Stocks Continue to Boom, with Extreme Downside Vulnerability to
Near-Term Negative Economic Surprises and Otherwise

Pending Run on the U.S. Dollar Should Mirror a Flight into Gold and Silver

Economic Reporting Does Not Reflect Costs of Destruction from Natural Disasters, but
It Does Reflect Gains from Temporary Relief and Recovery Activity

Freight Index Continued in Non-Recovered, Low-Level Stagnation

Nonsense Volatility and Revisions Hit November 2017 Housing Starts,
Amidst a Continued Likely Boost from Disaster Recovery

Headline Gain of 3.3% Was 0.5% Net of Revisions

Activity Remained in Low-Level, Non-Recovered Stagnation, with
Housing Starts Still Shy of Their Pre-Recession High by 42.9% (-42.9%) and
Single-Unit Starts Shy of Recovery by 51.6% (-51.6%)

Multiple-Unit Starts Recovered in 2015, but
Have Fallen Back Since by 18.4% (-18.4%) from Their Pre-Recession Peak

Building Permits Remained Shy of Recovery by 42.6% (-42.6%)