It's been six years since home prices fell on an annual basis, maybe even longer. Since Realtor.com began keeping records in 2017, its index of home prices hasn't fallen on an annual basis until now. Liz Lucking reports in Mansion Global: In good news for U.S. home buyers, many of whom are exhausted by the ever-growing cost of owning, median home prices have slipped for the first time in years, according to a report Thursday from Realtor.com. Listing prices fell 0.9% annually in June, the first yearly decline since at least 2017, which is when the online property portal began tracking the … [Read more...]
CBO Projects Terrifying, Debt-Laden Future for America
In a recent report, the Congressional Budget Office has projected heavy debt equal to 181% of GDP for America by 2053. The AP's Fatima Hussein reports: The Congressional Budget Office is giving the world a concerning look at the U.S. government’s ledgers: ever higher deficits, greater government spending and tax revenues that only begin to increase when existing tax cuts expire. The nonpartisan agency estimates in its latest 30-year outlook, released Wednesday, that publicly held debt will be equal to a record 181% of American economic activity by 2053. That compares with a projected 98% … [Read more...]
China Props Up Ailing Yuan
Worried about its currency's weakness, The People's Bank of China has propped up the yuan even more than expected. Bloomberg News reports: China stepped in to support the yuan for a third time this week, once again signaling a limit to its tolerance for weakness in the currency. The People’s Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the managed currency at a stronger-than-expected level, as it did on Monday and Tuesday. The so-called fixing came in at 7.2208 per dollar, 311 pips stronger than the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey and the largest premium since … [Read more...]
Inflation Is Improperly Defined
In August 2009 I wrote: I do not believe in cost-push inflation. By example, union pressure to increase wages is not an inflationary event. An economy will adjust for higher wages without a general increase in the level of prices across the economy. Inflation is strictly a monetary event: i.e., too much money chasing too few goods. Milton Friedman was the dean of the monetary inflation fraternity. Whenever you come across an article on M.F., be certain to read with care as you will improve your understanding of a lot of things. Writing for Real Clear Markets, John Tamny echoes my sentiments, … [Read more...]
CBDCs Would Be the End of Any Remaining Central Bank Indpendence
In a well written piece, the CEO of the Cato Institute, and a friend of mine, Peter Goettler, explains the dangers central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) would pose not only to the privacy of America's citizens, but also to the Federal Reserve itself. He writes: In fact, implementing a CBDC could exacerbate many of the existing privacy violations that are already built into the financial system. The United States is often heralded as a free country with substantial protections for civil liberties, but the reality often does not live up to such expectations or constitutional dictates. And … [Read more...]
Inflexible Natural Gas Power Generation Threatening National Security
The horizontal drilling and fracking technology revolution have unleashed vast quantities of new natural gas supplies. There are some problems with that. Natural gas isn't flexible enough to deal with volatile weather patterns, and its use as the primary fuel for American power generation could threaten national security. Naureen Malik reports for Bloomberg: Although natural gas is often promoted as a “bridge fuel” to span the transition from coal power to renewable energy, the country’s vast network of gas plants, pipelines and the regulations that govern them was largely built without the … [Read more...]
Weak Demand Forces Railroads to Lower Prices
Smaller shippers are getting a break on prices from railroads like Union Pacific and BNSF as the companies try to attract customers amid weak demand. Ari Ashe reports for Journal of Commerce: Domestic intermodal providers have lowered contract rates through the end of the year for smaller shippers, according to rate documents obtained by the Journal of Commerce, as they look to attract business to rail amid a weak demand environment. Union Pacific Railroad and COFC Logistics, a wholesaler for BNSF Railway, have updated contractual rates for low-volume shippers, known as the aggregate … [Read more...]
More American LNG to Power Germany for 20 Years
Germany has signed another deal for American LNG supplies with Venture Global. Derek Brower, David Sheppard, and Shotaro Tani report for the Financial Times: Germany has signed another long-term deal to import more US liquefied natural gas, as Berlin moves to replace Russian energy in its economy amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine. SEFE, or Securing Energy For Europe — the company born out of Berlin’s effective nationalisation of the German operations of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom — will purchase 2.25mn tonnes a year of the super-chilled gas from Venture Global LNG, an American developer of … [Read more...]
MONEY GLOBALISTS: More Calls for Globalized CBDC System
Only shortly after bankers aligned with the IMF called for a globalized central bank digital currency platform, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has unveiled its "game changing" blueprint for privatized, unified control over global CBDCs. The Daily Hodl staff reports: The global central bank umbrella organization known as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a blueprint for the future of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In its new annual economic report, the BIS deploys the language of the blockchain and smart contract industry, saying the … [Read more...]
Drilling Declines in the Shale Patch
The high cost of drilling and low prices for oil are discouraging oil companies from drilling in America's oil patch. Myles McCormick reports in the Financial Times: The prolific US shale oil and gas industry is decelerating in the face of weakening commodity prices, suggesting production growth will stall at a time of booming demand. Evidence of stagnating activity is mounting. A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas posted a score of zero for business activity growth in the second quarter among some 150 oil and gas groups in its region — suggesting any expansion had hit a wall. It … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- …
- 105
- Next Page »