In February, 7.2 percent fewer previously owned homes sold than in the month before and 2.4 percent fewer than a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. The seasonally adjusted total of 6.02 million homes fell short of the 6.13 million sales and 5.7-percent decline economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had...
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CONSUMERS SAY “NO THANKS” TO PRICIER ITEMS
Retailers are discovering the point at which higher prices mean falling sales. Macy’s added $100 to the price of some mattresses and sofas and sales dropped. Clothier Bella Dahl raised t-shirt prices by $20; customers stopped buying and the company rolled back the increase. “There was a revolt,” chief brand officer Steven Millman told The...
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PRODUCER PRICE INDEX DOWN, INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT UP
The U.S. producer price index (PPI)—the prices that factories pay for their products’ components and raw materials—rose 0.8 percent in February, easing from January’s 1.2-percent gain. The PPI is seen as a leading indicator of inflation’s direction. The core PPI, which excludes the always-volatile costs of food and energy, edged up just 0.2 percent, a...
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NEW JOBLESS CLAIMS DECLINE AGAIN
New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 214,000 in the week ending 12 March, 15,000 less than the week before, the U.S. labor department reported. The four-week moving average dropped from 231,750 to 223,000. Continuing claims moved down from 1.49 million to 1.41 million in the most recent week tallied. The number of open jobs...
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RETAIL SALES SLOWDOWN
Last month, American consumers kept on spending more, but at a slower rate of increase than in January. Retail sales grew just 0.3 percent in February, compared to January’s surprising 4.9 percent, the U.S. commerce department reported. Still, restaurant and retail sales combined to set a monthly record of $658.1 billion in February, according to...
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CRITICS BLAST LME FOR HALTING TRADE OVER NICKEL PRICE
Nickel traders at the London Metal Exchange accused the exchange of favoring its giant customers and taking extraordinary steps to protect top clients like a Chinese tycoon and JPMorgan after there was a short squeeze on nickel. Clifford Asness, the founder of AQR Capital Management, took to Twitter on 10 March to accuse the exchange...
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THE HUNT IS ON FOR NEW SOURCES OF NICKEL: “SELF-SUFFICIENCY” TOP TREND
The world’s market for nickel is in chaos, leaving manufacturers that need to search out new sources. Supplies from Russia, which historically have provided more than 11 percent of the metal to manufacturers around the world, have not been banned but are in jeopardy because of its Ukraine war. Earlier this month, a foul-up in...
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FED’S RATE HIKE BOOSTS CRYPTO FIRM’S VALUE
When the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week, it gave a hand up to Circle Internet Financial, a young crypto firm that issues what it calls a USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Circle transforms investors’ dollars into USDCs, which it invests in cash...
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COMMODITY PRICE SPIKE AND SAG DRAMA
Global commodity markets bogged down last week as fears of geopolitical risk, exchange glitches, the risk of huge margin calls, caps on credit, and general price uncertainty sent a growing number of traders to the sidelines, taking markets’ liquidity with them. “Liquidity” is a measure of a market’s responsiveness and fairness. It is determined by...
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CORPORATE STOCK BUYBACKS ARE BACK IN STYLE
The rich get richer, the Bigs get bigger, and the equities markets keep rising higher as the money pumping schemes keep heating up. During the first two months of this year, corporations listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index have announced plans to repurchase $238 billion worth of their stock, a record for...