Barron’s (December 30)
“Home prices rose more quickly than expected in October, according to S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index data released today. But the bigger picture shows that housing costs continue to improve, with forecasters expecting a pickup in sales in 2026.”
Tags: 2026, Forecasters, Home prices, Housing costs, Improve, Index, October, Pickup, Rose, S&P Cotality Case-Shiller
Time (December 29)
“This was the year when artificial intelligence’s full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back or opting out. Whatever the question was, AI was the answer. We saw it accelerate medical research and productivity, and seem to make the impossible possible. It was hard to read or watch anything without being confronted with news about the rapid advancement of a technology and the people driving it.”
Tags: Accelerate, AI, Artificial intelligence, Impossible, Medical research, Possible, Potential, Productivity, Rapid advancement
New York Times (December 28)
“Breaking China’s dominance will require creativity and patience…. The United States and its allies must solve their rare earth problem. The world’s democracies cannot depend on the most powerful authoritarian state — and an increasingly aggressive one — for critical minerals. The potential costs, to prosperity and freedom, are too great.”
Tags: Aggressive, Allies, Authoritarian, China, Costs, Creativity, Critical minerals, Democracies, Dominance, Patience, Prosperity, Rare earth, U.S.
Reuters (December 26)
“Solar, wind power and batteries are set to make life a misery for the liquefied natural gas market. Some fossil fuel executives already think the push by incumbents like Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Woodside Energy to hike global production by some 50% by 2030, per the International Energy Agency, is creating a bubble. But renewable energy’s advantages will make the pop even worse.”
Tags: 2030, Batteries, Bubble, Exxon Mobil, Fossil fuel, Global production, IEA, LNG, Pop, Renewable energy, Shell, Solar, Wind power
The Week (December 24)
“The economic slump has affected several iconic American brands.” Brown-Forman, the company that owns Jack Daniel’s, Old Forester and Woodford Reserve is “laying off about 650 employees, or 12% of its workforce, in the face of declining demand.” Other brands have fallen into receivership. “But Jim Beam has taken perhaps the most extreme move by announcing it would halt production at the plant’s main distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, for an entire year.”
Tags: Brands, Brown-Forman, Declining demand, Distillery, Economic slump, Employees, Halt, Iconic, Jack Daniel’s, Production, Receivership, U.S., Workforce
Wall Street Journal (December 23)
“New data released Tuesday showed that the unemployment rate has risen from 4% when President Trump took office to 4.6% in November. A sizable drift like that isn’t a good political omen, but it also isn’t rare.”
Washington Post (December 23)
U.S. “tariffs have generated about $25 billion a month since April,” which may seem big. But these monthly takes are really “more like rounding errors than game changers. The gross domestic product of the United States in 2025 will be about $31 trillion.”
Tags: $25 billion, $31 trillion, 2025, April, Big, Game changers, Gross domestic product, Rounding errors, Tariffs, U.S.
Reuters (December 22)
“China will impose provisional duties of up to 42.7% on dairy products imported from the European Union, the latest in a series of measures against EU exports widely seen as retaliation for the bloc’s electric vehicle tariffs.” There are a range of duties on “unsweetened milk and cream and fresh and processed cheeses, including the iconic French Roquefort and Camembert,” but “most companies will pay just under 30%.”
Tags: Camembert, China, Cream, Dairy products, Duties, EU, EV, Exports, Milk, Processed cheeses, Provisional duties, Retaliation, Roquefort, Tariffs
MarketWatch (December 22)
“The kitchen sink was thrown at the economy in 2025 — punishing tariffs, higher inflation, rising unemployment — but the U.S. might still be growing at an above-average speed in a sign of surprising pluck.” Can the momentum continue? AI may deliver continuing investment and efficiency gains. In addition, 2026 “should also benefit from lower interest rates, relaxed tariffs, fewer taxes and regulations, and more government spending in a midterm-election year.”
Tags: 2025, 2026, AI, Economy, Efficiency gains, Inflation, Interest rates, Investment, Momentum, Regulations, Tariffs, Taxes, U.S., Unemployment
Fortune (December 19)
“While America’s labor market may not be collapsing, Moody’s Analytics has highlighted that it is inching steadily closer toward a key recession indicator, with analysts now placing the probability of an economic contraction at around 40%.”
Tags: $40, Analysts, Collapsing, Economic contraction, Labor market, Moody’s Analytics, Probability, Recession indicator, U.S.
