Pattern is tracking the road to recovery.  While we will endeavor to search for regional trends, we will also include national data points as they are both important and signs of consumer confidence.  Now more than ever, Pattern will continue its role as an “honest broker” assisting those who wish “to move the dial” forward.  We will use these updates to provide balanced data.  It will be up to you – as always – to act on it as you deem appropriate.  Our hope is to help you make more informed decisions.

Also once a month we will include a sector analysis.  It will include three sections:

• where we were just prior to the Pandemic (Our “Out of Alignment” report will be helpful)
• what happened and then offer ideas as to where we might be heading 
• these ideas are meant to trigger discussions, to help you contemplate what’s next

As we understand that numbers are snapshots we will be looking for trends.

Please contact us if you have other suggestions as to how to ascertain the performance of the regional economy. We look forward to your comments on how to make these updates more useful to you.

November 24, 2021

Inflation.

As much as New Yorkers are concerned with the rising costs of goods and services, the chart below shows that we are clearly in better shape than the rest of the country. Take that piece of relative good news with you when you sit down for your Thanksgiving meal. What to do about it is a much harder question, as market prices are driven by factors outside of the control of local residents. There are however consumer choices that can mitigate some of the impact of inflation.

If you are in the position where you have money to invest, the other chart below suggests that modest risks are necessary to stay ahead of the more cautious investments that pay rates of return lower than the rate of inflation. And that is for the segment of our population that HAS the money to invest.

Stay tuned.