Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

During the week of 9 January, the number of first-time claims for unemployment payments surged to 965,000 from 784,000 the week before, the U.S. Labor Department reported. The number was the highest since the week of 22 August. Analysts had expected 800,000 new claims. The unemployment rate held firm at 6.7 percent. Workers filing late...

As we have been reporting since late March of last year, when the U.S. Federal Reserve began injecting tens of trillions into the equity markets to prop them up as most of the world’s economies locked down, it was a “right in front of your eyes” racket to keep the White Shoe Boys on their...

CRUISE LINES TO STAY DOCKED. Carnival Cruises’ flagship Carnival line, as well as its Princess and Holland divisions’ ships, with stay in ports through March in the U.S. as the company works to satisfy health restrictions imposed by state and federal authorities. Its P&O Cruises Australia division suspended New Zealand trips through 25 April. Trips...

As we have forecast, the 20th century was the American century – the 21st century will be the Chinese century. The business of China is business; the business of America is war. While America spent countless trillions waging and losing endless wars and enriching its military-industrial complex, China has spent its trillions advancing the nation’s...

Shipley Do-Nuts, a Houston-based coffee and pastry chain of about 300 stores in the southern U.S., has been bought by Peak Rock Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Austin. The purchase includes the Shipley Franchise Co. and the Shipley Do-Nut Flour & Supply Co. The price and terms of the deal were not made...

The U.S. auto industry closed 2020 as its weakest year since 2012, but automakers see a rebound in 2021’s second half as vaccines are widely distributed, the job market strengthens, and consumers begin to spend again. Consumers bought about 14.5 million cars and light trucks last year, 15 percent fewer than in 2019 and the...

With lockdown rules keeping people home and the media and politicians selling heavy daily doses of COVID Case hysteria, the construction industry will slump this year. While new home construction is up, most other sectors of the construction industry are languishing as clients delay construction in the face of an uncertain economy, according to a...

As people lose their jobs and wages diminish, the “rent but can’t buy a house” trend will continue to escalate. Just as they did back when the Panic of ‘08 hit, the Bigs will build new houses and buy ones in foreclosure to rent out to cash-strapped consumers. New home construction is speeding at a...

Defying a glum outlook by analysts, U.S. manufacturing strengthened in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s December index-tracking factory output rose from 57.5 in November to 60.7 in December. Economists had expected the pace to retreat to 56.6. The survey’s price index surged from 65.4 to 77.6, the highest since...

More than 7,100 U.S. businesses sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year as the world’s economic crisis crippled manufacturing, shut down exports, and kept consumers at home according to Epiq Systems, a legal services provider. The number was about 29 percent above 2019’s, the company noted. As federal subsidies shrink or end, the pace of...