Independent thinking for complex markets and current events
Series I bonds, an inflation-protected and nearly risk-free asset, will pay 4.28% through October 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Tuesday. The latest I bond rate is down from the 5.27% yield offered since November. Short-term investors have more competitive options for cash. But the fixed rate could still appeal to long-term investors, …
‘Leaving school before the age of 18 can have disasterous repercussions for your heart health, a new study suggests. Experts from Columbia University followed 26,000 people over 13 years to see how factors like education and income influenced their health. They found that education was a key protective factor against atherosclerotic disease, the primary trigger …
In the rapidly evolving landscape of electric vehicles, Tesla’s recent stock crash and potential pivot towards self-driving technology have sent shockwaves through the market. With layoffs and restructuring underway, the company faces a pivotal moment that could redefine its trajectory and competitive standing in the industry. Key points: Tesla’s stock plummeted by 43% amid doubts …
The WHO’s alarming report on H5N1 detection in raw milk underscores the evolving threat of avian influenza, with tens of millions of poultry deaths recorded since 2020 and a significant number of human cases reported globally. Key points: The H5N1 bird flu virus strain has been detected in very high concentrations in raw milk from …
The best way to get investors to stop focusing on something is to stop telling them at all. Netflix said Thursday it will no longer report quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per membership starting in the first quarter of 2025. This is a significant change for the company and for the so-called “streaming wars,” …
Chip stocks fell on Wednesday after ASML, a key developer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, said that bookings fell by 61% sequentially during the first quarter, a steeper drop than investors had expected. AMD’s stock fell over nearly 6%, Nvidia shares fell over 3%, Intel shares fell under 2% and Qualcomm was off over 2%. But …
The Fed might have to self-induce a recession if it wants to reach its target inflation rate, a BMO strategist said. Ian Lyngen told Bloomberg TV that the Fed might find its current monetary policy to not be restrictive enough. Markets have given up hope for a rate cut in June following the recent CPI …
The index for home prices increased in January at its fastest rate since November 2022 as supply constraints and inflation continue to raise prices, according to data from S&P Global. The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index increased 6.0% year-over-year in January, up from 5.6% in December, according to a press release from S&P Global. Growth in …
“New Harvard/Harris poll: 73% of voters are fine with the term “illegal immigrant”” New Harvard/Harris poll: 73% of voters are fine with the term “illegal immigrant” https://t.co/040hUdQ9dl pic.twitter.com/DJwRMuffFJ — Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) March 25, 2024
The pace of FBI arrests and the opening of new Jan. 6 criminal cases quickened so much in late 2023 and early 2024 that District of Columbia federal courts could bend under the weight. In the past two months, 93 people have been arrested and charged, according to Department of Justice (DOJ) reports. At the …
SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor London Breed has convinced voters to approve a pair of ballot measures that will move the city strikingly rightward by requiring drug screening for welfare recipients and easing restrictions on police officers. Breed, who faces a tough reelection fight this November, banked her political future on a hard pivot toward more …
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 13, 2024 ~ According to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), derivatives played a major role in the financial crash of 2007 to 2010 in the United States, the worst financial crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The FCIC wrote in its final …
No joke. He really thinks you are that stupid, America. After driving up the price of food 33 percent in three years thanks to his disastrous inflationary policies, Joe Biden is portraying himself as standing up for the little guy by attacking the snack food industry over “shrinkflation”, selling smaller packages at the same price …
Demand for new housing in China is set to drop by around 50% over the next decade, making it harder for Beijing to quickly bolster the country’s overall growth. That’s according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest staff report on China, completed in late December and released Friday. The prediction for a roughly 50% drop …
The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers battered California on Sunday, prompting the first-ever warning for hurricane-force winds in the state’s history. California is bracing for what could be days of heavy rains, flooding on roads and knocking out power to nearly 800,000 people, with 97 percent of the state’s population under flood warning. The current …
by Michael Wow, our economic problems really are starting to accelerate at a shocking pace. I know that I have been writing about layoffs a lot lately, but what is happening to the employment market right now is definitely big news. Day after day, more large companies are announcing mass layoffs. Why would all of these …
Saudi Arabia’s fourth-quarter real GDP fell 3.7% year-on-year, according to flash estimates published by the General Authority for Statistics on Wednesday. That’s a smaller drop than the 4.4% year-on-year slide in the third quarter. The drop was attributed to a 16.4% decline in oil activities, while non-oil activities and government activities expanded by 4.3% and …
via Mike Shedlock: Housing starts and permits continue to flounder as completions slowly rise. Housing data from Census Bureau, chart by Mish. Housing starts dropped 6.6 percent in December according to the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction Report. Building Permits Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate …
via Mike Shedlock: Trump wins Iowa easily. Results declared with only 3% of the vote in. Surprisingly, immigration, not the economy is the top concern. The above clip from the Wall Street Journal. Live Stream Trump was declared the winner with only three percent of the vote in. This is how it looks with 99% …
by Michael We experienced a tremendous amount of economic turbulence in 2024, but at least the employment market was relatively stable. Unfortunately, that period of relative stability appears to be ending. The pace of layoffs really seemed to pick up steam at the end of 2023, and the outlook for the coming year is not …
That’s a massive chunk of cash now ready to spend! Money Market Funds Record: $1.3 Trillion has flowed into money market funds this year, the largest amount in history pic.twitter.com/VRylKN9kLw — Win Smart, CFA (@WinfieldSmart) December 24, 2023
The layoffs, which mostly hit commercial operations and related corporate functions, comes one day after the robotaxi subsidiary dismissed nine “key leaders.” The moves are fallout from the company’s response to the Oct. 2 incident in which a pedestrian was dragged 20 feet by a Cruise self-driving car after being hit by another vehicle. Since …
The Biden administration made two virtue-signaling proclamations at last week’s COP28 conference in Dubai that it says will help save the planet from climate change. The policies aren’t likely to change the planet’s temperature by even one-tenth of a degree, but they might just destroy the 21st-century American industrial economy as we know it. First, …
Summary: Inflation was flat in October from the previous month, providing a hopeful sign that stubbornly high prices are easing their grip on the U.S. economy. The consumer price index, which measures a broad basket of commonly used goods and services, increased 3.2% from a year ago despite being unchanged for the month, according to …
https://twitter.com/BeRuzzia/status/1718131312219824235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Russia’s Central Bank on Friday raised its key interest rate by two percentage points to 15 percent, a bigger increase than expected as the bank said it was trying to bring down stubbornly high inflation. The central bank, which said the annual inflation rate would range from 7 to 7.5 percent this year, …
by theSilverVigilante Strong US dollar backing away from 107. Oil tanks from hitting $95 overnight. A weaker dollar and weaker oil coinciding with a completely flat precious metals movement and completely flat equity markets. This is the confusion before the storm. Jamie dimon coming out and predicting 7.5% fed funds rate recently. Maybe the FED …
Republicans say billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted based on unused federal office space and employees taking advantage of the White House’s liberal work from home policies. Damning reports reveal government employees have been in meetings while taking bubble baths, still got paid while on the golf course and attended happy hours while on …
US records highest credit card debt level at $1.03 trillion, 4.6% increase from Q2, with 20.63% interest rate, 47% cardholders carry monthly balances, and $7,227 average debt, with Connecticut and New York having the highest. ✅ US credit card debt surpassed the one trillion dollar mark and is now at the highest level ever recorded …
via Mike Shedlock: In a recent interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox news, Trump proposed a “ring around the collar” of the U.S. economy, “When companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay, automatically, let’s say a 10 percent tax. That money would be used to pay off debt.” …
