As China’s economy slows, many are overly complacent and point to $4 trillion in foreign reserves that can always be spent to cushion any downturn. The problem is repatriating those funds would mean selling US Dollars and buying Chinese Yuan.…
The Friday File: 77% of all revenue from recorded music goes to the top 1% of bands and solo artists. The 10 best-selling tracks now generate 82% more sales than 10 years ago, while the top 10 songs receive twice…
While the rest of the planet economically cools or worse, goes into reverse, today’s data shows that the US economy is doing well. First-time weekly claims for unemployment insurance fell and are remarkably low, existing home sales rose 1.5% and…
The annual FY14 FHA audit finds that it went from having net worth of negative $1.1 billion to positive $4.8 billion and now has a capital reserve of 0.41%, or a leverage ratio of 243! Because of this “success” some…
With Q3 Japanese GDP growth coming in at -0.4%, Japan is back in recession for the third time since the end of the Great Recession. Amazingly, since the start of 2010, Japan has been in recession 47% of the time…
President Obama’s looming decision to grant amnesty to millions of illegals via Executive Order following a political drubbing is incomprehensible. It suggests Obama believes he can’t pass immigration reform through legislation, and is willing to deprive the next president the…
The Friday File: Between 1976 and 2000, Americans used an average of 20.3 vacation days/year. Since then, it’s steadily declined and now stands at just 16 days/year. As some of the unused days cannot be paid out, banked or rolled…
While US exports are weakening, don’t worry. Exports account for just 14% of US GDP, less than for any other developed nation. Exports account for 30% of Canadian GDP, 51% of German GDP, 15% of Japanese GDP, and 53% of…
In a very close election, Brazilians recently re-elected Dilma Rouseff. The result: the Brazilian real fell 2% and is near a 10-year low, and the stock market fell almost 3%. Worse, Brazilian sovereign debt is close to being downgraded to…
Cindy Gonzales references Elliot Eisenberg in an article on Omaha-area housing permit activity. Read the full article at Omaha.com.