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Good morning.

So much for the relief rally.  Following two days of gains, markets are in retreat this morning …even as some good news came across the wires.

Reuters is reporting U.S. manufacturing output improved in February and U.S. housing starts hosted a strong rebound.  Still, investors do not seem satisfied and firms like Deutsche Bank have given the view that the selloff might continue while Morgan Stanley points out there are presently “numerous growth headwinds.”  It always seems that when markets are hitting highs, there are tons of stories as to why great times will continue … and when a few potholes are hit there is no shortage of those proclaiming the opposite.

Will comments tomorrow by Jay Powell brighten the mood?  Let’s hope so. Since markets retreated to where they were last September … a ray of sunshine is very much needed.

I am a bit excited this morning as I bought one of those “designed for life” couches from Lovesac and the boxes arrived on my doorstep just as I started writing.  I did a lot of asking and came across a bunch of present owners … most of whom gave it stellar reviews. Since you can configure it any way you like, I am excited about putting it together later this afternoon.  Oh shoot … for disclosure purposes, I should mention that I own the stock … but that has nothing to do with my purchase or my comments.

Speaking of reviews, a few friends spoke with me about the show “Adolescence” now on Netflix and this also had very good responses.  What is incredibly interesting about this show, from a “techy” point of view, is that each episode was shot in “one take” … actors ready … camera rolling … action … and then going through to the end with no “cuts” … no “second takes.”  In my opinion, the show is quite good, well worth the watch … and with only 4 episodes should be very much considered as “binge-watch worthy.”

I am off track today but am increasingly tired of Washington and the tariffs and the wars and the finger-pointing and yelling … so I am purposely focused on more fun stuff.

In recent days, Southwest announced they will institute a baggage fee … greatly upsetting those who loved Southwest because they were … well … different.  Well, a competing lower-priced airline, Frontier, saw this as an opportunity … jumped on it … and will offer “free baggage” this summer. I’ve flown Frontier … found the trip was fine … and this incentive makes it more likely I will seek them out in the future.

On a final note for today … back to economic stuff … the last article below gives the view that economic downturn is likely, and the author points to the increasing number of people grossly late paying their car loans.

But the person they use as an example took out a car loan where the amount due was $930/month … which is now claimed difficult to keep up with.  It is important when taking out any type of loan to think about the payments and marry it to your circumstances.  Was a $60,000 electric vehicle (mentioned in the article) the best option for the borrower?  Maybe it was … but there is something quite important (home buyers, car buyers, student loan recipients) just have to keep in mind.

When someone loans you money … whether a person or a bank … it is expected that you do something you might not quite appreciate at times.

You are expected to pay it back.

Have a great day,

Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA

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