Turkey Trot

 

Thanksgiving / Weekend Edition

It has been a while Rink Rats readers, almost two months, why so long you ask? Two words: writers block. It happens.

So, we move on, I have had my two Covid shots, a flu shot, my shingles shots, my Covid booster shot, so I am considered an Eternal.

The best time of the year is upon us, sports, eating, drinking, no classes, no politics (sort of).

To our Canadian readers who celebrated their Thanksgiving on October 11, please indulge me in acknowledging the American Thanksgiving weekend.

More specifically, the Turkey Trot. The time-honored celebration of running in freezing weather. The first Turkey Trot was in Buffalo, New York in 1896. Six participants ran eight kilometers (almost five miles). These days we run 5k or 10k or in my case a 0k.

It’s a classic Thanksgiving tradition: Go around the table and say what you’re grateful for. That’s not exactly a common practice on corporate earnings calls, we thought we’d highlight some of the things that business leaders said they were grateful for this month during presentations to analysts.

Most often, executives say they are thankful for investors and employees, the corporate equivalent of “friends and family” around the table. But some are grateful for other things, and if you can’t come up with something tomorrow when it’s your turn to express thanks, try one of these alternatives:

I, an executive officer of this company, am thankful …

“for the mortgage boom.” (Chris Cartwright of TransUnion)

“to the F.D.A.” (Stephen Hoge of Moderna)

“that our customers continue to wait for our products.” (Brittany Bagley of Sonos)

“to operate in a large and growing market.” (Neil Blumenthal of Warby Parker)

“for your interest in our company.” (Alexandre Bompard of Carrefour)

Thanksgiving weekend recs: 1) This new book on the history of HBO 2) 24 hours with Squid Game’s HoYeon Jung 3) King Richard

THANKSGIVING TRAVEL - U.S. travel has nearly rebounded from the pandemic, but a global return could take years.

Pumpkin pie in the sky... The TSA is prepping for what it expects to be the busiest travel day of the year (FYI: this Sunday). Just a year ago, the vaccine rollout hadn't even begun in the US. Now, 80% of Americans over age 12 have been vaccinated thanks to early vax access, and 18% of adults have received a booster. Last Friday, the FDA and CDC cleared Pfizer and Moderna boosters for all adults, making them widely available in time for the holidays.

Bags packed; potatoes mashed... The vax rollout has benefited travel companies, as Americans make up for lost vacays. US travelers are splurging 46% more on trips this year compared to pre-pandemic.

By air... Domestic air travel has almost completely recovered from its pandemic plunge, and Thanksgiving flyers are expected to hit pre-corona levels. Delta and American have returned to profitability. But they still expect revenue to be down by about 20% from pre-pandemic to end the year.

By road... T-giving trips are coming up for over 48M Americans. Too bad car-rental prices are up 75% from 2019. Not bad for companies like Hertz, whose sales soared 62% last quarter from the start of this year. With US gas prices at seven-year highs, oil giants like Exxon and Chevron could also benefit from holiday mileage.

By stay... Only about 22% of Americans plan to stay in hotels this season. Room prices have jumped as demand recovers, but sales at Hilton and Marriott are still down from pre-pandemic. Marriott’s international bookings plunged a whopping 40% from 2019, as overseas travel continues to lag US leisure. On the flip side, Airbnb just had its best quarter ever, as travelers embraced longer-term stays in rural cabins and yurts.

PSYCHOLOGY 101 - Reset your alarm: Waking up just an hour earlier than usual could reduce your risk of depression by 23%, according to a new study.⁠

And each hour earlier that you wake up, the better the benefit, according to the study. Past research has shown that there’s a link between chronotype, or a person’s physiologic preference for mornings or nights, and mood. Night owls, for example, are two times as likely to develop depression compared to morning people.⁠

COVID SURGE? - The seasonal pulse of this pandemic has public health officials bracing for a spike in cases and hospitalizations. Colder weather and holiday gatherings are poised to bring more people together inside, mingling households and broadening people’s exposure to unvaccinated (or at least un-boosted) loved ones. We’ve been here before. Elected officials and health officers are working to avoid a repeat.

The number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths recorded in 2021 has surpassed the toll in 2020, according to federal data and Johns Hopkins University, demonstrating the virus’s persistent menace.

The total number of reported deaths linked to the disease topped 770,800 on November 20, Johns Hopkins data show. This puts the pandemic-long total at more than twice the 385,343 Covid-19 deaths recorded last year, according to the most recent death-certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The spread of the highly contagious Delta variant and low vaccination rates in some communities were important factors, infectious-disease experts said. The milestone comes as Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations move higher again in places such as New England and the upper Midwest, with the seven-day average for new cases recently closer to 90,000 a day after it neared 70,000 last month.

Covid-19 has proven to be an enduring threat even in some of the most vaccinated places, many of which are confronting outbreaks again now, as the world prepares to live with and manage the disease for the long term. In Europe, parts of Austria, Germany and the Netherlands have imposed new restrictions in recent days after Covid-19 cases rose and hospitals came under strain.

 

POTUS - President Joe Biden will be spending his 45th Thanksgiving on Nantucket this year — a tradition broken only by the pandemic and the death of his son Beau Biden.

The family has been spending Thanksgiving there since 1975, when Biden was a first-term senator and a single dad to two boys. It was there, Biden wrote in the first chapter of his 2017 memoir “Promise Me, Dad,” that he and Jill Jacobs, soon to be Jill Biden, “started to talk seriously about a future together.”

It’s very clear that Biden loves the tradition, which he described as “splendid and enforced isolation” (probably a lot less true now that a Secret Service detail, comms staffers, and nosy reporters have joined them on the island). It’s also where Biden said Beau in November 2014 urged him to run for president.

With its quaint New England charm, pristine beaches, and Hallmark-like settings, the small island off of Cape Cod has a reputation as a ritzy getaway.

MARKET WEEK - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a historic low this week. Jobless claims dropped by 71,000 to 199,000, the lowest since mid-November 1969. But seasonal adjustments around the Thanksgiving holiday contributed significantly to the bigger-than-expected drop. Unadjusted, claims actually ticked up by more than 18,000 to nearly 259,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly ups and downs, also dropped — by 21,000 to just over 252,000, the lowest since mid-March 2020, when the pandemic slammed the economy.

Even while these numbers are good, don’t expect them to immediately change Americans’ negative perceptions of the economy. There’s still a major disconnect between these sorts of positive statistics and how everyday voters feel about their own finances. At the moment, it all comes back to fears about inflation — and growing concerns that Democrats aren’t doing enough to address it.

For 35 years, the discount chain Dollar Tree committed to selling almost everything for $1. Time has come to pass the buck: Prices for most items will increase to $1.25.

TARGET BREAKS FOR TURKEY - Target employees can finally spend their Thanksgiving like the rest of us: having a meltdown over forgetting to brine the turkey. The “come on, you need more travel mugs” retailer said yesterday that it will permanently shift to closing its doors on Thanksgiving, a change it made temporarily last year to limit crowds during the pandemic.

Some background: In the last 20 years, large retail chains started merging Black Friday into Thanksgiving to compete with online retailers like Amazon. But last year, Covid forced stores to rethink inviting hordes of people to climb over each other for a PS5.

Other large retailers like Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Walmart will also close for Thanksgiving this year, but haven’t decided if they’ll go full “spirit of the holiday season” and make it permanent, like Target has.

Big picture: Just because stores are closed on Thanksgiving doesn't mean people won't shop. For the past two years the holiday was the third-largest online shopping day on the calendar, behind Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

TOP FIVE THANKSGIVING MOVIES –

•          “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987)

•          “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1973)

•          “The Big Chill” (1983)

•          “Home for the Holidays” (1995)

•          “What’s Cooking” (2000)

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Traci Attman, Jamie Lee Curtis (63), Billie Jean King (78), Jack Meek …we hope enjoying retirement, Sarah Prosenko … an unsung hero of the University of La Verne, Senator Chuck Schumer (71).

 

O CANNABIS - If you live in Canada, love weed, and hate lines, then boy-oh-boy do we have the story for you. Uber is partnering with a Canadian cannabis retailer to allow customers in Ontario to order cannabis products through Uber Eats.

You can’t order special gummies as a side with your chicken parm just yet, though: It’s pickup only for now, with orders ready to be retrieved within the hour they’re placed in the Uber Eats app. Toronto-based Tokyo Smoke, which operates more than 50 dispensaries in Ontario, is handling the sales.

The move marks Uber’s first entry into the marijuana business. In October, the company closed its acquisition of alcohol delivery app Drizly for $1.1 billion, though Drizly’s cannabis delivery service, Lantern, wasn’t part of the deal.

In the States when? Rest assured; Uber wants to eventually send you a vape with that breakfast burrito. In April, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said “when the road is clear” the company will absolutely look into cannabis delivery in the US. Blocking the road, of course, are rules prohibiting the purchase of federally illegal products with a credit card and the fact that only 18 states currently allow for recreational cannabis use.

 

ROLLING STONES SET LIST DETROIT CONCERT NOVEMBER 15 –

"Street Fighting Man"

"You Got Me Rocking"

"19th Nervous Breakdown"

"Tumbling Dice"

"Ain't Too Proud to Beg"

"Wild Horses"

"You Can't Always Get What You Want"

"Living in a Ghost Town"

"Start Me Up"

"Honky Tonk Women"

"Connection"

"Before They Make Me Run"

"Miss You"

"Midnight Rambler"

"Paint It Black"

"Sympathy for the Devil"

"Jumpin' Jack Flash"

Encore:

"Gimme Shelter"

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

 

THE SWAMI’S WEEKEND PICKS –

NFL Football Pick of the Week – Thursday 11/25, 9:30 AM (PDT), Fox: Chicago Bears (3-7-0) vs. Detroit Lions (0-9-1). Two words: “Who cares!” Lions! 24 - 20.

College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 11/27, 12:00 PM (EDT)), #2 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1) vs. #5 Michigan Wolverines (10-1). The Bo's and the Woody's get together Saturday for their annual Big Ten (14) grudge match and it will be the 24th time both are ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll at kickoff. That's seven more than the next closest rivalries (Notre dame-USC and Nebraska-Oklahoma). This could be a classic, but also a classic dud: Blue wins 38 – 35.

2021 Season to Date (48-35)

 

Next Blog: Jackass of the Month and College hockey

Until November 30, 2021 Adios.

Claremont, California

November 25, 2021

#XII-4-4401

 

2,016  words, six-minute read

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – Peanuts, Charles Schulz

 

 

RINK RATS POLL – Does a baked ham belong as part of the Thanksgiving dinner?

___ Yes

___ No

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH – “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” – Mark Twain

 

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 Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com

 

Fourth Quarter

 

Weekend Edition

Happy October and happy weekend, everyone!

We begin the final quarter of 2021.

The good, the bad and the ugly: We begin October with an economy burdened by supply chain problems, inflation rising, help wanted a popular post on business front doors, stock markets fluctuating, the usual at the U.S. Congress, budget and debt ceiling undecided, lack of compromise and leadership. The Thing still controls 50% of this country

Besides this we begin October with higher education across the country at a loss to figure out changing demographics of their students and throughout the country you have the have and have nots among colleges and universities. University haves had record endowment returns June 30, 2021, federal covid aid funds balance budgets, meanwhile student debt at an all-time high and staff wages are reduced.

The Detroit Lions are 0-3, the best team in baseball is not Los Angeles but San Francisco. The National Hockey League season begins with new television partners (ESPN and TNT), and Clemson and Ohio State have already lost a football game.

An overwhelming majority of Americans who have died in recent months, a period in which the U.S. has offered broad access to shots, were unvaccinated. The latest deaths were concentrated in the South, and there were more young victims than at any other point in the pandemic. Every age group under 55 saw its highest death toll of the pandemic this August.

The new and alarming surge of deaths this summer, when the Delta variant was spreading, means that the coronavirus pandemic has become the deadliest in U.S. history, overtaking the toll from the influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919, which killed about 675,000 people.

The deaths that followed the wide availability of vaccines, one expert said, were “absolutely needless.”

US coronavirus deaths by month

Feb 2020: 1

Mar: 3,767

Apr: 58,960

May: 42,099

June: 23,416

July: 26,164

Aug: 30,234

Sept: 23,341

Oct: 23,691

Nov: 37,172

Dec: 77,124

 

Jan 2021: 96,377

Feb: 72,880

Mar: 39,393

Apr: 25,413

May: 18,357

June: 9,775

July: 8,541

Aug: 27,194

Sept: 58,062

 

Vaccination rates: 9/15/21

France: 72 percent

Canada: 68.7 percent

Italy: 66.3 percent

UK: 65.9 percent

Germany: 62.2 percent

America: 53.9 percent

 

Extreme Weather - From record-shattering temps in Oregon to Hurricane Ida in the East, weather disasters affected nearly 1 in 3 Americans this summer. These weather events, plus a new UN report that deemed climate change a “code red for humanity,” sparked more conversation around climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Will it lead to action? Democrats cited failures of our current system (like the NYC subway flooding) as justification for the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill they’re hoping to pass this week.

Supply Chain Madness - Turns out, the Ever Given being stuck in the Suez Canal was the least of our supply chain worries this year. Factory closures in Asia due to Covid-19 have prolonged bottlenecks, driving inflation higher and delaying your new couch from arriving.

Some stats that illustrate the brokenness of the global supply chain:

The chip shortage will cost $210 billion this year, according to a new estimate.

Nike said 80% of its shoe factories in Vietnam are closed.

This month, the line of container ships waiting to enter Los Angeles’s and Long Beach’s neighboring ports hit an all-time high of 65 vessels.

 

More Stats - There will be more weddings in the US in 2022 than in any year since 1984, according to market research firm The Wedding Report. It estimates that 2.5 million weddings will take place next year, compared to an average of 2.1 million weddings/year pre-pandemic and 1.2 million weddings in 2020.

Average pay at US supermarkets and restaurants hit $15/hour for the first time ever, according to the Washington Post. Nearly 80% of US workers now earn a minimum of $15/hour, compared to 60% in 2014.

More than 45% of young people surveyed across 10 countries said climate change caused them anxiety and affected their daily lives. 56% said they thought humanity was doomed.

Women accounted for a record 59.5% of college students at the end of the 2020–2021 school year, while men made up just 40.5%.

 

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Hal Assael ….famous educator and mentor, Karen Ball ….famous sister, Jeff Bracken …famous southern California rancher, President Jimmy Carter (97), Angie Dickinson (90),  Devorah Lieberman … POTULV, Karla Suffredini …famous sister.

 

MARKET WEEK - Inflation climbed at the quickest pace in 30 years as supply chain issues continue.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred price gauge, rose by 4.3 percent in the year through August. That beat out the July reading of 4.2 percent, another three-decade high. Officials at the Fed are watching those trends as they consider when to remove the economic support that the central bank has been providing during the pandemic.

The U.S. is not alone: Inflation in the eurozone climbed to 3.4 percent in September from a year earlier, the highest in 13 years.

The S&P closed out a bumpy September in the red, its first monthly loss since 2020 (still, it was positive for the third quarter, which ended yesterday). Bed Bath & Beyond, a meme stock fave, plummeted more than 22% yesterday due to declining store traffic and, what else, supply chain snags.

US mortgage rates topped 3% for the first time since early July, tracking rising bond yields. Higher borrowing costs could potentially slow homebuyers’ roll.

Government shutdown: It was avoided with hours to spare. Biden signed a stopgap spending bill that extends government spending through Dec. 3, when Congress will have to figure out another short- or long-term solution. This bill also includes billions of dollars for Afghan refugee resettlement and aid for communities hit by recent hurricanes.

Debt ceiling: Congress has until Oct. 18 to suspend or raise the debt ceiling before the US begins defaulting on its loans, an outcome that would likely be catastrophic for the economy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is planning a vote on the debt ceiling as soon as next week (lots of luck with that).

Pandemic discount, we hardly knew ye—rental prices in the US are skyrocketing. The median national rent for a one-bedroom apartment is up 10.7% from March 2020, while two-bedrooms are up 13%, according to the Zumper National Rent Report.

Double digit increases are…not common. For context, 2020 rents increased 1% from the previous year, and 2019 rents were stagnant compared to 2018. It’s a “shocking level of growth, especially considering the vast majority of it has come in the last nine months,” wrote Jeff Andrews, the author of the report.

Why the surge? To put it simply, demand is back. Gen Z renters are moving out of their childhood homes after a long pandemic, remote-working millennials are picking apartments in more affordable cities, and baby boomers are offloading their homes in a seller’s market, opting for rentals instead.

Phoenix, where the one-bedroom median rent increased 24.8% between January and September.

New York City, where some rents have increased 70% since the dog days of the pandemic.

MLB FINAL WEEKEND - There's a lot on the line in MLB's final regular-season weekend, though a couple things wrapped up Thursday in Atlanta and Houston.

NL East: The Braves swept — and eliminated — the Phillies to win their fourth straight title. Atlanta spent 126 days without a winning record, the most for a division winner since the 1989 Blue Jays.

AL Wild Card: The Yankees (91-68) lead the pack, the Red Sox and Mariners (89-70) are tied for the second spot, and the Blue Jays (88-71) are still very much alive. Prepare for some beautiful chaos.

NL West: The Giants (105-54) and Dodgers (103-56) remain separated by two games. Just how good has San Francisco been? L.A. is 41-13 since adding Trea Turner and Max Scherzer ... and they've gained just one game in that stretch.

AL West: The Astros beat the Rays to clinch their fourth AL West title in five years.

ON THIS DATE - Fifty years ago today, the world got a little smaller when the Magic Kingdom first opened at Disney World in Florida. Stats to ponder:

Admission in 1971 was $3.50 for adults and $1 for children. It's $109 now.

The FAA has designated Disney World a “no-fly zone,” a level of security typically afforded to places like the White House and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Disney’s bus fleet is the third largest fleet of any Florida transportation system. (I wish I had bought Disney stock 50 years ago and never sold.)

TOP FIVE – Five decades after the first James Bond movie, the wildly popular British spy film franchise releases its much-anticipated 25th canonical installment Friday with “No Time to Die,” marking star Daniel Craig’s final turn as the suave superspy.

Rink Rats top five James Bond movies:

1.         Goldfinger (1964)

2.         Spectre (2015)

3.         Golden Eye (1995)

4.         Skyfall (2012)

5.         Dr. No (1962)

 

THE SWAMI’S WEEKEND PICKS –

NFL Football Pick of the Week – Monday 10/4, 5:15 PM (PT), ESPN: Las Vegas Raiders (3-0) at Los Angeles Chargers (2-1). One word: Raiders! 30 – 27. (Season to Date 1-2)

College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/2, 12:00 PM (PT), #8 Arkansas Razorbacks (4-0) at #2 Georgia Bulldogs (4-0). SEC at it’s best, Razorbacks in an upset, 35 – 32. (Season to Date 3-1)

D-III College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/2, 1:00 PM (ET) ESPN+: #21 Hobart Statesmen (4-0) at #17 Ithaca College Bombers (3-0). A key Empire 8 contest, there will 6,000 strong at Butterfield Stadium for this one. Bombers in an upset, 24 – 17.  (Season to Date 2-2)

MLB Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/2, 1:00 PM (ET) TBS: Tampa Bay Rays (98-61) at New York Yankees (91-68). Final Saturday of the season, Yanks have to win to clinch a wild-card game on Tuesday. Yanks 5 – 4. (Season to Date (8-7)

2021 Season to Date (46-33)

 

Next Blog: Jackass of the Month, College Hockey Preview, Third Quarter Numbers

Until Monday October 11, 2021 Adios.

Claremont, California

October 1, 2021

#XII-3-440

 

1,787 words, five-minute read

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – Amy Hwang, Time to be a Cat All Day

 

 

RINK RATS POLL – Are you Covid vaccinated?

___ Yes

___ No

___ None of your business

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH – "Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change." – Bob Kerry

 

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 Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com

Men and Women of Honor

We have a special edition of Rink Rats this last day of August.

The last couple of weeks America has been on edge with the events in Afghanistan.

Our family has been directly involved in these events with our husband, father, grandson, son, nephew, and cousin: Captain Geoff Ball’s company was stationed at Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport.

Captain Ball posted this week a tribute to the nine men and women under his command who lost their life in a bombing at the Abbey Gate. Many news agencies have posted this posting in the last few days.

 

On August 26, at around 1730, Ghost Company was rushing to save as many people as possible at the Abbey Gate before we were required to cease processing evacuees. We were supposed to have stopped an hour earlier, but we decided to keep working for an additional hour in hopes of finding more passport holders or Green Cards. Alongside many other members of 2/1, the Army, and British Paratroopers, the Marines and Sailors of Ghost, were pulling families out of the canal when a suicide bomber detonated his device from the other side of the water. All those working to save Afghans and Americans were fully exposed to the blast.

Nine of my Marines and Sailors gave their lives so that others may live, and almost 20 other members of the company were wounded by their side. Up until that moment, I did not believe I could ever be more proud of their efforts, by the way they handled the surging crowds and chaos all week, but they proved me wrong.

A mass casualty event is something we prepared and trained for - especially our incredibly corpsmen. It is defined by having fewer resources than necessary to process and handle those wounded. In our case, we had a third of our entire force to care for in a split second. But in less than 20 minutes after the bomb detonated, we had our first wounded at the airport hospital, and this included a ten-minute drive time. Senior leaders at the operations center remarked they had never seen a MASSCAS response move so quickly. The entire V21 team worked incredibly smoothly and efficiently during this moment, and we lived up to our name, The Professionals. We held security, we moved our wounded, and due to our training, likely saved more than we should have.

If Ghost Company is anything- it is a family. It is resilient and it is cohesive. In less than 24 hours after we returned to our billeting area after the attack, the company was back on the line and watching over evacuees. As my First Sergeant and I walked the lines that night, we saw the airport flag at half-mast, and we raised it back up. There is no breaking this company.

The Marines of Ghost and the rest of the V21 family were magnificent. Not only in that moment of horror, but throughout an entire week of the most indescribable tragedy one could ever witness. Our combined efforts kept the Abbey Gate open when many others closed - only pausing when the Dept of State couldn’t process evacuees fast enough. As a result, V21 and the British Parachute Regiment processed over 30,000 people through the Abbey Gate.

There is no greater honor for a Marine to be called to save Americans. To be the last on deck as those who need our help are pulled to safety. To lay down our lives for others. That is what my Marines did. They will always be my heroes.

To support our families, and the families of those who lost loved ones alongside us, please consider donating to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (https://www.taps.org) They will be providing care to us for a long time to come. Please consider sharing this post as well so that people may know our story and in hopes of increasing support to an organization that I have personally served for, and I know will provide the comfort we need.

Semper Fidelis.

 

 

 

 

Next Blog:  “Dog Days of Summer”

 

Until Friday September 3, 2021 Adios.

Claremont, California

August 31, 2021

#XII-2-439

 

755 words, three-minute read.

 

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 Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com

idk

 Weekend Edition

Well, it has been over two months since our last Rink Rats. Where has RR been? “I don’t know” (idk).

Seriously, for the last week I thought about what I have been doing since April 30: a trip to Michigan, closing the academic year with grades, recommendation letters, and the usual higher education bureaucracy.  Plus, a full summer session online teaching schedule, why? idk

A trip to Vegas planned, cancelled, a trip to wine country planned, cancelled. Why cancelled? idk

I have been placed on the DL (disabled list) with an injured shoulder. How I injured it? idk

Naturally, I have been following the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Swami picked a Toronto vs. Colorado final – Why? idk Note: Tampa Bay won in five games over Montreal. Montreal, how did the lowest team in the playoff qualifying get to the finals? idk

The last two months I have been slowly coming out of the pandemic mode: restaurants, no bars yet, one thing I forgot about due to the pandemic and now remember, I am not a big fan of people. Why? idk

I have been following the antics of The Thing, why people continue to pay attention to this creature? idk

So, we are back, did you miss us? idk

One thing I do know, I missed you all.

 

BEE BEST - Zaila Avant-garde, an eight-grader from Louisiana, just became the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. And for Zaila, spelling is a side gig. She was already known for her hoops. "She currently holds three Guinness world records for her basketball skills, including a record for most bounce juggles in one minute with four basketballs." (Making her a promising avant-Guard.) Not cool enough? Check out who she thanked after the victory. "I'd like to say thank you to Bill Murray because the reason I knew that word ‘murraya' was because of the movie Lost in Translation, which when I was a little kid I used to listen to the soundtrack and so that's how that word was stuck in my head because it was spelled like Bill Murray's name."

 

TWO WORLDS - On the same day the Tokyo Olympics announced that venues will be empty, MLB announced that all 30 ballparks are now at 100% capacity.

This all feels very 2020, when the return of sports necessitated extraordinary measures and the "bubble" concept was born.

Those isolated environments were the only way forward last year. But with cases falling and vaccines becoming available, empty venues have mostly become a thing of the past.

And yet this month, the world's biggest sporting event will be held in a bubble, in a country where just 15% of residents are fully vaccinated.

While the Games may still end up captivating TV audiences, the on-the-ground experience in Tokyo is going to be bizarre.

Athletes will be tested daily upon arrival and will be forced to withdraw if they test positive once the Games are underway.

Most aren't in Tokyo yet, but at least three have already tested positive and been put in isolation since getting there.

Organizers had an extra year to plan for the strangest Olympics in history. But here we are, 14 days out, and they appear to be flying by the seat of their pants.

 

MARKET WEEK - After a bumpy Thursday when investors questioned economic growth prospects, stocks rebounded to close at all-time highs. Biogen stock fell after the FDA’s acting head called for a federal investigation into the controversial approval of the company’s Alzhiemer’s drug.

Covid: The CDC released new guidance around school reopenings this fall. It wants schools to stay open for in-person instruction and said teachers and students who are vaccinated don’t need to wear masks or physically distance.

 Penalty: 15 US states reached a deal with OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, bringing the big opioids case closer to its anticipated $4.5B settlement.

Stable: Crypto firm Circle, which operates one of Earth's largest dollar-pegged stablecoins, is going public at a $4.5B valuation.

Swiped: Wells Fargo is shutting down all personal credit lines this month — customers weren't thrilled.

Freight: President Biden is expected to pass an exec order to curb the dominance of companies in the ocean shipping and railroad industries.

IOU: Borrowing is back — Americans are signing up for credit cards and car loans in record numbers.

Feature: How the Trump Presidency took a toll on Mark Zuckerberg's and Sheryl Sandberg's partnership. Hint: it’s political.

Risk Free Interest Rate - The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which serves as a benchmark for interest rates across the US economy, fell for an eighth straight day yesterday to below 1.3%—the lowest level since February. Since bond prices and yields move in opposite directions, falling yields signal higher demand for Treasuries.

At the most basic level, the 10-year yield is a key indicator of investors’ confidence in future US economic growth. As the Delta variant spreads and threatens to slow the economic recovery, the fall in yields means investors are souring on a mega growth spurt and snapping up safer assets rather than riskier stocks.

For months, the United States has been experiencing the growing pains of an economy rebooting itself — surging economic activity, yes, but also shortages, gummed-up supply networks and higher prices. Now, shifts in financial markets point to a reversal of that economic narrative. Specifically, the bond market has swung in ways that suggest that a period of slower growth and more subdued inflation could lie ahead.

What does this mean for inflation? Because investors sell bonds when they think inflation is coming, the runup in bond prices means the worst of Wall Street's inflation concerns may be over. “It feels like we have moved from thinking inflation will be transitory, to fearing growth will be transitory,” Art Hogan, chief marketing strategist at National Securities, said.

 

TAX MAN – Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (Country Day ‘73) made news for two different reasons on Thursday: Joining the $100 billion club, and paying lower tax rates than Staples Center concessions workers.

$100B club: Due to a surge in tech stock prices, the former Microsoft CEO is now one of just nine people in the $100 billion club and has passed Mukesh Ambani, owner of the Mumbai Indians (cricket), as the world's richest sports owner.

Tax investigation: A ProPublica investigation titled, "The Billionaire Playbook," focused heavily on Ballmer and examined how owners — legally — use their sports teams to avoid millions in taxes and inform the IRS that they're losing money when, in fact, they're printing it.

 

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this weekend to Larry David (74), Tom Hanks (65).

 

CHRONICLES OF HIGHER EDUCATION - President Biden’s plan to make community colleges free for all students comes at a critical time: The pandemic led to a steep decline in college enrollment, particularly for low-income and minority students. And businesses have struggled to fill vacancies, as the economy adds jobs at a rapid rate.

Proponents of the proposal, which would cost $109 billion over 10 years and is part of Mr. Biden’s American Families Plan, argue that community colleges can help solve both of these problems while also boosting local economies. In addition to paying for tuition, the plan would allocate resources for community colleges to build programs that addressed skills shortages. And a number of economic studies have suggested that increasing the percentage of college graduates benefits everyone, not just the students who received grants to go to college.

But, most Americans have doubts about the effectiveness of community colleges, with only 12 percent believing community college degrees prepare people “very well” for the work force, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey. Mr. Biden’s plan, which if passed would be funded through tax increases on the wealthy, faces resistance from Republican politicians who say community colleges consistently underperform, with only about a third of students graduating.

The debate is muddled by insufficient data. Few detailed studies have looked at how community colleges affect students’ earnings in the long term, and while 15 states have programs that offer tuition-free community college to anyone, regardless of high school grades or income, most of these programs are too new to have shown meaningful results.

Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, said that while the Biden program would undoubtedly raise the number of college graduates, more needed to be done to combat wealth inequality. “This thing is not a silver bullet,” he said. “Every dollar you give to a university ought to have a string attached to it,” he said, adding that too many schools are educating students in areas where no jobs are available. “There are huge amounts of money being committed without really strong evidence,”

 

ON THIS DATE – 1974, the first barcode was scanned in an Ohio supermarket, a pack of gum.

 

LA COUPE STANLEY - Nearly a year after being crowned kings of the bubble, the Lightning edged the Canadiens, 1-0, in front of a capacity home crowd Wednesday night to win their second straight Stanley Cup.

The Lightning are the ninth franchise to repeat as champions and fifth non-Original Six team, joining the Flyers, Islanders, Oilers and Penguins.

"It's like we won two completely different Stanley Cups, and that's what makes it extremely special for us. You do one without fans and then you do one in your own building. We couldn't have written the script any better."

— Coach Jon Cooper

Dynasty, confirmed: The Lightning have 70 playoff wins since their 2015 run to the Final (lost to the Blackhawks). That's 28 more than any other team — and an average of 10 wins per postseason.

Champa Bay: Prior to 2020, the Lightning, Buccaneers and Rays had a combined four championship series appearances and two titles. In the last two years alone, they have four appearances and three titles.

Utter domination: Over the past two postseasons, Tampa Bay had a +50 goal differential and never lost two games in a row.

Three-Pat: Pat Maroon, who won the 2019 title with the Blues before moving to the Lightning, is the first player to win three straight Stanley Cups since multiple players did so with the 1980s Islanders.

Playoff MVP: Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) and had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating back to the 2020 final.

End of an era ... Wednesday's game was NBC's last NHL broadcast for at least seven years. ESPN and TNT, the ice is yours.

 

WEEKEND SPORTS - The marketing folks at ESPN are calling this the “Weekend of Champions,” and they’re not wrong. Sports fans will be treated to the Wimbledon finals, Argentina vs. Brazil in the Copa América final, England vs. Italy in the Euro final, an NBA Finals game, and the rubber match of Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

Lots to watch this weekend, especially for soccer fans. Some highlights...

 

⚽️ Euro final: England hosts Italy at Wembley Stadium on Sunday (3pm ET) in one of the biggest European soccer matches in years. A petition for a national holiday if England wins already has over 300,000 signatures. The SWAMI has Italy winning 2-1.

 

🎾 Wimbledon: The women’s final is today, the SWAMI picks Ash Barty, the men’s final is Sunday, who else, the SWAMI picks Novak Djokovic

 

⚽️ Copa América final: Brazil vs. Argentina. Neymar vs. Messi. There's a case to be made that this is an even bigger game than the Euro final. Kickoff: 8pm ET, Saturday. The SWAMI likes Brazil, 3-2.

 

🏀 NBA Finals, Game 3: The series heads to Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks are 7-1 this postseason. The SWAMI has the Suns in six.

 

⚽️ Gold Cup: CONCACAF's continental contest begins Saturday. The U.S. kicks off Sunday alongside Canada, Martinique and Haiti in Group B, while tournament favorite Mexico is in Group A alongside El Salvador, Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago. The SWAMI likes Mexico to win it all.

 

🥊 McGregor-Poirier 3: Las Vegas hosts one of the biggest fights of the year on Saturday night, with Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier meeting in a rubber match in the lightweight main event of UFC 264. The SWAMI picks…idk

 

⚾️ 2021 MLB All-Star game is Tuesday July 13, the SWAMI likes Shohei Ohtani in the home run derby and to win the game American or National, idk

 

CONGRATS – I know this is late, but congratulations to all the recent graduates. It has been an interesting two years. In fact, in the months of May/June I went to ten graduations, or was it nine? For the same institution.

A special congrats to my niece Maria S. Who graduated top in her class, Maria will be studying environmental engineering this fall at, get this, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York. Her Uncle Buck will not be visiting the Clarkson campus, due to personal history (I have a police record in Potsdam). 😊

 

BREAKING NEWS – A possible St. Lawrence football/hockey reunion is coming this October 15-17; get your vaccinations, your parole reports, and your thirst. Stay tuned for details.

 

Next Blog: “But It’s a Dry Heat”

 

Until Monday July 19, 2021, Adios.

Claremont, California

July 10, 2021

#XII-1-438

 

2,309 words, four-minute read.

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – The Real Real Estate Market

 

RINK RATS WEEKEND POLL – Over or under?

____ over

____ under

 

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: “The more educated someone is, the less likely it usually is for them to say that they do not know, when they do not know.”

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

 

 

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 Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com