1) The economic balance in US trade deficient soared last year to $621 billion dollars, the highest level in ten years. Exports from the US fell 1.9% while imports rose 2.1%. The deficient with China was $419 billion dollars. The strong US economy is considered a factor in the increase of the imbalance.
2) Italy’s experiment with Universal Basic Income is having dismal results, with Italy’s poverty and unemployment rising. The intent of the program was to alleviate poverty and address it’s high unemployment, for Italy has the highest unemployment rate in Europe. Finland tried the same scheme, but scraped it’s program after two years. The European Union is taking exception to Italy’s spending habits.
3) The General Motor’s Lordstown plant is shutting down with the loss of 5,400 jobs. This shows that despite the booming job market in America, the economy is still leaving people behind. Major problem is the workers are older and lack the computer and technical knowledge to retrain for other job fields.
4) 6 MAR 19 Stock market closings:
Dow 25,673.46 down 133.17
Nasdaq 7,505.92 down 70.44
S&P 500 2,771.45 down 18.20
10 Year Yield: down at 2.69%
Oil: down at $56.15