Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. plunged in April, the fourth consecutive monthly decline, falling to the lowest level since April of 2020. New home sales decreased 16.6 percent in April compared with the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That is just barely above the 582,000 level hit during the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic when the economy was brought to a near halt. Economists had forecast home sales to fall 1.7 percent to 750,000 from the preliminary March report of 763,000. The March report was revised down to 709,000. Existing homes sales have been cratering , as well. April home sales declined by 2.4 percent compared with March. At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million, sales were at the slowest pace since June of 2020, according to data released last week from the National Association of Realtors. Compared with a year ago, sales were off by 5.9 percent. The … [Read more...] about New Homes Sales Cratered in April Amid Rising Rates and High Prices
Citibank 30 year mortgage rates
Why Growth Stocks Hate Higher Interest Rates
The reaction to Covid-19 has been a case study in economic theory. Direct cash payments from the government to individuals and corporations were made for the first time in 2020. This experiment in fiscal and monetary policy will be studied by economists for decades. There are many areas of exploration, but I am going to limit this discussion to growth stocks. Before we identify the difference between a growth stock and a value stock, we need to review what a share of stock represents. A share of stock is simply a very small piece of ownership in a company. As an owner, you are entitled to your share of the company's future profits for as long as you own the stock. This right to future profits is what gives the stock its value, which can be calculated with relative precision. The challenge in investing is not the precision of the calculation, but rather the ambiguity of the inputs into the calculation. Allow me to explain. The universal law of finance is this: The current value … [Read more...] about Why Growth Stocks Hate Higher Interest Rates
‘A year may be too optimistic’: San Francisco’s restaurant industry won’t recover by 2023, experts say
The last few months looked promising for San Francisco restaurant and bar owners following the decline of omicron cases near the start of the year. As the proof of vaccination rule ended, the sight of more diners around SF neighborhoods seemed to resemble pre-pandemic levels. But with COVID cases again on the rise, experts are still wary and say that it will take some time before local restaurants are back on track. Ted Egan, chief economist at San Francisco’s Office of the Controller, isn’t sure when city restaurants can expect a full recovery. He believes that it will be longer than a year, as the food industry was among the hardest sectors hit during the pandemic. “The hospitality industry has more customers than it had a year ago ... but I think it will recover at the same level as tourism,” Egan told SFGATE. “A year may be too optimistic.” Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, reasons that the industry won’t get back to its … [Read more...] about ‘A year may be too optimistic’: San Francisco’s restaurant industry won’t recover by 2023, experts say
Nadda to Meet Union Ministers on Wednesday to Discuss Plan to Mark 8 Years of Modi Govt
BJP president J P Nadda is scheduled to hold a meeting with all the Union ministers here on Wednesday to deliberate upon the massive reach out exercise planned by the party to mark eight years of the Narendra Modi government, sources said on Tuesday. Top Union ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, are expected to attend the meeting at the party headquarters, the sources said. Prior to this meeting, Nadda is also likely to launch a campaign to strengthen the BJP on about 73,000 polling booths where it is relatively weak. Most of these booths are in southern and eastern states. The BJP has already prepared a committee led by its vice-president Baijayant Panda to draw a blueprint for strengthening the party on these booths. In its recent meeting of the office bearers in Jaipur, the BJP had announced that all Union ministers will visit villages across the country to mark eight years of the Narendra Modi government and take feedback on welfare … [Read more...] about Nadda to Meet Union Ministers on Wednesday to Discuss Plan to Mark 8 Years of Modi Govt
Grocery prices surge at fastest pace for 13 years
The price of groceries has increased at its fastest rate for 13 years, according to new figures. Researchers at Kantar revealed that grocery price inflation reached 7% over the past four weeks to mark the highest level since May 2009. Dog food, savoury snacks and fresh meat saw particularly sharp price rises, although spirit prices slipped for the month. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “ People are really feeling the squeeze at the supermarket tills and they’re having to stretch their budgets further to accommodate rising prices. Recommended Superspreader events blamed for monkeypox surge - follow live Minister condemns PM’s ‘allies’ briefing against Sue Gray - live Brexit has increased risk of danger foods reaching UK, watchdog warns “To put the most recent numbers into context, if you were picking up supplies for a family fry-up over the long weekend with toast, eggs, sausages, … [Read more...] about Grocery prices surge at fastest pace for 13 years
A year before Uvalde school shooting, Texas expanded gun rights
A mass shooting Tuesday that killed at least 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school came less than a year after legislators drastically expanded gun rights. Pledging to keep Texas a “bastion of freedom,” Gov. Greg Abbott in June signed seven laws , one of which allows people to legally carry handguns without licenses. “Texas will always be the leader in defending the Second Amendment, which is why we built a barrier around gun rights this session,” Abbott said that day, flanked by representatives of the National Rifle Association. One of the laws passed last year authorizes so-called constitutional carry, which means law-abiding Texans, 21 or older, no longer need a license to carry a handgun in public. The law went into effect Sept. 1. Another new law made Texas a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State” against new federal gun-control regulations. Other laws made it legal for hotel guests to store firearms in their rooms and allowed gun owners to carry … [Read more...] about A year before Uvalde school shooting, Texas expanded gun rights
Vladimir Putin set to lose 30,000 men in Ukraine as bodies pile up in refrigerated trains
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost nearly 30,000 troops with some seen piling up on refrigerated trains, it has been claimed. Fresh footage shared by Ukraine 's Railway Chief Alexander Kamyshin shows Ukraine collecting hundreds of dead Russian soldiers and storing their bodies inside a refrigerated train to then send them back to their families. Mr Kamyshin wrote on Twitter : "We treat dead Russians better than they treat live Ukrainians. Just another thing that makes us different." The clip declares that Ukraine preserves the bodies, according to humanitarian law, to then release them to "mothers and wives." The video shows people dressed in head-to-toe protective suits and lifting body bags into the trains. Vladimir Putin set to lose 30,000 men in Ukraine as corpses of dead Russian troops piled up abandoned in refrigerated trains - taken without permission from - The railway network, it says in the video, is prepared to deliver "cargo 200" back to Russia … [Read more...] about Vladimir Putin set to lose 30,000 men in Ukraine as bodies pile up in refrigerated trains
Literacy improving in Muslim-majority countries
Mohammed Iqtedar Husain Farooqi (The Jakarta Post) Lucknow, India ● Wed, December 9, 2020 2020-12-09 01:00 532 d66dcbf21949a93b498053ceec4b0343 3 Opinion literacy,Muslim-majority-country,rate,UNESCO,World-Bank,middle-age,Europe,Saudi-Arabia,Indonesia,Turkey Free Education is fundamental for the development of any nation, and higher education is a powerful tool for the eradication of poverty, boosting shared prosperity and making society strong enough to face challenging times. This basic fact was very well known to the ummah (Islamic community) in the Middle Ages, a golden period in Islamic history. “Seek knowledge” was the known commandment of Islam for Muslims, and they followed it for almost 800 years. Edward G. Browne (1862-1926) rightly observed that, “when Caliphs of Baghdad and Cordova fostered education amongst their subject to the extent that every boy and girl of twelve could read and write, Barons, Lords and their ladies in … [Read more...] about Literacy improving in Muslim-majority countries
Cost of living: Pork specialist Cranswick demands government saves industry’s bacon
Since it landed on the old Unlisted Securities Market - the precursor to Aim - 37 years ago, Cranswick has been one of those businesses that hides its light under a bushel, its management traditionally attracting epithets such as "taciturn" from City followers. That reflects its history. The business was founded in 1975 by a group of 23 farmers in East Yorkshire who clubbed together to buy a pig feed mill, over time diversifying into grain merchanting and pig wholesaling. Its services further evolved when, in 1988, it expanded into pork butchery and then, in a bid to ride out the cyclicality of the pork market, into producing gourmet sausages from prime cuts of pork. Energy price cap tipped to hit £2,800 in October - Cost of living latest It now produces sausages both under banners such as its own Simply Sausages brand for most of the main supermarket multiples, including the Tesco Finest, the Co-op Irresistible and Sainsbury's Taste The Difference ranges, as well as … [Read more...] about Cost of living: Pork specialist Cranswick demands government saves industry’s bacon
Stop the spending
The problem is that most of the budget will be spent on one-time expenditures without any contribution to the advancement of the economy. Welfare budgets aimed at promoting public health and curbing unemployment will reach a whopping 200 trillion won next year. It would be much better if the money was spent taking care of the vulnerable class, overcoming our alarmingly low birthrate and creating jobs for the elderly. But the Moon Jae-in administration wants to spend money on creating 1.03 million public jobs — a 10 percent increase from this year — for senior citizens. The government is putting 21.3 trillion won into so-called Korean New Deal projects to help foster digital and green economies along with ratcheting up our social safety net. The colossal projects are already under fire for being replicas of earlier government projects. Besides, the projects have a plethora of loopholes and some are just plain wacky- sounding. These are far from what the Moon administration touted as … [Read more...] about Stop the spending