Walmart booked a 5.1-percent increase in sales last year, posting $681 billion in revenue, more than other companies in the world.
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Feb 25 2025
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U.S. HOUSING STARTS TUMBLE IN JANUARY
New single-family home construction in the U.S. slumped 8.4 percent in January, year on year, dropping for the first time since October. Multifamily starts were down by 13.5 percent, according to commerce department data. The pullback followed a 16-percent surge in home starts in December, leading some economists to believe that some construction was advanced......
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EXISTING HOME SALES FALL AS PRICES SET A NEW JANUARY RECORD
In January, sales of existing U.S. homes fell 4.9 percent below December’s number, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. The drop was almost twice the 2.6-percent decline analysts had expected.
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CONSUMER SENTIMENT TANKS IN NEW SURVEY
Consumers have taken an increasingly dark view of the U.S. economy and its future, the newest monthly University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment has found.
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DELINQUENT LOANS ON THE RISE AMONG U.S. BUSINESSES
The share of U.S. business loans falling behind in their payments is the highest since 2017 and could rise even higher as the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war begins to bite, the Financial Times reported.
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EQUITY INVESTORS ARE TURNING BEARISH
In the week ending 12 February, 47.3 percent of individuals invested in the U.S. stock market expect share prices to fall during the next six months, the most since November 2023, a survey by the American Association of Individual Investors found.
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DOES WARREN BUFFET HOARDING CASH SIGNAL MARKET CRASH?
Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s investment firm, reported more than $300 billion in cash and treasury securities in 2024’s third quarter, a record amount as well as a record percentage of the company’s assets, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW
After being a bit upbeat prior to and following the U.S. presidential elections, consumer confidence in February hit its lowest level since the peak of the COVID War back in August 2021... when the nation was shut down and the population was freaking out.
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LEADING U.S. ECONOMIC INDICATORS WEAKENED AS THE YEAR BEGAN
A group of key measures gauging the economy’s performance in the months ahead weakened as this year began, according to The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI).