Economic activity in Europe and the U.S. braked sharply in June as food and fuel prices continued their relentless rise and central banks raised rates yet again. The S&P Global purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing slipped from 53.6 in May to 51.2 this month, a five-month low. Europe’s manufacturing PMI registered 51.9 in June,...
Tag: june 28 2022
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WALL STREET, DEAD STREET. OFFICE BUILDINGS GOING CONDO
Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft, two New York City developers, have partnered to purchase a Wall Street office building and will convert it into 571 apartments over the next three or four years, the firms announced. The building, which has housed financial service and tech firms since it was opened in 1967, now stands one-third...
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U.S. BANKS TAKE A HIT ON BOND ISSUES
Major U.S. investment banks are taking sharp losses on bond issues agreed to before the U.S. Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, the Financial Times reported. When banks structure bond issues, they specify the maximum interest rate the bonds will pay, with a little wiggle room included—usually around 5 percent—in case markets move. However, since...
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RAIL JAMS SLOWING MOVEMENT OF GOODS IN U.S.
Cargo containers arriving on ships at U.S. ports can sit for weeks before moving inland because railroads are overwhelmed by the sheer number of steel boxes they must manage, The Wall Street Journal reported. About 29,000 containers are stacked in yards at the Los Angeles port waiting for trains to take them away, triple the...
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MORTGAGE RATES REACH 13-YEAR HIGH
During the week ending 24 June, the average U.S. interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage reached 5.81 percent, another in a series of 13-year high marks. The rate was the highest since November 2008, The Wall Street Journal said. The rate moved up from 5.78 percent the week ending 17 June and 5.23 percent...
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FED READY TO RAISE RATES SHARPLY AGAIN IN JULY
More members of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Open Market Committee are ready to raise the key federal funds interest rate another three-quarters of a point at the group’s meeting next month, the Financial Times reported. Michelle Bowman, a member of the Fed’s board of governors, voiced support for the bump “based on current inflation...
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U.S. ECONOMY STRONG BUT RECESSION IS POSSIBLE, POWELL SAYS
A U.S. recession is “not our intended outcome at all but it’s certainly a possibility,” U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said in testimony before the Senate banking committee on 22 June. The nation’s economy is “very strong,” he told lawmakers, but warned that new inflation surprises “could be in store.” Containing inflation, running at...
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BROADWAY ENDS MASK RULE, ACTORS FREAK OUT
Broadway’s industry trade association announced last week that it will put an end to its mask mandate for audiences that have been in effect since September. The Broadway League said it will reevaluate conditions in mid-July. Theaters are currently opened at 100 percent capacity and all 41 official theaters will continue to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, The...
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FOOD CRISIS WORSENS: PREPARE FOR NEW WORLD DISORDER
The United Nations warned that food prices and long standing economic issues in poor countries throughout Africa could lead to tens of millions of starvation deaths. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said there is a “real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022.” He said 2023 could be even worse. The UN warned...
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NEWS CONSUMERS TURN AWAY FROM NEAR-CONSTANT COVID PROPAGANDA
A recent Reuters survey found that more people are avoiding news in general due to the constant drumbeat of “depressing” coverage of topics like the coronavirus outbreak. Nic Newman, the author of the study from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, noted that issues that journalists believe to be the most pressing of...