The NFIB, CPI, Michigan Consumer Sentiment, Gold, Bitcoin, Weed, Victor Ellis, and WFH.
The Week in Numbers
The NFIB – National Federation of Independent Business – came out with its June index.
It seems that some businesses are feeling positive.
The NFIB Optimism Index rose to 97.4 (from 95.3 in May) as owners became more confident about future sales and business conditions. That’ll give you a nice buzz.
But… inflation and high borrowing costs remain significant concerns. Buzzkill.
And then there is the CPI. I mentioned we should keep an eye on this. Well…
The Consumer Price Index year-over-year inflation measurement came in at 3.5%, down from 4.2%.
The core measurement – excluding food and energy, like gas – came in at 2.6%, down from 2.9%.
Both beat expectations, so the market went up.
The University of Michigan consumer survey went from 48.9 in June to 54.4 in July. Mind you, this is the preliminary report, but that is pretty significant.
Expectations were for 50.5, and it was primarily driven by the drop in the price of energy.
Additionally, consumers reported significantly better attitudes toward buying durable goods, business conditions over the next year, and their own financial outlook.
America 250!!
Millionaires & Billionaires
UBS, in its annual report on global wealth, released the following figures on the world’s millionaires. Keep in mind that these figures include property values.
In 2025, over 440,000 people became millionaires in the United States. That’s what a rising stock market will do.
And property values in California.
Here is the millionaire count in selected countries:
USA – 23,600,000
Mainland China – 5,300,000
Japan and South Korea – 4,200,000
Germany, UK, France, Italy and Netherlands – 9.900,000
While real estate does play a role, 79% of the wealth is tied up in financial securities, like stocks and bonds. Hence the importance of a 401k.
While the growth in 2025 is impressive, it only represents a 1.8% increase.
Lithuania added 921 millionaires, representing an 8% growth rate.
Hmm. One of the hottest industries in Lithuania is Information Technology. Coincidence? I think not!
Bits & Pieces
Don’t look now, but gold is $4,023 an ounce, down from a high of $5,318 in January.
Just think: at the beginning of 2024, it was $2000.
If you feel bad about that, then you really won’t want to look at the price of bitcoin. It’s $64,986, down from $122,260 in October of last year. However, at the beginning of 2024 it was $42,141.
Either way, you're still doing ok considering one is a piece of metal and the other a collection of bits and bytes.
In 2025, 4.4% of workers tested positive for marijuana use via urinalysis. If they tested hair follicles, it was 15%.
That’s a 60% increase from 2021.
Evidently, hair follicles can reveal drug use, er, mood enhancers, going back 90 days.
Citigroup, AutoNation, Home Depot and Amazon have mostly done away with marijuana testing. Why?
It makes it tougher to find qualified candidates.
Wouldn’t drug use make them an unqualified candidate? This is not the weed from Ridgemont High, folks.
Who was Victor Willis – *Boomer Alert*
He was a musician-actor who appeared in Broadway in The Wiz in the ‘70s.
His business partner, along with a couple of other fellows, decided to take advantage of the disco craze, and they released a disco album in 1977.
The members dressed in costumes: a biker, a construction worker, a cowboy, an Indian Chief, and Victor was the police motorcycle officer.
The group was known as The Village People.
One of their hits was inspired by Mr. Willis visiting New York and staying at the YMCA. Apparently, it’s fun to stay there.
Victor Willis passed away June 30 at the age of 74.
Boomers everywhere are reminiscing.
Come to think of it, there hasn’t been a wedding I have been to that hasn’t played YMCA, so I’m guessing all generations may be reminiscing.
If you’d like to reminisce, click on this link to the music video for YMCA. Just keep in mind it was 1978.
Remote Work
Does remote work make people happy? Yes and no, per a survey of 5000 workers by The Leland Stanford Jr. University and others.
I won’t get into the details, but the folks that work two days a week from home are happier and have lower quit rates than the folks that come in 5 days/week. Thank you, Captain Obvious.
However…
The folks who worked fully remotely experienced loneliness and anxiety. Even if they worked from home 3 days a week, the subjects tended to have increased loneliness.
I guess two days/week is the right number.
Clearly, they are not Boomers, who work to support their family no matter how bad the office is, going in six days a week by golly and are happy just to have a job. Get off my lawn!!
Maybe that’s why we are all retiring. See the Housing discussion from the last issue.
This Week in History
The Ford Motor Company sells its first automobile on July 23, 1903.
It was a Model A. I guess the marketing department was in its infancy.
It also birthed the role of the finance manager selling paint protection, extended warranty, and financing options. Just kidding…
Every company begins with a first customer. And that first customer was… a dentist.
Yep. He paid $850 for that Model A.
20 years later, Ford would be producing millions of vehicles and changing how the world lived, worked, and traveled.
From the file of Misused Terms “In a world filled with negativity…”. You see this phrase on social media, almost always in a post about some sort of feel-good act of humanity pointing out how there are one or two instances of decency. However, I find that the world is not filled with negativity. On the contrary, in daily interactions with people, I find virtually no negativity at all. The only time I see negativity is on my phone on some social media post. This has been affirmed time and again over the last 30 days by visitors from the other 47 countries who came here for the World Cup and were astonished by how friendly and welcoming the American people are. Oddly enough, the visitors returned the favor and were nice right back at us.
It is Summertime, and in recognition of that, the writer, staff, researcher, intern, and resident publisher will be taking the next two Mondays off. We thank you for your patronage and always enjoy your comments.
See you in August!
