The Daily Shot Brief – January 2nd, 2018

Greetings,   The United States: To remain competitive, US manufacturers continue to focus on skilled labor and automation. Robot shipments hit record highs.   China: China’s repo rates spiked going into the year-end. Facing stricter regulations, the nation’s banks have learned about “window dressing.”   The Eurozone: The euro rose above $1.2 last week amid talk …

The Daily Shot Brief – December 22nd, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: After the financial crisis, Americans with high credit scores were prioritizing credit card payments ahead of mortgage payments. Car payments remain ahead of everything else. However, subprime auto debt delinquencies at non-bank lenders keep climbing. Many of these firms dipped into “deep subprime,” a decision that’s becoming costly.   China: Elevated …

The Daily Shot Brief – December 15th, 2017

Greetings,   The United States: Overall, American’s net-worth has been climbing, but the improvements have been highly uneven. That’s why the mean net worth is now above the pre-recession peak, while the median is not even close. The two indicators have completely diverged. A big part of the disconnect has to do with the ownership rates of stocks and …