The Daily Feather — The Economy is Not a Hallmark Movie
The Hallmark Channel has raised ‘rom-com’ to an artform. A hallmark of American film, romantic comedies are a proven staple for U.S. audiences. The perfected formula entails seven steps: 1) Start with a strong protagonist. Rom-coms feature a female lead who enjoys an aspirational career, feels life is not complete but is NOT looking for love; 2) Surround the protagonist with a supporting cast, one or two close confidants who provide counsel when needed; 3) Some incident which sets the action into motion – a break-up that sets her on a course to her love interest; 4) Create a compelling love interest. They don’t get along with her at first, but he complements her in ways not obvious she comes to realize; 5) Allow the couple to grow together over time. Throw the two leads together on a project, they work together and get closer, but fight attraction along the way; 6) Create confrontation by revealing the protagonist’s secret. Once revealed, a separation occurs, and all seems lost; 7) Save the kiss for last. The couple reconciles their differences, realizing they’re better together than apart. And finally, the seal of a kiss, which takes place in the very last scene.
One glance at Bloomberg’s U.S. calendar after Thursday’s 8:30 am releases hit, and you’d have thought the U.S. economy declared “The End” to its own Hallmark movie. Second-quarter real GDP growth was revised up to a 3.0% annualized rate on the third pass (above the 2.9% consensus), and initial jobless claims fell 4,000 to 218,000 in the week ended September 21st (below the 223,000 consensus). Better-than-expected growth. Lower-than-expected layoffs. Seal it too with a kiss!
We found zero coincidence in the Hallmark Corporation’s home base of Kansas City, Missouri, the same Federal Reserve District that reported its manufacturing survey at 11:00 am on Thursday.