Category Archives: Consumers

The Dangerous Treasury Yield Curve

Popular Economics Weekly New Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has maintained that the Fed is on track to raise their short term interest rates at least 3 times this year. Why? It sees higher inflation down the road because of … Continue reading →

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Where Have All the Profits Gone?

Popular Economics Weekly I first wrote about the reasons for the huge stock selloff in early February when the DOW plunged more than 1,000 points in one day. It seems to be repeating itself this week, with the DOW losing … Continue reading →

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Lower Inventory = Fewer Home Sales

The Mortgage Corner WASHINGTON (February 21, 2018) — Existing-home sales slumped for the second consecutive month in January and experienced their largest decline on an annual basis in over three years, according to the National Association of Realtors. All major … Continue reading →

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New-Home Construction Soaring

Financial FAQs Construction of new homes in the U.S., known as housing starts, jumped almost 10 percent in January to an annual rate of 1.33 million. That’s the second highest level since the Great Recession and it easily exceeded the … Continue reading →

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Wages Rise in Unemployment Report!

Popular Economics Weekly The best news in January’s unemployment report was average hourly wages jumped 9 cents, to $26.74. It pushed the yearly increase to 2.9 percent from 2.6 percent, marking the highest level since the end of the Great … Continue reading →

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Q4 GDP Growth Misses 3 Percent

Popular Economics Weekly Consumers and businesses powered the economy to a 2.6 percent rate of gross domestic product growth in the final three months of 2017, according to the Commerce Department. But declining inventories and a wider trade deficit kept … Continue reading →

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Existing-Home Inventory Lowest in 18 years

The Mortgage Corner There aren’t enough home to sell. Sales of previously-owned homes tumbled in December as an ongoing inventory crunch became more worrisome with few homes to sell in parts of the country. Existing-home sales were down 3.6 percent … Continue reading →

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Immigration and Trump’s “S***Hole” Comment

Popular Economics Weekly How should we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. on his holiday? That greater equality creates greater prosperity for all; as well as greater peace. President Trump’s S***Hole comments were meant as a signal to his neo-nazi supporters … Continue reading →

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Why Raise Interest Rates Now?

Financial FAQs The Federal Reserve is warning about the consequences of the just passed tax reform bill, which includes adding some $1.5 trillion to the federal debt in ten years. New York Fed President William Dudley says it will put … Continue reading →

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What Happens in 2018?

Popular Economics Weekly The New Year will make some people very wealthy—mainly stockholders, corporate execs, and real estate moguls. And as minimum wages begin to rise this year in many cities and states (but not all), those at the lower … Continue reading →

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