No Hamburger Here! It’s a Thick, Juicy Steak!

This week’s update is really juicy!

If you need a quick refresher, check out the original blog: https://terryliebman.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/move-over-big-mac-index-here-comes-the-steak-house-index/

Why you should care:  The US Department of Commerce ‘Bureau of Economic Analysis’ publishes the most recent GDP figures the instant they’re available.

Here’s the problem:  GDP numbers are reactive.  They only tell us what happened to the economy…months in the past.   Which means we can’t make financial/investment choices – personal or business – before the economy turns sour, only after.   Not good.   We want advance notice of an economic decline.   The SHI may help give you that.

Our objective with the SHI is to be predictive, to anticipate when the economy is going to ‘turn’ and give you the ability to take action early – not when changes are too late.

Taking action:  Just keep up with the weekly column.   If the index changes appreciably – either showing massive improvement or significant declines – indicating expanding economic strength or a potential recession, we’ll discuss possible actions at that time.  Trending is very important…and we’ll watch the trend.

THE BLOG:  Good news!  We’re back!

After the worst SHI index since we began chewing on this concept, this week the SHI has its second best showing!    From a (-23) last week to a positive 14.  Woo Hoo!

So, while one reading isn’t a trend … at least we’ve broken the trend above.   Here are the results from this week and last week:

Look:  Even the Capital Grill has no open tables at 6:00 pm!   Wow!   This is a mouthwatering change from last week…impressive indeed!

• Terry Liebman