There were no surprises in last night’s speech from President Obama. In many ways, it reminded me of the Apple presentation, except the inventor of the iPod talked about conquering the world. The U.S. is going to cobble together a coalition to go after ISIS, just without any combat troops. I found nothing of value in the president’s speech. I note that he managed to carve out time to tout about the amazing economic achievements in America. However, I suspect that part fell on deaf ears.

The market has mostly traded as if ISIS would be resolved, and Russia would get to keep larger swathes of Ukraine without fanfare. It remains to be seen how we trade today, but placating the stock market and convincing the American public are two different things.

It's Been Thirteen Years

Taking the American way of life for granted is one of the biggest threats to our nation, along with a fading belief in God and our weak educational system. As we remember 9-11, we should be mindful of how little Americans fear terrorism. Interestingly, only 4% think it is the most important issue from 46% in 2001, a testimony to our success, but also a whistling past the graveyard.

I have written about this in the past, but it is important to remember that the challenges in the future will be much more difficult than dealing with ISIS. Making this more worrisome is the reluctance as a nation to fight wars. President Obama mentioned the pledge “No boots on the ground” last night, but one day, we will need ground troops.

It seems when there is an appetite for combat as public opinion only turns south once there are at least 2,000 causalities. Yet, the greatest wars and victories came at a much heavier cost. In fact, we lost 4,196 soldiers in the Philippine-American War; and no one seems to have ever heard of that one. I always get angry emails when I write or talk of Americans fighting, and am often asked, “Why don’t you go and fight?” Real talk: I would, but I am not sure the Army wants me. In the meantime, I plan to be a warrior for American values because I will never forget September 11, 2001, and all of the many warriors who lost their lives. God Bless America…

Today’s Session

 The major indices are indicating lower this morning and there will not be too many economic data releases out to move the market. The first round of September continuing claims will be released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bloomberg’s consumer index will give us a reading into how consumers are feeling about the economy, and the Census Bureau will provided its quarterly services survey which covers information and technology-related service industries. Below are some of the companies that reported earnings today.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended September 6^th trekked higher to 315,000 from a revised 304,000; this was significantly higher than consensus estimates at 300,000 as well as the highest increase level since June 2014. However, it is considered that the claims are still hovering around low levels. The 4-week average for initial claims rose 8,000 to 304,000 from a month ago. Continuing claims for the week ended August 30^th rose by 9,000 to 2.487 million, resulting in the 4-week average decreasing by 15,000 to 2.499 million, a new recovery low. Also, the unemployment rate for insured workers remains at 1.9%. Last week, we were made aware that over 40,000 individuals were laid off during the month of August. With just over a quarter filing for unemployment, it appears the majority of workers are confident enough in our economy that they will find new employment opportunities without having to rely on unemployment benefits.