Social Security Benefit Cuts Could Be Coming - Here's Who It Will Affect First

[Option Beast]( 09/05/2020   |   [View in browser]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Social Security Benefit Cuts Could Be Coming - Here's Who It Will Affect First]( The Social Security Trust Fund could be depleted by 2031 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic collapse, according to new projections - and today's youngest retirees could be among the first in the nation to see benefit cuts. The Congressional Budget Office said in an analysis released Wednesday that the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance fund, which pays out retirement benefits, faces insolvency within a little over a decade unless Congress takes action to address the shortfalls. [More...]( SPONSORED CONTENT [You Could Make $300 to $1100 Per Contract With This Simple Trade]( Imagine getting really good at mastering just ONE simple trade. A trade that appears like clockwork between 9:30-10:45am on most trading days. This free step-by-step guide, by options expert, Dave Acquino, shows you how to spot and take these trades so you can walk away with daily profits! [CLICK HERE for instant access.]( [REFLECTIONS... the Markets Soar by David Sager](#) This past week (8-24 to 8-28) could be categorized as a week that the stock market went a little 'goofy.' You would never know it looking at major indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 723.54 points, or 2.6%, to 28853.87 this week, while the S&P 500 added 3.3% to 3508.01 and the lofty Naadaq gained 3.4% to 11695.63, both closing at all time highs, remarkable numbers, considering the drubbing all indexes suffered since the March debacle. Even the Dow Jones at 28853, is sniffing the high achieved February 12, 2020, at 29551.42. A little known company, Salesforce, (CRM), specializing in cloud- computing software, was chosen, after the close Monday, to replace Exxon Mobil (XOM), in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Salesforce gained 3.6% on Tuesday, even though there was no news about the company. As usual, investors buy when companies are added to the Dow. The big move came after Salesforce announced quarterly earnings that beat estimates after the close on Tuesday. Coupled that with being added to the Dow, Salesforce soared 26% on Wednesday, its largest move on record. Looking back over the past six months one would never guess this country could achieve such a financial recovery in such a short time. The lag time for the massive unemployment situation is slower to react, but is coming back. Our future economy, six months to a year could well be being foretold. Only time will answer our questions. America's cities and states are facing monstrous revenue shortfall. With so many businesses closing and so many people either out of work or working from home, revenues from sales and income taxes are way off. Ditto for gasoline taxes. Tolls for bridges and tunnels, public transportation fares, airport fees, all add to a tremendous short fall. States are facing a budget shortfall of $555 billion for at least three years through 2022, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For cities and towns the number is $360 billion. That's a grand total of nearly $1 trillion. The question is how many municipal bond issuers-cities, states and others won't be able to repay investors. A good example is New York, who was headed for dire straits before a $3.9 billion federal bailout in May. While not as severe as New York, all states are teetering and will need government assistance. The next stimulus will hopefully address this situation. Steady-eddy gasoline is experiencing a price-steady summer, the best in a decade. "Prices have seen very little movement during the summer months, probably the most stability we have seen in 10 to 15 years," sayts Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, the travel and navigation app. Covid-19 has recently kept prices "largely quiet as we've seen little remarkable change in new cases," says DeHaan. Compared with demand a year ago "we're in the ballpark of down 15%." Until the surplus of both gasoline and crude oil is consumed and we move closer to a balance of supply and demand, prices will likely remain abnormally low- in the $2.25 a gallon range. 'THE DOW IN 45' Matt Finn, Old National Bank, Chief Economist, Senior Vice President, "When I started my investment career, a few years before Black Monday market crash of October 1987, the value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index had just passed 1700. Today 34 years later, the value of the Dow is roughly 27200 Solving for the compound annual rate of return that gets you from 1700 to 27200 over 34 years is 8.5%. My daughter is 22 and just starting her professional career. She is also starting her 401(k) with the Dow at 27200. That got me thinking about where the Dow might be in another 45 years, give or take. Considering the annual return on the Dow varies widely in any one year, but over the long-term, using the historical rate is just as valid as any other rate of return, we can calculate where the Dow might be when she retires. Therefore, 27200 compounded at 8.5% for 45 years is 1,068,826. So there you have it. The Dow will cross the 1 million mark sometime in 2065. You heard it here first. RUMBLINGS ON THE STREET Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, Barron's "a robust job market can be sustained without causing an unwelcome increase in inflation." Tom Essaye of Seven's Report newsletter, Barron's "Now, over the medium and long term, the Fed's average inflation target means that when cyclicals start to outperform, and when yields begin to rise, both those rallies will last longer, and be more powerful, than they would have been before, writes Mr. Essaye. "Yet... we still need a growth catalyst to ignite the move, and the Fed's announcement is not it." Richard Ravitch, The Volcker Alliance, Barron's "I wouldn't own general obligation bonds. Why should people trust the political system to make unpleasant decisions to help bondholders?" Dr. Goeffrey Porges, Director of Therapeutics Research at SVB Leerink Barron's "Typically the first vaccines against any pathogen are suboptimal." Pioneering vaccines usually are not very effective, he says or cause substantial adverse reactions like arm pain and fever. [23 Bankruptcy Filings Chalked Up to COVID-19]( Wall Street successfully fought off the bear market spurred by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, but the American economy's recovery is far from over. As the pandemic stretches into the fall months, it continues to induce a growing number of bankruptcy filings. Here are 23 companies whose recent bankruptcy filings can be chalked up to the COVID-19 outbreak. In most cases, these businesses were already showing signs of financial duress... [Article continues...]( [The 10 Best Cars for Senior Drivers]( We've picked our best cars for seniors by considering their accessibility, visibility, active safety features, headlight performance and controls-in particular, whether the vehicle has a traditional Park-Reverse-Neutral-Drive-Low (PRNDL) shift lever rather than a dial, pushbuttons or some kind of inscrutable toggle switch. We didn't forget factors that matter to everyone, though: price, performance and reliability. [Click to continue reading this article...]( [Retiree Health Care Costs Are Rising]( Factors driving the increase include longer life spans, health care inflation and health bills for those who retire before they're eligible for Medicare. [More here...]( SPONSORED CONTENT [Do you have zero experience trading?]( Quick!....get this free e-book that was designed to teach beginners how to trade options while you still can. Want to start trading with a small account? Got you covered on that also. Chuck Hughes has taught thousands of beginners how to be successful in trading. [Click here to get the e-book while you still can.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Option Beast]( Send this to a Friend. [Click here.]( | Not a Subscriber Yet? [Click here.]( All content © 2020 Option Beast Neptune Ave, 300 Main Street #711, Madison, NJ 07940 USA Welcome to Option Beast, an e-mail service that replaces many of our previous alerts. We hope you enjoy it. 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