The World Blog by humble servant.

The spike in your bills is not caused by a single local project, but data centers are playing a major role in the electric and gas increases. Across Sandusky, each utility is being squeezed by different regional, municipal, and market forces. Electricity (Ohio Edison / First Energy) Data centers are a direct driver here. Regional Grid Stress: Northern Ohio is part of the PJM Interconnection grid. An explosion of massive AI and cloud data centers across Ohio and neighboring states has caused projected electric demand to skyrocket. At the same time, older coal and baseload generation plants have retired. Capacity Auction Spikes: PJM's regional capacity auction prices surged dramatically, meaning the cost to guarantee power during peak hours soared. Those costs get passed through to residential generation and supply riders, pushing default electric supply rates up substantially. Cost-Shifting Concerns: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and FirstEnergy have ...

The Flawed Headline Statistic Consumer prices in the USA rose 0.4% in August, four times July’s 0.1% increase, while annual inflation remained at 3.4%. The politicians will point to that 3.4% number and pretend inflation has somehow stabilized. But look beneath the surface and you see an entirely different economy. This is precisely why reducing inflation to one government statistic is absurd. The CPI is telling us something far more important than whether inflation was 3.3% or 3.4%. Energy & Producer Costs: The Hidden Pipeline Energy rose 2.1% in a single month and 16.3% from a year ago. Gasoline jumped 3.9% in August alone and is now 27.4% higher than a year ago. Other motor fuels, including diesel, surged 9.6% in one month and 44% annually. The August Producer Price Index already rose 0.4% for the month and 5.4% annually, while processed goods for intermediate demand jumped 1.8%. Diesel prices at the producer level surged 24.1% in August. Those costs work their way through the e...

The relief rally into late August/early September has officially rolled over, confirming that the move off the initial drop was a classic dead cat bounce rather than a sustainable bottom. Price Structure & Trend Architecture The Bounce and Rejection: Following the aggressive peak above 4750 in late August, the initial heavy sell-off pushed price down toward 4350 . The subsequent counter-trend bounce stalled sharply below the 4550 mark, printing a prominent lower high with multiple rejection wicks. Current Candlestick Breakdown (9/11): Price has sliced directly through the 20-period midline ( 4512.35 ) and closed near the session low ( 4354.8 ), sitting below the LegacyEMA ( 4440.21 ). This confirms sellers are in full control and expanding the downside leg. Parabolic SAR: The red trailing stop sits well above the action at 4547.36 , reinforcing intact downward trend momentum with no immediate signs of a flip. Indicator Health & Flow StochasticFull (18.09 / 30.23): The fas...

Technical Overview & Structural Breakdown The daily chart shows an exhaustive, parabolic vertical thrust off the August consolidation base straight into major historical overhead supply. Price action has stalled directly beneath the May distribution peak with signs of seller absorption and momentum divergence across multiple indicators. Indicator Status & Bearish Confirmations Upper Bollinger Band Rejection: Price tagged and closed back inside the upper band ( 82,437 ). The candle structure shows heavy topping wicks, reflecting aggressive profit-taking and responsive selling at the boundary. Momentum Oscillator Rollover: RSI (75.3): Peaked near 80 in deep overbought territory and has clearly curled downward. Stochastics (88.62 / 77.96): FullK has crossed cleanly below FullD while remaining above 80, signaling a textbook momentum rollover. Volume Exhaustion & Money Flow: Volume bars surged on the initial vertical drive into mid-August but have tapered off on the latest at...

Technical Assessment: Nasdaq The chart depicts a market trapped in a tight, late-stage consolidation channel with declining momentum and clear signs of seller control at resistance.  Key Technical Levels Immediate Resistance: 29,469 – 29,869 (Mid Line 29,469.33 aligned with par SAR at 29,869.26). A sustained break above the Upper Bollinger Band at 30,000.23 is required to re-engage the June highs near 31,104.50 . Immediate Support: 28,938 – 29,042 (Bollinger Lower Band at 28,938.42 and daily low cluster around 29,042.50). Key Breakdown Level: 27,150 – 27,200 marks the late-July capitulation base. Indicator Breakdown Moving Averages & Parabolic SAR: The price trades right on top of its Legacy EMA ( 29,386.34 ) and below the parSAR stop line ( 29,869.26 ), reflecting compression without strong directional trend conviction. Momentum (Stochastic & RSI): Full Stochastic (%K: 45.73, %D: 47.44) and RSI (49.75) sit dead center at neutral. Neither is oversold nor overbought...

Chart Overview & Macro Structure The daily chart shows a multi-month transition from a disciplined summer uptrend into a broad, rolling top followed by an aggressive distribution leg. May to Early August (Markup Phase): Price carved out an ascending channel from the June low near 49,850 up to the cycle peak of 54,884 in early August. The rally consistently respected the Legacy EMA as dynamic support during this run. August to September (Distribution & Trend Shift): Following the August print at 54,884 , price failed to form higher highs, carving out lower reaction peaks around 53,700 – 53,800 . The sharp rollover in early September cleanly broke the lower Bollinger Band, violating the multi-week shelf and signaling a transition into a markdown phase. 9/11 Session (Exhaustion vs. Breakdown Test): The 9/11 candle pushed to an intraday low of 51,992 , breaching the lower envelope before buyers absorbed the dip back to close near 52,500 . This established an immediate wick rej...

China bailed America out in 2008 and what they got for it is a slap in the face and mean bigots who hate their country.  During the depths of the 2008 global financial crisis, the United States faced a systemic collapse of its major financial institutions. With domestic markets paralyzed and credit tightening globally, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson engaged in high-stakes, behind-the-scenes diplomacy with top Chinese officials. Washington needed foreign buyers—specifically Beijing, which held massive U.S. dollar reserves—to stabilize American debt and prevent the collapse of government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. China stepped in. By continuing to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds and agency debt, Beijing provided the liquidity required to keep the American financial engine running when traditional markets stalled. This decisive intervention helped cushion the U.S. economy from an even deeper depression and preserved the global value of dollar-denominat...