Name something that's going well right now

[bucolic_frolic]

I'm seeking negatives everywhere I look. SOTU, markets, tariffs, Congressional investigations, deregulation .... Is global reset scrambling everything? Are we sliding to a lower level? I'm not seeing a counter-argument.

[Greg_In_SF]

1. What are you seeing

in the markets that you don't like?

[bucolic_frolic]

4. US markets had a pretty rough week.

The AI trade, including AI tech and tech in general, in particular faded. International held up well, that is true.

[Greg_In_SF]

9. All three

major indices were up last week

[ck4829]

14. And yet I'm living paycheck to paycheck

[Greg_In_SF]

15. Year to date

nominal wages increased by 4.3%. The inflation rate during the same period was 2.4%.

[ck4829]

16. And if your job is pushing people's stuff out of their homes after eviction or foreclosure, you're probably doing well

Oregon Law Center reports record-high evictions in January

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - 2,788 people were evicted in court in January, according to the Oregon Law Center (OLC). This is the highest number of evictions ever recorded in Oregon since the OLC started tracking this data five years ago.

https://www.kptv.com/2026/02/13/oregon-law-center-reports-record-high-evictions-january/

Atlanta-area eviction filings surge to 'abnormal' highs, data shows

“Atlanta has the most (eviction])filings of any site, city or state that we track right now," a research specialist at The Eviction Lab told the Chronicle.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2026/02/13/atlanta-eviction-filings-surge-abnormal-highs.html

Maine's eviction prevention program has run out of funding — when advocates say it's needed most

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2026-02-12/maines-eviction-prevention-program-has-run-out-of-funding-when-advocates-say-its-needed-most

And, bonus, if you work in vehicle repossession, you are also in a business that hasn't seen a boom like this in well over a decade!

The car repo business is booming as Americans fall behind on increasingly expensive car payments.

Cars are being repossessed at the highest rate since the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. The repo tactics have drawn the attention of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who launched a probe into the auto lending industry on Wednesday, a Senate Banking Committee spokesperson told CNN.

The investigation is focused on illegal and mistaken repossessions, when cars are seized even if borrowers are current on their bills or have reached agreements with lenders.

Warren, a Democrat, sent letters to a dozen major industry players including Chase Auto, GM Financial, Toyota Financial Services and Ally Financial on Wednesday as part of the probe. She sought information on repo activity, error rates and practices.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/business/car-prices-repossession-elizabeth-warren

And I'm sure debt collectors are also doing well right now too. Golden Age!

[Greg_In_SF]

17. What does

that have to do with the stock market....which is what we are talking about here?

[ck4829]

20. This is a thread titled "Name something that's going well right now". Things are going well for them, yes?

[Greg_In_SF]

24. Yes

but I asked the OP specifically what he or she didn't like about the markets.

[ck4829]

26. Numbers that are big right now

Evictions
Foreclosures
The stock market
Car repos

So... Golden Age!

[Greg_In_SF]

38. We all saw

the car repo thing coming. People were paying five figure dealer markups during covid. Those cars were under water before even leaving the lot. And now all that negative equity is being rolled in to new longer and more expensive car loans. Recipe for disaster.


And then there are the markets since April:
Dow +16.4%
S&P +21.4%
NASDAQ +29.7%

[Happy Hoosier]

21. I'm curious....

Do you you actually trust those numbers? I don't. They are out of synch with peoples' actual experience. In particular, I think the inflation numbers are higher. Lots of experts I am listening to are saying due to the October data fuckery, inflation is more like 3.0-3.2% and wage growth is mostly concetrated at the top.

And the markets have been lackluster since the beginning of the year. Not really unexpected given teh tariff fuckery, but I think the economy is about to take a big sigh. We'll see.

[ck4829]

23. Right? And how about shrinkflation, where we're paying the same or more (because of inflation) but getting less?

Rising grocery prices could lead to shrinkflation, food industry analyst says

"We got 50% tariffs on coffee from Brazil, and we import about 35% of our coffee beans, unroasted, from Brazil," Lempert said. "... Yes, coffee's going to get more expensive."

He also says the U.S. should brace for shrinkflation — when food and product manufacturers keep prices the same, but reduce the size of items, meaning consumers are ultimately paying more for the same amount.

A September 2024 analysis from Lending Tree found that about one-third of approximately 100 common consumer products had shrunk in size or servings since the start of the pandemic.

As an example, Lempert showed CBS News coffee bean packets in one grocery store in Santa Monica, California, that used to be sold in 16-ounce sizes, but are now 10.5 ounces.

https://www.aol.com/articles/rising-grocery-prices-could-lead-235754981.html

[canetoad]

41. There's a whole book

In describing the underhanded ways shrinkflation is being implemented.

[Greg_In_SF]

25. Are you saying

that you think CNBC is giving us fake numbers?

[ck4829]

30. So CNBC is giving us true numbers and our eyes and bank accounts are giving us fake numbers?

[Greg_In_SF]

33. You

didn't answer my question. Again, do you think CNBC is being dishonest?

[ck4829]

42. Come on now. Remember: if the govt and media are saying one thing, and your gut, senses, intuition are saying another

Then it’s clearly the latter that is wrong. Come on now. … from me at least.

[ck4829]

39. The rich are richer! That's apparently the only measure that really matters.

[C_U_L8R]

2. Trump family offshore bank accounts?

Oh wait. Nevermind.

[sop]

3. There are more billionaires than ever before.

[murielm99]

5. TSF's disapproval rate is climbing.

[doc03]

6. My retirement IRA is doing well. nt

[Greg_In_SF]

10. Yep

The DOW is up over 1000 points year-to-date

[ck4829]

45. Is it really universally great the Dow is up though? I do try to buy stock even though I struggle more now

I'm noticing that I am able to buy less and less shares.

I want my shares to get me dividends. I want my shares to get me votes.

The dow is skyrocketing and I'm seeing I'm able to buy less and less of companies I am interested in. While everyone is popping out champagne for stocks they don't own, I'm over here wondering how I'm supposed to buy a substantial amount to get me dividends or votes in a company.

It's great if you already own a substantial amount of stock, but for those who aspire to, it just seems like a barrier to entry getting bigger and bigger.

But hey, we're just the ones who don't matter. Right?

[DFW]

31. That's a Yin and Yang issue for me

When Cheney and Bush wrecked the stock market, and the Dow was at 7800, I converted to a Roth IRA. I paid all taxes due at that point, which under the Roth rules, meant that after that point, if the value of whatever stock I had in there went down, too bad for me (could not deduct any losses), and if the value went up, good for me (no tax on the gain from that point on). I figured that with the Republicans gone, it could only get better, so I made the conversion. Well, we all know what the stock market did since then, but unfortunately, the Double Taxation Treaty between Germany and the USA never covered Roth IRAs, so even though I paid all taxes due back then, now the Germans still want half of any cent that I take out of it, and they don't give a rat's ass that I already paid full taxes on it (while I was still a legal resident of the USA no less!). I will not submit to a double taxation--even the German Constitution forbids double taxation (seems a former German government did that about 90 years ago with a select portion of the population, and they wanted to avoid a repeat). But in true Trump fashion, they don't care about what their Constitution says, they just want to take money and give nothing in return.

Heil Honecker!

I will give it away to Cancer research in the USA before I let some SED-wannabe think he's some reincarnation of Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk. By the way, I did discuss this with Mark Kelly last Friday, and he said it is probably time to finally do something about the double taxation, or at least introduce a bill bringing the USA in line with the rest of the world, since we are the ONLY country left (besides Eritrea) in the world that does NOT recognize residence-based taxation.

[ck4829]

7. Were you expecting something different? We have a Republican trifecta, so yes, things are gonna become absolute garbage

[MiHale]

8. Time can't be stopped...one day closer to his death...

One day closer to spring. One day closer to November.

[Goonch]

11. ;-{).....

[Johonny]

12. Olympic team doing well

Most presidents ride the wave of good vibes from the Olympics. Trump clearly not able to produce good vibes.

[Jilly_in_VA]

18. I was going to say that

I was so warmed by our "Blade Angels", especially Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn and the genuine love and concern they had for other skaters. Alysa's heartfelt embrace of the third-place skater, and Amber shielding Kaori Sakamoto from the cameras while she cried and regained her composure are things I will never forget. These types of things did not used to happen when there were Russian skaters on the ice. They happened on the men's side too, apparently, just not so openly, but Ilia Malinin and Mikhail Shaikhodorov are quite friendly.

[dalton99a]

13. Trump will turn 80 in June - a fact he can't change

[Skittles]

44. it has to be so hard for filthy rich narcissists

having to accept what they cannot buy

[ck4829]

19. If your job is pushing stuff out of homes after evictions or if you repo cars, you're probably doing well right now

Oregon Law Center reports record-high evictions in January

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - 2,788 people were evicted in court in January, according to the Oregon Law Center (OLC). This is the highest number of evictions ever recorded in Oregon since the OLC started tracking this data five years ago.

https://www.kptv.com/2026/02/13/oregon-law-center-reports-record-high-evictions-january/

Atlanta-area eviction filings surge to 'abnormal' highs, data shows

“Atlanta has the most (eviction])filings of any site, city or state that we track right now," a research specialist at The Eviction Lab told the Chronicle.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2026/02/13/atlanta-eviction-filings-surge-abnormal-highs.html

Maine's eviction prevention program has run out of funding — when advocates say it's needed most

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2026-02-12/maines-eviction-prevention-program-has-run-out-of-funding-when-advocates-say-its-needed-most

And, bonus, if you work in vehicle repossession, you are also in a business that hasn't seen a boom like this in well over a decade!

The car repo business is booming as Americans fall behind on increasingly expensive car payments.

Cars are being repossessed at the highest rate since the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. The repo tactics have drawn the attention of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who launched a probe into the auto lending industry on Wednesday, a Senate Banking Committee spokesperson told CNN.

The investigation is focused on illegal and mistaken repossessions, when cars are seized even if borrowers are current on their bills or have reached agreements with lenders.

Warren, a Democrat, sent letters to a dozen major industry players including Chase Auto, GM Financial, Toyota Financial Services and Ally Financial on Wednesday as part of the probe. She sought information on repo activity, error rates and practices.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/business/car-prices-repossession-elizabeth-warren

And I'm sure debt collectors are also doing well right now too. Golden Age!

[Fiendish Thingy]

22. Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami this November

That Dems will retake the house is a given, but the odds are improving daily that we will retake the senate as well.

[DFW]

32. IF the elections are fair and all votes are counted, that is.

Don't forget, all this Republican "anti-kommanism" is a pure lie, a fantasy. They are last and most fervent Stalinists.

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decode everything."--attributed to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

[Emile]

27. Overseas stock markets are outperforming US market by 15% over

the past 13 months.

Trump sucks!

[Intractable]

28. I can still afford my groceries -- if I shop at Costco and Aldi.

Publix and other major supermarket chains have become too expensive for me.

[MineralMan]

29. Alyssa Liu, the Men's and Women's hockey teams. Like that.

[multigraincracker]

34. Just scored tickets, great seat near the front for

Bob Dylan. April 3rd.
Can cross that off my bucket list.

[3catwoman3]

35. Strictly local - Our stunningly beautiful seal-point Siamese little girl recovered uneventfully...

...from some dental extractions.

[CrispyQ]

36. Well, on a personal level, my muffin top is finally disappearing.

At the national level, he's not winning all his court cases. When he first files a case it gets all sorts of media attention, but when the courts knock him down, not so much attention, which lends a feel that he's winning everything when he's not. The SCOTUS ruling really pissed him off. Maybe baby needs a diaper change. I fucking hate him. Maybe he'll stroke out. Today. ~crosses fingers

[Blue Full Moon]

37. Time to think about what you do want.

Go big. They want fear and silence. Time to create something completely different. Most of what is failing is an illusion.

[maxrandb]

40. Dems are posting bullshit about Gavin Newsom in search of a "scandal"

So that part of 20TH Century American politics is going well....

Oh, and all the folks on the "left", even if their contact with Epstein was innocuous at best, are being forced to resign, while those on the right, even if they danced around with Epstein oogling at scantily dressed underage girls, are given a blankie, an Olympic Medal and warm milk before bed.

In other words; WE HAVE LEARNED NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[misanthrope]

43. The destruction of American democracy

That all seems to be right on track.