Thanks for the response, I do use FRED and is one of the dozen or so pages that I have open when I open my browser. I've used it before, but at some point with posts here, I made it one of the "home" pages on my browser. I haven't been able to have the time yet to analyze and discuss the differences in the data projected between the two charts. It was from another blog and I just pasted the address of the image.
I have no argument that wages have steadily increased in general, my point is that real income or disposable income, the money to have the quality of life that each individual strives for beyond just paying the bills, is going down and with many families it isn't even paying the bills. The cost of housing and necessary living expenses is where the wages are not keeping up and the chart of that is in a horrible downtrend.
This is a big subject as well as your other valid points with a few caveats about the comparisons of certain points in time that you have made in your posts, but I have to get to my trading and will have to discuss at a later time. But I did want to respond and give thanks for your thought out response, definitely appreciate the input.
For now I will refer to the FRED chart here which is 2 1/2 months behind and is a lot worse number now and is still trending down at a very worrisome rate of decline. I believe somewhere in there is where the -4.4 number is referring to. Exact numbers can be debated, and of course depends on the data that is put in (or the data that is withheld in the charts), but the point is that there is a street reality of a too negative of number that is at play here. The causes and effects (political, social, environmental, wars, viruses, financial and more) and any solutions or how we decide to trade or invest with are all involved and I believe a very serious situation is evolving.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
