Good morning:.
Markets jumped up this morning on news the Trump administration cancelled an attack on Iran that the President claimed “… would have been the biggest attack since World War II.” This pullback was based on the view that Tehran is starting a new round of negotiations.
Oil dropped as a result … as investors (even non-politicians) are breathing a sigh of relief.
The potential problem? Iran is sending out public notes saying they have no plans right now to chat with the U.S. and is, instead, talking with Oman about establish some sort of safe route through the Strait of Hormuz.
As would be expected based on the announcement, oil prices dropped … and there is hope gasoline will again trend downward. With 92 days until the mid-term election, anything that puts money into pockets might certainly help the mood of voters.
There is one item in a CNN story that won’t make people happy as the profit of Exxon … during the recent quarter when gas prices jumped … was $160 million per day. Let me repeat that. $160 million a day. Of course, it wasn’t all due to gas … but eye-popping enough to get some people riled up.
Recently there was a move to have a humanoid robot help teach kids in a New York school. Facing a bit of backlash (which, of course, was probably expected) a bill is being introduced in the legislature to ban this. Unions and parents still have some power.
What got me thinking about this is what they call the “Mississippi Miracle” … in which there are claims that young kids in Mississippi are outperforming those in a state like Massachusetts … where the spending is twice as much per student. The comment in the radio program I listened to, during a long ride from NH this weekend, was that the school system decided to make kids accountable … with no “automatic passing” … and forcing kids to prove ability at each level before moving them on to the next. No more “participation trophies.” Maybe other school systems should review just what is going on in the hope of creating miracles of their own.
Meanwhile, seniors are looking for their own miracle, as the time social security runs out of money is fast approaching. Keep this in mind … according to an article in PennLive … by law “Social Security can’t pay out more in benefits than it receives …” There was a committee set up in 1983 and … frankly … so far, they haven’t done much to help a problem heading our way.
Maybe they should ask AI for help.
The last article below mentions how many people use AI without giving attribution (claiming it as their own work) … yet feel it wrong for others to do the same.
I tell readers that any time I use AI for any part of my work, I will mention it (having done so only twice in my last 16 years or so of writing).
It should be easy to tell that I don’t use AI when I write …
… as it couldn’t possibly be this boring or make this many mistakes.
Have a great day,
Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA
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