Politicians hate talking about the implications of the aging population. You won’t find one of them talking about the fact that there are 20% more seniors than just 5 years ago. The implications for healthcare spending, Old Age Security payments and pensions are profound.

Florence, now a tropical depression, made landfall in North Carolina on Friday, bringing with it destruction and calamity, the cost of which could top $170 billion, according to analytics firm CoreLogic. If so, that would make it the costliest storm ever to hit the U.S. To date, 2005’s Hurricane Katrina holds the top spot, costing an estimated $160 billion, followed by last year’s Harvey ($125 billion) and Maria ($90 billion).

Not to minimize the impact Florence will have on millions of Americans’ lives, but storms, even of this size, have rarely triggered major equity selloffs. According to research firm CFRA, in the last 15 years, the S&P 500 Index declined an average 0.2 percent in the month after a hurricane but was up an average 3.9 percent in the subsequent three months. Home improvement companies such as Home Depot and Lowe’s could be beneficiaries, while insurance companies might take a hit.

Markets are subdued right now, with the S&P 500 having gone more than 55 days without a 1 percent move in either direction. Trading volumes are also lower-than-average, suggesting Wall Street is in wait-and-see mode before making major adjustments.

Could this just be the calm before the storm? CLICK for complete article

Millionaires are pretty much just regular upper middle class folk these days. After all, when there are 16 million of them, they get lost in a sea of ordinariness. They aren’t ultra-wealthy at all. If you want ultra-wealthy, you have to have at least $50 million to make the grade. Better yet, bump it up to billionaire…. CLICK for complete article

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg won praise for her testimony before Congress last week (though her confused responses to questions about hate speech on the company’s platform aggravated SJWs). But sadly for Facebook shareholders, regulatory threats (not to mention AG Jeff Sessions’ “openness” to investigating tech giants for consumer protection or antitrust violations) continues to weigh on the company’s share price…. CLICK for complete article

Wednesday’s trading session was pretty uneventful as stocks fluctuated following Tuesday’s advance. The S&P 500 index remains close to its Tuesday’s new record high of 2.,873.23. But will it continue higher? Or is this a topping pattern before downward reversal? CLICK for complete article