On September 17, 1967, three years to the day before I was born, America was introduced to The Who. The British rockers ended an already explosive, nationally televised performance of “My Generation” with such a literal bang, it singed Pete Townshend’s hair, left shrapnel in Keith Moon’s arm and momentarily knocked The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour off the air. Drummer Keith Moon was already embracing the habit of placing an explosive charge in one of his two bass drums to detonate during Pete Townshend’s guitar-smashing that ended each performance. Apparently, Moon packed several times the norm ahead of the Smothers Brother’s appearance. When ignited, a gigantic explosion rocked the set and a cloud of white smoke engulfed Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey. Though bassist John Entwistle never lost his cool, Daltrey practically flew downstage. As for Townshend, when he emerged from the smoke, his hair was blown to one side of his head. The rock legend was rumored to have been nearly deafened when Moon’s cherry bombs discharged.
Explosives set off at close range can exceed 160 decibels. According to noiseawareness.org, noise levels above the 140 threshold can cause damage to hearing after just one exposure. Prolonged exposure above the 70 mark can cause permanent hearing issues. In my case, two bouts of scarlet fever when I was a toddler wiped out half the hearing in my left ear. As for the dismal science, we try our best to hear nearly imperceptible noises to ferret out the signal.
Tuesday’s state JOLTS (job opening and labor turnover survey) report barely makes a whisper each month on the U.S. economic calendar. The Federal Reserve’s pivot toward the employment mandate raises the importance of such a granular dataset. The Fed is not alone. Investors have shifted the biggest tail risk away from inflation and toward recession in decided fashion. Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey indicated 40% were concerned about recession in September, more than double the 19% worried about inflation.