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Are people asking for all groceries across the world to be the same price? There's seasonality, logistics, overhead, labour and whether Uncle Vito or Vikram wants to make some profit for his kid's birthday party.
Its The Economy, Stupid - Economic & Business News From Around The World
- Thread starter Grand Potentate
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Are people asking for all groceries across the world to be the same price? There's seasonality, logistics, overhead, labour and whether Uncle Vito or Vikram wants to make some profit for his kid's birthday party.
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Intel is an acquisition target. How the mighty have fallen. My cousin works at AMD so I guess they’re doing so poorly no one thinks it is worth buying.
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Trump announces private-sector US$500-billion investment in AI infrastructure
OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle plan a joint venture called Stargate, and have committed $100-billion initially and then up to $500-billion into Stargate over the next four years, the sources say
www.theglobeandmail.com
The Friends and Family deals continue.
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UnitedHealthcare taps company veteran Tim Noel as new CEO following Brian Thompson killing
The company is still reeling from the murder of Thompson, which unleashed a torrent of pent-up anger and resentment toward the insurance industry.
www.nbcnews.com
"Amid concerns about physical safety, companies across the industry have beefed up security for their executives and removed their photos and much of their personal information from their websites. That includes UnitedHealth Group, which appears to no longer have an executive leadership page."
Whew.. no need to get a new headshot.
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2024 US home sales hit lowest level in nearly 30 years with ownership increasingly out of reach
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in 2024 to a nearly 30-year low for the second year in a row as elevated mortgage rates, rising home prices and a low level of properties on the market kept many prospective homebuyers out of the market.
apnews.com
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Bank of Canada set for another rate cut as Trump’s tariff threats loom
Interest rate cut this week would put more distance between the BoC and U.S. Federal Reserve, which could cause the Canadian dollar exchange rate to depreciate further
www.theglobeandmail.com
Back to the $1 USD = $1.50 CAD days..
güero
Talk to me like a 5 year old daddy
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Boeing loses almost $1bn every month in 2024
Boeing reported its second biggest annual loss ever after a tough year following a mid-air accident and worker strikes.
www.bbc.com
And cashflow was 1/3 of that.
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India looks on nervously as Trump wields tariff threat
Delhi hopes tariff cuts have put it ahead of the game - but will that satisfy Trump, or is trade action still on the table?
www.bbc.com
Don’t start sweating until after the EU
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Zero to hero? UK narrative switches yet again
Britain’s shifting 2025 narrative is hard to keep up with
www.theglobeandmail.com
“Some 14% of 5,000 global corporate leaders polled by PwC said they expect Britain to receive more international investment this year than every country except the United States. That’s the highest ranking the UK has held in 28 years.”
If you can’t bring yourself to invest in the States or EU, take a look at Great Britain. Third best place to stash your money.
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"Russia’s only remaining sources of funding are its national wealth fund and revenues from oil and gas exports. The fund has been forced to liquidate holdings to pay for current needs. It held about $300 billion in foreign reserves before the war, which are now frozen. Its prewar domestic holdings, also about $300 billion, have been drawn down by two-thirds. At current rates the liquid reserves will be depleted sometime in 2025.
China has done what it can to help, increasing exports to the Russian market of electric vehicles and other manufactured consumer goods. But Chinese banks have been subjected to sanctions for facilitating Russian acquisition of military goods. China’s economy is also slumping. Further sanctions could put Beijing’s appetite for conflict with the West to the test."
Uh oh...
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Honeywell, one of the few remaining U.S. industrial conglomerates, to split into three companies
There will now be three publicly listed companies including a previously announced plan to spin off Honeywell’s advanced materials business
www.theglobeandmail.com
"Like Honeywell, other U.S. conglomerates have been pressured by shareholders to simplify their structures, allowing each segment of the company to move more freely and adapt to changes in their respective markets."
Time to also dump some balance sheet stuff on the underperforming spinoff.
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U.S. job growth misses expectations in January; unemployment rate at 4%
Friday’s report probably gives the Federal Reserve cover to hold off cutting interest rates at least until June
www.theglobeandmail.com
“This morning’s report may be considered a Goldilocks report, not too hot and not too cold,”
You can still blame Biden!
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State Farm Was All In on California—Until It Pulled the Plug Before the Fires
Rambo will go stark mad.
But after reading this I realise California has a personal home insurance market that has rates regulated by the state. State Farm then carved off its California operations into a separate entity to insulate the parent company. This was because the rate increases approved by the state for the homeowners was substantially lower than the rate increases calculated by the insurance companies' own actuaries. The subsidiary runs at a 126% loss ratio and is basically in debt. In the final year before the 2025 wildfire, State Farm pushes the state to approve higher rate increases and is denied so they start withdrawing from areas of high exposure (reads like ZIP code risk modeling).
There is a whole tangent in the article about insurance sales agents making commissions off State Farm's (lower rated) policies because other insurers pulled out of the market and one of these agents became the CEO and retired, but that's beside the point. They couldn't offer properly priced policies anyway.
Regulated rate markets don't work in an insurance market unless it's a single entity provider - i.e. a government agency. Then as the public insurer you are just doing a public service. No for profit model company would allow you to run >100% loss ratios every single year (premiums collected exceed the claims being paid out and/or admin expense incurred to do the insurance). People might then say insurance carriers ought to go find reinsurance. Reinsurers who might normally backstop some of these policies would look twice to deal with you if you are consistently knocking on their door year after year to claim reinsurance.
You cap rates to look good to the policyholders - in this case, I assume to get their votes for the next election and create a general sense of you're taken care of in this community (state). The fact that the Fair Play last resort state insurer is offering less coverage and higher premiums than State Farm is a damning indictment on how unsustainable the low premiums are in a regulated market.
In my memory, the only consumer market in Canada with regulated rates is personal auto insurance in Manitoba and British Columbia. Whilst private/for profit insurers can still offer something in those markets, the majority of the insurance is provided by Crown (read: provincial) corporations. The affordable insurance rates can in effect be artificial especially if politicians keep it below what actuaries predict it ought to be for the sake of placating the people (presumably for votes).
I am sure having regulated rates is someone's brain child on how to make insurance consumer friendly but it's only fixing one thing and creating problems at another end. This, by the way, also answers I believe guero who said rates ought to be raised to infinity for places that are impossible to insure. As a consumer you would end up in a real hell if you were legally obliged to get insurance but you either cannot afford it or no one will offer it to you because the government regulated rates are impossible to insure on.
Rambo will go stark mad.
But after reading this I realise California has a personal home insurance market that has rates regulated by the state. State Farm then carved off its California operations into a separate entity to insulate the parent company. This was because the rate increases approved by the state for the homeowners was substantially lower than the rate increases calculated by the insurance companies' own actuaries. The subsidiary runs at a 126% loss ratio and is basically in debt. In the final year before the 2025 wildfire, State Farm pushes the state to approve higher rate increases and is denied so they start withdrawing from areas of high exposure (reads like ZIP code risk modeling).
There is a whole tangent in the article about insurance sales agents making commissions off State Farm's (lower rated) policies because other insurers pulled out of the market and one of these agents became the CEO and retired, but that's beside the point. They couldn't offer properly priced policies anyway.
Regulated rate markets don't work in an insurance market unless it's a single entity provider - i.e. a government agency. Then as the public insurer you are just doing a public service. No for profit model company would allow you to run >100% loss ratios every single year (premiums collected exceed the claims being paid out and/or admin expense incurred to do the insurance). People might then say insurance carriers ought to go find reinsurance. Reinsurers who might normally backstop some of these policies would look twice to deal with you if you are consistently knocking on their door year after year to claim reinsurance.
You cap rates to look good to the policyholders - in this case, I assume to get their votes for the next election and create a general sense of you're taken care of in this community (state). The fact that the Fair Play last resort state insurer is offering less coverage and higher premiums than State Farm is a damning indictment on how unsustainable the low premiums are in a regulated market.
In my memory, the only consumer market in Canada with regulated rates is personal auto insurance in Manitoba and British Columbia. Whilst private/for profit insurers can still offer something in those markets, the majority of the insurance is provided by Crown (read: provincial) corporations. The affordable insurance rates can in effect be artificial especially if politicians keep it below what actuaries predict it ought to be for the sake of placating the people (presumably for votes).
I am sure having regulated rates is someone's brain child on how to make insurance consumer friendly but it's only fixing one thing and creating problems at another end. This, by the way, also answers I believe guero who said rates ought to be raised to infinity for places that are impossible to insure. As a consumer you would end up in a real hell if you were legally obliged to get insurance but you either cannot afford it or no one will offer it to you because the government regulated rates are impossible to insure on.
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- 19,904
How Spain's economy became the envy of Europe
The growth is led by a tourism boom, with Spain nearing France as the world's most visited country.
www.bbc.com
Who knew - tourism can drive your GDP up to 3%+
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Germany’s car industry crisis - this is what may fix it
With the economy a key factor in German elections this month, can the auto sector get back on the road to recovery?
www.bbc.com
"’The problem for Germany is we are not competitive,’ says Dr Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, head of the Bochum-based Center for Automotive Research. ‘Not just in cost terms, but also in terms of the new technologies which will run the world in future’”
“For union rep Steffen Schmidt, however, the solution is to go back to Germany's traditional industrial values. ‘We have to become a leader in innovation and technology again,’ he says. ‘Then we can keep high pay and good conditions for workers’”
Keep throwing money at it. Like a dart board.
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‘No one wants to pay $25 for breakfast’: US restaurants are cracking under inflation
It’s not just eggs, but coffee, orange juice and bacon, making life especially hard for diners, bakeries and brunch spots
www.theguardian.com
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Extreme weather expected to cause food price volatility in 2025 after cost of cocoa and coffee doubles
Trend towards more extreme-weather events will continue to hit crop yields and create price spikes, Inverto says
www.theguardian.com
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Wonks often predict that economic upstarts will outstrip the U.S. – but it hasn’t happened yet
From the Soviet Union to Japan to China, it’s a story we’ve heard before, but we have yet to see America’s economic passing-of-the-baton
www.theglobeandmail.com
"The rapid growth trajectory of China’s economy appears to have stalled, too—at least for now. As a share of U.S. GDP, China’s economy peaked at 74.9% in 2021 (narrowly besting Japan’s peak of 72.5% in 1995) and has since rolled over as its COVID-19 lockdowns dragged on and tariff-happy U.S. presidents (Trump, then Biden, now Trump again) have sought to reclaim America’s lost manufacturing clout. As a result, China’s growth has slowed, made worse by a population that’s now in outright decline."
American exceptionalism forever!
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Did you build the wokeness and DEI so it’s part of the acquisition value or is it a byproduct of operating in those countries?
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Amazon surpasses Walmart in revenue for the first time
Since 2012, Walmart has held the distinction of being the top revenue generator each quarter, a title it gained after overtaking oil giant Exxon Mobil.
www.nbcnews.com
Thought this happened awhile ago.
fxh
OG Party Suit Wearer
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I've never been one for breakfast - especially eating out for a large plate @$28aud.‘No one wants to pay $25 for breakfast’: US restaurants are cracking under inflation
It’s not just eggs, but coffee, orange juice and bacon, making life especially hard for diners, bakeries and brunch spots
Most days for me breakfast is 2 x double shot small flat whites out of my machine at home.
About once a month I buy some bacon and have 2 or 3 days of one slice of bacon, one egg and half a tomato. As I only have max 2 meals a day, that's usually brunch @10.30am..
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Starbucks lays off 1,100 corporate employees globally as coffee chain streamlines operations
CEO Brian Niccol said Starbucks is also eliminating several hundred open and unfilled positions
www.theglobeandmail.com
New CEO. New turnaround plan. New layoffs.
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“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,”
…great. Which ones?
President Trump signed an executive order on February 1, 2025 (“Executive Order“), imposing the long-anticipated tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“U.S. Tariffs“).
OR….
On February 10 and 11, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders1 that will impose, starting March 12, 2025, a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminum products from all countries, including Canada.
…great. Which ones?
President Trump signed an executive order on February 1, 2025 (“Executive Order“), imposing the long-anticipated tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“U.S. Tariffs“).
- Current status: Agreement reached, tariffs delayed
- Timing: Implementation delayed until March 4, 2025
- Tariff amount: 25% ad valorem duties on all goods except for energy and energy resources, which are subject to 10% ad valorem duties
OR….
On February 10 and 11, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders1 that will impose, starting March 12, 2025, a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminum products from all countries, including Canada.
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Putin offers Russian and Ukrainian rare minerals to US
The proposal to give the US access to minerals would also include those from territories taken from Ukraine.
www.bbc.com
2 for 1 deal! Russian *AND* Ukrainian rare earth minerals.
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Nvidia forecasts first-quarter revenue above estimates
The company expects revenue of US$43-billion, plus or minus 2% for the first quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$41.78-billion
www.theglobeandmail.com
Overcoming the DeepSeek phenomenon. Mag 7 and American exceptionalism can resume on schedule now
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Trump signals Canada, China and Mexico tariffs could take effect next week, with 'reciprocal' duties planned for April
Many analysts say the impact of the uncertainty has already taken a toll on the markets and the economy.
www.nbcnews.com
As of today: China 10%
2nd March: Canada 25%, Mexico 25%, China 20%
2nd April: Canada 25% + 25% for steel/aluminum, Mexico 25% + 25% for steel/aluminum, China 20%
...because it was getting confusing with so many deadlines, exceptions, etc.
Oh wait, what about the 10% relief just for oil from Canada.
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Softwood lumber will be around 40% with these added to existing tariffs.Trump signals Canada, China and Mexico tariffs could take effect next week, with 'reciprocal' duties planned for April
Many analysts say the impact of the uncertainty has already taken a toll on the markets and the economy.
As of today: China 10%
2nd March: Canada 25%, Mexico 25%, China 20%
2nd April: Canada 25% + 25% for steel/aluminum, Mexico 25% + 25% for steel/aluminum, China 20%
...because it was getting confusing with so many deadlines, exceptions, etc.
Oh wait, what about the 10% relief just for oil from Canada.
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Trump says US will impose additional 10% tariff on China
He also said he would move ahead with 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, which had been paused.
www.bbc.com
At first I admired the Chinese for getting away with only 10%. Now it's going to be 20%. Still less than Canada & Mexico.
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The hidden way many Americans make ends meet: Selling their plasma
The practice has become an “essential income source” for millions of Americans, author says.
www.today.com
Was contemplating posting this into the ‘doubt humanity’ thread but I think it’s a far better barometer for the economy in general despite how bleak it is.
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China vows to fight US tariffs - but it also wants to talk
China's latest retaliatory measures against the latest US tariffs are an opening swing, not a direct punch.
www.bbc.com
Take it from us... endless presentations, gestures and money moving around in front of Kristi Noem and Tom Homan does nothing.
Also Bessent and Lutnick give you contradicting suggestions that lead to nowhere because in the end they just listen to the
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Trump’s order to establish strategic bitcoin reserve draws mixed initial reaction
White House hosts first crypto summit on Friday
www.theglobeandmail.com
A strategic reserve of a "resource" that doesn't physically exist and...is it in short supply?
I understand a petroleum reserve. Gold reserve (even though I think it's a useless depreciating hard asset) and a currency reserve.
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Tariffs could deal a blow to Chinatowns that have no choice but to import cultural goods, locals say
In Chinatowns across the country, people worry about the potential damage to business, loss of cultural traditions and the already high rates of poverty in these immigrant communities.
www.nbcnews.com
Tariff’s aren’t colour blind
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"Might the US Be About to Fall Off an Economic Cliff?" | naked capitalism
The respected Atlanta Fed NowCast is scary bad, as in economic shoes about to drop in a big way bad.
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Shock for UK as Bank of England halves its economic growth prediction
The BoE's predictions follow its decision on Thursday to cut its main interest rate for the third time in six months. The bank now predicts that the British economy will only grow by 0.75% this year, down from its previous forecast of 1.5% just three months ago.
www.euronews.com
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"Might the US Be About to Fall Off an Economic Cliff?" | naked capitalism
The respected Atlanta Fed NowCast is scary bad, as in economic shoes about to drop in a big way bad.www.nakedcapitalism.com
NY and Philadelphia feds don't agree.