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☆ Mortgage rates rise after disappointing March inflation report
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Mortgage rates drifted higher this week, and could increase further, in a sign that America’s affordability crisis isn’t letting up. The Federal Reserve doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, but its actions do influence them, and hotter-than-expected inflation readings could keep the central bank from reducing interest rates. That doesn’t bode well for lower mortgage rates, and economists don’t expect rates to fall below 6% this year, especially if the Fed does not end up cutting interest rates. Inventory gains could improve affordabilityMortgage rates are not expected to drop meaningfully this year, but further improvement in housing inventory could improve affordability. A lack of homes has been a longstanding issue keeping America’s housing market unaffordable and is especially frustrating for first-time buyers.

Persons: Freddie Mac, ”, Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s, doesn’t bode, Joe Biden Organizations: Washington CNN —, Federal Reserve, “, Federal, Treasury, National Association of Realtors, Homeowners, Fed

☆ Opinion: Bad omens for Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Opinion David Mark | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Former President Donald Trump is the closest thing in modern political history to an incumbent who doesn’t hold the office. But these considerable advantages also raise questions about his general election chances given his inability to completely win over Republican primary voters. Despite effectively clinching the Republican nomination with a near-sweep of Super Tuesday states, Trump couldn’t escape the shadow cast by former South Carolina Gov. Haley dropped out Wednesday after consistently winning 30% or so of the GOP primary vote in the states she competed in. Undoubtedly some of the Republican voters who backed Haley in the primaries and caucuses will return to the Trump fold in November, maybe even a majority.

Persons: David Mark, “, Donald Trump, doesn’t, Trump, Nikki Haley, Haley, Joe Biden, haven’t, Pat Buchanan, George H.W, Bush, Pat Sullivan, Buchanan, Bill Clinton, Ross Perot, Massachusetts Sen, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Kennedy, Carter, Ronald Reagan, Joan, Wally McNamee, Corbis, Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ford, Owen Franken, Lyndon Johnson, Johnson, Sen, Eugene McCarthy, Hubert Humphrey, Nixon, Biden, Hillary Clinton, they’re, McCarthy, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, ”, Israel –, Philips, doesn’t bode Organizations: Washington, CNN, Trump, Republican, South Carolina Gov, GOP, United Nations, Evangelical Pastors, GOP White House, Republican Party, Democratic, Electoral, New Hampshire Democratic, Biden, Rep, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Twitter, Facebook, Hamas, Israel Locations: Arizona , Georgia, Michigan, Nevada , New Hampshire , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Trump, Bedford , New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California, Boston, . Indiana, Minnesota, Vietnam, North Carolina, Virginia, Gaza

☆ Opinion: Why Ron DeSantis turned out to be a loser
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Opinion Ilene Prusher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Ron DeSantis was touted as a rising star with a clear path leading to the Republican nomination in 2024 and possibly into the White House itself. DeSantis also championed the policies that Trump voters claimed to want more of, like a hard line on abortion, expanded gun access and removing progressive prosecutors. The thing that DeSantis didn’t have over the billionaire reality TV star-turned-president – Trump’s personality – turned out to be a fatal flaw. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott – were unwilling to lend their support to DeSantis’ flailing campaign, endorsing Trump instead. Or one could look at DeSantis’ charmless offensive and conclude that his presidential ambitions will never be more than that – ambitions.

Persons: ”, “ Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Prusher Jordana Miller, DeSantis, –, Joe Biden, Scott Maxwell, “, “ Ron DeSantis ’, Mickey Mouse, ” Ana Navarro, Gary Fineout, Trump, Ron DeSanctimonious, doesn’t bode, Brandon Girod, Democrat Andrew Gillum, Joseph Ladapo, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott –, ’, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama –, Clinton Organizations: Florida Atlantic University, CNN, New, Florida Gov, Republican, Harvard Law School, Yale University, Trump, Orlando Sentinel, Disney, Business, POLITICO, Florida Republicans, DeSantis, White, Pensacola News, Democrat, Sens, Democratic, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Miami, POLITICO Florida, Tallahassee, Sunshine

☆ Markets tried to fight the Fed on rate cuts. It didn’t work
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Now there’s roughly a 50/50 chance that the Fed could either cut rates or hold them steady in March, according to futures. A few developments this past week tempered investors’ optimism, and now the possibility of a rate cut in March could be completely thrown out the window, according to economists. He echoed other Fed officials who’ve recently said that beginning to cut rates in March is just not realistic. In addition to officials’ comments, recent economic data also doesn’t bode well for a March rate cut. Markets are expecting twice as many rate cuts this year than what Fed officials themselves estimated in their latest economic projections released in December.

Persons: ’, Christopher Waller, ”, who’ve, Loretta Mester, “, Mary Daly, it’s, Daly, bode, Waller, ” Bill Adams, ” Daniel Altman, Jerome Powell’s, Donald Trump, Christine Lagarde, couldn’t, Jamie Dimon, Trump, Joe Biden, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Levi Strauss, Booz Allen Hamilton, CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN — Federal Reserve, Fed, Brookings Institution, ” Cleveland Fed, Bloomberg, ” San Francisco Fed, Fox Business, Commerce Department, Labor Department, Employers, Comerica Bank, CNN, Biden, Trump, Economic, European Central Bank, ”, JPMorgan, Bank of America’s, United Airlines, The Bank of Japan, Netflix, General Electric, Procter, Gamble, Johnson, Verizon, Lockheed, Haliburton, Tesla, IBM, Bank of Canada, Global, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Co, Visa, Intel, Mobile, Comcast, Capital, US Commerce Department, Chicago Fed, US Labor Department, American Express, Colgate, Palmolive, Booz, National Association of Realtors Locations: Washington, ” San, East, Iran, Davos, Switzerland, Iowa, Swiss, United States

Stocks broadly got a boost after yields in the Treasury market eased further off their highest levels in more than a decade. Yields fell after a report showed the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve prefers to use was a smidgen cooler last month than economists expected. It charged this week to its highest level since 2007, up from 3.50% in May and just 0.50% in 2020. The latest monthly update on the U.S. jobs market is due next week, with a couple of important reports on inflation coming the following week. Big Tech stocks were helping to lead the market, as they're seen as some of the biggest beneficiaries from easier yields in the bond market.

Persons: it’s, ”, Brian Jacobsen, doesn’t bode, it's, Brent, Schlumberger, Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach Organizations: Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Nike, Federal Reserve, Treasury, Annex Wealth Management, Wonder Group, Big Tech, Microsoft, Nvidia, Exxon Mobil, AP Business Locations: North America, U.S, Europe, Asia

☆ Premarket stocks: Warning signs suggest this year's rally is on shaky legs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It’s too soon to tell, but there are alarm bells ringing that indicate investors should be — and are — on edge. Stocks rebounded this year after a bruising 2022, as artificial intelligence excitement led investors to fuel a powerful tech-driven surge. While shares of tech behemoths have led the market’s surge this year, the rally had begun to broaden out in early summer. High yields often mean bad news for stocks, since investors tend to gravitate toward virtually risk-free Treasury bonds when they offer high returns over stocks. Spending in the second quarter grew at its weakest pace since the first quarter of 2022, when it was flat.

Persons: Stocks, Liz Young, “, ”, bode, Goldman Sachs, Danielle Wiener, Bronner, Hudson, Bryan Mena Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, Federal Reserve, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Treasury, OPEC, Goldman, New, Girl Scouts Heart, Commerce Locations: Ukraine, New York

☆ Right-wing media fumes over Univision anchor’s debate questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Republicans are enraged that their safe space was punctured at the second GOP debate by a Univision anchor. After welcoming viewers in Spanish (the debate was simulcast on Univision), Calderón queried the Republicans through the night on weighty issues related to immigration, hate crimes, health care, and more. But unlike what is typical on Fox News, Calderón declined to frame her questions in a manner favorable for the Republican candidates. “The Univision anchor’s questions seem to come from the comments section of Salon and Vox,” talk radio host Buck Sexton said. “I think the Univision lady thinks she’s at a Democratic Debate,” Fox News commenter Tomi Lahren added.

Persons: Ilia Calderón, Calderón, “, ’ ”, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, I’ve, Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney, Greg Gutfeld, ” Gutfeld, Buck Sexton, commenter Tomi Lahren, ”, Matt Schlapp, Donald Trump, bode Organizations: CNN, Univision, Fox News, Republican, Los Angeles Times, Gov, Department of Homeland Security, “ Fox, DNC, Fox, RNC, Republican Party

☆ New ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker fails to meet the moment as Trump unleashes flurry of lies in debut interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The Kristen Welker era of “Meet the Press” is off to a bleak start. Unfortunately, Welker failed spectacularly to meet the moment during her interview with Trump. Welker allowed Trump to make a number of statements wholly untethered to reality on a range of critical issues without tenacious, resolute, or meaningful pushback. It’s arguable that, at this juncture, there is really no need to interview Trump. If it is necessary to interview Trump, newsrooms need to approach the task differently than they would any other interview.

Persons: Kristen Welker, Donald Trump, Welker, hyping Welker, “, Trump, timidly, Peter Baker, ” Trump, “ Mr, ”, —, dishonestly, Trump’s, doesn’t bode Organizations: CNN, “, Press, . Television, NBC News, House, Trump, New York Times, White, NBC, Republicans, Republican Party, Republican Party of Locations: Taiwan

☆ Women’s World Cup: Three Contenders Look to Make Their Move
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Andrew Das | The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The next stretch of games in the Women’s World Cup will see several favorites to win the tournament look to build some momentum — or, in Canada’s case, find some — and display the dominance for which they’re known. Spain, which cruised in its opener, will look to repeat the feat just like Japan did on Wednesday in its win over Costa Rica, 2-0. Spain opened the World Cup in impressive style against Costa Rica. “We weren’t always clicking on the field,” the United States co-captain Alex Morgan said this week. And therein lies the problem facing the United States: that sturdiness, discipline and organization will be tough to break down.

Persons: Hazel Nali, Catherine Musonda, doesn’t bode, Alexia Putellas, Christine Sinclair, “, Bev Priestman, ”, m. E Organizations: Nigeria, Ireland, New Zealand, Vietnam, Ireland Ireland, Australia, Canada, ”, Japan, Costa Rica Japan’s, Zambia Locations: Canada, Spain, Japan, Costa Rica, New, United States, Zambia, Australia, Ireland, JAPAN

☆ China fails to release cremation data from late 2022 when its Covid-19 outbreak raged
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A review of the past 10 years of ministry data shows the annual figure of cremations was consistently included in the fourth quarter data report – until now. China has faced criticism of its data transparency throughout the pandemic, including how it counts Covid-19 deaths. In January, a top WHO official accused China of “under-representing” the severity of its Covid outbreak, and repeated the agency’s critique of Beijing’s “narrow” definition of what constitutes a Covid death. At that time, Chinese health officials only listed those Covid patients who succumbed with respiratory failure and pneumonia as having died of Covid. It’s not clear if China plans to release the national data on cremations at a later date.

Persons: cremations, Yanzhong Huang, Covid, ” Huang, Hector Retamal, China’s, “, bode, It’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, Council, Foreign Relations, Ministry, Civil Affairs, CNN, Getty, WHO, Covid, World Health Organization Locations: Hong Kong, China, New York, Shanghai, AFP, Wuhan, Communist, “

☆ Chris Christie Is Running for the Nomination of a Party That Doesn’t Exist - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But my enjoyment of his newfound Resistance shtick doesn’t bode well for Christie. The people he needs to win over are not liberal New York Times columnists, but voters who hate liberal New York Times columnists. The trick, for a Republican, is going to be painting Trump as a weak loser who will sabotage right-wing priorities. At times Christie tried to do this, as when he criticized Trump for his failure to build the border wall and repeal the Affordable Care Act. presidential nomination, would he be willing to accept the role of the presidential candidate of a 2024 center-right independent party?” Steinberg wrote in April.

Persons: Christie, ”, Trump, Alec Baldwin, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner —, you’ll, —, Kushner, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, doesn’t bode, “ idolizing ” Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden, John McCain, pander, filleting, Marco Rubio, he’s, Alan Steinberg, Bush, ” Steinberg Organizations: Trump, State, New York Times, Republican, “ Locations: State of New Jersey, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Europe

☆ A history of stocks with astronomical price-to-sales ratios doesn’t bode well for Nvidia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( John Melloy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

At above 36 times sales, Nvidia's shares are trading at their highest valuation ever, according to Trivariate Research. Adam Parker's research firm looked at all the other times in market history when stocks traded above a 36 price-to-sales ratio and what happened next. When Nvidia joined the trillion-dollar market cap club briefly last week, it was clearly based on anticipation of a future AI revenue windfall. To be clear, Parker and his firm are not advocating shorting Nvidia's stock anytime soon. Still, the eye-popping valuation should give investors looking to buy Nvidia at these levels some pause.

Persons: Adam Parker's, Trivariate, Parker, Michael Bloom Organizations: Research, Nvidia

The European Union is at the forefront of drafting new AI rules that could set the global benchmark to address privacy and safety concerns that have arisen with the rapid advances in the generative AI technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. "If it's about protecting personal data, they apply data protection laws, if it's a threat to safety of people, there are regulations that have not been specifically defined for AI, but they are still applicable." Data protection authorities in France and Spain also launched in April probes into OpenAI's compliance with privacy laws. 'THINKING CREATIVELY'French data regulator CNIL has started "thinking creatively" about how existing laws might apply to AI, according to Bertrand Pailhes, its technology lead. "We are looking at the full range of effects, although our focus remains on data protection and privacy," he told Reuters.

☆ Americans’ debt surpasses $17 trillion for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

To this point, credit card debt has been rising at the sharpest pace of any debt covered in the report, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate. Last year, 39% carried debt month to month. Increases in credit card debt can be a either sign of confidence or struggle, he added. “For the foreseeable future, we’re stuck with high credit card rates, high balances, and more people carrying debt,” he said. “My advice would be to pay down credit card debt, as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

☆ France pension protests explained: France is still mad -- but can the protests last?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Joseph Ataman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In 1995, weeks-long mass protests forced the government of the day to abandon plans to reform public sector pensions. For many in France, the pensions system, as with social support more generally, is viewed as the bedrock of the state’s responsibilities and relationship with its citizens. Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIn contrast, during the Yellow Vest protests, started in opposition to hikes in fuel prices, violence gradually soured public support. That these pensions protests continue to hold such popular goodwill is an ominous sign for Macron’s future plans. The size and violence of pensions protests spiked when Macron forced the legislation past the country’s lower legislative house without a vote.

☆ Instant View: US payrolls show labor market remains strong but wages rises cool
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nonfarm payrolls increased 223,000 last month, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Monthly job growth is well above the pace needed to keep up with growth in the working age population. "Through the rest of the report, the average hourly earnings month over month came in at 0.3%. But everything else about this shows a very, very resilient labor market which doesn’t bode well for a smaller rate hike. "Fed will look at these numbers and say that the labor market is still pretty robust and to the extent that they would like to see a bit of slack in the labor market."

☆ Premarket stocks: The 5 biggest takeaways from earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Earnings have been strong: So far, S&P 500 earnings growth has been better than expected. We also saw solid earnings from Apple (AAPL) and record profits from oil giants Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM). Companies are beating earnings estimates for the third quarter by 1.8% in aggregate, according to FactSet data. More than 50 S&P 500 companies have lowered earnings per share expectations for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet data. Fourth quarter earnings per share predictions have been revised down by 4.3% since October 1, according to Bank of America analysts.

☆ Water's edge: the crisis of rising sea levels
▼ + stars: | 2014-09-04 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

But sea levels have been rising for 100 years in Baltimore.”ROCKET SCIENCEThe irony is evident at Wallops Flight Facility. Yet this bastion of climate research has been slow to apply the science of sea level rise to its own operations. Reviewers from state and federal agencies criticized the 348-page document for failing to adequately take rising sea levels into account in the project design and impact, or to temper future plans for expansion. Joshua Bundick, Wallops’s environmental planning manager, explained that he distilled the issues “down to only the highest points,” and sea level rise wasn’t among them. The cost to American taxpayers of repeated destruction of the parking lot and causeway from rising sea levels would only increase, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

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