In the first two weeks of this year, Asian governments and corporations issued $45 billion in dollar-denominated bonds, according to financial services company Dealogic. The amount is three-quarters of the total of such debt Asia took on in all of January 2020. Governments claim they are using the new debt to cover costs of caring...
Tag: jan 26 2021
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EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK RECOMMITS TO CONTINUE STIMULUS
The European Central Bank (ECB) promised on 21 January to keep buying bonds and maintain interest rates at or below zero after bank president Christine Lagarde noted that the Eurozone’s economy shrank again in 2020’s final quarter and the outlook for the current quarter remains cloudy. After acknowledging that business investment and consumer spending remain...
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EUROPEAN BANKS: SMALL BUSINESS BUST CAN BRING THEM DOWN
Europe’s banks hold more than €2 trillion in loans – about 40 percent of their loan portfolios – to small businesses, which increasingly are at risk of failure as the COVID pandemic continues to ravage the continent and governments keep economies locked up. The banks have few resources to offset weak loans. They already struggle...
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BIDEN INSTITUTE HIDES NAMES OF DONORS
The University of Delaware’s Biden Institute, a research and policy center founded “to influence, shape, and work to solve the most pressing domestic policy problems facing America,” is refusing to name its donors, Politico has reported. The institute, founded in 2017, aspires to embody the “honesty, integrity, compassion, and courage” that it says Joe Biden represents....
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BOSTON MAY LIFT RESTRICTIONS AS ECONOMY SUFFERS
Compared to 2019, Boston’s weekday restaurant reservations are 78 percent fewer, foot traffic in stores is down by half, and hotel occupancy rates are 18.2 percent, according to data reported by the Boston Globe from a variety of sources. The city’s Planning and Development office shows that: people spend less than half as much time...
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HALF OF U.S. HOTEL ROOMS WILL REMAIN EMPTY IN 2021
Although 56 percent of Americans expect to travel for pleasure this year, according to a January survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), hotel occupancy will remain at or below 50 percent through 2021, the association predicted. Business travel, the source of profit for most hotels, remains 85 percent lower than before the...
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HOME SALES SOAR TO 14-YEAR HIGH IN 2020
Last year, more homes sold in the U.S. than in any year since 2006. The sales spurt during the year’s second half, was, as we had forecast when the COVID War was launched last year, fueled by record-low interest rates, office workers sent home to work, and families seeking more spacious, less expensive “safer” digs...
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FARM BELT RECOVERS AS CROP PRICES SOAR
Prices for corn, soy, and wheat have risen to six-year highs on strong exports to China, following a summer in which 40 percent of the U.S. was in drought, reducing yields. China has launched a major initiative to boost its domestic pork production; it also is seeking to fulfill its promise to the Trump administration...
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IGNORING TRADITION, EQUITIES & BOND YIELDS BOTH RISING
The S&P 500 is trading in record-territory range, which is above 3,800, as investors are emboldened by strong quarterly earnings reports among banks, President Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus spending plan, and hopes of great progress in distributing COVID vaccines. The same sunny outlook has raised yields on 10-year U.S., treasury bonds from 0.9 percent at the...
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STOCKS RISE ON YELLIN’S CALL FOR STIMULUS SPENDING
Stock markets climbed after Janet Yellin, President Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, argued forcefully for increased stimulus spending in her 19 January confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate. The U.S. risks a longer, harsher recession unless lawmakers “act big” to strengthen the recovery, Yellin said. The nation’s economic rebound is slowing, according to indicators that...
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