Good morning. Markets are little changed as investors anxiously await the conclusion of the Fed meeting now taking place … from which we might hear quite a bit of disagreement. Meanwhile, the Fed does have concern over both inflation and employment … and while a downward revision in the employment numbers was expected in the numbers released this morning … it was larger than anticipated … so what does that mean for the Fed? Opinions are changing rapidly, as many at first wondered if we would have a rate cut … and that shifted to 25-basis points (0.25%) being almost a certainty. But now the talk … considering the employment revision … has us where a 50-basis point (0.50%) appears possible. What if there is such a large drop in rates? On the one hand, we will have a few very pleased … feeling it should have been cut sooner … feeling reduced borrowing costs will be favorable to businesses and consumers. But every silver lining, has a cloud … and we will also get few not only worried about inflation but ready to ask if the Fed sees things to be so terrible that such a large cut was, in fact, necessary … with more in store. Whatever the announcement, it promises to be an interesting couple of days. Included today is an article stating $5 million is needed to achieve “the American Dream.” My view is that this claim is complete nonsense. Sure, prices are up … and lots of items are costly … but if we reduce what amounts to materialistic expectations … we can achieve great things. Many of the countries that rank higher than the U.S. in well-documented “happiness indexes” … don’t hold a candle to our wealth … but it all comes down to a frame of mind. If we make some necessary adjustments, I am sure the “cost” of reaching this American Dream will be much lower than claimed in this article. And on a final note, there is an interesting story about Artificial Intelligence … and whether it can replace actual schoolteachers. While it seems a bit far-fetched, AI is being used more in the classrooms with optimism that this might help. Help what? Students … and they certainly need help. An article below shows how they have been in a downward spiral for several years regarding aptitude in the subjects of English and Math. But who is to blame … teachers … students … parents? It just appears hard to compete with “gadgets” … which were supposed to improve education … and may be doing the opposite. To put it mildly, kids just don’t seem motivated enough to even want to learn the most basic math skills. Just last night, I tried to teach my kid about making graphs … but he didn’t want to learn anymore and told me that graphing is where he draws the line. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
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