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February 11, 2026 

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ZERO COUPON BOND: Also termed a zero bond, a bond that does not pay interest, in which the return is generated by the difference between the purchase price and the face value paid at maturity. Because they do not pay interest, zero coupon bonds are sold at a discount. For example, a $10,000 zero coupon bond that matures in one year, would generate a 10% return if it sold at a discount of $9,000.

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State of the ECONOMY
Production/Income
Real average weekly earnings November 2016 $367.50 Bureau of Labor Statistics Constant 1982-84 dollars
Median weekly earnings Third Quarter 2016 $827 / week Up $24 from 3rd Qtr. 2015
GDP: Real Third Quarter 2016 $18,675.3 Billion (Annual Rate) Source: BEA Up 5.0%
U.S. Exports November 2016 $185.8 billion Down 0.2% from Oct. 2016: Econ. Stat. Admin.
e-commerce sales 3rd Quarter 2016 $101.3 billion Up 4.0% from 2nd Quarter 2016 US Census Bureau
Personal Income November 2016 $16,233.8 billion Up 0.1% from Oct. 2016
U.S. Imports November 2016 $231.1 billion Up 1.1% from Oct. 2016: Econ. & Stat. Admin.
Private Employer Cost for Employee Compensation September 2016 $32.27 per hour Benefits are $10.73 / hour Source: BLS
Sales of New Single-Family Homes November 2016 592,000 (seasonal adjusted annual rate) Up % from October 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm.
Productivity 3rd Quarter 2016 Unchanged from a year ago Source: BLS
Real Average Hourly Earnings November 2016 $10.68 Up $.07 from November 2015
Employment
U 3 Unemployment December 2016 4.7% Up from November Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Job Openings October 2016 5.5 million Steady Bureau of Labor Statistics
U 6 Unemployment November 2016 9.3% Down a little Includes those who have given up looking. BLS
Prices
Consumer Price Index W November 2016 235.215 Down slightly from Oct. 2016 Source: B L S
Money/Interest
U.S. National Debt January 3, 2017 $19,951,017,689,395.11 Up over $1 trillion in 2016: U.S. Debt Clock
Federal Discount Rate January 3, 2017 1.25% Up 0.25%
Prime Rate January 3, 2017 3.75% Up .25% from a year ago
Federal Funds Rate January 3, 2017 .75% Up 0.25% from a year ago
Cyclical Indicators
Consumer Price Index Urban November 2016 241.353 Up 0.2% from Oct. 2016 Source: BLS
New Orders for Manufactured Goods November 2016 $458.3 billion Down 2.4% from Nov. 2016 Econ & Statistics Adm
New Orders for Manufactured Durable Goods November 2016 $228.2 billion U.S. Commerce Dept. Down 4.6% from Oct. 2016
Business Inventories October 2016 $1,814.5 billion Up 2% from Oct. 2015: Econ. Stat. Admin.
Retail Sales November 2016 $468.05 billion U.S Census Bureau
Producer Price Index Final Demand November 2016 110.8 Up 0.4% from Oct. 2016 Soure: BLS.gov
Wholesale Inventories November 2016 $594.5 billion U.S. Dept. of Commerce
Housing Starts November 2016 1,090,000 Down 18.7% from Oct. 2016: U.S. Census Bureau
Construction Spending October 2016 $1,172.6.4 billion Up 0.5% from Sept. 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm.
Building Permits November 2016 1,201,000 Do 4.7% from October 2016: U.S. Census Bureau
Other
World Population January 3, 2017 7,362,851,059 Higher: U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Population January 3, 2017 324,321,654 Up again...U.S. Census Bureau
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR URBAN WAGE EARNERS AND CLERICAL WORKERS

An index of prices of goods and services typically purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers. This carries the official abbreviation CPI-W to distinguish it from its more famous sister index CPI-U, which is the standard Consumer Price Index for All Urban Workers, (commonly abbreviated simply as CPI). Like the standard CPI, the CPI-W is compiled and published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using price data obtained from an elaborate survey of 25,000 retail outlets and quantity data generated by the Consumer Expenditures Survey.

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Fact 5: Our Necessary Evil

It's time to give up our attempts to enter the Merciless Monolithic Media Masters Cable Television Company, Inc. office and take care of other pressing business -- taxes. The next stop on our excursion through the economy is the Shady Valley City Hall, where we need to momentarily, and begrudgingly, pause so that I may pay my semi-annual property tax bill. This is the least enjoyable stop -- at least for me -- on our journey. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

Of course I hate to pay taxes! But, then again, who doesn't? Taxes are one of those annoying and evil necessities of life that simply can't be avoided.

Or can they? Do we have to pay taxes? A quick visit to a bookstore will produce dozens of books telling you how to avoid taxes by investing here or buying this or doing that. Better yet, if we could rid ourselves of the inefficient, bloated, incompetent, do-nothing government, then you and I wouldn't have to pay taxes. Right? We could use our hard-earned income to buy stuff that we want, rather than letting the inefficient, bloated, incompetent, do-nothing government spend it on stuff that we don't want, don't know anything about, and will never need. Right?
Tell me more...

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GRAY SKITTERY
[What's This?]

Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time strolling around a discount warehouse buying club trying to buy either an ink cartridge for your printer or a rechargeable battery for your camera. Be on the lookout for bottles of barbeque sauce that act TOO innocent.
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Helping spur the U.S. industrial revolution, Thomas Edison patented nearly 1300 inventions, 300 of which came out of his Menlo Park "invention factory" during a four-year period.
"I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act."

-- Abraham Maslow, Psychologist

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