Womack Investment Advisers

  necessity is the mother of invention… Businesses have been finding innovative solutions to labor issues forever. For example, dogs were once bred to cook, according to Popular Science’s podcast, The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week .   When people relied on fire to roast meat, the spit was an invaluable tool. However, turning a spit for hours wasn’t a popular job, so dogs were bred and trained to turn spits. “The first mention of the turnspit dog…was in 1576…The long story short here is that people bred terrier-like dogs to…fit easily into these treadmills that powered various kitchen aids, but primarily the roasting spit.”   By some accounts, the poor working conditions of turnspit dogs in New York hotels contributed to the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).   Today, pandemic labor shortages have sparked innovation. Companies that are having difficulty finding workers are adopting technological solutions. For example:   Mod

  Record prices for used cars and trucks were the biggest contributor to inflation last month, according to the government’s Consumer Price Index report.   Prices for used vehicles surged 7.3% just last month, following an even bigger 10% gain in April.   Why are the prices of used vehicles skyrocketing?    In short, there are more people buying cars than there are cars in the market.   New car trade-ins are usually the biggest source of used cars, but supply chain disruptions, especially a widespread of specialty semiconductors used by auto manufacturers, have limited availability of new vehicles—causing prices of scarce used vehicles to catapult higher.   The Manheim Vehicle Value Index, a widely-followed industry yardstick shown in the chart, was described by industry observers as “shocking”.   (Chart from Manheim) Best regards,  Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC. Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E. 15th Street - Edmond, OK  73013 California Office: 4660 L

come here Rona! Heel, Covi! Prior to the pandemic, The Economist reported Euromonitor anticipated, “…the number of pet cats worldwide to grow by 22 percent between 2018 and 2024, compared with 18 percent for dogs. Cats are better suited to apartment living than dogs, so they are more at home in the densely populated, fast-growing cities of Asia.” Then, the pandemic spurred a global pet and pet industry boom. In 2020, Americans spent $103.6 billion on their pets, reported the American Pet Products Association : Food and treats:                                              $42.0 billion Veterinarian care and products:                   $31.4 billion Supplies and medicines:                                $22.1 billion Other services:                                                $8.1 billion  Spending is expected to rise to $109.6 billion in 2021. Some tenacious pet owners have become “petfluencers” to offset the costs of pet ownership. They post pictures of their pets on social media.

  Pulling the economy out of the shed. If you’ve ever stored tools or machinery in a shed or garage for an extended period of time, you know they often need some care and repair to function properly. The same appears to be true of the pandemic economy. Economic growth in the United States is on the rebound. The latest report shows real gross domestic product, which is the value of all goods and services produced in our country, was up 6.4 percent annualized during the first quarter of 2021, an improvement from 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. Also, pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Americans have begun to spend more and save less, and there is high demand for goods and services. The economy appears to be primed for stronger growth, but there are some glitches in the system – namely labor and supply chains. For the second month in a row, the May U.S. employment report showed fewer jobs gains than anticipated, although the unemployment rate dropped from 6.1 percen

  As COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue here in North America, how exactly are we doing relative to the rest of the world?   It turns out, actually pretty well.   North America has now reached approximately 60% of its population vaccinated, followed closely by Europe at 48.5% of its population.   Surprisingly, the Asia-Pacific region has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world.    Analysts report that skepticism over the newly developed vaccines seems to be the common reason for hesitance everywhere, but even more so in Asia where fairly effective containment in the very early stages of the Covid-19 crisis seems to have led to a lower current sense of urgency.   Africa, at less than 5%, is reportedly stymied by a triple-whammy of suspicious populations, under-developed distribution networks and widespread shortages of vaccines.  Best regards,  Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC. Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E. 15th Street - Edmond, OK  73013 Ca

Are we at a tipping point?   One side effect of the pandemic was a collapse in demand for oil, which led to “the largest revision to the value of the oil industry’s assets in at least a decade,” reported Collin Eaton and Sarah McFarlane of The Wall Street Journal .   Last week brought another reckoning for big oil as a court ruling and shareholder influence made it clear companies need to revisit their strategies for emissions reductions and clean energy. Here’s what happened: Do it faster. In the Netherlands, a court ruled an Anglo-Dutch oil producer would need to lower its emissions by 45 percent from 2019 levels by 2030, far more quickly than the company had intended.   “Analysts said the…ruling could set a precedent for similar cases against the world’s biggest corporate polluters, which may now face related lawsuits and be forced to overhaul their business models,” reported Derek Brower and Anjli Raval of Financial Times .   Change direction. For weeks, a U.S. oil supermaj

  Despite the Fed’s insistence that the present jump in inflation readings is “transient” and “temporary”, indications of widespread inflation are becoming so numerous as to be overwhelming. Deutsche Bank maintains a data series it calls the “Inflation Data Surprises Index”, which monitors unexpectedly-high or –low inflation reports across the economy.   The current readings are the highest in the 20-year history of the index.   Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid described the last 10 data points as “almost off the chart”. Best regards,  Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC. Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E. 15th Street - Edmond, OK  73013 California Office: 4660 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. 100 - San Diego, CA 92122 Phone (405) 340-1717 - Toll Free (877) 340-1717   Website:   www.womackadvisers.com Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. (WIA) is a registered investment adviser whose principal office is located in Oklahoma. Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. is also regi

  What do markets hate?   They hate uncertainty, and recently there has been plenty of it. Some of the questions plaguing economists and pundits include:   Why aren’t people returning to work? Americans, like people in other parts of the world, have not been rejoining the workforce at the pace many had anticipated. One of the most frequently cited theories was explained by The Economist :   “In America businesspeople, almost to a pinstripe, are convinced that the $300-a-week boost to unemployment insurance explains the shortages. However, pundits do not agree on whether stimulus handouts really lead people to shirk. The evidence is hazy elsewhere, too…Australia ditched its job-protection scheme in March, and shortages have worsened.”   The unemployment data has inspired many theories about why jobs aren’t filling more quickly. These include fear of contracting COVID-19, low hourly pay, and lack of dependent care, to name a few. Some states recently modified unemployment program

  Single-family homes had their biggest price increase on record in the first quarter of this year.   With many analysts noting the real estate market is “white hot”, it might be helpful to look at a relative comparison of real estate to the other main source of U.S. homeowner wealth - the stock market.    The following graph from analytics firm Visual Capitalist shows the total return since 1990 of the U.S. National Home Price Index compared to the benchmark S&P 500 stock market index.   The Home Price Index has gone up a respectable 200% since 1990, but looks quite tame compared to the 1000% return from the S&P 500 over the same period. Best regards,  Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC. Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E. 15th Street - Edmond, OK  73013 California Office: 4660 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. 100 - San Diego, CA 92122 Phone (405) 340-1717 - Toll Free (877) 340-1717   Website:   www.womackadvisers.com Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. (WIA)

confidence is returning. The big news last week was the announcement from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that fully vaccinated Americans can resume normal activities without wearing masks or social distancing, except where required by law. Suffice it to say, people are ready to return to normal. Results from the latest Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus survey, conducted in early May, found Americans were feeling more optimistic. Among those surveyed: 59 percent had visited friends or relatives during the previous week. 54 percent had gone out to eat during the previous week. 31 percent had made plans for the summer. 18 percent had a stronger sense of emotional well-being, a six-point jump from the prior survey. 60 percent indicated trips to salons, barber shops, and spas were low- or no-risk activities, up six points from the last survey. If your exuberance about resuming “normal” life has been tempered by a reluctance to change the routines you’ve adopted during the pandemic, you’re

Uncle Inflation is here. Will he overstay his welcome? Ever since the financial crisis, central banks have pursued expansionary monetary policies to encourage reflation and avoid deflation. Well, it’s taken some time, but inflation is finally here. Last week, major stock indices in the United States moved lower after inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was four times higher than anticipated, reported Ben Levisohn of Barron’s . Higher inflation is the result of a supply and demand imbalance. As the pandemic has calmed in the United States, consumers have emerged eager to spend money – so eager that consumer spending is about 5.5 standard deviations above average. That’s a lot. The problem is finding stuff to buy. The Economist explained, “…red-hot demand is increasingly met slowly or not at all…Nowhere are shortages more acute than in America, where a boom is under way. Consumer spending is growing by over 10 percent at an annual rate, as people put to wor

  An interesting event occurred this past week.   The total market value of the 300 largest cryptocurrency assets surpassed the value of all physical U.S. dollars in circulation.   Statistician Willy Woo analyzed recent trading data and concluded this year’s bull run is different from the rest because speculative hands are not holding and seasoned investors – including banks and institutions - are buying up the slack at higher prices than ever.   “This cycle is different; the movement of coins to strong holders is unprecedented,” he summarized. Best regards,  Womack Investment Advisers, Inc.   WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC. Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E. 15th Street - Edmond, OK  73013 California Office: 4660 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. 100 - San Diego, CA 92122 Phone (405) 340-1717 - Toll Free (877) 340-1717   Website:   www.womackadvisers.com Womack Investment Advisers, Inc. (WIA) is a registered investment adviser whose principal office is located in Oklahoma. Womack Investment Ad

  There is a long-standing scientific theory about the size of a mammal’s body relative to its brain offers an indication of intelligence. The findings of a recent study seem to debunk that idea, reported Science Daily .   An international team of scientists investigated how the brain and body sizes of 1,400 living and extinct mammals evolved over time. They made several discoveries. One was significant changes in brain size happened after two cataclysmic events in Earth's history: a mass extinction and a climatic transition.   Not every mammal changed in the same ways. Elephants increased body and brain size. Dolphins and humans decreased body size and increased brain size. California sea lions increased body size without comparable increases in brain size. All have high intelligence.   “We've overturned a long-standing dogma that relative brain size can be equivocated with intelligence…Sometimes, relatively big brains can be the end result of a gradual decrease in body size t