In the Financial Times, Kate Duguid, Lauren Fedor, and Colby Smith note that investors are getting worried about the potential pitfalls of the coming debt ceiling battle in Washington, D.C.. They write: The cost of buying insurance against a US government default has shot to its highest level in more than a decade, in an early sign of market concerns about the political impasse in Washington over the debt ceiling. Amid a stalemate between the White House and congressional Republicans on raising the federal borrowing limit, the price of five-year credit default swaps — the most widely … [Read more...]
Luxury Rally Drives LVMH Onto Top 10 Most Valuable Companies List
A rally in sales of luxury goods has put the world's largest luxury house, LVMH, among the top 10 largest companies, with a market capitalization of $486 billion. Julien Ponthus reports for Bloomberg: LVMH, Europe’s largest company by market value, has now made it to the world’s top 10. A first-quarter sales beat sparked a 5% increase in the share price Thursday, giving the luxury powerhouse a 29% rally for the year. That, along with a gain in the euro against the dollar, lifted LVMH’s market capitalization to $486 billion, briefly ranking it as the world’s 10th-biggest company. Should it … [Read more...]
American Regulators Working to Eliminate Gas Powered Cars
In an effort to minimize the number of gasoline-powered vehicles sold in America, regulators are planning strict rules that would force manufacturers to produce many more electric vehicles. Claire Bushey and Aime Williams report in the Financial Times: US environmental regulators on Wednesday proposed tough new emissions limits that would force carmakers to make 67 per cent of their American models electric by 2032. EPA administrator Michael Regan called it “the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks”. It would significantly increase EVs share of the new vehicle … [Read more...]
America Experiencing a Factory Building Boom
After COVID-19 supply chain struggles raised red flags about dependence on imports from China and elsewhere, many companies are building new production facilities in America to retake control of their logistical plans. John Keilman reports in The Wall Street Journal: Production at U.S. factories rose last year, but few things were produced at a more furious pace than factories themselves. Construction spending related to manufacturing reached $108 billion in 2022, Census Bureau data show, the highest annual total on record—more than was spent to build schools, healthcare centers or office … [Read more...]
BOOMERANG: Warehouse Employee Demand Whips Back
After surging demand for warehouse employees, companies are now laying off those they hired. The Wall Street Journal's Paul Page reports: Warehousing employment fell to the lowest level in more than a year as companies slashed payrolls amid a downturn in the goods-moving economy. U.S. employers cut 11,800 warehouse and storage jobs from February to March, according to the seasonally adjusted Labor Department preliminary jobs report released Friday. Warehousing companies have reduced employment by nearly 50,000 jobs since June, when overstocked retailers started paring inventories because … [Read more...]
Interest Rate Hikes Take a Toll on Hamptons Real Estate
Interest rate increases have slowed the demand for homes in the Hamptons, causing sale prices to fall 7.6% in the first quarter. Bloomberg's Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou reports: Buyers in the Hamptons are taking a pause. The median home sale price in the luxury Long Island enclave fell 7.6% in the first quarter, the first decline since 2019, while the total number of homes sold slumped 44% from the prior year to 424, according to data from Town & Country Real Estate. Fewer homes sold at all price points, but the high end of the market was hit particularly hard. The number of … [Read more...]
FedEx Mimics UPS with New Efficiency Measures
FedEx executives are streamlining the company's operations to more closely resemble those of chief competitor, UPS. Esther Fung reports for The Wall Street Journal: FedEx Corp. is combining its Express and Ground delivery units into a single business, abandoning an operating structure championed by founder Fred Smith and criticized by investors and analysts. The changes are designed to simplify interactions with customers and accelerate cost-cutting efforts, FedEx Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said. It helps the parcel-delivery giant adjust to a business model driven by e-commerce … [Read more...]
Unemployment Rising in America’s Warehouse Capital
California's Inland Empire is known as America's warehouse capital. It's where many of the cargoes unloaded in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are brought for sorting and shipping. Its economy is seen as a bellwether for America, and unemployment is rising. Augusta Saraiva and Amanda Albright report in Bloomberg: Southern California’s Inland Empire, the warehousing mecca that’s home to Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. facilities, is showing signs of trouble. Just last year, the region was hiring workers faster than California and the rest of the US — emerging as a top beneficiary … [Read more...]
Are Pensions Falling in Love with Bonds Again?
Bonds have traditionally been a mainstay of pension funds, but with rates near zero for years, pensions looked elsewhere for yield. That may be changing. Heather Gillers reports in The Wall Street Journal: After years of shifting money into private market investments, public pension and investment funds are taking a fresh look at publicly traded debt, thanks to the highest yields in more than a decade. “Bonds are back,” said California State Teachers’ Retirement System investment chief Christopher Ailman. He predicted that public pension funds will shift an additional 2% to 5% of assets … [Read more...]
New Regulation Coming for CDS Market?
Credit default swaps (CDS) act as insurance contracts against company defaults. Now, markets for CDS are in turmoil as banks face troubling prospects around the world. The heavy involvement of CDS has some regulators calling for more oversight of these opaque contracts. Martin Arnold and Laurence Fletcher report for the Financial Times: The European Central Bank’s top supervisor has claimed “opaque” trading in credit default swaps is harming banks’ share prices and could threaten a run on deposits. Andrea Enria, chair of the ECB supervisory board, called for a review of the market after … [Read more...]
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