The Angry Bear

 – by New Deal democrat We finished housing data for the month with this morning’s report on new single family home sales and prices. As I usually point out, new home sales are the most leading of the housing construction metrics, but they are noisy and heavily revised.  That was true again in May. Sales (blue in the second graph below) declined -11.3% m/m to 619,000 annualized, after April was revised sharply higher by +64,000 to 698,000. As...

From the NYT: After Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Israeli officials declared a siege of Gaza, and they have severely restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, saying they do not want it to help Hamas. From October to early May, the daily number of aid trucks entering the territory through the two main crossing points in southern Gaza dropped by around 75 percent, according to U.N. data, and reports of hunger and malnourishment...

An abbreviated portion of Preston Mui’s “Where High Rates are Restricting Investment,” Employ America. This portion of his economic commentary discusses housing and in particular Multifamily. Preston Mui: The Federal Reserve has held rates at the current level for nearly a year. The majority of the committee appears confident that monetary policy is currently restrictive. From the perspective of their confidence, the question for monetary policy...

Discussing US Debt looked interesting enough to post on Angry Bear. I do not agree with the proposed fixes as I believe there are other fixes which would resolve the issues mentioned. Perhaps you have better ideas? Addressing Rising US Debt by Karen Dynan Econofact, The Issue: United States Federal debt rose sharply after the Great Recession. At 98% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, it is close to its highest level ever....

I have been very alarmed by the risk of a Chinese (PRC) invasion of Taiwan (province of the RC). The main reason is that the most Xi Jin Ping announced that he has instructed his generals (and admirals) to be develope the capicto to invade by 2027 (the 30s anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to the PRC). This does not imply an invasion then. Landing craft and landing ships (please don’t ask me to explain or define the distinction) would...

 – by New Deal democrat This week’s data focuses on house prices and new home sales, and the more important personal income and spending report on Friday. In the housing data I am looking at any movement towards rebalancing between new and existing home sales. To recapitulate, the big increase in mortgage rates has locked up the existing home market, increasing the share of new houses as to total sales.  With existing homes, we saw inventory...

This popped up. What not to do on a sunny day in the Nevada desert. The F-89 Fighter Fired ‘Mini’ Nuclear Bomb Rockets to Make Russia Freak, msn.com A new design F-89J flying overhead was carrying a different and altogether deadlier payload. An approximate three-meter-long rocket with a 1.5 kiloton nuclear W25 nuclear warhead in its tip.  The rocket was designated MB-1 Genie, later renamed the AIR-2A, and popularly nicknamed the “Ding Dong.”...

I got my first COVID shot in August 2020 as part of the Moderna Phase III trial. Since then, I’ve had four additional jabs. Today, I’ll get another booster with the latest Moderna vaccine. I’m looking forward to it. I did contract COVID last November during a trip to Colorado. I tested positive for a few days and had mild symptoms, but completely recovered. The vaccine doesn’t prevent you from getting infected, it keeps you out of the ED and the...

The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found employers are projecting a 7 percent hike for health care costs in 2024. Aon projected the average costs for U.S. employers paying for their employees’ health care could increase 8.5 percent to more than $15,000 per employee in 2024. Voters remember the pain, not the gain by Merrill Goozner GoozNews Here’s another problem for President Biden’s reelection team. In in policy arena...

Been writing on SCOTUS for a bit as they seem to be roguish in their approach and to the right favoring monied interests. This is humorous and Kathryn caused me laugh with her take on Amy Coney Barrett questioning Clarence Thomas’s dabbling in historical facts backing up attorneys and a court’s finding. From the reading of Kathryn’s take on this, Justice Barrett may take on Clarence. This is something I would like to read if it was in public....