COVID vaccines’ global availability next year is likely to stabilize the world’s economy and send investors in search of riskier bets that would bring a bigger return than the U.S. dollar, currency analysts are forecasting. In that scenario, investors will lose interest in the dollar’s safe shelter and the buck’s value will shrink as demand...
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT
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JOB LOSSES GROW IN LATE NOVEMBER
After sinking to their lowest level in early November since last spring, claims for state unemployment benefits rose during the last two weeks of November and added more than 100,000 new claims during the month, the U.S. Labor Department reported. About 828,000 claims were filed in November’s third week, roughly 78,000 more than during the...
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GLOBAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
GLOBAL ECONOMY FACES “DEBT TSUNAMI.” Government and corporate debt has grown by $15 trillion this year and will reach $277 trillion by 2021, which is about 365 percent of the world’s GDP, according to a study by the nonprofit International Institute of Finance (IIF). The red ink is a “debt tsunami” threatening to limit economic...
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BANKSTERS HIJACK U.S TREASURY
Janet Yellin, former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Joe Biden’s pick for treasury secretary, will in essence put the Federal Reserve in full control of the United States money machine. Yet, this is not mentioned by the media, which instead highlights that Ms. Yellen will be the first woman to occupy the position...
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U.S. MARKETS OVERVIEW
Go out at night. From Paris to Manhattan, from Podunk to Hick Town, cities big and small, the streets are empty. Buildings boarded up, curfews and restrictions. By government decree: Close down at 10 PM. No dining, no dancing, no singing, no hugging. Get back in your house. No partying no playing permitted. Check out...
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GOING DOWN, GOING BUST, GOING OUT
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES REPORTS SLOWDOWN. After seeing bookings rise in August through mid-October, ticket sales slowed recently, the carrier reported. Third-quarter revenues declined 65 percent year on year, with about 55 percent of available seats sold; the airline had forecast a 65- to 70-percent drop. Year-on-year revenues for November and December are likely to fall below...
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TOURISM INDUSTRY SLIDES BUT STOCKS RISE ANYWAY
Modest gains in tourism over the summer were reversed in August and September, according to Booking Holdings, an online travel booking site. Third-quarter hotel reservations fell 43 percent in the third quarter but plunged 70 percent the week ending 4 November, Bookings CEO Glen Fogel said to the Wall Street Journal. Winter’s drop in business will...
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EX-WELLS FARGO CEO SETTLES CASE FOR $2.5 MILLION
John Stumpf, former CEO of Wells Fargo Bank, has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) $2.5 million to settle charges that he lied to investors about the bank’s retail operations as it was enmeshed in a scandal over fake accounts. The penalty resulted from charges of negligence rather than fraud, which...
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PFIZER CEO MAKES WINDFALL PROFIT FROM VACCINE NEWS
Pharma giant Pfizer’s stock price soared as much as 15 percent on 9 November on news that it and German partner BioNTech had created a COVID virus vaccine that is more than 90 percent effective. The happy news prompted Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to sell 132,508 shares of the company’s stock he owns at a...
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HEDGE FUND FOUNDER BETS BIG ON FUTURE DEFAULTS
Bill Ackman, Founder of the Pershing Square hedge fund, has again bet big in the futures market on companies not being able to pay their debts. The fund collected about $2.6 billion in profits from a similar strategy Ackman used last February before the economic shutdown began. He bought a package of large insurance policies...