We got it right, we got it wrong. In November 2022, we had forecast the S&P 500 would boom in 2023, going up at least 16 percent. It did, spiking up 24.2 percent for the year.
Tag: U.S. economy
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U.S. JOB GROWTH IN DECEMBER… BUT THE NEWS IS NOT ALL GOOD
U.S. businesses hired 216,000 more workers in December and average hourly wages rose 0.4 percent from November and 4.1 percent year over year, the labor department reported on 5 January.
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RENTERS GETTING CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM EAGER LANDLORDS
From 2020 through much of this year, residential rents were climbing steeply, in some markets by double digits each year, with potential tenants—sometimes numbering 40 or more—bidding against each other for the same home.
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STORE SIZES SHRINKING, DEMAND FOR RETAIL SPACE GROWING
The average retail store is now the smallest since at least 2006, according to data service CoStar. At the same time, demand for retail space is its strongest in 18 years, with the national vacancy rate a scant 4.8 percent in this year’s third quarter, according to retail estate services firm CBRE.
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LAYOFFS MOUNTING: ALMOST 40 PERCENT OF COMPANIES WILL CUT STAFF IN 2024
Almost 40 percent of U.S. companies will cut their workforces in the new year, according to a poll of 906 executives by Resumé Builders, with even more imposing a hiring freeze.
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FED HOLDS RATES STEADY, PROJECTS THREE CUTS IN 2024
At its mid-December meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee not only froze interest rates at their current levels, but also said it expects to make three quarter-point rate cuts next year and drop rates by a full point in 2025.
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ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Everything's coming up roses. In Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, its central bank said today that it will keep its cheap money scheme going (i.e. quantitative easing) and its negative 0.1 interest rates to juice up its economy which contracted at an annualized 2.9 percent rate in the last quarter.
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JUNK FOOD SALES FATTEN CAMPBELL’S BOTTOM LINE, EXPAND McDONALD’S BURGER EMPIRE
Campbell Soup’s third-quarter profits beat analysts’ expectations as sales of snacks and packaged meals countered reduced spending in other categories by budget-minded shoppers.
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USE OF ONLINE LAYAWAY PLANS UP 17 PERCENT THIS YEAR
Online shoppers’ use of layaway or “buy now pay later” plans (BNPL) has jumped 17 percent since 1 November to a record $10.1 billion as household savings have fallen below pre-COVID levels, the Financial Times reported.
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DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS DECLARE WAR ON PRIVATE EQUITY HOME LANDLORDS
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill titled “The American Neighborhoods Protection Act.” It would require private equity groups owning 75 single-family homes or more to pay an annual fee of $10,000 per house. The money would sustain a fund that would help U.S. households make down payments on homes.