John T. Reed’s news blog

Thanks to the 80-person silent majority who came out of my invisible, mostly silent audience here wishing me a happy birthday. Sign of the times that many have names from Southwest Asia, one the recent sources of immigrants in our nation of immigrants. I did not used to have such friends or birthday card senders. I welcome the Southwest Asians and applaud their rapid success in our nation of immigrants. A few groups who have been here far longer need to take note and follow their example. Several West Point grads told me to fall out, gaze around, and take...

Another angle on the border problems: Americans are having too few children. Our population “pyramid” is not a pyramid, which is unhealthy. It looks like a silo.   https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/06/americas-age-profile-told-through-population-pyramids.html  That is also true of most other developed countries. China, Japan, Russia and Europe are worse. Theirs are top heavy—wider at the top (old people) than at the bottom (young people). One of the things that is happening with the border invasion is we are getting more young people than older. In general, we need that. What the quality of them is I do not know. They are from s***hole countries. And...

WSJ today said demand for stocks and commodities being up proves Americans have faith in the economy because they are buying "riskier" assets. . Written by Amrith Ramkumar and Hardika Singh. . Folks, there is no such thing as generic risk. All risk requires an adjective describing WHICH risk you are talking about, e.g., political risk, market risk, fidelity risk, counterparty risk, credit risk, exchange risk, currency risk, inflation risk, etc. . There is no such thing as riskier investments. . I know what these probably Ivy League idiots mean. They think bonds are non-risky and stocks and commodities are...

Here is the first paragraph of the front-page story on the Champlain Towers collapse. . "When warning signals flashed about structural and maintenance problems at Champlain Towers South, the information was muted and confusing signaling that the condo owners didn't need to remedy the situation urgently..." . That is exactly what the WSJ has been doing for more than a year regarding the danger of hyperinflation. I called it whispering "fire" in a crowded theater that is, in fact, on fire. . I have been telling you that you "need to remedy the situation urgently." . There is a pertinent...

Today’s WSJ has an article on the housing market. Titled “Would-Be Home Buyers Shut Out Of Homes,” it basically says that prices are rising fast with almost all homes selling for more than asking price and that down payments are either 100% or at least bigger than normal with many first-time buyers doing what our son Mike just did: getting down payment money from parents. . Low down payment loans like the VA nothing down, FHA 2%, and PMI 5% are still doable, but are at a big disadvantage. . The parental down payment help is described as a “gift”...