Paulitical Economy™

A famous and important quote from perhaps the greatest economist that ever lived. Minding your own business will not save you. Dollar General continues to drive traffic to their stores. In part because they are doing well with that $100,000 and above crowd. A look at professional mourners. I’ll need some of those. Government is calling for more government. Like the encroachment of government on ou...

📍A poem for this time of year. 📍Netflix sales continue to decelerate. As does its share price. 📍Visits to foodbanks in Canada are soaring. We look at why that may be. 📍UPS continues its turnaround plan. Lower volumes but better pricing and profitability as they ditch their business with Amazon. 📍Fares at JetBlue soar, but not enough to cover sky high fuel prices. Its share price is 76% below...

Home builders in the U.S. are now the least optimistic since 2012. It’s worst in the west. Lennar is the second largest home builder in the U.S. Home prices, new orders and gross margin are all down. And so is its share price. Homes increasing in size are often used as justification for higher home prices. We revisit this fallacy. The mystery of the disappearing barf bag. Financial Ructions: None...

Xerox has had twelve straight quarters of sales declines. And its share price is 90% lower than where it was in 1986. Inflation in the U.S. is moving back up. And no, smartphone prices are not falling like the government would like you to believe. Bill Gates believes that the government should tax productivity investments. You can’t make this stuff up. Financial Ructions: Wholesale inflation in th...

Billionaires are becoming landlords. The great Henry Hazlitt and my notes from his book Thinking as a Science. I have sent these notes to numerous people over the years but today I add my own PM notes. No Financial Ructions or Book Review this week. Back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

McDonald’s focused for a number of years on strategic menu price increases. It’s now starting to bite. The prime property market in London, England peaked in 2014! The world’s largest producer of spirits, Diageo, is now seeing double-digit declines in U.S. sales. Nike’s sales decline accelerates. And is expected to get worse the rest of the year. Financial Ructions The A.I. spending frenzy is grea...

Procter & Gamble continues to hold its prices in check. But volume is not responding. Used car prices in the U.S. are rising again. But not according to the government. Home Depot sales improved but are still very slow. Their customers are suffering. Uber’s gross bookings continue to soar. And we revisit their propensity to pay model. And I sum up some of my Uber vs. Lyft comparisons. Higher g...

People grow older in Japan.  Especially the women. Netflix experiences its slowest sales growth in almost three years.  And its share price goes south.  This is what happens when the focus switches from focusing on improving the customer value proposition to trying to monetize them. Financial Ructions:  As government grows the economy slows.  And incompetence is rewarded. A look at a post on X whi...

Pepsi maintains price increases that are less than inflation.  And they see their first volume increase in four years.  Who would have thought (note sarcasm). Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark’s sales dip into negative territory. A third of American workers have seen their wages grow slower than inflation. Rents in Canada continue to fall and should continue to do so as more purpose-built rentals enter th...

The sales of Lululemon plummeted despite management saying that 2026 was off to a good start. Its share price has lost three quarters of its value over the last five years. Growth at Hilton Hotels went negative in 2025 but has since rebounded. Benefiting from the World Cup and infrastructure spending. And occupancy is down for their higher end hotels. The Dick’s Sporting Goods share price had been...

Canadian retailer Canadian Tire sees sales growth slow. And a look at two different ways in which the government extracts value from your investments. Burger King is rocking it. Not so much Popeyes. United Airlines and Delta Airlines are also rocking it. And now it’s not just business class passengers. That’s what fewer available economy class seats and soaring airfares can do. Gap clothing experi...

Walmart’s U.S. same store sales slow. But there were some mitigating factors. Social Security and Medicare in the U.S. will both be insolvent before long. And no one wants to do anything about it because it’s political suicide. And that’s because the people have learned to vote for the party that takes the most from other people and gives it to them. Financial Ructions: A look at the increasing po...

Wendy’s sales have fallen six quarters in a row. Traffic at U.S. stores was down more than 12%. The Wendy’s share price revisits 1987. And we take a look back. McDonald’s sales growth slows. And traffic at U.S. stores falls. The return of the establishment hacks. Burritos set off a firestorm. Yes, tariffs hurt Canada, but not nearly as much as our own unforced errors. Canadian consumers are findin...

We look at four different ways of spending money. Government is the worst and continues to grow. Uber vs. Lyft update. Lyft still a far better deal. A.I. data center, and government infrastructure spending are still booming. And Caterpillar is benefiting from both. Conversely, Deere Corporation’s sales growth slows. Farmers are suffering from high input costs and are cutting back on large equipmen...

French luxury goods maker LVMH sees its strongest growth in over two years. Watches, jewellery and Japan lead the way. Hermes also sees its sales accelerate but its share price tanked on the announcement. And its shares are still very expensive. Tesla sales accelerate but profit sank 57%. Shareholders weren’t impressed. Nike has now gone eleven straight quarters with no sales growth. Over the last...

Summary A disturbing number of Americans are using Buy Now, Pay Later options for groceries. American booze company Constellation Brands has turned things around. But not its share price. Brown Forman (Jack Daniels) also sees sales ticking up. And broke off merger talks with French booze company Pernod Ricard. In Financial Ructions A look at wage growth in the U.S. vs. Canada. And economic stats c...

A look at pawn shops. And how they may be a good hedge in your stock portfolio. Sales of General Mills finally stop falling. But volume continues its downward path. A look at the most visited websites in the U.S. Gmail leads the way. In Financial Ructions: Chicago’s public pension plans are a disaster. Investment in Canada is falling further and further behind the U.S. Book Review We’re on chapter...

Dogs in the U.K. go postal. A sad tale of beer in the U.K. Xbox console sales have been plummeting. And here come the layoffs. Demand from Krispy Kreme customers is softer than their donuts. And their share price has tanked over the last five years. And another look back. A great campaign slogan. Financial Ructions: New Zealand and Singapore top the list of countries in terms of ease of doing busi...

The cigarette industry is seeing a slow but steady decline. And employment is falling. Also in the number of employees. Check your eggs. Nike’s customers are under continued pressure. As is Nike’s share price. The wisdom of crowds requires at least one very important condition. Financial Ructions: Japan: Too many holes in the dyke? The U.S. vs. the E.U. cage match. The Bank of Canada worries about...

More evidence that pizza sales are slowing with Domino’s just barely in positive territory in the U.S. Another look at wealth disparity in the U.S. and this time we focus on stocks and mutual funds. As you might expect, the disparity is even worse here. A look at toys with two companies going in different directions. As is their share price. No more brown M&M’s and a repost on the Mars company...

After many quarters of negative U.S. sales growth, Yum! Brands decides to offload its Pizza Hut business. But Taco Bell is still ringing in strong sales growth. The Starbucks turnaround plan seems to be working. A look at wealth disparity in the U.S. And how the older generation has benefited from central bank policies At the expense of the next generation. Lululemon’s North American Sales kick of...

Hybrid car sales are soaring.  And the Japanese dominate the category. Macy’s and the K-Shaped economy.  If you can’t beat em, join em. Kraft Heinz has had 17 straight quarters of volume decline.  And so decide not to split the company in two. Core inflation for May in the U.S. was the highest since last September.  And falling prices that are really rising. In Financial Ructions  The U.S. jobs re...

In the U.K. the armed forces are being prescribed Wegovy, and Viagra. More on governments’ contributions to Canada’s housing affordability crisis. Dollar General continues to grow its sales with higher-income consumers trading down. UK Stacations. Brits morning drinking at airports A look at how much housing in the U.K. became unaffordable since 1997. Oil consumption is rising  But its intensity i...

Generic versions of weight-loss drugs are now on the market. Costing less to lose more. Hormel is a U.S. food-processing company based in Minnesota. Sales improved slightly but it’s all price: volume is still negative. We take a look back at the maker of Spam. Sharks vs. Coconuts cage match. Lululemon makes some changes to its board of directors. While its share price continues to struggle. Weight...

The fallout from the Iran war in terms of rising energy prices may just be beginning. US gas prices are up 45% from last year. Canadians renewing their 5-year fixed rate mortgages in 2026 will see the biggest shock yet to their monthly payments. More Americans are moving from California and New York to Texas and Florida. Wendy’s same-store sales have declined in the U.S. for five straight quarters...