The average interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages rose to 2.81 percent during the week ending 18 February, the highest rate in three months, according to the Freddie Mac financing agency. In tandem that week, various measures of mortgage and refinancing activity dropped 11.6 and 11.3 percent respectively, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) noted. “Rates...
Tag: Mar 2 2021
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FEDERAL EVICTION BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL, JUDGE SAYS
The federal ban on evictions imposed last September by the Trump administration and CDC is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Texas has ruled. The ruling favors a group of Texas landlords and property owners who sued in October to void the ban, contending that the federal government’s executive branch lacks authority to ban evictions. Judge...
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FEWER JOBS, LOWER RATES
The U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise benchmark interest rates from their current levels near zero until three conditions are met, Fed chair Jerome Powell said in Congressional testimony on 24 February. First, a broad range of statistical measures must show the labor market has returned to full strength. Second, inflation must rise to 2...
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HOUSEHOLD INCOME RISES IN JANUARY
U.S. household income climbed 10 percent in January from December, the U.S. Commerce Department reported, due in part to federal $600 stimulus checks the federal government sent that month to every adult and $300 in new weekly federal unemployment benefits. The month-to-month gain was the largest since last April when the government sent everyone $1,200...
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UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS DROP FOR FIRST TIME IN THREE MONTHS
During the week ended 19 February, new claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 111,000 to 730,000, the lowest number since November 2020 and far below the four-week moving average of 807,750, the U.S. Labor Department reported. The new number is a tenth of the flood of claims at its peak last spring and an encouraging...
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ARCANE BOND MOVE GIVES CLUE ABOUT INFLATION
Bond yields have risen sharply this year; stock-pickers are shifting away from glitzy tech stocks that have gained value during the pandemic and into shares of companies that will be strengthened by a reviving economy, such as airlines and hotels. With another deluge of stimulus money on the way, the markets’ message is clear, analysts...
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PSYCHOHISTORY: SCI-FI LEGEND PREDICTED THE COMING FALL
The battle continues. Call it Globalists vs. Nationalists, Elites vs. Populists, Technocracy vs. Constitutional Liberty. Whatever the terms, familiar players can be seen along each divide. A provocative analysis by Jim Quinn at the Burning Platform blog and featured in Blacklistednews says the war has already been decided. And it was all predicted by the...
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POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE U.S.A.
The MSM has applauded. But with over 350 Capitol protesters arrested since 6 January and National Guard troops camped out in Washington, D.C. indefinitely, there’s no denying a troubling line has been crossed into making political expression criminal. That effort is quickly ramping up in the new Biden administration. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi...
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ANALYST: GAMESTOP COULD LEAD TO WIDER MARKET SWINGS
Some analysts are worried there’s something other than profit motivating moves of so-called “meme stocks.” They’re blaming internet forums, young app traders who don’t share their valuations – or perhaps their values. “The internet has allowed decentralized bands of activists to coordinate their actions in both politics and finance, and it’s difficult to say if...
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LEFT SAYS GAMESTOP BUYING ESPORTS WOULD MAKE THINGS RIGHT
Late last week, a short-seller previously burned by GameStop stock surges had a suggestion that fueled further speculation about the company’s potential future. Prominent investor and noted short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research, suggested that the brick-and-mortar gaming company should consider buying the Esports Entertainment Group online gambling firm. Stocks of Esports surged on the...