The steep increase in credit card defaults in 1Q’17 and 4Q’16 was the largest since 2009, according to a report by Moody’s, which suggests that the US consumer is getting progressively weaker and is unable to support the spending needed to keep the US economy afloat.

Three years after legalizing cannabis, Colorado has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. According to Governor John Hickenlooper, multiple factors have contributed to Colorado’s job growth, including the state’s business-friendly policies and the state’s very low business tax rate. One of the main factors in Colorado’s successful economy, however, is undeniably the cannabis industry.

If this China-Saudi deal happens – yuan for oil – it’s another step closer to the grave for the petrodollar, which has dominated global finance since 1974.

Headlines blast that the US has enjoyed 80 months of continuous jobs growth with unemployment hitting 4.3% – the lowest since 2001. However, there is more to this “strong” number than meets the untrained eye.

If working is the price we pay to obtain things we want, then economic progress has always consisted of decreasing this price thanks to perpetual productivity growth.

Recently, the price of a Bitcoin has skyrocketed. Two explanations suggest themselves…

“Almost nine years later, household debt has finally exceeded its 2008 peak. This record debt level is neither a reason to celebrate nor a cause for alarm. But it does provide an opportune moment to consider debt performance,” said Donghoon Lee, Research Officer at the New York Fed.

The average gasoline tax in the U.S. is 49.5 cents per gallon, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute. That’s not too bad as far as averages go, but it has been climbing over the last five years and it will continue rising as states lose hope that the federal government will chip in for infrastructure construction and maintenance, and transportation.

“The automakers have flooded the market…”

For the 17th week in a row (longest stretch in 6 years), the number of US oil rigs rose (by 9 to 712). This is the highest since April 2015 as US Crude production follows its lead to within 2% of record highs…

The system used by the Dept. of Education to collect on defaulted student loans came to a standstill in the last month, leaving an estimated 91,000 accounts in limbo, when the agency ordered debt collectors under contract to stop making collections on accounts. Consumers who expected their student loan payments to be deducted from their bank accounts this month have reportedly found the funds untouched, and their calls to the companies unanswered thanks to a Department of Education’s order prohibiting the debt collection companies from working on default accounts in response to two lawsuits against the agency.

“…More than 4 in 10 Americans with debt (45%) spend up to half of their monthly income on debt repayment…”

There are a lot of news reports today about Trump’s decision to impose stiff tariffs on American companies (home builders) who buy Canadian lumber. But, it is more accurate to report that Trump has just slapped stiff 20% tariffs (lumber taxes) on the American people, not Canada.

While most mall owners have been worrying about how to fill up the inside of their stores after a litany of retail bankruptcies, they apparently overlooked another very ‘valuable’ asset: their empty parking lots.

The Russian central bank opened its first overseas office in Beijing on March 14, marking a step forward in forging a Beijing-Moscow alliance to bypass the US dollar in the global monetary system, and to phase-in a gold-backed standard of trade.