Since there are lots of other, flashier items in the cycle today, I’ll do an economic round-up of dreariness. Maybe you won’t notice it and that way I can’t make anyone feel any worse.

In the banking sector, J.P. Morgan/Chase’s Jamie Dimon made some news with his annual letter to the bank’s shareholders. He was pretty downbeat, all things considered.

Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said industry turmoil sparked by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last month is nothing like the 2008 financial crisis, but it will nonetheless have repercussions for years.

“Repercussions” is not a comforting word and lends itself to all sorts of “what ifs.” He hit kind of a disturbing note on the Green Energy scheme, too.

I’m really not a fan of these people.

.@JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon calls for federal government to confiscate land for wind and solar farms, and transmission lines.

Climate means all rights sacrificed for nothing except expensive electricity… and profits for Wall Street.https://t.co/IDuP4TwOx5 via @wealth

— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) April 4, 2023

What exactly did he say? Well, of course, it was couched in carefully neutral terms, but I didn’t fall off the cabbage truck yesterday.

…Going ‘green’ is going to need more government spending, according to Dimon (raising permitting reform and eminent domain as two areas to consider):

“We simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives,” he said, urging authorities to make it easier to get permits.

To expedite progress, governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations need to align across a series of practical policy changes that comprehensively address fundamental issues that are holding us back,” Dimon wrote.

“The window for action to avert the costliest impacts of global climate change is closing.”

Dude. Take a hike. We’re going to keep filing those lawsuits and fighting wind and solar farms tooth and nail.

Sometimes, though, karma kicks in, and even the smartest guys in the room – like Dimon – get taken by Nigerian princesses.

The 30-year-old founder of a college financial planning website accused of fabricating nearly 4 million user accounts before selling it to JPMorgan for $175 million has been charged with fraud.

Founded in 2016 by CEO Charlie Javice, the company, ‘Frank,’ offered software to help young Americans obtain financial aid in what Javice framed as “an Amazon for higher education,” and had the backing of billionaire Marc Rowan – the company’s lead investor. JPMorgan touted the Sept. 2021 deal as giving it the “fastest-growing college financial planning platform” used by over 5 million students at 6,000 institutions.

The 31-year-old Javice was charged by Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and one count of bank fraud according to Bloomberg.

I got a good snort out of that one. Kind of brought the genius down to earth while he advocates stealing my back 40 for 1000 ft tall bird blenders.

Anyways, no good news came out of the Dallas Fed today, either.

From Dallas Fed: banking sector activity and outlook worsen; expect nonperformance to climb in coming months, and keep an eye on commercial real estate: pic.twitter.com/wYO4y24kY8

— EJ Antoni (@RealEJAntoni) April 4, 2023

Nor were there any cheerful chirps out of the job numbers.

Labor Market Finally Cracks: Job Openings, Hires Crash To Lowest Since May 2021, Miss Every Estimate https://t.co/vCLbq486iq

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 4, 2023

For the first time in a couple of years, that number dropped below the 10M threshold, which, in itself, is psychologically symbolic. What it will mean to the Fed, if anything, remains to be seen. It takes time to shake out.

Job openings fell below 10 million in February for the first time in nearly two years, in a sign that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the labor market may be having some impact.

Available positions totaled 9.93 million, a drop of 632,000 from January’s downwardly revised number, the Labor Department reported Tuesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Wall Street had been looking for 10.4 million, according to FactSet.

It was the first time vacancies fell below 10 million since May 2021.

There is a strong component to “the jobs aren’t real” at play here, as well. Lots of companies have kept job openings posted that they have no intentions of filling, or fill occasionally from those floating openings, so it skews things.

JOLTS 9.931M vs expectations of 10.5M.

We are starting to see the job openings and employment numbers being reduced drastically.

I only expect it to speed up.

It takes time for rates and measures to work themselves through the economy but everywhere I look now stress is…

— THE SHORT BEAR (@TheShortBear) April 4, 2023

Amazon laid off at least another 100 folks, this time in their video games section.

Amazon is laying off roughly 100 employees across its video games division, an executive overseeing the unit wrote in a memo to staffers on Tuesday.

The layoffs included employees in the Game Growth group, Amazon’s San Diego gaming studio, and Prime Gaming, an offering targeted for members of Amazon’s mainstay loyalty program, Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, wrote in the memo. Some staffers have also been reassigned to other projects “that match our strategic focus,” Hartmann said.

That takes them into the 20K+ range of instituted and announced cuts so far.

Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s space experiment, fizzled out badly and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. All those rocket scientists and techs are looking for work in what is rapidly shaping up to be a tough as nuts tech climate. Billionaires funding space exploration start-ups are hard to come by.

Virgin Orbit on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. after failing to secure a funding lifeline.

The California-based satellite launch company lodged the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware and is looking to sell its assets.

It comes after CNBC obtained audio of Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart telling employees during an all-hands meeting last week that the company was ceasing operations “for the foreseeable future.” The firm also said it would lay off nearly all of its workforce.

…It has been looking for new funds for several months, with majority owner Richard Branson unwilling to fund the company further.

Branson founded the company in 2017 and owns a 75% interest. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala holds the second-largest stake at 18%.

Yeah, gloomy, isn’t it? Yech.

There’s probably gonna be an opening at Bud Light soon, too.

I’m not so sure they’ll be in a hurry to fill it, but times being what they are, they’d better.

They’ve got some lost ground to make up.