The Freeport Navigator

President Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), last week. Unfortunately, nothings going to change. Here’s why, and how to prepare.

We’re on the cusp of AI’s “Day Zero” moment. This is when AI stops being a “cool tool” and starts actively transforming industries, infrastructure, and daily life. Once that happens, our world will look like nothing that’s come before.

Last week’s significant economic news – the positive GDP report and the hugely revised unemployment report – all but guarantees what the Fed will do next. So let’s discuss why markets reacted the way they did on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow both losing more than 1.2% and the Nasdaq and Russell 200 tanking about 2% each. Then I’ll explain what all of this means for our portfolios.

The gist of Ms. Russell’s argument is that the deal includes requirements for Europe to buy energy and military equipment from the U.S. This kind of stuff is made by people wearing hardhats or wielding power tools, that is… by “blue collar” workers. Ms. Russell, who lives in Texas and has four children, must not have much free time. If she had, she might have thought this through a bit further.

What happens when someone asks you a question on a topic that should come with a trigger warning? You don’t hold back. At least, I didn’t when I answered the question Philip emailed…

Amazon is an investor darling. Despite being up 60% since it’s last 52-week low, the majority consensus among mainstream analysts is that it’s a strong buy. But is it really?

Today, July 30, marks a major seasonal turning point, based on more than three decades of market data. What comes next?

The 1600s were a golden age for the Netherlands. Apart from producing some of the finest painters to have ever picked up a brush, it was a time of economic and political advancement.  Newly independent from Spain, the Dutch Republic was one of the first to experiment with a republican government outside of Italy. And they became fantastically wealthy as traders. Until they weren’t. With all our evolution in the markets, people are fundamentally still the same. So here’s how to avoid the “tulip” trap forming today.

Gold goes through regular seasonal cycles each year. That makes some times better than others to be a gold buyer. And we’ve just entered one of the best times of the year for a particular kind of gold trade.

The S&P 500 cruised past 6,300 this week. Bitcoin flirted with $120,000. Meanwhile, inflation in services clocked in at 5.4% – with the Fed stuck watching from the sidelines, still pretending that it has this under control. All this while the real economy grows at a sluggish 1%, government debt tops 120% of GDP, and the national “credit card” is on fire. You’d be forgiven for wondering: Is any of this wealth actually real?