products of those thefts in a safe-deposit box, ready to retrieve them in 2023 when I need that info to fix the broken thing.

Of course, there’s a lot of risks to messing with the time stream like this. As every science-fiction movie teaches us, any change in the past could have unpredictable ramifications in our present. And it’s not just something like “the office ran out of toner early this week, causing the rush-photocopier-toner-delivery truck to crash into a stroller containing the baby who would later grow up to be the president,” although that could probably happen too now that you’re bringing it up.

No, the more likely issue is office politics, and the Protestant work ethic. If someone sufficiently guilt-ridden were to join up with, say, the Isuzu Impulse development team, they would feel bad that they aren’t contributing at the same level as the other engineers. Then they would start to fuck with it, or say crazy shit in meetings, just to feel like they were involved in the project. When they return to their own time, the Isuzu Impulse would be totally different, maybe not nearly as loveable, rendering the entire pursuit into a horrible tragedy.

This theory may actually explain why so many of your coworkers stink on ice – try interrogating some of them about how things turn out in the future, just to be sure. And while you’re at it, start stealing more shit from work and sequestering it away. You never know, someone somewhere may need to figure out what stupid mistakes you’re making right now in order to fix them decades from now. Don’t make them angry enough to go back in time and try to have you killed.

[maaarine]

Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism (Yanis Varoufakis, 2023)

"Half an hour or so earlier, the people of Britain had woken up to the news that the pandemic had caused the worst recession in history.

Apparently, the UK’s national income had fallen by a whopping 20.4 per cent, far worse than any comparable figures in America or continental Europe.

Wretched news it certainly was, though not of the sort that undermines one’s world view.

It was what followed fifteen minutes later, just before you woke up, that changed the way I saw the world.

Instead of plummeting in response to the data, the London Stock Exchange jumped up by 2.3 per cent! (…)

Share markets do rise in response to bad news, but only when the news, however awful, turns out at least somewhat better than anticipated.

Had stockbrokers predicted, say, a 22 per cent fall in the UK’s national income, markets would have had good cause to rise if the actual fall on the day was ‘only’ 20.4 per cent.

Except that, on that Wednesday, the markets were expecting a drop of no more than 15 per cent.

That’s what made 12 August 2020 so bizarre: news far worse than anticipated had caused the share market to rise.

Nothing like it had happened before.

So, what had happened?

The news, it turns out, was so bad that traders in the City of London had the following realisation:

‘When things are this dismal, the Bank of England panics. And what have panicky central banks been doing since the crash of 2008? They print money and give it to us.

And what do we do with all the freshly minted dough from the central bank? We buy shares, sending their price up.

And if prices are destined to go up, only a fool would miss out on the action. A wall of printed money is surely on its way to us. Time to buy!’

And buy they did, causing the City of London to defy the gravitational laws of capitalism. (…)

Naturally you will take the free billion but as we’ve established you would be mad to invest it in new production lines.

So what are you going to do with the free cash? You could buy real estate or art or, better still, shares in your own company.

That way, the shares in your company appreciate in value and, if you are the CEO running it, your stature and share-linked bonuses rise too.

No new investment, in other words, but a lot more power in the hands of the powerful."

[darkmaga-retard]

2024 was the year when the runaway US budget deficit was supposed to gradually normalize, and after two crisis-years, the US was supposed to end its drunken sailor spending ways. And for a while there, it seemed touch and go, with the cumulative US deficit initially overtaking 2023 - forget about the batshit insane 2021 and 2022 when the deficit hit a mindboglilng 18% of GDP...

... before slowly easing back for a few months, only to sprint ahead  of 2023 once more in August...

... when THIS happened: an August budget deficit of a staggering $380 billion, up more than 50% from the $243 billion in July, and up more than 55% from July, and up 66% from last August... oh, and almost $100 billion more than the median estimate of $292.5 billion, which may be why the Treasury quietly snuck the number out by leaking it after 5am ET when everyone was sleeping, not at its regular time of 2pm ET.

That's right, in a year when the monthly budget deficit was meandering along in its merry neo-Chernobyl ways, "not great, not terrible", someone in the BIden admin had the brilliant idea to spend a metric asston of money to reboot the economy last month so we don't get a recession just in time for the elections. And sure enough, government spending went into absolutely epic overdrive last month, as outlays hit a mindblowing $686 billion, the highest since March 2023, and only a handful of crisis months during the covid crash saw greater government spending in any given month.

Here is another way to show the data: smoothing out for outlier months, by presenting the 6 month moving average: well, it just hit the highest... since covid!

For those wondering how government receipts have performed during this period of exploding spending, here is the answer:

... which is remarkable because while spending is absolutely exploding, revenues have also managed to bounce back, largely thanks to capital gains taxes on the surging stock market.

Yet looking at the dire big picture, it is unfortunately all downhill from here for one simple reason: we have now crossed the Minsky Moment in terms of how much the US spends on interest on its debt, which as regular readers know is hitting a new record high every day - it just closed above $35.3 trillion - and is growing by about $1 trillion every 100 days. That means that with interest rates at 40 year highs, the prediction we made last July, has finally come true because according to today's Budget statement, the amount spent on gross interest in August was $92.3 billion...

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:

A new Harris poll for The Guardian found that the majority of Americans believe that the U.S. is in a recession.

This is patently untrue.  The U.S. is experiencing an extended period of growth, and while market forecasters spent much of the last three years predicting that a recession was just around the corner, it never arrived. Now economists believe that a recession is increasingly unlikely. As The Wall Street Journal reported a month ago, the U.S. economy is the envy of the world, and it has “far outperformed expectations over the past year and a half.” But in poll after poll, Americans say that the economy is poor or simply bad. And a plurality believe the economy was better under Donald Trump. With voters saying that the economy is their top issue for the 2024 election, there might be nothing more important to President Joe Biden than finding a way to get people to believe good news in a nation pervaded by media outlets and Republican politicians selling disaster. All three of the major stock indexes set new records in the last week, with the Dow Jones closing above 40,000 for the first time. 

While it’s easy to dismiss stock prices as something that matters only to the rich, workers with 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts have also benefited from this extended period of good economy and rising markets. The number of American workers with access to a 401(k) plan surged in 2023. The percentage of workers who depend on a 401(k) or IRA for retirement now greatly exceeds the number who rely on a pension. The average 401(k) plan grew by 9.6% in 2023, and markets are up 10% in just the first quarter of 2024. Sure, that’s a lot of money for the wealthy who control 93% of stock, but it’s also tens of millions of Americans who will have a more comfortable and secure retirement. In fact, the number of Americans who have over $1 million in their retirement accounts grew by 20% in the last quarter of 2023.  Unemployment dropped from 6.3% under Trump and has remained under 4% for the longest period since the Vietnam War. Also, 15 million new jobs have been created under Biden while 2.9 million were lost under Trump.

Not only that, but manufacturing jobs, long the foundation of a strong middle class, are making a comeback under Biden as the CHIPS and Science Act brings in billions in new investment. Good new jobs are finally being created in areas where Trump promised but failed to deliver.  Economists recognize that the economy is much better under Biden than it was under Trump. So why do polls keep showing that Americans aren’t giving Biden any credit? And why do 74% of swing state voters say inflation is getting worse even though that's not true? A majority of Americans say that their own personal finances are doing well, and even when the question is expanded to their whole state, voters say the economy has improved. 

Why do a majority of Americans (wrongly) believe that we're in a recession and that things were better under Trump, when in fact President Biden has presided over a booming economy? Too many people have the perception that the incumbent President is to blame for everything.

[mariacallous]

Shares of former President Donald Trump’s social media company fell precipitously Monday after the company revealed its latest financial results, predictably well below what a typical multibillion-dollar company would deliver.

Trump Media’s stock (ticker $DJT for Trump’s initials) tanked 25% by early afternoon, trading at about $46 per share, a roughly 40% drop from its $79 peak set last Tuesday on its first day as an independently traded public company.

Trump, who owns 78.5 million shares in Trump Media, about 57% of all outstanding shares, accordingly had his stake in the social media venture slide from its peak of $6.25 billion to Monday’s $3.64 billion.

Monday’s freefall came after Trump Media unveiled its full-year 2023 results for the first time, revealing full-year revenues of $4.1 million on a net loss of $58.2 million, with fourth-quarter sales of roughly $750,000.

The uninspiring results for Trump Media, whose primary offering is the conservative social media platform Truth Social, reveal just how rich the company’s $6 billion market capitalization is compared to other public companies. Trump Media’s 1,470 price-to-sales ratio, which compares a company’s total valuation to its last 12-month sales, is exponentially higher than social media peers Reddit and Snap’s respective 9 and 4 price-to-sales ratios. Though Trump Media is a young company with the theoretical potential to dramatically scale its business, many experts classify it as a meme stock whose rise compares to the 2021 surges from the likes of AMC and GameStop. Trump Media went public last week via a reverse merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. first announced more than two years ago, and its shares jumped as much as 40% in its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Forbes Valuation

Trump’s net worth has more than doubled since the completion of his social media company’s merger with Digital World, sitting at $5.6 billion even after sinking more than $1.2 billion Monday.

[unpluggedfinancial]

How Bitcoin is Probably Gearing Up for a New ATH

Bitcoin has consistently demonstrated its resilience and growth potential since its inception. As we observe its price movements and market dynamics, it becomes evident that Bitcoin might be gearing up for a new all-time high (ATH). Understanding the importance of ATHs in the context of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can provide valuable insights into the potential future trajectory of this digital asset.

Historical Performance and Previous ATHs

Bitcoin's journey has been marked by several significant ATHs, each catalyzing a surge in investor interest and mainstream media attention. The 2017 bull run saw Bitcoin reach an ATH of $19,783 on December 17, 2017, driven by a combination of retail investor frenzy and increasing awareness. Similarly, the 2020-2021 bull run pushed Bitcoin to a new ATH of $68,789 on November 10, 2021, fueled by institutional investments and macroeconomic factors.

Current Market Indicators

Several indicators suggest that Bitcoin is poised for another ATH:

Institutional Investments: Companies like MicroStrategy have acquired approximately 230,000 BTC as of 2024, worth billions of dollars.

Adoption Rates: PayPal reported over $5 billion in crypto trading volume in Q1 2024.

Technological Advancements: The Taproot upgrade, activated in November 2021, has enhanced Bitcoin's privacy and smart contract capabilities.

Regulatory Developments: The SEC's approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 has provided a more stable environment for growth.

Factors Contributing to the Potential ATH

Increased Adoption and Mainstream Acceptance: Major banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs now offer Bitcoin-related services to their clients.

Technological Advancements: The Lightning Network's capacity has grown to over 5,000 BTC as of 2024, improving Bitcoin's scalability.

Macroeconomic Factors: With U.S. inflation rates hitting 7% in 2021, Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a hedge against economic instability.

Geopolitical Influences: Countries like El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender demonstrate its potential as a global, borderless currency.

The Importance of Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) into Bitcoin

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is a strategic investment approach where an individual invests a fixed amount of money into an asset at regular intervals, regardless of its price.

Benefits of DCA:

Mitigates market volatility

Reduces investment risk

Provides a disciplined approach to investing

Example of Successful DCA Strategy: An investor who consistently invested $100 weekly in Bitcoin from January 2019 to December 2023 would have seen a return on investment of over 300%, outperforming many who attempted to time the market.

Practical Advice for Implementing DCA:

Start with a fixed amount that fits your budget (e.g., $50-$500 per month)

Set a regular investment schedule (weekly or monthly)

Use reputable exchanges with automated purchasing options

Remain consistent regardless of market conditions

Expert Opinions and Predictions

Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest: Predicts Bitcoin could reach $1 million per coin by 2030.

Plan B, creator of the Stock-to-Flow model: Forecasts Bitcoin reaching $100,000 by 2025.

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy: Believes Bitcoin will replace gold as a store of value, potentially pushing its price to $500,000.

Potential Risks and Challenges

While the prospects for a new ATH are promising, potential risks include:

Market volatility: Bitcoin's price can fluctuate by over 10% in a single day.

Regulatory risks: Potential government crackdowns or unfavorable legislation.

Technological issues: The need for ongoing development to address scalability and security concerns.

Conclusion

Bitcoin's potential for reaching a new ATH is supported by a combination of historical patterns, current market indicators, and strategic investment approaches like DCA. As we move forward, staying informed and considering long-term investment strategies will be crucial for navigating the cryptocurrency landscape.

Key Takeaways:

Bitcoin has a history of reaching new ATHs, with the current record at $68,789.

Institutional adoption, technological advancements, and macroeconomic factors support potential growth.

Dollar-Cost Averaging can be an effective strategy for investing in Bitcoin.

While expert predictions vary, many see significant upside potential for Bitcoin.

Be aware of risks and challenges, including market volatility and regulatory uncertainties.

As you consider your investment strategy, remember that the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile. Always conduct thorough research and consider consulting with a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

🌐 Blog: Unplugged Financial Blog Stay updated with insightful articles, detailed analyses, and practical advice on navigating the evolving financial landscape. Learn about the history of money, the flaws in our current financial systems, and how Bitcoin can offer a path to a more secure and independent financial future.

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👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest content. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a curious newcomer, or someone concerned about the future of your financial health, our community is here to support you on your journey to financial independence.

[tearsinthemist]

Shares of the group have been tanking ever since it merged with a blank check acquisition company last month, falling almost 25 percent in the last five days.

At the time of writing, shares are hovering around $42, well below the price at the merge, wiping out billions of dollars in value, including $1 billion of Trump's own net worth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Analysts, who've long predicted this outcome, have argued that thanks to a lack of any semblance of revenue growth, TMTG shares are "grossly overvalued."

Last week, news emerged that Truth Social made a measly $4.1 million in revenue for all of 2023, despite having lost more than $58 million over the same period.

Even after the slump, TMTG has a market capitalization of over $5.7 billion, eclipsing the company's revenues.

"I mean, it’s ridiculous," Barry Diller, chairman of holdings company IAC and Expedia, told CNBC on Thursday. "The company has no revenue."

"It’s a scam, just like everything [Trump's] ever been involved in is some sort of con," he added.

[saturniandevil]

April 2023 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's April Forecast, hosted by Chris Brennan, Austin Coppock, and guest host Robert Weinstein. Mundane recap: Pluto's ingress into Aquarius heralds the integration of AI-generated text and images into larger parts of life, impacting industries, job markets, warfare, and more. The TikTok ban bill is another manifestation of Pluto's power struggle significations. Saturn in Pisces has also hinted at some of the upcoming themes: the recent banking crisis and a shift in public policy re: covid. The Saturn-Uranus cycle has served as an indicator to economic booms & busts, with eclipses especially igniting this--the 1929 stock market crash happened with the Nodes on the Taurus-Scorpio axis, and the FTX crash can be seen as a final crisis from Saturn square Uranus around an eclipse. Chris predicts eclipses will continue to affect finance. In popular culture, Everything Everywhere All At Once won many awards and was released during the Pisces stellium, which thematically fits.

Additionally, many planets change signs and put themselves in aspect to Saturn or Pluto for the first time since the outer planets entered these new signs, setting the tone for the next few years (or decades, in the case of Pluto). We've got a lot of beginnings and motion with the cardinal sign emphasis (we begin the month with an Aries stellium and Mars having just entered Cancer, and end it with an Aries eclipse).

April 3rd - Mercury enters Taurus From here Mercury squares Pluto, sextiles Saturn & Mars, conjoins an eclipse point and approaches Uranus, putting it in a difficult position to do the planting & planning to which the first decan of Taurus is normally conducive. Slow down and be methodical about what we're doing. Between Pluto's underground machinations and Uranus's unpredictability, it's hard for us to make decisions. In the sign of Taurus this will almost certainly have financial implications as well. Mercury will start slowing down around the 10th or 11th, with the retrograde shadow beginning at 5Taurus soon after an eclipse. Funnily enough, he will retrograde over these same degrees later in the year.

April 6th - Full Moon in Libra Here's the chart:

The Moon is at 16Libra, with the Sun within 4 degrees of conjunction to Jupiter (♈). The Moon is coming off a square with Mars (♋), part of a larger shift towards tension in cardinal signs during the Red Planet's transit. Chiron at 15Aries is very close to the Sun (conjunction) & Moon (opposition). The Moon's ruler Venus has just left a conjunction with Uranus, and in her domicile of Taurus, indicates some fervent and moderately successful attempts at stabilizing matters. We may also find stability through contracts and deals, which are associated with the second decan of Libra. Venus is also approaching Jupiter, whose proximity to the Sun makes him combust (too close to the Sun to be visible) and less able to provide the optimism & reassurance we seek. Alternately, hopeful events may be happening behind the scenes while our optimist planet is invisible for 2-4 weeks.

April 10th - Selected auspicious election

This occurs around 2:10PM local time, with Leo rising and Ascendant ruler the Sun in the 9th whole sign house, which for a day chart is extremely fortuitous. It takes advantage of the Sun-Jupiter cazimi about to occur, with the former in exaltation making things even more auspicious. The Moon in Sagittarius applies to a trine with domicile lord Jupiter. Venus is in the last degrees of Taurus, so Leo rising charts earlier in the month can take advantage of her presence in earlier degrees. 9th house topics (Jupiter) include education, travel, higher learning and publishing, while 10th house topics with Venus can indicate art & creativity. With the Moon in the 5th house this can also be good for leisure or fun & games.

April 11th - Venus enters Gemini, Sun-Jupiter conjunction (♈) The Jupiter cazimi (exact conjunction to Sun) occurs around 21-22Aries: there is still something to believe in. Not only is this fortuitous as a heightening of the greater benefic's energies, but the Sun is also in exaltation. Think optimism, expansion, and hope (Jupiter) and doing something at a level of excellence (exalted Sun). This is the seed point for new ideas, leadership and following your own path. Unfortunately the next week brings a damper on otherwise great events.

Upon entering Gemini, Venus immediately trines Pluto (♒) and soon after squares Saturn (♓), the last major aspects leading up into the eclipse. Venus trine Pluto in air signs can signal intensifying personal relationships as communication delves deeper, or perhaps enjoying the new technologies that are otherwise scary. However, Pluto is rarely light and Saturn makes things significantly heavier. Venus square Saturn indicates significant boundaries or obstacles in personal relationships, something that may keep the relationship from happening at all. In Austin's words, Saturn either locks you out or locks you in. This is also the time when Mercury starts slowing down to a speed slower than average in preparation for retrograde (figuratively tiptoeing up towards Uranus and deciding to turn around).

April 20th - Lunar eclipse in Aries, Sun enters Taurus This is the first eclipse both of the year and in the Aries-Libra axis, but we're not totally out of the woods yet for fixed signs.

The eclipse has a very close out-of-sign square to Pluto, and immediately after, the Moon ingresses into Taurus and squares Pluto, as does the Sun soon later. We'll get insight into what the next 20 years of Pluto in Aquarius has in store. Eclipses have indicated dramatic shifts in leadership since the earliest days of astrology, and Austin says in Aries this indicates actual heads of state. This lunar mansion/nakshatra is also associated with medicine, the public figure(s) in question may be in that field. Pluto at 0Aquarius (degree where pandemic lockdown measures intensified at various times) weighs in via a sextile to the moon, and this eclipse is also square the US Sibly chart's Pluto with Mars, eclipse ruler, on the US Sun. Thus Chris and Robert both expect significant financial events during this upcoming eclipse season.

April 21st - Mercury stations retrograde in Taurus This station occurs closely conjunct Uranus, so technological snafus and freak accidents are certainly in order. Mercury in Taurus helps the trains run on time, so we can expect further disruption and chaos on that front. Avoid messing with electricity if you can, and generally we may feel a shock to the collective nervous system. The Sun-Mercury conjunction marking the retrograde's halfway point will occur around May 1st, so we can expect to start moving towards a resolution then. On May 5th we get the answering eclipse to this one, Mercury stationing direct on the 15th, and Jupiter entering Taurus soon after. These events in mid-May will help stabilize things, though Mars will form a T-square with Jupiter and Uranus... Overall we feel eclipses for a couple weeks on either side. Pay attention to the parts of your chart where the eclipses occur: new beginnings and endings are in order as the nodes move!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 19, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 19, 2024

President Joe Biden today signed the continuing resolution that will keep the government operating into March.

Meanwhile, the stock market roared as two of the three major indexes hit new record highs. The S&P 500, which measures the value of 500 of the largest companies in the country, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which does the same for 30 companies considered to be industry leaders, both rose to all-time highs. The third major index, the Nasdaq Composite, which is weighted toward technology stocks, did not hit a record high, although its 1.7% jump was higher than that of the S&P 500 (1.2%) or the Dow (1.1%).

Investors appear to be buoyed by the fact the rate of inflation has come down in the U.S. and by news that consumers are feeling better about the economy. A report out today by Goldman Sachs Economics Research noted that consumer spending is strong and predicted that “job gains, positive real wage growth, will lead to around 3% real disposable income growth” and that “household balance sheets have strengthened.” It also noted that “[t]he US has led the way on disinflation,” and it predicted further drops in 2024. That will likely mean the sort of interest rate cuts the stock market likes. 

The economic policies of the Biden-Harris administration have also benefited workers. The unemployment rate has been under 4% for more than two years, and wages have risen higher than inflation in that same period. Production is up as well, to 4.9% in the third quarter of 2023 (the U.S. growth rate under Trump even before the pandemic was 2.5%). 

The administration has worked to end some of the most obvious financial inequities in the U.S., such as the unexpected “junk fees” tacked on to airline or concert tickets, or to car or apartment rentals. On Wednesday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a proposed rule for bank overdraft fees at banks that have more than $10 billion in assets. 

While banks now can charge what they wish if a customer’s balance falls below zero, the proposed rule would allow them to charge no more than what it cost them to break even on providing overdraft services or, alternatively, an industry-wide fee that reflects the amount it costs to deal with overdrafts: $3, $6, $7, or $14. The amount will be established after a public hearing period.

Ken Sweet and Cora Lewis of the Associated Press note that while the average overdraft is $26.61, some banks charge as much as $39 per overdraft. The CFPB estimates that in the past 20 years, banks have collected more than $280 billion in overdraft fees. (One bank’s chief executive officer named his boat “Overdraft.”) Over the past two years, pressure has made banks cut back on their fees and they now take in about $8 billion a year from those overdraft fees. 

Bankers say regulation is unnecessary and will force them to end the overdraft service, pushing people out of the banking system. Biden said that the rule would save U.S. families $3.5 billion annually. 

The administration has also addressed the student loan crisis by reexamining the loan histories of student borrowers. An NPR investigation led by Cory Turner revealed that banks mismanaged loans, denying borrowers the terms under which they had signed on to them. Rather than honoring the government’s promise that so long as a borrower paid what the government thought was reasonable on a loan for 20 or 25 years (undergrad or graduate), the debt would be forgiven, banks urged borrowers to put the loan into “forbearance,” under which payments paused but the debt continued to accrue interest, making the amount balloon. 

The Education Department has been reexamining all those old loans to find this sort of mismanagement as well as other problems, like borrowers not getting credit for payments to count toward their 20 years of payments, or borrowers who chose public service not receiving the debt relief they were promised.

Today the administration announced $4.9 billion of student debt cancellation for almost 74,000 borrowers. That brings the total of borrowers whose debt has been canceled to 3.7 million Americans, with an erasure of $136.6 billion. Nearly 30,000 of today’s relieved borrowers had been in repayment for at least 20 years but never got the relief they should have; nearly 44,000 had earned debt forgiveness after 10 years of public service as teachers, nurses, and firefighters.

Biden has been traveling the country recently, touting how the economic policies of the Biden-Harris administration have benefited ordinary Americans. In Emmaus, Pennsylvania, last Friday he visited a bicycle shop, a running shoe store, and a coffee shop to emphasize how small businesses are booming under his administration: in the three years since he took office, there have been 16 million applications to start new businesses, the highest number on record.

Biden was in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday to announce another $82 million in support for broadband access, bringing the total of government infrastructure funding in North Carolina during the Biden administration to $3 billion.  

On social media, the administration compared its investments in the American people to those of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s, which were enormously popular. 

They were popular, that is, until those opposed to business regulation convinced white voters that the government’s protection of civil rights, which came along with its protection of ordinary Americans through regulation of business, provision of a basic social safety net, and promotion of infrastructure, meant redistribution of white tax dollars to undeserving Black people.

The same effort to make sure that ordinary Americans don’t work together to restore basic fairness in the economy and rights in society is visible now in the attempt to attribute a recent Boeing airplane malfunction, in which a door panel blew off mid-flight, to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Tesnim Zekeria at Popular Information yesterday chronicled how that accusation spread across the right-wing ecosystem and onto the Fox News Channel, where Fox Business host Sean Duffy warned: “This is a dangerous business when you’re focused on DEI and maybe less focused on engineering and safety.” 

As Zekeria explains, “this narrative has no basis in fact.” Neither Boeing nor its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, is particularly diverse, either at the workforce level, where minorities make up 35% of Boeing employees and 26% of those at Spirit AeroSystems, or on the corporate ladder, where the overwhelming majority of executives are white men. Zekeria notes that right-wing media figures have also erroneously blamed last year’s train derailment in Ohio and the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on DEI initiatives.

The real culprit at Boeing, Zekeria suggests, was the weakened regulations on Boeing and Spirit thanks to more than $65 million in lobbying efforts.

Perhaps an even more transparent attempt to keep ordinary Americans from working together is the attacks former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson has launched against Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “a member of the new master race” who “must be shown maximum respect at all times, no matter what she says or does.” Philip Bump of the Washington Post noted yesterday that this construction suggests that Harris, who identifies as both Black and Indian, represents all nonwhite Americans as a united force opposed to white Americans. 

But Harris’s actions actually represent something else altogether. She has crossed the country since June 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion, talking about the right of all Americans to bodily autonomy. That the Supreme Court felt able to take away a constitutional right has worried many Americans about what they might do next, and people all over the country have been coming together in opposition to the small minority that appears to have taken over the levers of our democracy. 

Driving the wedge of racism into that majority coalition seems to be a desperate attempt to stop ordinary Americans from taking back control of the country.  

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON