Barron’s (November 10)
“The longest government shutdown on record may be nearing its conclusion, and U.S. stocks are likely to claw back a big chunk of last week’s decline.” But end of the shutdown is “a band-aid, not a cure” for markets. “The long, and likely volatile path to reopening the federal government…will only mask the major issues investors are grappling with heading into the final weeks of the trading year, and the stock market could break in either direction once some of those questions are addressed.”
Tags: Band-aid, Cure, Decline, Government, Investors, Longest, Record, Shutdown, Stock market, Stocks, Trading, U.S., Volatile
Time (November 10 Issue)
“Ballooning health care costs are driving up the price of insurance for the 154 million Americans who rely on employer-sponsored coverage,” where an average increase of 6.5% is expected in 2026, “the highest increase since 2010.” Things are even worse for those who do not have employer-sponsored coverage. Those covered by Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans are likely to see their premiums “rise by an average of 75% in 2026.”
Tags: 2010, 2026, ACA, Ballooning, Costs, Coverage, Employer-sponsored, Health care, Insurance, Plans, Premiums, Price, U.S.
SF Gate (November 6)
“America’s tech industry continues to lead in a grim metric.” Challenger, Gray & Christmas released a report that “tracked layoff announcements from companies” and “in 2025, the tech industry had the highest recorded number of layoffs for the month of October: 33,281 compared with 5,639 in September.” But the report found layoffs are hardly restricted to the tech industry. “Total year-to-date job cuts in the U.S. are at their highest level since the pandemic struck in 2020” while “layoffs for the month of October” were the highest recorded since 2003.
Tags: 2003, 2020, 2025, Grim metric, Highest, Job cuts, Layoffs, October, Pandemic, Tech industry, U.S.
Washington Post (November 4)
America may still be “the world’s leading scientific research power, but competition is growing more fierce.” Even though “it’s a dangerous time to dull the country’s competitive edge,” Trump’s moves against universities have done just that. “Scientists in the United States increasingly see European bureaucracy as a safer setting for conducting their cutting-edge research than their home country’s own institutions.” The European Research Council “has seen a surge in applications,” with “nearly triple the number of proposals from Americans compared with the year before.”
Tags: Applications, Bureaucracy, Competition, Competitive edge, Cutting-edge research, ERC, Europe, Fierce, Leading, Power, Proposals, Safer setting, Scientific research, Trump, U.S., Universities
MarketWatch (November 3)
“History is about to be made in Washington. No one is celebrating.” The government shutdown will become the nation’s longest on Tuesday night when it will “eclipse the shutdown that stretched from December 2018 to January 2019.” It remains “unclear when the shutdown will end. In the meantime, the damage is piling up.”
Tags: Celebrating, Damage, Eclipse, End, Government shutdown, History, Longest, Tuesday, U.S., Unclear
Newsweek (November 3)
“Only 28 out of every 1,000 U.S. homes changed hands between January and September 2025,” marking “the lowest rate since at least the early-mid 1990s.” Increasingly, “U.S. homeowners are staying put amid growing economic uncertainty and the ongoing affordability crisis.”
Tags: 1990s. Homeowners, 2025, 28, Affordability, Crisis, Economic uncertainty, Homes, January, Lowest rate, September, Staying put, U.S.
Barron’s (October 31)
“A U.S.-China summit in South Korea did just enough, even if it didn’t fix everything that has kept the two sides at odds.” It has “put markets at ease,” at least for a while. “The de-escalation appeared to be more a win for China than for the U.S., but also took a worst-case scenario off the table for markets.”
Tags: At ease, China, De-escalation, Fix, Fragile, Markets, South Korea, Summit, Temporary, Trade truce, U.S., Win, Worst-case scenario
Washington Post (October 28)
“Africa has an even worse problem than the United States with aging politicians who won’t let go.” It may demographically be “the youngest continent,” but Africa “remains dominated by old men who long ago lost touch with popular sentiment. Already the world’s oldest head of state, Biya will be almost 100 if he finishes his eighth term. Togo’s president is 86. Malawi’s is 85. The Ivory Coast’s is 83. This gerontocracy creates a combustible situation that all but assures future conflict.”
Tags: 100, 83, 85, 86, Africa, Aging politicians, Biya, Combustible, Demographically, Dominated, Future conflict, Gerontocracy, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Old men, Popular sentiment, Togo, U.S., Youngest continent
New York Times (October 26)
Under Donald Trump, a “casino… now passes for the American economy.” Distinguished by froth, Trump’s “casino economy” is “built on speculation and risk. Across markets and policy, wagers on the future are being made with other people’s money at a cost that could prove catastrophic.” While it’s true that “economies run on risk, growth and ambition…. There’s risk, and then there’s reckless gambling.”
Tags: Ambition, Casino, Casino economy, Catastrophic, Cost, Froth, Future, Gambling, Growth, Money, Reckless, Risk, Speculation, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (October 22)
“Sanae Takaichi wants to spend a lot of money on Japan, but she also needs to sort out some hefty financial obligations to the United States.” She is coming under immediate “pressure to secure backing for $550 billion her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba pledged to invest in U.S. projects as part of his tariff deal with the White House.” Given the new Prime Minister’s “desire to use fiscal spending to boost growth, she’s likely to lean on” private, rather than public, funding “to avoid immediate budgetary constraints.”
Tags: $550 billion, Financial obligations, Fiscal spending, Funding, Growth, Invest, Ishiba, Japan, Money, Pressure, Prime minister, Private, Public, Takaichi, Tariff deal, U.S.
