Is there anything to prove this wasn't due to mass production and ordering due to national disasters like hurricanes? If it is then it will not last besides construction material for rebuilding.

Expect the market to hold up through Christmas. The grinch seldom appears during the first year of a President's term unless it has already been around during the prior administration. We will see if the economy actually picks up next year. So far there is little to see in terms of policy that will change the economy from Obama's legacy. So we are still just crawling along the managed economy driven by the Federal Reserve for the last 8 years.

Sadly, insurers will just raise rates putting even more burden on the homeowners devastated by there events. Don't cry for insurers. They always get their pound of flesh and then eat some more of you. That's why early Buffet liked them so much.

Owning stock and writing a put is really going longer. Not only are you betting the market will go up, but you are now adding that you will bet the market won't go down. If you want to hedge you would buy a put or sell a call on stock you already have.

These oil companies and oil equipment companies need to come to an end in order for a proper correction in the oil arena. The fact they keep on going and keep on overproducing at losses is a insult to capitalism and is a product of an overly insulated banking system that feels that it can loan until it gets so bad taxpayers end up footing the bill. Sadly, the way Washington works, they may be right.

Crypto currencies worst enemy is themselves. If you want to look at fraud it would be best not to look at bitcoin but look at the other 100 crypto currencies and growing. May the best one win, and watch out for the losers. Bitcoin itself may find itself the smaller players as banks make their own versions soon.

China is proof that Crypto currencies exist at the whim of the government and may be ended by them as quickly as they are started. Be careful. A lot of people have been scammed by crypto currencies along with fraud, and government seizures and I don't see it ending anytime soon. Rather targeting of those holding them will only grow.

This has nothing to do with buy American. Income from foreign sales increased mainly because of the lower dollar. The recent dollar bounce is more a short term reversal and concern that a tighter Federal reserve chair will take over. Of course, there is concern about reversing some QE bonds but the amount is so little it is almost pathetic. If the dollar rallies back to where it was foreign trade will suffer as will the US economy. As for domestic growth ex inflation and increased foreign sales, it remains lackluster. A tax cut may help short term but current bills will have a lower effect because tax cuts to the wealthy don't translate much to increased demand or economic activity. It is best not to improperly attribute political forces to investments as many have found out betting against Trumps win as it was betting against Obama, and on and on. The President has limited effects to the economy unless war or something in their direct domain usurps regular market forces. Arguably the Federal reserve has been the latest force distorting capitalism and market signaling, not the US government.

Also China selling consumer goods directly to the EU helps significantly.

The mystery is not a mystery. Their actions have set off asset inflation that is eating value from the rest of the economy and making living unaffordable and they know full well about it. After all, this is what has pushed up bank earnings which is what they care about more than you or me.

That is only what the Federal Reserve usually is concerned about. Also, pricing is not stable, the simple fact is they have cut out or devalued most of what shows inflation, namely housing, education, and health care (the main places where it counts). Then they substitute food to deflate its cost and core out gas and oil prices because its too volatile. Thus you are reading an indicator on the inflation of everything but what counts. The Federal Reserve is aware of this.

What they are mainly concerned with and rightly so is the fall in the dollar which is not an indicator of US strength but weakness and they know it even if they lie about this.