Category Archives: Business & Economy
TEXAS LEGISLATURE 2021 Texas House Wants To Go Further Than Senate To Protect State’s Main Power Grid As Time To Agree On Bills Winds Down
:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8adf60957743ee765f75f74ea3ed3718/ATX%20Winter%20Storm%20EL%20TT%2014 "TEXAS LEGISLATURE 2021 Texas House Wants To Go Further Than Senate To Protect State’s Main Power Grid As Time To Agree On Bills Winds Down")
The Texas House could take up its proposal to better prepare for extreme weather as soon as Sunday. The chambers have a little more than a week to wrap up remaining work.
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Lumber Industry Has No Interest In New Mills As They Reap Rewards Of Record Prices
Lumber executives told WSJ they “aren’t racing out to build new mills” as they are content with elevated prices boosting their quarterly net incomes. Usually, when commodity prices soar, new supplies flood the market, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. This is because the North American lumber industry supply is controlled by just a few firms.
Read moreHow Trillions in Newly Printed Money Created a Labor Shortgage
The US has millions of idle workers. In a normal economy this would put a damper on demand. But in our money-printing economy, consumer demand is surging even as production falls behind. An employment bubble is the result.
Read moreBudget Deficit Surges to Record $1.7 Trillion in Just Six Months
The US government ran a budget deficit of $659.59 billion in March, pushing the budget shortfall to a record $1.7 trillion through the first half of fiscal 2021, according to the Treasury Department’s Monthly Treasury Statement. The March budget deficit ranks as the third biggest monthly shortfall in US history, driving Uncle Sam the biggest half-year deficit ever.
Read moreJeff Bezos Just Endorsed Corporate Tax Hikes. Here’s Why Amazon’s Support Should Be a Giant Red Flag
When Big Business comes together to collude with Big Government, it usually means everyday people are about to get ripped off.
Read moreFord To Move $900 Million Plant From Ohio To Mexico: Report
The Ford Motor Company has reportedly shifted a $900 million investment for an Avon Lake, Ohio assembly plant towards a site in Mexico, according to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
Read moreHow a Small Rise in Bond Yields May Create a Financial Crisis
How can a small rise in bond yields scare policymakers so much? Ned Davis Research estimates that a 2% yield in the US 10-year bond could lead the Nasdaq to fall 20%, and with it the entire stock market globally. A 2% yield can cause such disruption? How did we get to such a situation?
Read moreCash-Out Home Refinancings Hit Highest Level Since Global Financial Crisis
In addition to boosting both bonds and stocks, the rigging of interest rates by hapless central bank has homeowners drawing on cash out refinancing’s at the quickest clip since the global financial crisis. $152.7 billion was cashed out in home equity last year, up 42% from 2019 and the most since 2007, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read moreTexas Frozen Chaos Becomes Global Oil Market Nightmare With 40% Of US Crude Production Offline
Even though Texas is doing everything in its power to contain the fallout that, it appears that the crisis is now spreading, because as a result of the persistent freeze and rampant “force majeueres” across the industry, more than 4 million barrels a day of output – almost 40% of the nation’s crude production – is now offline.
Read more“Supply Is Frozen” – Polar Vortex Sparks Massive Spike In NatGas/Electricity Costs
The week’s biggest story is the plunge in temperatures across the Great Plains from Canada to Texas, resulting in skyrocketing demand for natural gas and electric markets as tens of millions of Americans crank up their thermostats to stay warm. And that surge in energy costs comes at a time when incomes/jobs remain suppressed and Americans are being told to stay indoors.
Read morePhysical Premium To Paper Hits Record As Silver Market Tears In Two
The shortage of physical silver is exposing a tear in the precious metals market unlike any we have seen before.
Read moreMatt Taibbi via TK News: Suck It, Wall Street!
In a blowout comedy for the ages, finance pirates take it up the clacker
Read moreExpect The Most Evictions In History As Ban Expires
The federal ban on evictions expires in January. For millions that’s when huge problems start.
Read moreUS Budget Deficit Triples To Record $3.1 Trillion In 2020 As US Spends 90% More Than It Collects
Those who have been following the record surge in US public debt (excluding the roughly $100 trillion in off-balance sheet obligations), which exploded by $3 trillion in the three months following the covid shutdowns and which just hit an all time high $27.1 trillion this week, will be all too aware that the US budget deficit this year – and every year after – will be staggering.
Read moreTrump Administration Invests $1 million in Value Added Producer Grant Program in Rural Texas
The Trump Administration announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $1 million to help agricultural producers in rural Texas increase production of value-added goods.
Read moreAmericans Burn Through A Staggering $724BN In Annualized Savings In August As Stimulus Fades
Lower income coupled with higher spending in a time when the vast majority of Americans were looking forward to more stimulus meant that US consumers rapidly burned through savings. At the same time, the personal savings rate collapsed by 17.7%. This means that a whopping 60% of the personal savings built up in the aftermath of the COVID fiscal stimulus tide have now been used up. So, unless a new fiscal deal is in place, US consumption will crater unless somehow the millions of unemployed workers who still desperately rely on government stimulus find a job.
Read moreAmericans Pay Down Credit Cards For 5th Consecutive Month As Post-Covid Deleveraging Continues
Revolving credit – i.e., credit card debt – shrank once again, the 5th consecutive monthly decline, dropping by $293 million to just below $1 trillion.
Read moreTexas Craft Brewers Navigate Confusing Coronavirus Mandates
The sudden announcement put Texas craft brewers in an untenable position, as they were forced to once again close their taprooms just weeks after reopening them.
Read moreAlcohol Permits for 12 Bars Suspended After Three Nights of Operation Safe Open
On the third night of Operation Safe Open, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission found evidence to suspend the permits of seven more bars. In total, the permits of 12 bars have been suspended during these undercover investigations.
Read moreGovernor Abbott Announces $123.6 Billion Economic Impact Of Military Bases In Texas
Governor Greg Abbott today announced the results of a study completed by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts at the request of the Texas Military Preparedness Commission (TMPC) analyzing the impact on the state’s economy of the various U.S. military installations within Texas.
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