From yesterday

Markets ground higher. Dunno why, that’s just what they do. The writing expensive calls strategy seems to be working. Got nervous and put more trailing stops in place. I collected a list of gold and silver miners. They probably are worth looking into a bit. Some are very small, so one would be mad to have more than a tiny flutter on those. There is some evidence that an old drug helps those who are on ventilators as a result of catching Covid-19. A slender pillar to support a rally.

Today

Some news of the UK govt. cutting some spending on pensions. Powell gave some testimony to the Congress banking committee, didn’t say very much of note (as far as I can tell). Stocks grind higher. The appearance before the Senate banking panel seems not to have yet caused any excitement. From the odd fevered comment on Twitter he’s doubling down. I saw something about him saying that he did not see any shrinking of the balance sheet, which is scarcely controversial.

Interesting reads

This article on apartment rent levels in the USA came out a while ago. Wolf Richer produces some amazing research. I’m not really interested in the US rental market, but it might shed some light on the UK one, which I am interested in.

That’s all, folks!