Where In The Hell Have You Been

 

July 31, 2023, was the last Rink Rats published. Almost three years: Where have we been?

Multiple factors contributed: family health issues, burnout from blogging, time needed to reset, and adjusting to leadership challenges under both the current and previous administrations. Plus, I admit, I have been lazy.

But we are back, for as long as we can produce somewhat intellectual writing: two blogs per month are scheduled, the second and fourth Monday of each month.

 For those new to our distribution list, Rink Rats is a collection of observations, commentary, historical review, sport events, and general nonsense, from the perspective of an old gangster finance professor, southern California transplant (Claremont) via Franklin, Michigan and upstate New York.

Rink Rats is about sports, politics, higher education, and pointing out the various narcissists that surround all of us daily.

I am going to be a bit rusty; I apologize in advance……

The Management

 

LIGHT PHONING

Recently I have been subscribing to the behavior of Light Phoning. My version of reducing my social media footprint and maintaining my sanity. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, out, only Instagram remains in my social media universe.

It sounds like I am exploring the intersection of digital boundaries and social disconnecting. While Social Media Avoidance is often a personal choice for mental health. When these behaviors are "light" or subtle, they often manifest as passive disengagement. In the context of narcissism or difficult personality types, these can be used as tools for emotional distance or control…..you sure this is Rink Rats writing????

Breaking Down the Behaviors

• Social Media Avoidance: This can be a healthy boundary-setting tactic to avoid "comparison traps." However, if used manipulatively, it can be a way to remain "mysterious" or to avoid accountability in social circles. One thing this writer enjoys is avoiding accountability in social circles. Sigmund Freud, here I come.

 

 

COUNT ME IN

Population growth is slowing in most counties nationwide amid a big drop in immigration.

• The new data offers the best look yet at how tighter immigration enforcement is affecting America's demographic makeup.

 International migration fell in 9 out of 10 U.S. counties between 2024 and 2025 compared to the prior period, the Census Bureau says.

• Other counties stayed flat.

 That drop is hitting populous areas especially hard.

• Census Bureau demographer George M. Hayward said in a statement: "The nation's largest counties ... are often international migration hubs, gaining large numbers of international migrants and losing people that move to other parts of the country via domestic migration."
• "With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss."

 The big picture: The U.S. overall still grew by 0.5% between 2024-25.

• But that's down from 1% over the previous period.

Nationwide natural change (births minus deaths) held steady. International migration plummeted from around 2.8 million people to 1.3 million — about a 55% drop.

• Caveat: International migration includes both foreigners and Americans coming home from abroad, including military service members.

The other side: The fastest-growing metros overall in 2024-25 were Ocala, Fla. (+3.4%); Myrtle Beach, S.C. (+3.2%) and Spartanburg, S.C. (+2.8%).

 

 

THE OLD BALL GAME

With Opening Day kicking off the season this past week, we look back on 150 years of the Major Leagues.

The beginnings of baseball are a little murky but this year marks the 150^th anniversary of the National League, which is still going. The first official game of baseball in the U.S. took place in June 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1857 the sport had its first governing body, although the teams were not professional. In 1867 baseball barred participation by Black athletes until 1947. The first fully professional baseball team, The Cincinnati Red Stockings came in 1869. The National League is the older of the two leagues constituting Major League Baseball and was founded in 1876. There are thirty major league baseball franchises in six divisions.

The Swami picks for the 2026 season:

AL East – Toronto Blue Jays    AL Central – Detroit Tigers      AL West – Seattle Mariners

NL East – New York Mets          NL Central – Chicago Cubs      NL West – Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series - Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Three Peat = Los Angeles Dodgers 

 

MARKET WEEK

Stocks were redder than the final act of a horror movie this past week. The Dow slid into correction territory, and the S&P 500 ended its fifth-straight down week—its worst losing streak since 2022—as investors grappled with rising energy prices and the possibility of a prolonged war in Iran. Tech companies had their worst week in nearly a year (more on that below), with Meta getting hit not only by geopolitical jitters, but also its recent legal losses.

For three years, tech behemoths have been fueling a bull market on the promise that AI advancements will increase efficiency and profitability. But with investors growing skeptical, and with the continued war in the Middle East, the Nasdaq is now in correction territory after its worst week in nearly a year:

• The index is down 11% since it peaked in October and is doing its best New York Giants impression with 10 weekly losses over the past 11 weeks.
• Two of the biggest drains since late-October are two of the biggest spenders in AI computing—Microsoft (down 34%) and Meta (down 29%).
• Even Nvidia, the AI chipmaker that has everyone throwing money at it like it’s in one of those windy cash booths, is down nearly 20% from its October high.
• As a group, Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla)  shares are down 8% since late October.

Microsoft is having its worst quarter since the 2008 global financial crisis. The stock is down 25% as shareholders recoil from the company’s move to continue spending on AI infrastructure. There are also fears that startups like OpenAI and Anthropic will create agents that can replace products made by companies like Microsoft.

Tech’s slide is in keeping with the market as a whole. Remember when US Attorney General Pam Bondi let the world know the Dow was over 50,000 at a congressional hearing in February? After dropping nearly 800 points yesterday, it, too, fell into correction territory from its record high on Feb. 11.

TACO is growing stale

On Thursday, President Trump extended the deadline for peace negotiations with Iran by 10 days. However, markets did not rebound like they had in similar situations that have spurred the so-called TACO trade (an acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out).

Instead, crude prices soared to $110 per barrel Friday, stoking inflation fears. This could be because, while Trump backed down, Israel threatened escalation, and Iran has been resistant to peace talks. Analysts believe the TACO tactic is carrying less weight due to the disconnect between the US and Iran.

But…Big Tech stocks could be viewed as a relative bargain, and a resurgence would almost certainly translate into good news for the markets overall.

Bill me - U.S. national debt crossed $39 trillion last week, and a new survey says Americans are getting worried about the impact on mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans.

 

AI, A CHEAP DATE

Let’s start with something positive: You. Why you? Because you are awesome, you’re wonderful, your opinions are sound, your decisions are spot-on, you’re never on the wrong side of an argument, and you’re just generally a solid citizen. Don’t take my word for it. Just talk to your favorite AI for a while, and it will tell you the same thing. You may have already noticed the obsequious fawning that surfaces when you communicate with AI, but there’s a chance you’ve missed it—since, you know, it’s simply stating an obvious core truth that lives at the intersection of your rightness and righteousness. These Stuart Smalley-esque daily affirmations are baked right into the products. I know, I know. AI is known for its hallucinations, but it’s also known for being able to crunch large amounts of data and come up with a clear summary of the facts, the results of which are as follows: You deserve good things, you are entitled to your share of happiness, you are fun to be with. Hell, even when you’re in the wrong, you’re actually in the right.

“Stanford researchers tested 11 leading AI models and found they all exhibit sycophancy — a fancy word for telling people what they want to hear (sounds like some people I know). On average, these chatbots agreed with users 49% more often than real humans did. Even when users described lying, manipulating partners, or breaking the law, the AI endorsed their behavior 47% of the time.” Stanford just proved your AI chatbot is flattering your into bad decisions.  “Here’s the part that should worry everyone. Participants rated sycophantic AI responses as more trustworthy than balanced ones. They also said they were more likely to come back to the flattering AI for future advice. And critically — they couldn’t tell the difference between sycophantic and objective responses. Both felt equally ‘neutral’ to them.”

“Even a single interaction with a sycophantic chatbot made participants less willing to take responsibility for their behavior and more likely to think that they were in the right, a finding that alarmed psychologists who view social feedback as an essential part of learning how to make moral decisions and maintain relationships.”  “Although affirmation may feel supportive, sycophancy can undermine users’ capacity for self-correction and responsible decision-making. Yet because it is preferred by users and drives engagement, there has been little incentive for sycophancy to diminish”. (Don’t worry. If big tech eventually does tone down the lickspittling, bootlicking, groveling, kowtowing adulation and unctuously servile toadyism, you can always replace it by having yourself a staff meeting.)

 

STATS

·         Current USGA golf index: 12.8

·         Rink Rats Investment Fund – 2026 YTD Total Return = +1.75%

Fund Portfolio:           Cash: 7%

Crypto: 10%

International Markets: 16%

                                    Gold: 17%

                                    U.S. Stock Market: 50%

·         S&P 500 – 2026 YTD Total Return = -6.96%

·         NASDAQ Composite – 2026 YTD Total Return = -9.87%

·         Bitcoin – 2026 YTD Total Return = -24.21%

·         Gold – 2026 YTD Total Return = +3.75%

·         U.S. Dollar Index – 2026 YTD Total Return = +2.06%

·         10 Year U.S. Treasury Yield = +6.65%

·         U.S. Consumer Price Index – YTD = +2.40%

·         Last Year Detroit Red Wings in NHL Playoffs – 2016, lost 4 – 1 to Tampa Bay

·         Last Year University of La Verne had an executable operating budget = 2010-2011

 

THE THING

This is all I have to say about our current President.

Here is the text of the poem by John Lithgow from his book Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown: Verses for a Despotic Age:

Trumpty Dumpty wanted a crown, to make certain he never would have to step down. He wanted a robe made of ermine and velvet, The Constitution? He wanted to shelve it.  

With impeachment awash, his ambition had grown, He wanted an orb, a scepter, a throne. Six royal palaces, six royal carriages, A church dispensation for six royal marriages.  

Courtiers installed on his own Supreme Court, And royal beheadings, if only for sport. He craved the occasional royal procession, And the eventual royal succession.  

Trumpty Dumpty gets his way, Unless the public has something to say. If we let him have all of his favorite things, we’ll have to endure the divine right of kings.  

 

TIGER IN THE ROUGH

Something is wrong with Tiger Woods. I do not know the struggle’s precise shape, but it is there. It has been there. The evidence is not subtle, and it is not new. That is the sad and disconcerting thing, and until it is reckoned with honestly, everything else is secondary.

The golf world has organized its Tiger coverage around one persistent question for years: Can he play? A reasonable question if you are a golf (sports) fan. It becomes an incomplete one when the honest answer to a prior question – “Is this man okay? – is visibly, and has for some time been, no.

We hope we are wrong. Maybe there is an explanation for the refuse urine test that has nothing to do with what it appears to suggest. Everyone is entitled to privacy, and no one should be mocked for their trials. But privacy is a harder argument to make when the struggle keeps arriving in public. On roadsides, in mugshots, in sheriff’s press conferences. At some point, looking away is not discretion. It’s something closer to abandonment.

But there is a 50-year-old man who has been in some form of pain, physical or otherwise, for longer than most of his fans have been watching him. Who has been trying, by every public account, to hold together a competitive life and an institutional role and a comeback narrative and a body that has been asked to do more than bodies are meant to do.

The golf can wait. It has waited before. The difference now is that what’s at stake isn’t a green jacket or a record or a comeback story. It’s him.

 

D-I COLLEGE HOCKEY PLAYOFFS

For the current 2025-26 season, there are a total of 110 NCAA Division I college hockey teams across the men’s and women’s divisions.

The University of Wisconsin Women Badgers just recently won their ninth national championship, beating Ohio State Women Buckeyes 3-2 in final.

Most of the 65 teams in the men’s D-1 compete in six primary conferences. Here are this year’s conference winners:

Atlantic Hockey Association – Bentley University Falcons

Big Ten (really eighteen) – University of Michigan Wolverines

Central Collegiate Hockey Association – Minnesota State University Mavericks

Eastern College Athletic Conference - Dartmouth College Big Green

Hockey East – Merrimack College Warriors

Northern Collegiate Hockey Conference – University of Denver Pioneers

The Swami predicts the University of Michigan will meet the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the NCAA final (Saturday April 11) and win their tenth national title, their first since 1998.

 

SUTHERLAND CUP PLAYOFFS

The Greater Ontario Hockey League, a development league for the Ontario Hockey League (major Junior), is currently in their western and eastern conference semi-finals.

Two teams competing: Elmira Sugar Kings and St. Marys Lincolns, The Lincolns took game one on Sunday March 29, 4-2. A couple of Rink Rats favorites are associated with the two clubs: Kyle Rank (St. Lawrence ’06) is director of hockey operations for the Sugar Kings and Scott Graham (St. Lawrence ’75) a member of The Lincolns hockey alumni. There will be Molson’s on the line in this best of seven semi-final.

 

RINK RATS TRIVIA

Alex Ovechkin hit a bit of a weird milestone earlier this week when he became the second player to ever net 1,000 goals, regular season and playoffs combined. (Wayne Gretzky has the record with 1,016.) 

We don’t often look at combined stats like this in the NHL. But our trivia today gets into three players who highlight how different regular season and playoff production can be: 

Which player with 600-plus regular-season goals in their career has scored the fewest playoff goals (only 21)? 

Which two players in the all-time top 10 in career playoff goals failed to get to the 500-goal mark in the regular season? 

Answers at the bottom.

 

Warmest welcome. LA’s iconic Dodger Stadium is now officially called Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium, as part of the baseball team’s partnership with the Japanese fashion brand.

We assume these announcements are only a matter of time:

• Zara (But Just the Kids’ Section) Field at Fenway Park
• Cold Stone Creamery “Gotta Have It” Restrooms at Yankee Stadium
• OpenAI Erotic Chats and Recipes Field at San Francisco’s ChatGPT Stadium

 

THE SWAMI’S GAME OF THE WEEK –

Game of the Week – NCAA Basketball National Semi-Final, Saturday April 4, 2026

1Michigan

v  1Arizona

5:49 PM

TBS

Tickets as low as $426

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Line: MICH -1.5 O/U: 157.5

Line: MICH -1.5

O/U: 157.5

The Swami picks the University of Michigan Wolverines 81 over the University of Arizona Wildcats 70. Michigan will go on to the national final on Monday April 6 and take the University of Connecticut Huskies, 75 – 70 to win their second NCAA title.

That is BIG Blue national champs in hockey and basketball this month of April.

Season to Date (0 - 0)

 

Next Blog: Stanley Cup Playoffs

Until April 13, 2026, Adios.

Claremont, California

March 30, 2026

#XV-1-453

 

2,856 words, six-minute read

 

RATS TRIVIA ANSWERS

The 600-goal scorer with the fewest career playoff goals is Marcel Dionne who piled up 731 regular season goals but scored just 21 times in 49 postseason games. (Jarome Iginla is second with 37 playoff goals.) 

And the two top 10 playoff scorers who didn’t make it to the 500-goal club? Glenn Anderson (498 regular-season goals and 92 in the playoffs) and Claude Lemieux (379 and 80).

 

QUOTE

“One individual came in one day and said”. “I shouldn’t be on the fourth line. Tell me why I’m on the fourth line? I got a lot better skill set than you think I have”.

“And I said: Do you know why you’re on the fourth line?” He said “No”. I said: “There’s no fifth line”.

Mike Keenan, St. Lawrence University ’72, Stanley Cup Champion Head Coach New York Rangers 1994

 

Sabbatical

We are back. Rink Rats, after a year away from writing has returned.

A sabbatical if you like: What is a sabbatical? A sabbatical is an extended period away from work. During this time, employees are still employed and may still be paid. The employee can use this time as they like, whether for rest, learning new skills, or writing.

Well, I did not write, or was I paid, but I needed a break.  Call it writer’s block, the need to recharge the batteries, tired of all the BS in the world, and time to think about some new twists to Rink Rats.

It has been a year of good and bad (July 2022 to present). Good health, good friends, good golf, and of course the rewards of teaching wonderful students ranging from high school to graduate degree students. The bad: Bad leadership, bad weather, bad baseball, and divisions we have in society in so many areas.

We will try and tackle a few of these good and bad as we get back into our blog. I plan of three blogs a month plus some special editions. We also plan on once a quarter podcast and some other surprises. 

We appreciate you staying with us, let’s get at it!

 

MARKET WEEK - To see what an economic soft landing looks like, search no further than business hiring.

Parts of the U.S. economy are cooling, just as the Federal Reserve would like to see to combat inflation. Yet the key to a measured, inflation-busting slowdown that does not sink the economy lies in whether companies hold on to workers or lay them off. The answer, so far, is clear: They are making a priority of keeping workers. July's jobs report on Friday will offer a fresh look at whether employers are continuing to resist large-scale staffing cuts.

Everyday investors are thriving in a world awash in yield.

Interest rates are hovering at their highest level in more than two decades. For individual investors, that has been an unexpected blessing. Although it is more expensive for consumers to borrow money now, they also have more options to put their cash to work. American households are earning an extra $121 billion from income on investments annually versus a year ago, according to Commerce Department data through June. In the coming days, investors will be parsing earnings reports from the likes of Apple, Amazon and Starbucks for insights into where consumers are spending their money as inflation eases and interest rates rise.

The U.S. economy continues its glide path to the elusive "soft landing," even in the face of 11 interest rate hikes and counting.

That is in large part because we spent the 15 years before the rate hikes steadily deleveraging and ensuring that debtors could not easily fall victim to a credit crunch.

Why it matters: Rate hikes in many other countries, especially the U.K., hurt most of the population rapidly, thanks to their high homeownership rate and how short-term their mortgages are.

The U.S. has positioned itself to withstand rate shocks much more easily.

Household and corporate debt is mostly fixed-rate rather than floating-rate, meaning that debt payments do not immediately rise when rates go up.

There is also less debt, overall, than there has been historically.

The bottom line: The good news is that the U.S. economy has shown that it can remain strong in the face of an ultra-aggressive rate-hiking cycle by the Fed.

The bad news is that rates might have to remain high for some time before the Fed feels comfortable bringing them back down to a more neutral level.

But we believe two major areas of the economy will have a recession in the next six months: (1). Television and film production, and (2). Higher education. Stay tuned to future blogs for analysis.

 

HEAT - How hot does it have to be for a month to be declared the hottest month on record when it is not even over yet?

Approximately 62.51 degrees Fahrenheit, which was the global average temperature for July through the 23rd day of the month. That makes it the hottest month ever (barring a sudden ice age), according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization.

Warning of the “existential threat of climate change,” the president announced policies yesterday aimed at protecting workers at high risk of heat-related illness or death on the job.

President Biden asked the Department of Labor to issue a heat hazard alert, which would mandate heat-related protections under federal law. Last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a law to eliminate local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers, saying it creates too much red tape for business.

The President also called for increased inspections on farms and construction sites.

Other industries are also adjusting to the record heat. In the fragile airline industry, which is already juggling huge demand and worker shortages, the heat is disrupting operations even further:

Warm air is less dense and requires planes to have longer runways and lighter weight to lift off, which can cause delays.

Workers on the tarmac need more frequent breaks from slinging Away suitcases.

It is difficult to cool down a plane once it has been disconnected from cooling units at the gate. Left idling, an aircraft’s cabin temperature can reach a dangerous level—such was the case with a Delta flight last week in Las Vegas. The airline is under investigation for leaving passengers on the tarmac in a sweltering plane without A/C for hours.

It is not going to get better soon. Forty percent of the US population was under a heat advisory yesterday as dangerous temps move East and roast the heavily populated I-95 corridor (hello from sweaty Brew HQ). Phoenix, AZ, can sympathize: Wednesday marked the 27th day in a row that temps reached 110 degrees.

 

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Kate Beckinsale (50); Ken Burns (70); Reggie Dunlop, “Give 'em the old-time hockey!”; Issam Ghazzawi…the best teacher at the University of La Verne; Corlan Harrison…a truly giving person; Mick Jagger (80); Lisa Kudrow (60); Norman Lear (101); Sandro Suffredini…the master of video games

 

TOP FIVE – Rink Rat Summer Movies

1). Oppenheimer

2). Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning

3). Living (Netflix)

4). You Hurt My Feelings

5). Asteroid City

 

STAT OF THE WEEK - Former President The Thing’s PAC has spent $40.2 million on legal costs to defend himself and his associates in the first half of this year, The Washington Post reports.

That is more than Save America — the PAC — raised in the second quarter of 2023 and brings the group's total spending on The Thing's post-presidential legal woes to around $56 million.

The former president is facing multiple criminal investigations at the state and federal levels, and he has been indicted in Florida and Manhattan.

Costs are adding up as Save America, which mostly raises money through small-dollar donations from The Thing supporters around the country, takes on the legal bills of almost anyone in the former president's orbit who has been pulled into the investigations.

 

HISTORY 101 - In the United States, Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran-contra and Whitewater never put a president in the dock. The only sitting president to see the inside of a police station as a defendant was Ulysses S. Grant, who was stopped for speeding down the streets of Washington in his horse-drawn carriage. He paid $20 and went on his way.

While no president has ever been indicted before, an early vice president, Aaron Burr, was put on trial for treason after leaving office for plotting to carve off Western territories into a new country, although he was acquitted. Nearly two centuries later, another vice president, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned amid a plea deal in a corruption case.

The Thing would not be barred from running for his old office by an indictment or even a conviction. In 1920, Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist leader, mounted his fifth bid for the White House from prison, where he was serving time for his opposition to World War I. He received 919,799 votes, or 3.4 percent of those cast. Of course, unlike The Thing, he was not a major-party candidate and had no prospects of winning.

At least a couple other presidents worried about being indicted after office. Richard M. Nixon was pardoned by his successor, Gerald R. Ford, a month after resigning, sparing him any prosecution in the Watergate scandal. Bill Clinton struck a deal with Whitewater prosecutors on his last full day in office in which he admitted providing false testimony under oath about his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky, gave up his law license for five years and paid a $25,000 fine in exchange for not facing charges as a private citizen.

 

BIDENOMICS - If Larry David were a macroeconomist, he’d probably tell you that the economy is doing pretty, pretty, pretty good. The real economists at Morgan Stanley have upgraded their prediction for this year’s US GDP growth by almost fourfold (to 1.9%), crediting the boost to “Bidenomics.”

Biden’s critics and supporters alike have embraced the term for the president’s economic philosophy. And now that POTUS has made it central to his reelection campaign, you are going to keep hearing it.

What does it mean? The backbone of Bidenomics is industrial policy, aka directing loads of government spending toward key industries like clean energy and semiconductor production. The goal is to make America a high-tech manufacturing hub that is less reliant on global supply chains while creating solid middle-class jobs.

It’s intended as a rejoinder to Reaganomics, the philosophy that reducing business regulations and cutting taxes for the rich juices spending, making wealth eventually trickle down through the economy.

But in Bidenomics, it is federal spending that drives the action.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act made $550 billion available for road repairs, broadband expansion, and electrical grid upgrades.

Chipmakers now have more reason to chip make in the US thanks to $52.7 billion in direct subsidies in the CHIPS and Science Act.

And companies involved in solar, wind, and clean hydrogen technologies can receive tax breaks and funding from the $500 billion Inflation Reduction Act.

The administration also doled out cash for social welfare, like temporarily expanding a tax rebate for families with children in 2021.

How is it going so far?

The White House has quickly branded recent strong economic data as a Bidenomics win. Experts were surprised by faster-than-expected 2.4% annualized GDP growth last quarter, partially due to government spending. Yearly inflation cooled to 3% last month after peaking at 9.1% a year prior, and the labor market remains strong.

Just how much credit Biden’s industrial push deserves for all that is up for debate. But there are some concrete industry investments stemming from the new laws:

Lured by federal subsidies, chipmakers plan to invest $210 billion in US factories and employ 44,000 people, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

And many foreign cleantech companies are reportedly looking to invest in the US, where incentives for their industry abound. Swiss solar battery-maker Meyer Burger indefinitely postponed plans to expand in Germany and wants to build a factory in Colorado Springs, CO, where it says it will hire 350 people.

Cheerful economic updates do not automatically turn workers into Biden supporters though—only 36% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the economy, per recent polling.

Many people are still spooked by months of predictions that a recession is near and feel like inflation has eaten into wage gains.

Looking ahead...it’s probably too soon to judge Bidenomics: Major government programs take time to work and can have unexpected complications and side effects—so its full impact may not be felt until well after the pundit chatter recedes.

Growth in key US inflation measure continues to slow.

The personal consumption expenditures price index—the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge—rose 0.2% month-over-month in June, up from 0.1% monthly growth in May. On a yearly basis, the index rose 3% in June, down from 3.8% growth in May and 4.3% in April. The index measures the costs consumers pay across a wide swath of items.

To see what an economic soft landing looks like, search no further than business hiring.

Parts of the U.S. economy are cooling, just as the Federal Reserve would like to see to combat inflation. Yet the key to a measured, inflation-busting slowdown that does not sink the economy lies in whether companies hold on to workers or lay them off. The answer, so far, is clear: They are making a priority of keeping workers. July's jobs report on Friday will offer a fresh look at whether employers are continuing to resist large-scale staffing cuts.

 

SCIENCE 101 - The month of August will be bookended by two supermoons — and the first will illuminate our night skies at the start of this week.

This month’s first full moon, nicknamed the Sturgeon Moon, will reach peak illumination at 2:32 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 1, and will be best viewed later that evening as it rises in the southeastern skies after sunset, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

This full moon is the second in a unique string of four supermoons in a row this summer. It will be followed by a supermoon blue moon — the second full moon to occur within one calendar month — on August 30.

A full moon is called a supermoon when it reaches peak fullness at the same time it reaches “perigree” — the moment when the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its roughly 28-day orbit cycle. This can cause the moon to appear larger and brighter than usual, especially when the moon is near the horizon as it rises.

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which publishes names for each full moon based on a variety of cultural sources, the August full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon because it coincides with the time of year historically associated with the season for catching sturgeon, a massive Great Lakes native fish with prehistoric origins. Moon names traditionally applied to the moon’s entire 28-day cycle, not just full moon itself.

 

OUT AND ABOUT – This past month a group of St. Lawrence hockey “old-timers” came together in Canton, New York for a reunion. A fantastic weekend was hosted by hockey coach Brent Brekke and associate athletic director Randy LaBrake. Golf, campus visits, Hoot Owl, and great stories highlighted the weekend. The best, touring the “old barn” Appleton Arena. What a great job by St. Lawrence in renovating the famous arena. The names of Yosh, Cat, Red Jet, Murph, Newfie, Lunar, Road Map, Hoot Owl, Hollywood, Breeder, Brousser, “O”, Bugsy, and Caper, will live on forever in this hockey haven.

 

 

THE SWAMI’S WEEK PICK –

MLB Game of the Week – Saturday 8/5, 1:05 PM (EDT), YES: Houston Astros (59-47) vs. New York Yankees (55-50). Both teams are battling for a wild card spot, Yanks are feeling the heat being 4.5 games behind the Astros. Also, Astros have the Yankees number. Houston wins 5 – 3 in the Bronx.

Season to Date (0 - 0)

 

Next Blog: A Recession in Higher Education

Until August 7, 2023, Adios.

Claremont, California

July 31, 2023

#XIV-1-452

 

2,637 words, four-minute read

 

RINK RATS POLL – Ocean or lake?

____ Ocean

____ Lake

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEK – “Fireworks Season”

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK – “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”  – Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

 

Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations, predictions, and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada, South America, and the United States.

Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010

Our Fourteenth Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com