Donald Trump is prepared to withhold approval of foreign companies’ purchases of U.S. businesses as a tool to force other nations to accept his policies, according to people who have been in discussions with Trump’s advisors, the Financial Times reported.
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Jan 21 2025
MEGABANKS SAW A JUMP IN FOURTH-QUARTER PROFITS
Major U.S. banks reported higher profits in 2024’s final quarter, thanks to equity markets leaping 23.3 percent through the year, a rebound in mergers and acquisitions, and greater demand for banks to underwrite bond issues, Reuters reported.
U.S. HOLIDAY SALES RISE 4 PERCENT, CHEERING RETAILERS
Retail sales during the November and December holiday season totaled $994.1 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department reported, a 4-percent bump over 2023’s total. Online sales rose 8.6 percent.
MORTGAGE RATE RISES BACK UP OVER 7 PERCENT
The average U.S. interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.04 percent during the week of 6 January, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. reported, the first time since May the rate has topped 7 percent.
INFLATION PICKED UP AGAIN IN DECEMBER
In December, U.S. inflation set an annual pace of 2.9 percent, compared to 2.7 percent in November. It was the sharpest one-month increase since February 2024, The New York Times noted.
U.S. POISED TO FURTHER INCREASE ITS RECORD NATIONAL DEBT
The U.S. will run a $1.9-trillion budget deficit in this fiscal year, on top of the $36 trillion the country already owes, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported.
IMF BOOSTS U.S. GROWTH FORECAST FOR 2025
The U.S. economy will expand by 2.7 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected, increasing its forecast from the 2.2 percent it foresaw last October.
ECONOMIC UPDATE — MARKET OVERVIEW
Yesterday Donald Trump was, again, inaugurated President of the United States. And as we have forecast with one our Top Trends for 2025, at this point in time, no one really knows how the Trump Card will be played.