Fortune (June 28)
“Recent housing market indicators show persistent weakness in home prices, including consecutive month-over-month declines. That’s as housing supply has increased while demand has stayed tepid amid still-high mortgage rates hovering around 7%. The slump in prices raises the risk of a prolonged downturn.” There may be an upside to the slump. Lower prices may “make homes more attractive, potentially spurring more demand and representing some relief for younger Americans who are looking to buy but have been priced out of the market.”
Tags: Buy, Declines, Demand, Downturn, Home prices, Housing market, Indicators, Mortgage rates, Persistent weakness, Priced out, Relief, Supply, Tepid, Younger
New York Times (May 29)
Companies initially “welcomed a court decision striking down President Trump’s tariffs. Then a stay of that ruling left no one breathing easy.” Uncertainty, with a splash of potential relief, now prevails as U.S. businesses struggle to digest “the latest twist in Mr. Trump’s roller-coaster trade war, which has made it impossible to plan more than a few weeks in advance. It’s particularly hard on industries that place their orders entire seasons ahead of time.”
Tags: Businesses, Companies, Court decision, Impossible, Industries, Orders, Relief, Roller coaster, Ruling, Stay, Striking down, Struggle, Trade war, Trump’s tariffs, U.S.
Market Watch (May 17)
“President Donald Trump’s move to defuse an ugly trade war with China not only sparked a massive stock-market rally but also drove down the chances of a recession — for now.” Though it’s a welcome sign of relief, numerous obstacles remain. Nobody can rest assured. “Ongoing trade wars have not gone away, for one thing. Trump could change his mind or the U.S. could fail to strike more economic-friendly deals with China, after that 90-day pause, and other countries.” Moreover, the uncertainty has “made households and business hesitant to spend, hire and invest. Confidence has plunged in the past few months, and anxiety is unlikely to fade quickly.” U.S. growth remains likely “to taper off sharply this year.”
Tags: 90-day pause, China, Confidence, Deals, Defuse, Hire, Households, Invest, Obstacles, Recession, Relief, Spend, Stock-market rally, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Ugly, Uncertainty
The Economist (February 8 Issue)
“If dealmaking means threatening catastrophe in order to win small gains, then Donald Trump is the master of the art.” Despite the collective sigh of relief when he suspended tariffs on Canada and Mexico in return for “some old promises,” the story is not necessarily over: “Donald Trump could still blow up global trade.” There is a real chance that “ideology, complacent markets and a need for revenue may still lead to big tariffs.”
Tags: Canada, Catastrophe, Complacent, Dealmaking, Global trade, Ideology, Mexico, Promises, Relief, Small gains, Tariffs, Threatening, Trump
New York Times (December 26)
“Despite lingering inflation, Americans increased their spending this holiday season, early data shows. That comes as a big relief for retailers that had spent much of the year fearing the economy would soon weaken and consumer spending would fall. Year on year, “retail sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 increased 3.1 percent.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economy, Fearing, Holiday season, Increased, Inflation, Lingering, Relief, Retail sales, Retailers, Weaken
Reuters (December 23)
“EU industries pay power prices 2-3 times higher than those in the U.S. Taxes made up, on average, 23% of the retail electricity price paid by Europe’s energy-intensive firms in 2023.” In addition, energy-intensive industries face “a more fragmented market than China and difficult access to credit.” Lowering taxes might be a way for policymakers “to offer fast relief” to industry.
Tags: China, Credit, Energy-intensive, EU, Fragmented market, Higher, Industry, Policymakers, Power prices, Relief, Retail electricity, Taxes, U.S.
Inc. (October 4)
There was “a collective sigh of relief from U.S. business owners and economic officials” with Thursday’s agreement “to send 45,000 striking longshoremen back to work, and reopen nearly 40 East and Gulf Coast ports that had been closed since Tuesday.” The move “allows nearly half of the nation’s imports and exports to begin flowing again, and avoid the serious blow to retailers and industrial companies—and the wider economy—that could have occurred if the walkout had continued.”
Tags: Agreement, Business, East coast, Exports, Imports, Industry, Longshoremen, Officials, Owners, Ports, Relief, Reopen, Retailers, Striking, U.S.
Reuters (September 5)
“Global property markets, rattled by the steepest rise in interest rates in a generation, will get little relief from the gradual easing of borrowing costs, with scant hope of a return to the free money that fuelled a boom.”
Tags: Boom, Borrowing costs, Free money, Global, Gradual easing, Interest rates, Property markets, Rattled, Relief, Rise, Scant hope, Steepest
CNN (July 7)
“Macron’s gamble has kept the far right out of power, but plunged France into chaos.” His “explosive gamble” brought a surprise result. A left-wing alliance came “in first with 182 seats” while the far-right trailed “in third place – a shocking reversal of last Sunday’s first-round results.” Despite the visible relief at pulling “back from the brink,” France appears certain to “enter a prolonged period of instability as three opposing blocs with competing ideas and agendas try to form coalition or find themselves stuck in a state of paralysis.”
Tags: Brink, Chaos, Coalition, Far right, France, Gamble, Instability, Left-wing alliance, Macron, Power, Relief, Reversal, Surprise
New York Times (December 26)
“Despite lingering inflation, Americans increased their spending this holiday season, early data shows. That comes as a big relief for retailers that had spent much of the year fearing the economy would soon weaken and consumer spending would fall.” It appears that “solid job growth is allowing people to spend more. And even though consumer prices have risen a lot in the last two years, wages have grown faster on the whole.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economy, Holiday season, Inflation, Job growth, Lingering, Prices, Relief, Retailers, U.S.
