Investment Watch Blog

As policymakers nationwide consider minimum wage hikes, executives at McDonald’s are testing new ways to automate their restaurants. During an investor conference last week, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski announced that the fast food giant is experimenting with voice-ordering technology at ten restaurants in the Chicago area. The system is reportedly 85% accurate. Kempczinski believes that … Read more

President Biden is headed to Europe on Wednesday, an inopportune time for his first foreign trip as president as his domestic priorities hit the rocks. The president cut off infrastructure negotiations on Tuesday with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), who was the top GOP negotiator in the Senate on the issue, after their discussion on … Read more

No wonder the Biden administration chose to release their 2022 budget just before a long holiday weekend. It’s a common Washington practice for releasing news that officials hope will go unnoticed. Biden’s defense budget offers little to improve any of the uniformed services, but it would absolutely devastate the readiness of the U.S. Army. The … Read more

This is the first in a three-part series. Victoria Perez spent 10 months as a migrant smuggler. When agents finally caught up with her, she told them she had made $200,000 over that time, working two days a week, driving migrants through a Border Patrol highway checkpoint near El Paso, Texas. She charged $1,500 per … Read more

via thedailybeast: Zuckerberg finally stands exposed as a leading member of the new techno-aristocracy manipulating the world and shaping our society to fit their own world view, while getting ever richer in the process. This ascendency offers little for most Americans, even as Americans have provided so much to Zuckerberg and his ilk as tech … Read more

Rep. Greene fully endorses the idea of if Republicans take back the House of Representatives, electing President Trump as Speaker of the House. https://populist.press/marjorie-taylor-greene-drops-big-bomb-on-bannons-war-room/  

One month ago, we shared how ranchers were waiting for their pastures to green up to turn the cattle out. Now, we’re sharing the tough decision these men and women have to make. “Our situation is getting pretty dire and ugly,” said David Bohl. https://www.kxnet.com/news/top-stories/ranchers-forced-to-sell-4200-head-of-cattle-as-drought-conditions-worsen/   AC

via pjmedia: The “Baltimore sage” H. L. Mencken said “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” And so it was with defunding the police and its ideological companion, critical race theory. Defunding police was a simple-minded attempt to grapple with complex problems, not all of which are real … Read more

Even though you can buy things with bitcoin, it’s not the same as cash. At least not in the eyes of the IRS. Virtual currencies are taxed as property, or as an investment, when you sell them. And using them to buy something counts as selling. If you’re paid in bitcoin, on the other hand, … Read more

The very richest Americans win at the tax game no matter which measure you use. ProPublica has published an article, based on a vast trove of never-before-seen IRS information, that reveals the pittance in taxes the ultrawealthy pay compared with their massive wealth accumulation. But that trove of IRS data also reveals new information on how … Read more

Whitehouse and Kennedy request Supreme Court travel records Two key senators want travel records of Supreme Court justices as part of a broader congressional look at financial disclosure standards for the receipt of gifts, travel and other financial gains by senior government officials. Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy … Read more

  via CNN: Steel, lumber, plastic and fuel. Corn, soybeans, sugar and sunflower oil. Houses, cars, diapers and toilet paper. Prices are rising almost everywhere you look. The post-pandemic recovery is in full swing and the global economy is struggling to keep up. Following a collapse at the start of the pandemic as businesses closed … Read more

almost got to half a trillion *46 COUNTERPARTIES TAKE $497.4B AT FED'S FIXED-RATE REVERSE REPO pic.twitter.com/CK5PcTrnvN — Brian Chappatta (@BChappatta) June 8, 2021 TRADERS LAST WEEK SPENT $11.6 BILLION ON OPTIONS CONTRACTS TIED TO $AMC, MORE THAN ON $SPY, $QQQ AND $TSLA COMBINED -CBOE — FXHedge (@Fxhedgers) June 9, 2021 https://twitter.com/DereckCoatney/status/1402357280209784833 https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1402340262781886468 More than ever, … Read more

OUCH! #Bitcoin extends losses as traders eye $30K. pic.twitter.com/ZStFGGNJjj — Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) June 8, 2021 $BTC bitcoin pic.twitter.com/8f2UWQAsmC — Álvaro Oviedo (@alvoviedo) June 8, 2021 Coinbase trying to send a message… pic.twitter.com/3gNWa0JeQ7 — Gannon Breslin (@gannonbreslin) June 8, 2021 MicroStrategy proposed $400 Million in bonds to buy more #bitcoin and they got $1.6 Billion … Read more