January 17, 2023
Today in MSFS, I’m at the Aerodrome de Saint-Cyr-l’École in Versailles to tell the story of the famous French aviatrix Hélène Boucher and her airplane, the Caudron C.430 Rafale. Boucher is France’s version of Amelia Earhart – equally iconic and equally tragic in the French imagination. Charles Lindbergh’s solo crossing of the Atlantic, from New […]
January 13, 2023
The Brent Oil Price (global) ended 2022 at $82.82 per barrel, up +7.2% from a year before, but down significantly from its spike to $133.18 in March following the Ukraine invasion. The WTI Oil Price (domestic US) ended 2022 at $80.16 per barrel, up +6.4% from a year ago. It peaked at $123.64 in March. […]
January 13, 2023
The US federal budget deficit for the calendar year 2022 was $1.42 trillion, down significantly from $3.35 trillion in 2021. The US federal budget deficit as a percentage of GDP was 11.9% in 2021, down from 14.9% (which was the highest figure since World War II). GDP for 2022 is not yet available for comparison, […]
January 7, 2023
The U.S. economy added +223,000 jobs in December, beating expectations of +200,000. Over the past three months, the economy has added an average of +247,000 jobs per month. For 2022 as a whole, the economy added +4.5 million jobs (an average of +375,000 per month), compared to +6.7 million jobs added in 2021 and a […]
January 6, 2023
Today in Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ll be flying the Beechcraft Model 17 “Staggerwing”, widely regarded as one of the world’s most enviable private airplanes. Walter Beech was born in 1891 in Pulaski, Tennessee, and flew in the U.S. Army during World War I. After the war, he joined Swallow Airplane Company as a test pilot. […]
January 5, 2023
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined to $61.5 billion in November, after reaching an all-time high in March 2020. In 2021, the annual U.S. trade deficit hit a new record at $845.0 billion. Higher tariff policies under the Trump and Biden Administrations have not made any significant dent in the trade deficit. […]
January 5, 2023
At its December 2022 meeting, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC announced it was raising the Fed Funds Rate by 25 bps to 4.5%. This was the latest in a series of rate hikes that began in March 2022. The Fed’s statement can be found here. This chart offers a longer-term perspective on the Fed Funds rate, […]
January 5, 2023
The following are diffusion indices, based on business surveys, which means that >50 indicates expansion and <50 indicates contraction, and 50 indicates no change. A larger or small number indicates breadth, not intensity, among survey respondents. ISM Manufacturing Index fell another -0.6 points in December, falling deeper into contraction at 48.4. Manufacturing employment turned slightly […]
January 4, 2023
The S&P 500 Index ended 2022 at 3,839.50, down -19.4% from a year before, after peaking almost exactly at end of 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended 2022 at 33,147.25, down -8.8% from a year before, after peaking on January 4. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended 2022 at 10,466.48, down -33.1% from a […]
January 3, 2023
Today in Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ll be flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the most successful carrier-based Allied fighter of World War II. And to tell that story, I’m aboard the USS Essex (CV-9) just off the eastern coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, on the morning of October 24, 1944. Just a […]