Labor Day Weekend Arrives: Now What?

Well, we hit the Labor Day break. It's late this year - as late as possible, since it falls on the first Monday of September and this year the first Monday is September 7th. Do the math.

Now what? 

With Labor Day, summer's done Not officially maybe, but for all intents and purposes, the lazy hazy days of summer conclude this weekend. 

Kids are either back in school or about to go back. The pace of family life thus changes as school dominates weekday life.

In the sports world - such a huge part of everyday life for many Americans - the NFL fired up this week and the full slate of Week 1 will be completed at the end of Labor Day - on Monday. And as we all know, the NFL is a big deal in these United States. Plus we get the first whiff of Major Leagus aseball playoffs - ultimately culminating in the World Series in a little bit more than a month.

(Can NBA basketball and NHL hockey be far behind?)

It's simply a new phase of the year now.

But in addition to our personal surroundings, let's not forget what will now dominate our more social, political and economic world.

We're going to "shift" into holiday mode sooner than we likely think. Once school and the thick sports schedule begins, it'll be no time until Halloween pops up, followed by Thanksgiving, and of course, the icing on the holiday cake, Christmas.  

Then there's are the mid-term elections. These will more and more infiltrate the daily news feeds we typically access. And there's a lot at stake here. Then again, isn't there always?

On the war front, the pick-up in fighting between the U.S. and Iran, along with the never ceasing intensification of lethal exchanges between Russia and Ukraine is only the latest instance of what really does look and feel like war spreading more and more, involving more and more countries. Calls for peace have begun to ring hollow.

The economy continues to grind one with the aid of the AI industry. Will the bubble in AI stocks and accompanying earnings spikes for the AI champions continue or will the air begin go hiss, perhaps even pop this fall. Fall, after all, has traditionally been a time of market trouble when bubbles burst and the financial world shakes.

Which naturally brings us to the now seemingly perennially overvalued stock market. It's been boosted by those AI champions; but under the radar, many stocks have been in bear markets for months now. At some point, if and when the market fully recognizes this, there'll be a reckoning.

Will a credit crisis precipitate this, as it did in 2007-2009? Don't count it out. There's already some unpleasantness gurgle up under the surface of the bond market, extending through private credit facilities and funds that hold them and...well, just be aware of this and possibly do some digging. With the right resources, you'll find a gurgle or two.

We're not predicting exactly what's going to give. Nor are we opining on how dramatic things may get in the fall, or even if anything at all of any consequence will drop on our heads.

But we are being consistent with the facts and the themes presented in our posts, especially in recent months.

And we are, to say the least, preparing for the worst - whenever it may occur. 

The ever-worth-reading Charles Hugh Smith put it this way in a recent screed:

What matters is seeing the fuse burning and realizing it's going to blow up, and planning accordingly. 

(Charles Hugh Smith https://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-lit-fuse-low-interest-rates-ruined.html)

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

To accompany whatever plans you may have, there's this gem about the joys of labor, by the great English band The Animals. (Remember them?)