Pit, it's not that I'm dissatisfied, I'm leery of Manchin and the fine print. I just heard Manchin say his staff wrote the bill. This is not the BBB plan, it's parts and it's been through the grinder, who knows what is really in it. But I am a little more hopeful since other dems are celebrating it.
What’s in, and out, of Democrats’ $739 billion inflation-fighting package Published: July 27, 2022 at 11:50 p.m. ET By Associated PressFollow
Surprise legislation agreed upon by Manchin, Schumer
WASHINGTON — What started as a $4 trillion effort during President Joe Biden’s first months in office to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems has ended up a much slimmer, but not unsubstantial, compromise package of inflation-fighting health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies that appears headed toward quick votes in Congress.
Lawmakers are pouring over the $739 billion proposal struck by two top negotiators, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who rejected Biden’s earlier drafts but surprised colleagues late Wednesday with a new one.
What’s in, and out, of the Democrats’ 725-page “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” as it stands now:
Lower prescription drug costs Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government some $288 billion over the 10-year budget window.
Those new revenues would be put back into lower costs for seniors on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
Money would also be used to provide free vaccinations for seniors, who now are among the few not guaranteed free access, according to a summary document.
Help paying for health insurance The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for people who are purchasing their own health care policies.
‘Single biggest investment in climate change in U.S. history’ The bill would invest $369 billion over the decade in climate change-fighting strategies including investments in renewable energy production and tax rebates for consumers to buy new or used electric vehicles.
It’s broken down to include $60 billion for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30 billion for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
For consumers, there are tax breaks as incentives to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credits for renewable energy investments in wind and solar. There are tax breaks for buying electric vehicles, including a $4,000 tax credit for purchase of used electric vehicles and $7,500 for new ones.
In all, Democrats believe the strategy could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history, by far.”
How to pay for all of this? The biggest revenue-raiser in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1 billion in annual profits.
It’s a way to clamp down on some 200 U.S. companies that avoid paying the standard 21% corporate tax rate, including some that end up paying no taxes at all.
The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year, and raise some $313 billion over the decade.
Money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80 billion investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203 billion in new revenue — a net gain of $124 billion over the decade.
The bill sticks with Biden’s original pledge not to raise taxes on families or businesses making less than $400,000 a year.
The lower drug prices for seniors are paid for with savings from Medicare’s negotiations with the drug companies.
Extra money to pay down deficits With $739 billion in new revenue and some $433 billion in new investments, the bill promises to put the difference toward deficit reduction.
Federal deficits have spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when federal spending soared and tax revenues fell as the nation’s economy churned through shutdowns, closed offices and other massive changes.
The nation has seen deficits rise and fall in recent years. But overall federal budgeting is on an unsustainable path, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which put out a new report this week on long-term projections.
What’s left behind This latest package after 18 months of start-stop negotiations leaves behind many of Biden’s more ambitious goals.
While Congress did pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill of highway, broadband and other investments that Biden signed into law last year, the president’s and the party’s other priorities have slipped away.
Among them, a continuation of a $300 monthly child tax credit that was sending money directly to families during the pandemic and is believed to have widely reduced child poverty.
Also gone, for now, are plans for free pre-kindergarten and free community college, as well as the nation’s first paid family leave program that would have provided up to $4,000 a month for births, deaths and other pivotal needs.
Good video. I am of the belief the Fed knows they screwed up and are acting aggressively to counter it. It may be too late in some respects, but I don't expect them to back off anytime soon. The stock market appears to disagree, we'll see how this turn out.
Tension is rising as Mexico City locals have noticed the growing trend of American remote workers flocking to take advantage of the “cheap amenities."
The sudden influx of Americans to the area has sparked an outcry from locals claiming this migration of remote workers as "neo-imperialism" and citing the damaging trend of gentrification as the reason for the economic imbalance.
Hispanic and Latino Californians are residents of the state of California who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 39.4% of the state's population, making it the largest ethnicity in the state of California.
Hispanic and Latino Californians are residents of the state of California who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 39.4% of the state's population, making it the largest ethnicity in the state of California.
Yet you don't know how many of those Californians who may have moved back were of latino heritage. Why would they hate any of those 39.4 percent who might have moved back? and if they don't hate them but only hate the non latino's then it is about Heritage.
Yet you don't know how many of those Californians who may have moved back were of latino heritage. Why would they hate any of those 39.4 percent who might have moved back? and if they don't hate them but only hate the non latino's then it is about Heritage.
did you actually read the article or are you just throwing up percentages without knowing what the article actually said?
Hmmmm... Well, when you are addressing a person who supports a man that says something like this.... "They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."... it's not hard to understand why they may think that way.
So, Mexicans don't like legal Americans going to their city/cities?
anti-gentrification is universal. they don't have a problem with americans, they have a problem with the higher cost of living that tends to come afterwards.
Yet you don't know how many of those Californians who may have moved back were of latino heritage. Why would they hate any of those 39.4 percent who might have moved back? and if they don't hate them but only hate the non latino's then it is about Heritage.
When I lived there, in Mexico, they didn't really get along with their 'cousins' that were Mexican-American. There was always a culture clash. Hell, I went to jail for a night in Tijuana for defending a mouthy Mexican-American from my ship, when he got jumped by the Mexicans that he was acting like he was better than. So, at least back then, I was familiar with the way native Mexicans treated Mexican-Americans and Gringos.
No, what this looks like IMO is hard-working Mexicans seeing everything cost more and blaming the surge of Americans who have moved there for their financial woes. Sounds just like Americans who are struggling and their response to immigrants here.
The inflation Reduction Act that Schumer and Manchin are pushing is another corporate handout, smh. One man in Congress speaks the truth without deviation, he tells us about this deal:
so we have a ton of jobs, and inflation still a big issue but the prices starting to level out a bit. right now the biggest problem are these REITs and other corporations buying up single family homes, but i'm not exactly sure what the government can do about that without being called commies.
i wish this country would get together and have a serious national discussion on residential and commercial zoning. the housing market is really volatile. interest rates drop a % for a few weeks then went back up. one issue that's crazy is how builders and buyers are backing out of home construction contracts. from the buyer end, appreciation increase means that a lot of buyers can't afford the mortgage on the home at closing. on the builder end, supply chain crunches are forcing them to back out of contracts in favor of sub divisions due to cost and shortage of labor.
overall, talks of recession damn near disappeared, and americans are back to the typical bickering we do, highlighting all the 1st world problems we have this country. ya know, violent video games, some celebrity saying dumb crap, legalese drama in congress, and feminism lol.
The same thing that was predicted about last months drop in the job market? You know, before it was announced there were 528k jobs were created in July?
so i asked this question in other thread, got no response.
so ill ask it here: conservatives, what are the republican plans to fix inflation and such that doesn't involve deregulating and cutting taxes for the corporations and wealthy?
you all whine non stop, but neither you or your 'leadership' have offered any solutions.
so i asked this question in other thread, got no response.
so ill ask it here: conservatives, what are the republican plans to fix inflation and such that doesn't involve deregulating and cutting taxes for the corporations and wealthy?
you all whine non stop, but neither you or your 'leadership' have offered any solutions.
Republicans Leadership's plan is "It's Biden's fault".
Sung to the tune of Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel...
Yellen says it's transitory, Biden says she's right Inflation keeps on mounting, then Putin starts a fight Biden now blames Putin, the left all stand in line The right puts blame at Biden's feet, and they all march in time
Whistling tunes We fight like baboons in the jungle...
The pace of payrolls growth slowed to 315,000 in August, as employers pulled back in the face of rising interest rates and recession fears. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% from a half-century low of 3.5%, with the labor force participation rate rising to within one percentage point of its pre-pandemic level. More Americans looking for work will be welcome news for companies trying to catch up with resurgent demand in a historically tight labor market.
Wage growth, a concern for the Federal Reserve as it readies its next rate decision, declined to 0.3% from 0.5% in June.
So the inflation is slowing and over 300k jobs were created last month. When looking at early on in this thread inflation was going to continue to skyrocket and job growth was going to stop because everyone was laying off their workers. Hmmmm....
So the inflation is slowing and over 300k jobs were created last month. When looking at early on in this thread inflation was going to continue to skyrocket and job growth was going to stop because everyone was laying off their workers. Hmmmm....
well, that's not exactly accurate. Inflation is still happening and prices are rising at nearly the fastest pace in 40 years. Economists are saying the reduction in job gains could.... possibily, maybe, potentially, hopefully, help cool inflation. They are also saying the feds are being too aggressive and they are going to put us into a recession.
Like I said, it's "slowing down". That is accurate. Not the end result we all want but at least a positive sign in that direction. As far as the Feds go, while as you stated inflation continues, it is on a downward trend. So I think the Feds should not raise the prime rate any further until they see how that trend plays out. I have however never heard anyone saying creating jobs is a bad thing.
I have to say that all of this discussion both positive and negative is really difficult to make sense of because the metrics are based on traditional non pandemic factors.
What I do know is that a lot of people died, and a lot of people retired. It is difficult to find people..
We had a strong bounce back, but the resources for adding people is just not there. So we have low unemployment but can’t grow without more people.
All this labor shortage crap just means that people caught up on some debt and saved a little during the pandemic, at least those with income. We didn't travel, didn't eat out, didn't shop local, etc., etc. Now that they aren't in emergency paycheck-to-paycheck survival mode, many gave up those second and or third jobs or are taking a break until they have to do that again. Others replaced those jobs with gig work or side hustles. There's your labor shortage. It's also why it is politicized so heavily and people tie it to inflation. The corps and elite want their wage slaves back in the yokes.
My son got laid off during the pandemic and he repairs automation robots in production facilities. He paired up with a couple of others and started two side hustles that so far are paying him more for much less time working and he feels free again. I don't see him going back, and there must be others doing something similar, maybe even a lot of them since we all went through this pandemic, many needing income.
Well, according to Ron Johnson, we need to get the retired to come back to the work force. One way he wants to help that is to put Medicare and social security on the chopping block annually.
What irks me about his stance is that I am actually someone who does embrace more of the free market ideology. Republicans like him do not, in my opinion, or they do it from a biased perspective.
At this point, we have a relatively huge wage and wealth gap. The pandemic enabled people to save money and whatnot, like you said. From a free market perspective, a substantial amount of the burden should fall on the employers to be more competitive. Some are excelling in this area (hence their vacancies have remained stable) and some are vastly struggling with turnover and retention.
Rather than let that sort out, Johnson has put forth an ideology to send people who have retired to get them back to work. From a tactical perspective, I am pretty perplexed by that because he’s targeting a population who is avid about voting.
And you mentioned one thing I would like to expound on. Ever since the 1980's it has been the employer who has had the upper hand. They had no need to really raise wages to any great degree because the situation was to where they had the upper hand. An abundance of workers compared to available jobs. As with all things at some point the tide shifts. That's where we are now. Now there is an abundance of jobs and a shortage of workers. Now if employers don't raise wages and treat their employees well, those employees simply move in because now, it's they who have the options.
So it seems you have people saying things like "people don't want to work!" and "Those aren't skilled jobs so they don't deserve to make a living wage!".... rather than face the reality that if you don't pay them, they're not going to be there. And after almost 50 years of the lower and middle class going backwards, after a shrinking middle class for decades, after so many working over 40 hours a week and still not making a living wage, how can anyone really blame them?
I went to the range today for some fun and practice. I decided to bring a rifle instead of just the handgun. Shot 120 rounds of 5.56 and 100 of 9mm. On the way home I stopped for lunch and while eating decided to look at buy ammo to replace what I shot. I realized I shot between $100 and $150 worth..
It's the corps folks, been saying it forever, and Russell Brand nails it here. BTW, I don't like and don't understand how he went from progressive to whatever he calls his new position, but on this topic, not the left but corps, he is spot on. Weirdly, his channel now sounds like a center-right British Limbaugh or info wars.
Or he might have better things to do than throw a hundred dollars downfield into the dirt. I haven't shot targets for 20 years, but I could pick up any gun I've shot a couple of times and put a slug in a thug. Currently, I could find at least a thousand better uses for that money. I guess it may be that I served and had to be a qualified marksman to pass, which gives me a sense of "I'm good." But thinking about it, that was a lifetime ago.
I had a great time at the range, but yeah, I was surprised at home much it would cost to replace the ammo I used. I do find the actual process of being there and shooting to be relaxing.
I'm going to the range on friday. I'm gonna shoot my ruger, beretta, and magnum. I have a giant sack of ammo waiting to be used. I havent been there in a while. Need to get back in the habit.
I hit the sweet spot between official models and had to qualify for both. But we only qualified, we were never assigned weapons on board our ship. We had marines for security.
I went to the range today for some fun and practice. I decided to bring a rifle instead of just the handgun. Shot 120 rounds of 5.56 and 100 of 9mm. On the way home I stopped for lunch and while eating decided to look at buy ammo to replace what I shot. I realized I shot between $100 and $150 worth..
Stupid expensive ammo prices.
Dude: you're a hobbyist. All hobbies are expensive.
Quit whining. You at least live a life that allows you to have hobbies.
I went to the range today for some fun and practice. I decided to bring a rifle instead of just the handgun. Shot 120 rounds of 5.56 and 100 of 9mm. On the way home I stopped for lunch and while eating decided to look at buy ammo to replace what I shot. I realized I shot between $100 and $150 worth..
Stupid expensive ammo prices.
Dude: you're a hobbyist. All hobbies are expensive.
Quit whining. You at least live a life that allows you to have hobbies.
lol right. that's like me whining about car parts for the ride i already knew was gonna be expensive to mod.
and just for reference Clem, these dudes was ALREADY whining about the cost of ammo even BEFORE the pandemic. they out here whining just because.
Dude: you're a hobbyist. All hobbies are expensive.
Quit whining. You at least live a life that allows you to have hobbies.
lol right. that's like me whining about car parts for the ride i already knew was gonna be expensive to mod.
and just for reference Clem, these dudes was ALREADY whining about the cost of ammo even BEFORE the pandemic. they out here whining just because.[/quote]
Not whining I just realized how bad it is has gotten. I buy ammo by the case when I order so it has been a while since I needed to order any.
And can you show me where I was "whining" about the cost of ammo from before the pandemic? Yeah, didn't think so.
t really is interesting how the usual players can take anything and turn it into argument.
I hit the sweet spot between official models and had to qualify for both. But we only qualified, we were never assigned weapons on board our ship. We had marines for security.
I read somewhere that the modern sailor qualifies with a handgun and a shotgun now, but still no rifles cause they are bad on ships.
My niece is AF and went through basic last year. She had to qual on an M4 but then nothing in her school since she is a medic. I think the likelihood of her picking up another government owned weapon is next to zero, noth withstanding everything turning to complete crapola.
Target shooting is a fun hobby. I don't do it as often as I did when I was younger. But man, in the 90's you could buy an SKS for under $100 and cases of ammo for it for under $100 too. That made it good for cheap target shooting as well as making for a good investment.
My old man had the ability to reload pretty much any shell he had a gun for. Target shooting was a regular thing in my youth. I just had to help him in the reloading process.
I've thought about getting into reloading but we live in a semi-detached which means I can't store powder in the house. I'd have to store it in an outbuilding and I don't trust the lock on the shed door.
You could change the doors/locks on your out building and make it work if you really were adamant about reloading. Unfortunately theft in modern times is a real concern. It was different times for us. We lived in the boondocks of NW Ohio. We also had a pet Doberman that ran the property off leash. She weighed 110 pounds. Having reloading equipment stolen wasn’t too much of a concern for us. We never locked the door. Even when we’d go on vacation. Different times.
We have an 8x8 Amish shed out there. The lock really is a suggestion and even something heftier wouldn't deter anyone that wants in. We haven't had anyone break into the shed but I don't have anything out there that I would risk.
There is a bit of a convenience hassle to overcome to get to the point of reloading that I am just not ready to tackle. We have discussed a move to more open spaces and I'd likely have the ability to set up for reloading in that eventuality.
We had a 150+ yard range on our land. Earth backed railroad ties. Our home sat on the high part of our land. The embankment was on the far side of a small valley in the back of our property. Built slightly into the slope. I could sit on the picnic table in our yard area next to the trailer and shoot down range. I put a ton of lead into those ties over the years. It’s how I spent many afternoons after school as a kid. If the fish weren’t biting in the river, or the water wasn’t warm enough to ski, I was often honing my marksmanship. It was one of the few things my stepdad and I bonded over when I was a kid. (Later in my life, as an adult, we had an incredible father/son relationship. RIP old man. Miss you everyday.)
I hit the sweet spot between official models and had to qualify for both. But we only qualified, we were never assigned weapons on board our ship. We had marines for security.
I read somewhere that the modern sailor qualifies with a handgun and a shotgun now, but still no rifles cause they are bad on ships.
My niece is AF and went through basic last year. She had to qual on an M4 but then nothing in her school since she is a medic. I think the likelihood of her picking up another government owned weapon is next to zero, noth withstanding everything turning to complete crapola.
Yeah, I don't recall enlisted sailors ever carrying unless they were SP/MP or part of military justice. On an aircraft carrier, I have no idea what the hell we would have even used them for. We had a Marine contingent of like 135 jarheads.
boy china's economic is going through it right now. we out here in america whining about convenience in our daily lives. we gotta remember we are going through a GLOBAL economic crisis. the issues are specific to one country, but DAMN does it have far more negative effects in some places than others.
this is why i was telling you guys china aint about to go to war with us. our economies are far too tied in together to be going to war over taiwan. yall was really out here thinking they were gonna invade just cause russia did. we had members of congress flying over just to troll, and all they did was be mad. and they're literally SURROUNDED by US allies. like who were they really gonna pull up on?
I do think they were seeing how things were going in Ukraine to gauge their process for reclaiming Taiwan. If it was an absolute cake-walk for Russia, they may have sped up their timeline. As it is, I think they are a little more hesitant now.
The biggest problem they have to wrestle with is the contradiction between having a free market economy and a state-controlled economy. At its recent economic core, China has always been a manufacturing country and a "copying" country, but it seems that there is little reward for being an innovator. We certainly have had our struggles, but I think one leg up we still have - at least currently - is rewarding the strives to be innovative and think outside the box. China, from my perspective, seems to be more about someone doing the hard work, and the state gets the credit and reaps the benefits.
One other thing too is that their millennials are starting to look like ours (and I am one). I saw an article where they are like "Kids, why have kids? I have money now and I want to spend it on enjoying life." Problem with that concept is that they're the most populous nation and they'll be real "top-heavy" with their age demographics in a decade or two. That one-child policy may have had a reverse effect in some ways.
While you have a very good point about their young people not having children, China has had a very long standing "one child only" policy for a very long time. I think they recently loosened those restrictions to some extent however.
Yeah, they did for a while (1980-2016), until I think they realized they went overboard. Now, it seems like all those "1 children" also don't want to have kids. Crazy.
Fed Set to Reveal ‘Pain’ Coming in Next Stage of Inflation Fight
Federal Reserve officials are about to put numbers on the “pain” they’ve been warning of in recent weeks when they publish new projections for the economy, which could show a substantial rise in interest rates and unemployment ahead as the estimated price tag for reducing inflation.
The US central bank will release its latest quarterly projections Wednesday following a two-day policy meeting in Washington, where officials are expected to raise their benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point for the third time in a row.
Such a move would lift rates to levels not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis. The next phase of the tightening cycle carries greater risks, which will probably be reflected in their revised projections.
Fed's Projections for Unemployment Rate Set to Rise Again Officials see higher unemployment as necessary cost of inflation fight
Sources: Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Bloomberg.
Note: Chart shows the evolution over time of the median Federal Open Market Committee participant's projection for unemployment in the fourth quarter of this year, 2023 and 2024.
Inflation has moderated little since the last forecast round in June, and that has pushed policy makers into a more aggressive stance. They’re also increasingly doubting old estimates of the relationship between unemployment and inflation, which may be part of the reason why they’re now inclined to aim for a bigger slowdown in economic activity.
“The higher trajectory for interest rates is going to have a bigger impact, certainly, on unemployment. We see the unemployment rate coming up closer to 4.5% in the Fed’s new forecast,” said Brett Ryan, senior US economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. “They still are going to peddle the ‘soft landing’ scenario, but it’s going to imply a high risk of recession within that.”
In June, the median policy maker’s projection for the unemployment rate called for a half-point increase, to 4.1%, by the end of 2024. Since then, monthly data on consumer prices have been disappointing: The latest report, published by the Labor Department on Sept. 13, showed inflation over the last year was still 8.3%.
Chair Jerome Powell and other officials meanwhile have stepped up public warnings about rising rates. In a key speech at Jackson Hole on Aug. 26, Powell suggested they would “bring some pain to households and businesses,” representing “the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation.”
What Bloomberg Economics Says... “The overarching theme of the forecasts will be: Prepare for higher unemployment, as it will take more rate hikes and a longer period of restrictive rates before inflation comes under control. Current market pricing for the terminal fed funds rate is at 4.4%, and policy makers likely will see that as fairly priced.”
-- Anna Wong, Andrew Husby and Eliza Winger (economists)
-- For the full report click here
Charles Evans, the Chicago Fed president who during his 15-year tenure has often been seen as one of the central bank’s more dovish policy makers, said Sept. 8 that he was “optimistic that we’re going to be able to navigate this and keep unemployment to about 4.5% by the time we’re done,” adding that such a scenario “would still be a pretty good outcome, although it will be costly for some.”
But lingering inflation isn’t the only data point leading to rising pessimism at the Fed toward the way forward. Record numbers of job postings are contributing as well. And an increasingly public debate about them since June may portend higher estimates for the unemployment rate Fed officials see as consistent with low and stable inflation in the longer run.
Their median estimate for that number has been stable at about 4% since before the pandemic, so an upgrade would mark a significant shift in the committee’s thinking. Powell, in a July 27 press conference, hinted at the possibility when he said “it must have moved up materially,” citing reduced rates at which job openings are being filled.
Fed Yet to Raise Estimates of Long-Run Unemployment Rate Higher estimates would show rising sway of job postings in policy debate
Sources: US Department of Labor, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Bloomberg.
Note: Chart shows the evolution over time of the US unemployment rate and the midpoint of the central tendency of the Federal Open Market Committee participants' estimates of the longer-run unemployment rate.
The idea is that, with approximately two openings for every unemployed person searching for work -- versus a ratio of about 1.2 in the years before the pandemic -- the unemployment rate will have to go higher now than it would have had to then to bring labor supply more in line with labor demand and reduce upward pressure on wages.
At 3.7% in August, the unemployment rate counted 6 million Americans out of work and actively searching for a job. A rise to 4.5%, assuming no change in the size of the labor force, would amount to job losses of about 1.3 million.
But the pain won’t be distributed evenly, according to Michelle Holder, an economics professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
Holder noted that unemployment for Black and Hispanic Americans tends to rise faster than that for White Americans in economic downturns. There’s also the risk of increased homelessness and hunger among lower-income households due to job loss, as well as the long-term impact on earnings and employability from being out of work.
“I’m fearful that if these projections have a large margin of error, we are talking about really rolling back substantive gains in terms of Black employment in this country,” Holder said. “What I think the Fed is missing is that the pain is not a sort of modest pain for everyone.”
Housing prices coming down should be a welcomed thing IMHO.
I also think the Fed is going too far too fast. But this inflation, which I think is being spurred on more by greedy corporations and stock owners than anything else, is completely out of hand. I can't speak to the global facts with 100% certainty, but our personal budgeting shows the grocery bill up between 50-75%, electricity up about 25%, consumer goods up 10-20%, and modest increases in healthcare expenses. Personally, I expected prices to increase 10% due to the demand for living wages, and I'm good with that. But the price gouging, mysterious shortages, shipping issues, employee shortage, and crazy home prices are being 100% manufactured by greed, IMO.
Housing prices coming down should be a welcomed thing IMHO.
I also think the Fed is going too far too fast. But this inflation, which I think is being spurred on more by greedy corporations and stock owners than anything else, is completely out of hand. I can't speak to the global facts with 100% certainty, but our personal budgeting shows the grocery bill up between 50-75%, electricity up about 25%, consumer goods up 10-20%, and modest increases in healthcare expenses. Personally, I expected prices to increase 10% due to the demand for living wages, and I'm good with that. But the price gouging, mysterious shortages, shipping issues, employee shortage, and crazy home prices are being 100% manufactured by greed, IMO.
im glad the housing market is cooling off. screw the interest rates rising. when you look at the historical data, everybody should've known the rates were gonna climb back up. anybody who thought <3.5% was gonna be the normal was living in a fantasy world. what was pricing out most people is the total price of these homes, especially new construction homes. These builders been getting over on people for at least a little over a decade. these builders successfully lied to buyers with the "omg the cost of material is so expensive".
const of materials went down. did they lower their prices? lmfao, nope. even BEFORE the pandemic, they were raising cost for no other reason than because they can. just talking personal situation ***disclaimer*** im in a good position since i already own a home, so i know everybody is different **disclaimer** i was dealing with two builders who won't stop calling me trying to offer all these incentives to enter a contract. you clowns could've offered these incentives BEFORE crap hit the fan, and i was WILLING to pull the trigger with a 5% rate knowing the final price was gonna be higher by the time the home was built due to appreciation. oh, so NOW you wanna throw in an allowance for upgraded appliances. NOW you wanna throw in an allowance on upgraded bathrooms and interior insulation. NOW you're willing to talk to "your guy" about upgrading the electrical installation for 600 amp so i can run solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling. NOW you're willing to upgrade the flooring at no additional cost.
you wanna throw in all those incentives, but the overpriced ass base # won't come down even 3%? these homebuilders been getting over on people long enough. i say this because all those incentives means they could've BEEN lowered the prices of homes for EVERYBODY, but thats what happens when you keep trying to run those profit margins. this is why i dont GAF about businesses, small or corporate. yall need to seriously look at how they play games with their accounting and budgeting.
these builders been making a profit, whether the prices of commodities goes up or down. it's not that they're losing money; it's that they're selling these homes based whatever profit margin they artificially set, and having to sell the homes for anything less is considered a loss for them. these clowns know they can hire more people at a higher hourly rate, lower the price of the home at least 2-3%, and STILL make a profit margin somewhere between 5-7%, especially because if they did that, their profits go up do the the INCREASE in business from buyers wanting to build. but nope, don't want to do that. they out here cancelling contracts for homes that aren't atleast 22-2400 sqft AKA affordable housing for the majority of americans, and then trash ass builders like Ryan homes uses the cheapest, lowest quality of material on god's green earth in these cookie cutter ass subdivisions BECAUSE they are gonna max out that profit margin somewhere around 10% or greater. they use the lowest quality builds and charge prices like its a custom home.
screw these home builders. i know the situation sucks for individual families trying to get into homes, but these homebuilders HAVE to be put in check, because their business practices is one of the main reasons why we're in the situation across the country right now. and if we do nothing, there's no reason/incentive/whatever you want to call it for them to change and actually charge some reasonable prices for american families.
Went for another ct scan yesterday. Apparently their is a shortage of oral contrast in this country as I got less than half of what I always do.
There is a shortage because it is cheap. Pharma is also short on other inexpensive items... life-saving compounds for premature babies, and cancer drugs (only the cheap ones) for childhood leukemia. They're sending a message but blaming supply chain with a straight face. They should be lined up and shot.
Why Are Walmart And Other Major US Retailers Canceling Billions Of Dollars In Orders As Summer Comes To An End?
Do they know something that they aren’t telling us? As you will see below, Walmart, Target and other major U.S. retailers are literally canceling billions of dollars in orders ahead of the coming holiday season. I have never heard of such a thing happening before, and under normal conditions it wouldn’t make any sense at all. The holiday season is typically the busiest time of the year for retailers, and at this time in 2021 there was actually a great deal of concern that there wouldn’t be enough inventory due to global supply chain problems. But now everything has changed. All of a sudden major retailers are feverishly canceling orders, and this would only make sense if a severe economic downturn was imminent.
John David Rainey, Walmart’s EVP and CFO, said it had cleared most summer inventory, was reducing exposure in electronics, home and sporting goods, and canceled “billions of dollars in orders” to realign inventories. He said, “Our actions in Q3 will allow us to make significant progress toward rationalizing absolute levels and mix, which will enable our stores to be well positioned ahead of the holiday season.”
It is extremely odd that Walmart would decide to do such a thing.
Recently I had an opportunity to stroll through a Walmart, and there were plenty of inventory holes.
So what would make them suddenly cancel “billions of dollars” in orders that they thought that they were going to need for the holiday season?
Perhaps some enterprising reporter will be willing to ask them such a question.
Meanwhile, we just learned that Target has also canceled “more than $1.5 billion” in orders…
Target said it had reduced its “inventory exposure in discretionary categories” throughout Q2 by canceling more than $1.5 billion of orders in these categories and marking down products.
Target is much smaller than Walmart is, and so for Target to cancel so many orders is a really big deal.
And it turns out that Kohl’s and Under Armour have also been canceling large numbers of orders as well…
Kohl’s has also pulled back on order receipts and increased promotions to get through an inventory glut.
“We have taken action to address inventory, including increasing promotions, being aggressive on clearing excess inventory and pulling back on receipts,” said Kohl’s CFO Jill Timm in a call with investors.
Under Armour also said it made some proactive cancellations due to supply chain constraints to ensure that “the right inventory was coming in at the right time,” said interim president and CEO Colin Browne in a call with investors.
These retailers are obviously scared that they will end up stuck with massive amounts of inventory that they cannot sell.
Do they believe that economic activity during the months ahead will be much lower than they originally anticipated?
One corporate executive that is actually publicly admitting that he believes that a recession is coming is FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam…
FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday that he believes a recession is impending for the global economy.
“I think so. But you know, these numbers, they don’t portend very well,” Subramaniam said in response to Cramer’s question of whether the economy is “going into a worldwide recession.”
The CEO’s pessimism came after FedEx missed estimates on revenue and earnings in its first quarter. The company also withdrew its full year guidance.
Sadly, he is right on target.
For months, I have been warning that the economic numbers were telling us that big trouble was on the way, and now everyone can see it.
But unlike the “Great Recession” of 2008 and 2009, this time we are also going to have to deal with raging inflation even as economic activity slows down all around us.
In fact, the Wall Street Journal is ominously warning that U.S. consumers “are set to pay even more this winter” as heating costs continue to soar to absolutely ridiculous levels…
U.S. utility customers, faced with some of their largest bills in years, are set to pay even more this winter as natural-gas prices continue to climb.
Natural-gas prices have more than doubled this year because of a global supply shortage made worse by the war in Ukraine, and they are expected to remain elevated for months as fuel is needed to light and heat homes during the winter. The supply crunch has made it substantially more expensive for utilities to purchase or produce power, and those costs are being passed on to customers.
The cost of living has been rising much faster than our paychecks have for quite some time now, and a lot more pain is on the horizon.
I really like how Brandon Smith recently summarized the current state of the U.S. economy…
A common refrain from people who are critical of alternative economists is that we have been predicting crisis for so long that “eventually we will be right.” These are generally people who don’t understand the nature of economic decline – It’s like an avalanche that builds over time, then breaks and quickly escalates as it flows down the mountain. What they don’t grasp is that they are in the middle of an economic collapse RIGHT NOW, and they just can’t see it because they have been acclimated to the presence of the snow and cold.
Economic decline is a process that takes many years, and while you might get an event like the market crash of 1929 or the crash of 2008, these moments of panic are nothing more than the wreckage left behind by the great wave of tumbling ice that everyone should have seen coming far in advance, but they refused.
That is so true.
We are already in the midst of a raging economic crisis, but things will get so much worse during the months and years to come.
Walmart, Target and other major retailers are working really hard to get prepared for what is coming.
Are you?
I hope so, because at this point it should be glaringly obvious to everyone that exceedingly challenging times are on the way.
Share By Jake Perez, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 2 hours ago
Stocks took a trouncing on Monday, with the Dow Jones sliding into a bear market and the S&P 500 falling to a new 2022 low. The turmoil reflects investors' concerns over a surging dollar — which can shrink the profits of U.S. multinationals — and central banks' efforts to fight inflation by hiking interest rates. The Dow shed 1.1%, a drop of more than 20% from its January peak; the S&P 500 fell about 1%. Wall Street's volatility follows jitters in the U.K., with the British pound crashing to a record low against the dollar before rebounding.
A strong dollar is good for working Americans, yet bad for international companies that trade in foreign currencies. Why is that a problem for me?
bro this stays the same, euro christmas trip about to be epic this year. gimme that strong dollar against the Euro so my fellow americans can go spread that that american exceptionalism we're known for!
'Obscene,' Says Sanders After CBO Reports Richest 1% Now Owns Over 1/3 of US Wealth
"In the richest country on Earth, the time is long overdue for us to create a government and an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders reacted Wednesday to new government figures showing the wealthiest 1% of Americans now owns over one-third of the country's wealth by reasserting calls for systemic reforms to tackle the highest economic inequality of any major developed nation in the world.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday published Trends in the Distribution of Family Wealth, 1989 to 2019, a report revealing that while the total real wealth of U.S. families tripled over those 30 years, the growth was dramatically unequal.
"Families in the top 10% and in the top 1% of the distribution, in particular, saw their share of total wealth rise over the period," the report notes. "In 2019, families in the top 10% of the distribution held 72% of total wealth, and families in the top 1% of the distribution held more than one-third; families in the bottom half of the distribution held only 2% of total wealth."
In a statement, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that "this report confirms what we already know: The very rich are getting much, much richer while the middle class is falling further and further behind, and being forced to take on outrageous levels of debt."
"The obscene level of income and wealth inequality in America is a profoundly moral issue that we cannot continue to ignore or sweep under the rug," the two-time Democratic presidential candidate argued.
The CBO report also highlights the persistent racial wealth gap in the United States. In 2019, white families' median wealth was 6.5 times that of Black families, 5.5 times that of Hispanic families, and 2.7 times that of Asian and other families.
Additionally, the publication shows that by 2019, student loan debt was the largest component of total debt for families in the bottom 25%—more than their mortgage and credit card debt combined. Among Americans age 35 or younger, 60% of their debt burden was due to student loans.
President Joe Biden last month announced a plan to cancel $10,000 to $20,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower, depending upon income, a move that drew both praise and admonition from progressives like Sanders—who advocates canceling all educational debt and making all college tuition-free.
"A society cannot sustain itself when so few have so much while so many have so little," the democratic socialist asserted. "In the richest country on Earth, the time is long overdue for us to create a government and an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%."
"oh no, home prices are falling, the dollar is stronger, saving accounts rates are increasing. this is terrible!!! whats next, americans are gonna expect us to actually follow through with the manufacturing plants we pledge to build in the US. how dare they!!!"
Lol Home prices the last two years have been rising at a rate never seen before. Ever!. There was no doubt the fed raising the prime would cause home prices to fall. That’s the point. You aren’t taking these GOPer scare tactics seriously are you?
my concern is for two groups: the everyday americans with ARMs, and the everyday americans dealing with the sky high property tax.
the households with ARMs are getting smacked from both sides with the interest rate AND property tax rising. the households who are only dealing with the property tax side are still in a tough spot, because typically the banks will adjust their payments to make up for the escrow shortage. and on top of that, we all know the tax is gonna be slow as hell to lower, while their home value drops like a rock.
so for me, we need the fed to keep doing what they're doing because the trash reality is that homebuyers - no matter 1st time or 2nd, 3rd, etc - aren't even competing against other humans; they're competing against the algorithm. these property groups NEED to be reeled in, it just sucks that once again in order to reel in corporations, the first impacted are everyday americans.
again, i know its an unpopular opinion, but im glad the fed is raising the rates. what NEEDs to happen in combination with that is congress passing laws to make sure we expand residential zoning areas, ban industrial companies from developing near residential areas, and ban LLCs from purchasing homes in designated residential zoning areas.
because without that, then the Fed raising interest rates ends up ONLY affecting everyday americans.
We must also think globally. What the fed does here also has effects internationally. I also agree with the fed and have the confidence they can suppress inflation. Existing home prices are coming down is a good sign it’s working. And getting large corporations out of residential new builds would make that market more affordable. Good idea Swish on getting big corp’s out of residential purchases that drives up prices more.
That was well-said, Swish. I am generally one of the old school conservatives when it comes to free market (not the newer breed of corporate lackeys), and I can't help but think that these private equity groups are basically exploiting the dynamic and ruining the intent of what a free market should mean. They're unbridling the capitalism. It's like a locust effect. They ruined retail. They ruined beer (this one is a personal gripe). Now, they're ruining homes. It's like, which sector of the American Dream will they pick off and exploit next (the answer is bourbon)???
I'm with FATE in the fact the prices became unsustainable. No growth can happen at that pace without some sort of repercussion. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Now the prices are going to drop and the interest rates are going to be unsustainable.
I was thinking about ARMs recently and immediately thought "wait, why would anybody be making that choice the past few years?" I went and checked and saw that the percentage has been between about 3 and 8% since 2009. And there are still "experts" out there with their fancy math that advise to do so.
As for everything else from "trash reality" on... you hit the nail right on the head.
Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar teamed up to produce "mezquila", tastes like someone added liquid smoke to tequila. Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston put out Dos Hombres Mezcal. It's true to tradition and pretty good -- just way over-priced.
There are too many small-town maestro mezcaleros, and too many rules for production in Mexico, for it to go off the rails the way bourbon has.
I thought I met my one and only soulmate when I married my wife... I was wrong. Now all I hear is "Oh, lord he found a new Mezcal" every time I walk through the door with a new bottle. She knows because I walk through the door saying "come on in, I want you to meet my wife".
Not that you really needed or wanted to know all of that. 🤣
U.S. National Debt Tops $31 Trillion for First Time America’s borrowing binge has long been viewed as sustainable because of historically low interest rates. But as rates rise, the nation’s fiscal woes are getting worse.
Alan RappeportJim Tankersley By Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley Oct. 4, 2022 WASHINGTON — America’s gross national debt exceeded $31 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, a grim financial milestone that arrived just as the nation’s long-term fiscal picture has darkened amid rising interest rates.
The breach of the threshold, which was revealed in a Treasury Department report, comes at an inopportune moment, as historically low interest rates are being replaced with higher borrowing costs as the Federal Reserve tries to combat rapid inflation. While record levels of government borrowing to fight the pandemic and finance tax cuts were once seen by some policymakers as affordable, those higher rates are making America’s debts more costly over time.
“So many of the concerns we’ve had about our growing debt path are starting to show themselves as we both grow our debt and grow our rates of interest,” said Michael A. Peterson, the chief executive officer of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which promotes deficit reduction. “Too many people were complacent about our debt path in part because rates were so low.”
The new figures come at a volatile economic moment, with investors veering between fears of a global recession and optimism that one may be avoided. On Tuesday, markets rallied close to 3 percent, extending gains from Monday and putting Wall Street on a more positive path after a brutal September. The rally stemmed in part from a government report that showed signs of some slowing in the labor market. Investors took that as a signal that the Fed’s interest rate increases, which have raised borrowing costs for companies, may soon begin to slow.
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Higher rates could add an additional $1 trillion to what the federal government spends on interest payments this decade, according to Peterson Foundation estimates. That is on top of the record $8.1 trillion in debt costs that the Congressional Budget Office projected in May. Expenditures on interest could exceed what the United States spends on national defense by 2029, if interest rates on public debt rise to be just one percentage point higher than what the C.B.O. estimated over the next few years.
The Fed, which slashed rates to near zero during the pandemic, has since begun raising them to try to tame the most rapid inflation in 40 years. Rates are now set in a range between 3 and 3.25 percent, and the central bank’s most recent projections saw them climbing to 4.6 percent by the end of next year — up from 3.8 percent in an earlier forecast.
Federal debt is not like a 30-year mortgage that is paid off at a fixed interest rate. The government is constantly issuing new debt, which effectively means its borrowing costs rise and fall along with interest rates.
The Biden Presidency With midterm elections approaching, here’s where President Biden stands. Defending Democracy: President Biden’s drive to buttress democracy at home and abroad has taken on more urgency by the persistent power of China, Russia and former President Donald J. Trump. A Tricky Message: Even as he condemns Trumpism, Mr. Biden has taken pains to show that he understands that not all Republicans are what he calls extremist “MAGA Republicans.” On the Campaign Trail: Fresh off a series of legislative victories, Mr. Biden is back campaigning. But his low approval ratings could complicate his efforts to help Democrats in the midterm elections. Questions About 2024: Mr. Biden has said he plans to run for a second term, but at 79, his age has become an uncomfortable issue. The C.B.O. warned about America’s mounting debt load in a report earlier this year, saying that investors could lose confidence in the government’s ability to repay what it owes. Those worries, the budget office said, could cause “interest rates to increase abruptly and inflation to spiral upward.”
Rate increases could cut short what has been a brief period of improvement for the nation’s fiscal picture as it relates to the economy as a whole. Both the C.B.O. and the White House have projected that the national debt, measured as a share of the size of the economy, will shrink slightly through the coming fiscal year before growing again in 2024. That is because the economy is expected to grow faster than the debt.
The $31 trillion threshold also poses a political problem for President Biden, who has pledged to put the United States on a more sustainable fiscal path and reduce federal budget deficits by $1 trillion over a decade. Deficits occur when the government spends more money than it takes in through tax revenue.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Mr. Biden’s policies have added nearly $5 trillion to deficits since he took office. That projection includes Mr. Biden’s signature $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill, a variety of new congressionally approved spending initiatives and a student-loan debt forgiveness plan that is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion over 30 years.
White House budget officials estimated in August that the deficit would be just over $1 trillion for the 2022 fiscal year, which was nearly $400 billion less than they had originally forecast. Mr. Biden says those numbers are the product of his policies to stoke economic growth, like the American Rescue Plan.
“We brought down the deficit $350 billion the first year and nearly $1.5 trillion this year,” Mr. Biden told a Democratic National Committee event in Washington last month.
Those figures obscure the effects of the rescue plan, which was financed entirely with borrowed money. Much of the deficit reduction Mr. Biden is championing reflects the fact that both he and former President Donald J. Trump signed laws that borrowed heavily in order to mitigate the damage of the pandemic recession. The deficit has fallen in large part because policymakers did not pass another large round of pandemic aid this year.
Mr. Biden’s budget office now expects the deficit to rise higher than previously expected over the next three years, largely because of higher interest costs as a result of rising rates. In recent weeks, borrowing costs have climbed even higher than the White House expected, suggesting officials will need to revise their deficit expectations upward again.
“I don’t know where interest rates are going, but whatever you thought a year ago, you definitely have to revise that,” said Jason Furman, a Harvard economist and former top economic aide to President Barack Obama.
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“The deficit path is almost certainly too high,” given the rise in rates in recent weeks, Mr. Furman added. “We were sort of at the edge of ‘OK’ before, and we are past ‘OK’ now.”
In recent weeks, administration officials have walked a thin line on deficits. They have championed deficit-cutting moves — like the climate, health care and tax bill that Mr. Biden signed into law in August — as necessary complements to the Fed’s efforts to bring down inflation by raising interest rates. They have said Mr. Biden would be happy to sign further deficit cuts into law, in the form of tax increases on high earners and large corporations.
But the officials also say they are comfortable with the debt and deficit levels in the administration’s forecasts and do not see the nation as anywhere close to a fiscal crisis. They say the government’s inflation-adjusted interest costs — their preferred metric for the debt burden — remain historically low as a share of the economy. They say it would be wrong for Mr. Biden to shift fiscal priorities in response to rising interest rates.
“Our budgets have been heavily fiscally responsible, and they build a very compelling architecture toward critical investments and fiscal responsibility,” Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview. “So it would be a mistake to overtorque in reaction to current events.”
Top administration officials have said since Mr. Biden took office that plans for expensive investments were fiscally responsible because interest rates were so low. At her confirmation hearing last year, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen pointed to rock-bottom borrowing costs as justification for ambitious spending proposals and stimulus measures.
“Neither the president-elect, nor I, propose this relief package without an appreciation for the country’s debt burden,” Ms. Yellen said. “But right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big.”
Critics of the Biden administration’s spending initiatives have warned that a reliance on low interest rates to justify expansionary policies could come back to bite the United States economy, as the debt burden mounts.
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Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the United States was unwise to make long-term debt commitments based on short-term, adjustable interest rates. Adding new debt, he said, as interest rates rise would be pouring fuel on a fiscal fire.
“Basically, Washington has engaged in a long-term debt spree and been fortunate to be bailed out by low interest rates up to this point,” Mr. Riedl said. “But the Treasury never locked in those low rates long term, and now rising rates may collide with that escalating debt with horribly expensive results.”
Share By Jessy Bains, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 7 hours ago
The International Monetary Fund is warning the “worst is yet to come” for the global economy. It predicts growth will slow to 2.7% in 2023 – 0.2 percentage points lower than its previous forecast – and “will feel like a recession” for many. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an economic slowdown in China and decades-high inflation are expected to stunt growth. Global inflation is forecasted to peak at 8.8% in late 2022 and remain elevated longer than expected until coming down to 6.5% in 2023 and 4.1% in 2024.
The IMF's GDP estimate for 2023 remains steady at 3.2% for 2022.
"Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Global inflation is forecast to rise from 4.7 percent in 2021 to 8.8 percent in 2022 but to decline to 6.5 percent in 2023 and to 4.1 percent by 2024."
“We estimate that countries accounting for about one-third of the world economy will experience at least two consecutive quarters of contraction this or next year..." - IMF Managing director Kristina Georgieva
Share By Cate Chapman, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 11 minutes ago
Prices excluding energy and food hit a new four-decade high in September, pointing to another jumbo rate increase by the Federal Reserve as it moves to beat back inflation. While the overall consumer-price index moderated only slightly to an annual increase of 8.2%, from 8.3% in August, the so-called core index, which excludes prices for more volatile items such as gas and groceries, notched a 6.6% increase from a year earlier — the fastest pace of inflation since 1982, according to the Labor Department. Overall, prices rises continued to soar past economists' expectations.
On a month-to-basis, overall inflation accelerated to 0.4%, from 0.1% in August, while core prices maintained a 0.6% increase. Rents rose 0.8% in the month, the largest increase since June 1990. The Fed, which has lifted borrowing costs by three-quarters of a percentage point at each of its last three meetings, is next set to decide rates in November.
Huh? Benedict Biden Says “Our Economy Is Strong as Hell” While Eating Ice Cream By J.D. Rucker • Oct. 15, 2022
Joe Biden has dementia, doesn’t understand economics, and loves ice cream. Those are the takeaways from his ludicrous answer to a question from a reporter about whether he’s concerned about the U.S. dollar.
“I’m not concerned about the strengths of the dollar,” he said. “I’m concerned about the rest of the rest of the world. Does that make sense?”
Actually, it does make sense for a globalist pawn to say he cares more about the rest of the world than the country he’s supposedly leading, but that’s not what he means. He elaborated, and while he sounded more lucid than usual, the words themselves were ludicrous.
“Our economy is strong as hell, the internals,” he said. “Inflation is worldwide, worse off everywhere else than it is in the United States. So the problem is lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours.”
Watch:
BIDEN, eating ice cream: "Our economy is strong as hell"
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has been a sharp critic of Biden’s economy since launching her campaign, blamed it on the ice cream.
Kari Lake: Poor guy got a brain freeze.
Oh, if only it were just brain freeze.
As long as the Biden-Harris regime refuses to acknowledge there are problems they should deal with other than climate change and arming Ukraine, we’ll continue to hear from them about how strong the economy is. It’s not okay.
When someone thinks the strength of an economy is only dictated by a couple of its components it's they that lack comprehension.
It seems like many people only want to listen to politicians and government employees. Economists everywhere are screaming that we are going into a recession, almost every CEO is planning for it, and most common sense people are preparing for it.
It seems almost impossible to find one who doesn't foresee a global downturn, with 98% of chief executives in the survey gearing up for a recession in the United States, and 99% prepping for one in Europe.
CEO confidence has now eroded to lows last seen during the Great Recession, the survey found.
And some people predict wall street experts who think the economy hinges on stock prices will be right at some point in the future. You do realize you have posted for months now that we would start having job losses. Yet that hasn't happened. Jobs are continually being created. Unemployment is at a 40 year low. Let me know when the things you keep claiming are going to happen actually happen. So far your average hasn't been so good.
And some people predict wall street experts who think the economy hinges on stock prices will be right at some point in the future. You do realize you have posted for months now that we would start having job losses. Yet that hasn't happened. Jobs are continually being created. Unemployment is at a 40 year low. Let me know when the things you keep claiming are going to happen actually happen. So far your average hasn't been so good.
Crystal balls have been known to lack accuracy.
I have been posting for about 2-3 months that stuff would start coming apart. Economists are saying that by EOY to the middle of next year we will start to slip into a recession.
If anyone pays for groceries, they know things aren't good. If they put gas in their car, they know things aren't good. If they have any type of retirement savings over $10,000, they know things aren't good.
Share By Jake Perez, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 1 hour ago
A clear majority of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal now say they expect the U.S. to enter a recession within the next 12 months. The latest tally shows 63% predicting a recession in the next year, a big jump from July's 49%. The darkening picture doesn't end there: Economists now expect gross domestic product to keep contracting through the first two quarters of 2023, which is a shift in their predictions of soft growth from the last quarterly survey. They expect employers to respond with job cuts in the second and third quarters.
Policymakers have already expressed concerns that stubbornly high inflation, high energy costs and rising interest rates are increasing recession risks worldwide.
Hey SUPER, just an FYI, we're always skirting along the edge of recessions. And we are probably headed toward a huge recession right now. That's what happens when the oligarchy doesn't like what the people want.
Now the President is poking the Saudi's in the ribs. That is going to do wonders at the pumps for sure...lol
This administration's miscalculations are going to thrust us in to a world war. If everything else has failed, might as well start a big war to make people forget.
What, should Biden allow the Saudi’s to continue to hurt US citizens while we protect them from Russia and Iran while we continue to supply Saudi with more and more arms? I think not. Putin’s war has put us at the brink of world war and further economic collapse not Biden. I get the finger pointing and dramatic anti Democratic statements, it’s almost November. Lol
Politically, it's scare tactics. Business-wise, it's greed at the highest levels. Worldwide it is fearful people pointing fingers instead of doing something about it. This economy is more a reflection of the last 6 years than anything else and Fitch predicts a mild recession. If consumers really want to fight inflation, stop buying crap you don't need or doing stuff you don't need to do until the economic upturn. Also remember it's an election year and the fearmongers want your vote.
Always ask the questions- who, what, where, when, WHY, and how- Biden makes his "Promises"- just like Trump's- the wall will be paid for by Mexicans...later stated, the wall is finished...REALLY- then we don't have immigration problem.
The old statement- it's the economy stupid, still applies- Democrats can expect losses. As an independent and old guy- we can't continue to print money and give it away. Do any Democrats remember this statement- "Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country"- here are a few- who should be responsible for their college costs, why is money owed anyone for something 150 yrs ago- reparations - who said medical should be free for mostly old people (we do need to cut medicare)- it makes no cents to replace hips for every 70 yr old....we ALL die. We, old, should NOT bankrupt our grandkids. Peace to all.
All politicians make promises. Some are outrageously stupid like the wall. Or like raising taxes on the middle class and lowering taxes for the rich. Some are smart like lowering prescription drug costs and allowing Medicare to negotiate those costs. Also you do realize that relieving millions of Americans of $10,000 of student loans isn’t making college free. Also Republicans can expect big loses by taking away a women’s right to her own reproductive system. Blue Wave III.
BTW you could add the letters “ler” to your handle. Very fitting. “We all die” common man!
Always ask the questions- who, what, where, when, WHY, and how- Biden makes his "Promises"- just like Trump's- the wall will be paid for by Mexicans...later stated, the wall is finished...REALLY- then we don't have immigration problem.
The old statement- it's the economy stupid, still applies- Democrats can expect losses. As an independent and old guy- we can't continue to print money and give it away. Do any Democrats remember this statement- "Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country"- here are a few- who should be responsible for their college costs, why is money owed anyone for something 150 yrs ago- reparations - who said medical should be free for mostly old people (we do need to cut medicare)- it makes no cents to replace hips for every 70 yr old....we ALL die. We, old, should NOT bankrupt our grandkids. Peace to all.
So…when people hit 70 they should just be shot? Medicare isn’t “free” and assertions that it is are meaningless. We are nothing special. Other advanced industrialized nations can deal with problems while providing services. The only truly special thing is the status of the dollar and English being a universal language. The idiocy about the debt “bankrupting our kids” is just that, idiocy. A government never was, isn’t and never will be the same as a household or a business.
Of far more concern are some of the following:
The status of the dollar as reserve currency Congress [censored] around with the debt ceiling and thereby the credit rating of the country The massive interconnectedness of the world in general and the impact when networks of all kinds, computer or human, shift The lack of resilience and adaptability by humans in multiple situations due to the interconnectedness including breakout diseases The rise of authoritarianism due to exploited populism
It's impossible to reason with them. Systemically programmed since childhood, they believe the garbage they spew. Having lost their old world, they cling to all the nonsense that brought us to this point like it's the gospel, yet everyone with half a brain can see that the right-wing guardians of the 1%ers fortunes lie year after year after year. The Trumpian GOP sometimes seems to live in fantasy land, believing the USA cannot afford these things that other major countries have had for decades. They would rather that money go to the elite in tax breaks or the MIC in a war budget of 3/4 trillion dollars annually. We missed the boat by not electing Bernie in 2016/2020. If he had been elected president, I believe our world would be very different right now.
There are now election deniers on every ballot in the country, and they are in positions of power that will allow them to steal an election this time around. However, old-school GOPers ignore it because they are becoming extinct and will accept anything to stay in power. It's so damn frustrating. Right-wing voters' ignorance makes it impossible to do what we need to get the country back on track. You shouldn't be allowed to vote if you can't see through the idiocy of someone like JD Vance, Desantis, Abbott, or Trump. They used to put up candidates with ideas, men of action, and people who actually cared about the country and governing it. Currently, I can't say that about a single Republican politician in DC. This ridiculous, hateful ideology of winning at all costs has all but destroyed us. Their predictions about civil war will come true if they do not stop. The right's fake patriotism is beyond my comprehension. Patriots wouldn't allow their party to pull the crap they've done since 2008. Shameful is an upgrade from their current behavior. "Vile boot-licking extremists" is about the best thing I can say about them as a party today. None of them plan to do a damn thing to help the working class in this country, not one. And if McCarthy becomes speaker, he is already promising to stop everything Biden wants to do while reversing everything he's done. Moreover, when we have Putin on the ropes, he'll end Ukraine's aid and hand him a big-ass win. You can't make this crap up! Idiocy.
Now the President is poking the Saudi's in the ribs. That is going to do wonders at the pumps for sure...lol
This administration's miscalculations are going to thrust us in to a world war. If everything else has failed, might as well start a big war to make people forget.
If anyone pays for groceries, they know things aren't good. If they put gas in their car, they know things aren't good. If they have any type of retirement savings over $10,000, they know things aren't good.
And you are 100% correct. What many don't know is that it's a global issue all around the globe. Because the people they listen to don't tell them that. This isn't just an "American issue". Many are taught to look at things in a bubble. Their own situation at their level. What hits them personally. And as with every human being, they look to place blame. And every politician looks to help them blame their political opponents. For some reason they don't know or understand that the economy is based on global conditions. And all either party can do is put a band aid on a bullet wound. Our economy won't be great until other global economies also recover.
But people either don't know or don't care about that. It seems as though in your zest to blame democrats that you don't either. But your quote above will rule the day. We both know that votes in November will crush democrats. Because we're both old enough to know that people vote based on their wallets.
The US stock market could fall into a decades-long bear market similar to Japan in 1989, according to hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein. Weinstein told the Financial Times the Fed's quantitative tightening will drive the decline lower. "I'm very pessimistic. There isn't a rainbow at the end of all this," Weinstein said.
Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein is warning investors about the potential of a decades-long bear market that will plague US stocks, similar to the decline that Japan's stock market has been dealing with since 1989.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index topped out in 1989 and never recovered those highs, as an ageing and declining population has sparked concerns of how the country will grow into the future. The Nikkei is still 30% below its all-time high.
Weinstein, who runs the near $5-billion hedge fund Saba Capital, told the Financial Times that the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening policies will drive big declines in asset prices. In other words, don't fight the Fed.
"I'm very pessimistic. There isn't a rainbow at the end of all this. [Quantitative tightening] is going to be a real headwind for investors," Weinstein told the FT.
Weinstein is zeroing in on the Fed's plans to reduce its near-$9 trillion balance sheet, which expanded considerably since the 2008 financial crisis and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a series of quantitative easing measures were implemented to shore up liquidity in credit markets.
But now the Fed is on track to reduce its balance sheet by $95 billion per month, rolling off a combination of its treasuries and mortgage-backed securities holdings. And that will serve as a headwind as the Fed sells its bonds into the market, essentially sucking liquidity out of financial markets.
"There's no reason that this difficult [economic] period will only last two to three quarters [and] ... no reason to think we'll have a soft landing or a shallow recession," Weinstein said.
The Fed is still hoping for a soft landing even as it moves forward with more interest rate hikes, with the central bank highlighting in its September meeting minutes that the labor market still remains strong, with the unemployment rate sitting near multi-decade lows.
But Weinstein isn't holding his breath, telling the FT that developed stock markets like the US "could certainly" follow the path of Japan's Nikkei 225.
"That changed the psychology about whether being a stockholder is such a prized status," Weinstein said.
Now investors have to grapple with a lot of headline risks, including Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a slowing economy in China, and rising inflation and interest rates.
The hedge fund manager is holding onto credit default swaps as insurance against further equity losses, as he believes a recession will ultimately lead to corporate defaults and widening credit spreads.
"In this sell-off you have so many things that are problematic swirling around, some that are contradictory. There's a lot of fear, but there's been a lot of time for people to think about [the issues]," Weinstein said.
You need to hold them at least 1 year. If you sell them in under 5 years you lose the last 3 months interest.
The rate gets adjusted every 6 months - it is a combination of a fixed rate plus the inflation rate. So if you buy now you get 9.62% guaranteed for 6 months then it gets readjusted based on the inflation rate.
The max you can purchase in 1 calendar year is $10k with some wanky exceptions: You can purchase more if you use your tax returns to buy them, or if you put them in a trust and a couple other exceptions that I don't recall off the top of my head
Right. The new I bond rate will drop to (predicted) 6.47%... making the actual annual rate just over 8%. I'm sure it will keep dropping. Once it gets below 3-4% I'll wait three months into the reset and cash them in. My wife and I both maxed out in May and made our son throw 10G into one as well (we didn't have to twist his arm).
I know many people make a lot more on their money, but 8% at no risk is basically a no-brainer.
gop wins the midterms, tries to pass a bill cutting SS and medicare, and all the people who voted for the GOP will come out and act shocked and angry about the fact that the republicans are trying to cut SS and medicare as if they didnt expect the republicans to actually follow through on it.
it was the same thing with obamacare. all these republican voters were all for the republicans cutting obamacare when the gop won in 2016, only to then get upset and throw a hissy fit when they found out that obamacare and the ACA is literally the same thing.
if the GOP wins in the midterms, im not gonna feel bad for anybody on SS or medicare that voted republican. if you lose your benefits, thats on you. im not gonna feel bad, i wont show empathy, im just gonna laugh in your face. you vote for your own demise, dont whine when it actually comes.
GOP talking about cutting taxes for the wealthy again. but conservatives swear up and down the 2017 tax cuts didnt contribute to the issues we got going on now. so lets double down on trickle down economics.
we're gonna cut SS, medicare, and other domestic spending, increase military spending even though we don't really wanna to spend more defending ukraine, reduce individual rights by taking away autonomy over one's own body, and move the country more to christian nationalist-style social policies.
i believe the GOP is gonna run through the dems in the midterms.
and guess what? the suicide rates will climb, birth rates will drop even though we got a slight pandemic bump, country will be more divided, and we'll be more isolated.
but all that doesn't matter as long as we get a bump in our stock market gains!! my portfolio's gonna be looking niiiiiiice even though it will be pain all around the country. cause those gains are whats most important in life, right republican voters?
Correct me if I am wrong, as I don't follow a lot of news these days, but what I had read was that they wanted to move it from a dedicated fund to the general budget.
Now that has it's own issues, but if that is true and everyone is pushing the narrative "Cut SS and Medicare", but that's not what is truly happening, then it's mis-information being passed around.
I agree with you as it pertains to the moment at hand. But what that does is move it to the general fund where it's not protected. This opens the door for being defunded or cuts in the future which can not be done as of now.
I agree with you as it pertains to the moment at hand. But what that does is move it to the general fund where it's not protected. This opens the door for being defunded or cuts in the future which can not be done as of now.
Agreed, it has it's own issues, as I stated.
I just disagree with mis-representing things (From either side) to get people worked up. They could easily state what is really proposed, and how that is bad, but that wouldn't get the same emotional response.
Here is my take- if GOP wins....and the party NOT in power normally does- add in inflation/ general high cost of basic things- gas, food, housing- then GOP wins. Then they DO what they have quietly said they'll do- hold the nation debt/ the budget hostage to cuts in SS/Medicare....what do you think will happen to the STOCK MARKET---say hi to 1929. Biden trying to hide a recession- lots of Americans have their savings in stock market- trying to GROW- a large drop lasts for decades. Democrats better beat the bushes and get the turn out way higher than normal....like betting on Browns going to SB.
Correct me if I am wrong, as I don't follow a lot of news these days, but what I had read was that they wanted to move it from a dedicated fund to the general budget.
Now that has it's own issues, but if that is true and everyone is pushing the narrative "Cut SS and Medicare", but that's not what is truly happening, then it's mis-information being passed around.
Their end goal is to raise eligibility to 70 or 72 I believe, as well as do away with a lot of things that allow people to qualify for and draw disability. And yes, they also want dollar amounts cut.
I can't find the article, but one of the red state reps was quoted saying too many getting a free ride in this country, if you can fog a mirror you can find work. He was talking about disability and people under 67.
Share By Jessy Bains, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 11 minutes ago
The U.S. economy snapped a losing streak, returning to growth in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose 0.6%, fueled by volatile exports. While the 2.6% annualized pace of growth from July through September beat economists’ expectations, a core gauge of demand that strips out trade and inventories increased 0.5% — one of the lowest readings of the pandemic. Faster inflation, rising interest rates and a deflating housing sector are expected to weigh on consumer spending, the leading engine of growth, in coming months.
The preliminary, third-quarter reading follows two consecutive quarters of contraction that met a commonly accepted definition of recession. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose slightly to 217,000 last week, still near pre-pandemic lows of 2019.
*The main event: while the GDP report was mostly positive, residential investment fell 26% - the largest pullback since the Global Financial Crisis.
*GDP is up because the entire increase is related to U.S. exports of oil, gas, and weapons. - if the war ends, we could be in big trouble.
US exports record oil volumes as fuel price tensions build Shipments of crude and products top 11mn b/d as industry warns over restrictions
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he US is exporting record volumes of oil and taking on a bigger role as a fuel supplier in response to the global energy crunch caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, even as tensions flare over petrol prices at home.
Combined US exports of crude oil and refined petroleum products surged to 11.4mn barrels a day last week, according to data released on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration, the most ever reported.
The shipments were almost 2mn b/d higher than the previous week and came despite oil companies facing pressure from Washington to send less fuel abroad and build domestic stocks as president Joe Biden’s administration tries to curb prices at the pump ahead of critical midterm elections.
Buffeted by high prices, the White House has refused to rule out controls on fuel exports. Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm wrote to oil refiners in August calling on them to build stocks of fuel to avoid “additional federal requirements or other emergency measures”.
The prospect of curbs on exports re-emerged after the Saudi Arabia-led Opec+ oil cartel recently cut production. The Biden administration said last week “all options” remained on the table to “ensure domestic supply”.
Export controls would risk angering countries that depend on US supplies. Oil companies have warned that any ban on refined product sales could increase domestic fuel prices and “alienate US allies during a time of war”.
The US has become a crucial supplier to global energy markets since the shale drilling revolution transformed production from its oil and gasfields more than a decade ago.
Its importance has grown as Opec+ announced cuts to production and the EU implements an embargo on Russian crude later this year in response to the war.
The US continues to be a large oil importer, with inbound crude shipments averaging 6.2mn b/d last week from countries including Canada and Saudi Arabia, some of which will be exported again after it is refined into petrol or diesel.
US exports of crude were 5.1mn b/d a day last week, a record level, according to the EIA. For refined products the figure was 6.3mn barrels a day, shy of a record 7mn b/d earlier this month.
Biden said last week he was doing “everything in [his] power” to bring down the price of petrol, which hit record levels this summer. It has since fallen sharply, but at $3.76 a gallon, remains more than 60 per cent higher than when he took office.
At $5.32 a gallon, the price of diesel, used to power industry, has not fallen as sharply from its peak and is about double its level when Biden entered the White House. US inventories of distillate, which includes diesel and heating oil, were 106mn barrels last week, about a fifth lower than the five-year average.
Biden has ordered his officials to prepare for more releases from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a record drawdown announced in March comes to an end. The SPR releases and rising exports have taken petroleum stocks to about 1.6bn barrels, their lowest since 2005, raising concerns about US preparedness in case of massive supply disruptions.
Share By Jessy Bains, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 11 minutes ago
The U.S. economy snapped a losing streak, returning to growth in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose 0.6%, fueled by volatile exports. While the 2.6% annualized pace of growth from July through September beat economists’ expectations, a core gauge of demand that strips out trade and inventories increased 0.5% — one of the lowest readings of the pandemic. Faster inflation, rising interest rates and a deflating housing sector are expected to weigh on consumer spending, the leading engine of growth, in coming months.
The preliminary, third-quarter reading follows two consecutive quarters of contraction that met a commonly accepted definition of recession. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose slightly to 217,000 last week, still near pre-pandemic lows of 2019.
*The main event: while the GDP report was mostly positive, residential investment fell 26% - the largest pullback since the Global Financial Crisis.
*GDP is up because the entire increase is related to U.S. exports of oil, gas, and weapons. - if the war ends, we could be in big trouble.
Obama is to blame for allowing exports of oil and gas. Can't help but wonder where the economy would be if that was NOT allowed as it used to be.
Biden will tell other countriez to juzt make more oil and give it to the Us for lower cozt. Do it. Or he will call them a rotten name. like a turkey soldier. "have you ever been an iowa caucus"
Share By Jessy Bains, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 11 minutes ago
The U.S. economy snapped a losing streak, returning to growth in the third quarter. Gross domestic product rose 0.6%, fueled by volatile exports. While the 2.6% annualized pace of growth from July through September beat economists’ expectations, a core gauge of demand that strips out trade and inventories increased 0.5% — one of the lowest readings of the pandemic. Faster inflation, rising interest rates and a deflating housing sector are expected to weigh on consumer spending, the leading engine of growth, in coming months.
The preliminary, third-quarter reading follows two consecutive quarters of contraction that met a commonly accepted definition of recession. New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose slightly to 217,000 last week, still near pre-pandemic lows of 2019.
*The main event: while the GDP report was mostly positive, residential investment fell 26% - the largest pullback since the Global Financial Crisis.
*GDP is up because the entire increase is related to U.S. exports of oil, gas, and weapons. - if the war ends, we could be in big trouble.
Obama is to blame for allowing exports of oil and gas. Can't help but wonder where the economy would be if that was NOT allowed as it used to be.
Especially since we have Gas shortages all up and down the east coast.
Meanwhile... we are just exporting away and keeping our fuel prices inflated.
Gasoline Shortage on US East Coast Is Latest Fuel Supply Crisis Chunzi Xu Wed, October 26, 2022 at 11:28 AM·1 min read
Gasoline Shortage on US East Coast Is Latest Fuel Supply Crisis (Bloomberg) -- The fuel crisis on America’s East Coast is deepening as terminals running low on diesel are now down on gasoline, too.
“Numerous” terminals are out of gasoline and ethanol over the past 72 hours due to various supply delays, according to distributor TAC Energy. Rallying futures show the reason “is more short squeeze caused by a variety of disruptions in supply, rather than an expectation of strong gasoline demand,” TAC wrote in a note.
The prompt-month gasoline spread surged above 30 cents a gallon on Tuesday in a worrying repeat of the market structure that precipitated the still-unfolding diesel shortage on the East Coast: Prompt deliveries are worth a lot more than longer-term ones, which incentivizes suppliers to sell now instead of building inventory.
Gasoline stockpiles on the East Coast have dwindled to their lowest seasonal level on a calendar basis since 2007, according to Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday. The US region relies on Europe for gasoline imports, particularly during crunch times. Europe has not been sending as much recently as the continent grapples with its own energy crisis.
East Coast shortages have worsened at a politically sensitive time: Voting has begun in midterm elections where fuel costs, a major driver of historic inflation, are a top issue for many deciding if Democrats will maintain control of Congress.
I knew you would agree. But did you know it was republicans pushing for that? Obama let it happen, but it was a republican move! lmao. The only way you can get a GOPer to criticize republicans is to blame it on a Dem.
Sabrina Valle Fri, October 28, 2022, 6:32 AM·3 min read
By Sabrina Valle
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday smashed expectations as soaring energy prices fueled a record-breaking quarterly profit, nearly matching that of tech giant Apple.
Its $19.66 billion third-quarter net profit far exceeded recently raised Wall Street forecasts as skyrocketing natural gas and high oil prices put its earnings within reach of Apple's $20.7 billion net for the same period.
As recently as 2013, Exxon ranked as the largest publicly traded U.S. company by market value - a position now held by Apple. Exxon shares jumped 2% in premarket trading to $109.80, a new record high.
Oil company profits have soared this year as rising demand and an undersupplied energy market collided with Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. exports of gas and oil to Europe have jumped and promise to set all-time profit records for the industry.
The top U.S. oil producer reported a per-share profit of $4.68, exceeding Wall Street's $3.89 consensus view, on a huge jump in natural gas earnings, continued high oil prices and strong fuel sales.
"Where others pulled back in the face of uncertainty and a historic slowdown, retreating and retrenching, this company moved forward, continuing to invest," Chief Executive Darren Woods told investors. Its quarterly profits "reflect that deep commitment" as well as higher prices, he added.
Exxon led record gains among oil majors in the second quarter and has leapfrogged Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE with earnings almost twice as big from continued bets on fossil fuels as competitors shifted investment to renewables.
Exxon banked $43 billion in the first nine months of this year, 19% more than in the same period of 2008, when oil prices traded at a record level of $140 per barrel.
Earnings from pumping oil and gas tripled last quarter while profit from selling motor fuels jumped tenfold compared with year-ago levels. Natural gas sales to Europe and soaring demand for diesel fuel led the company's better-than-expected results.
"The refining businesses - both in the U.S. and international - was the star performer," said Peter McNally, an analyst at Third Bridge.
Those rising fuel profits have renewed calls by U.S. President Joe Biden for companies to invest the windfall from this year's energy price run-up in production rather than buy back their own shares.
Exxon will maintain its $30 billion share buyback through 2023 while increasing dividends, Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells told Reuters. On Friday, it declared a fourth-quarter per-share dividend of 91 cents, up 3 cents, and will pay $15 billion to shareholders this year.
Exxon said its U.S. oil and gas production from the Permian Basin was near 560,000 barrels of oil and gas per day (boed), a record. Production for the year will increase about 20% over 2021, said CEO Woods.
"We're optimizing and adjusting our development plans," he told analysts, with the full-year production gain below the 25% increase Exxon had forecast in February.
Results also were helped by an almost 100,000-boed increase over the previous quarter in Guyana, where Exxon leads a consortium responsible for all output in the South American nation.
But its withdrawal from Russia reduced its overall production forecast for the year by about 100,000 barrels per day. Exxon said its Russian assets were expropriated.
"We are going to end up at about 3.7 million barrels a day for the full year," Mikells said, down from a 3.8 million goal set in February.
people out here whining about gas prices while i use my dividend income to pay for fueling up my brand new yacht. unfortunately inflation sucks so i gotta pay more for russian courses so i can read the manual.
No other nation in the world produces more oil than the US — so why do we count on countries like Saudi Arabia to supply us with crude? Chris Clark Thu, October 27, 2022, 3:00 PM·4 min read
While the U.S. is the world’s top producer of oil, it’s also the world’s top gas guzzler.
Inflation, spurred by supply chain issues and Russia’s war in Ukraine has driven up the cost of this valuable resource. On top of that, Hurricane Ian forced offshore producers in the U.S. to scale back production.
Even the head of Saudi Arabia’s state-led oil company, Saudi Aramco, is concerned. Earlier this month, he issued a dire warning that prices could spike soon due to Aramco's “extremely low” capacity.
Which means Americans should be preparing for a very expensive winter.
But with President Biden set to release 25 million more barrels of the country’s “oil piggy bank” to the market by the end of the year and the supply of diesel running dangerously low, many Americans may be wondering why not just hold onto that supply to keep the lights on here?
At $60 or more for a tank, it can be frustrating to watch as domestic oil leaves U.S. ports faster than foreign oil comes in. But it’s a decades-old challenge, and only the nature of the crisis has changed.
Leading from behind
The United States is the world’s top producer of oil (including crude, other petroleum liquids, and biofuels) and has been since 2018. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, it’s not even close.
The EIA reports that as of 2021, the U.S. produced 18.88 million barrels per day — or about 10 million per day more than no. 2 Saudi Arabia (10.84 million) and no. 3 Russia (10.78 million).
The EIA also notes that the U.S. is the largest oil consumer, using 20.54 million barrels a day, or 20% of the global stock, and well ahead of no. 2 China (14.01 million). The U.S. imported 7.86 million barrels of oil per day last year, the EIA report reveals.
So if America is producing roughly the same amount of oil as it imports, and interest in renewables is rising, shouldn’t it be true that the U.S. would not be so reliant on foreign oil, and that energy price anxieties should subside because U.S. stocks would be more than adequate?
Not by a long shot.
Oil price and politics
The reasons for the import/export discrepancy are actually fairly straightforward. Chief among them:
Foreign oil is cheaper: The cost of extraction is usually lower in other countries.
Rystad Energy, a private energy research firm, found in a 2020 analysis that Middle Eastern oil fields have the world’s lowest production cost at $31 a barrel. The U.S. produced oil from deepwater wells was at $43 a barrel, with fracking-produced oil costing $44 a barrel.
Energy as a weapon: Prices are frequently connected to how nations regard the environmental, economic and geopolitical impacts of their oil.
Some concerns weigh heavier than others. Russia, for instance, is widely seen as using oil as a tool to gain concessions over its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian invasion eventually prompted President Biden to sign a ban on Russian oil imports, but it’s unclear how much the ban has deterred Vladimir Putin. Europe now faces new uncertainty about accessibility to critical Russian oil ahead of winter.
Not all oil is the same: This is a fundamental challenge for the U.S., where much of the nation’s refining capacity is built to handle the heavy, harder-to-refine crude imported from the Middle East and elsewhere. That U.S. capacity wasn’t aimed at refining the kind of light, sweet crude that characterizes the flush oil fields of Oklahoma, Texas, and elsewhere.
Shifting U.S. refining capacity to light crude could create incredible upheaval in the market and jeopardize enormous existing investments, the American Petroleum Institute says.
Attempts to correct that mismatch have almost always stalled out, often over environmental protests or other political realities. Most believe the current situation won’t change until new refining capacity comes online or the current capacity is upgraded to handle what the U.S. produces. The costs of such a shift would be enormous.
We shouldn't allow it to be exported and we should order the refineries to increase production as well as plan and build more facilities for the immediate future. National security is at risk.
We shouldn't allow it to be exported and we should order the refineries to increase production as well as plan and build more facilities for the immediate future. National security is at risk.
For a long time I have felt that the long term plan is to use up other countries oil before we use ours. Not allowing export and "ordering" oil companies to do this or that is short term thinking that would actually harm national security more.
Winning chess isn't played move to move. Winning chess is played thinking about where you want to be 10 moves ahead.
Lame fantasies about stupid people playing chess won't fix a damn thing.
It wasn't offered to be a fix. It was offered to help you understand that your thinking is very narrow and not taking in to account the larger picture.
Share By Melissa Cantor, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 7 hours ago
While gasoline prices have come down from their summer peaks, the cost of diesel fuel is still sky-high, averaging $5.29 per gallon compared to $3 a year ago. The sharp increase is squeezing the trucking industry, with drivers saying they have to turn down jobs or ask clients to pay fuel surcharges to make ends meet. And when truckers get squeezed, so do consumers — virtually everything we buy is delivered via truck, and the impact of rising diesel costs could deliver a $100 billion hit to the U.S. economy, according to some estimates.
I find it rather odd that the very same people who say we need smaller government suddenly start pointing fingers that the government isn't doing anything when it suits them.
The method used during the trump presidency to report job growth is the same as it is now. So were you too believing false reports from your false regime? Since job growth has continued to rise your story has evolved from "It's going down" to "They're lying". Desperation rears its ugly head.
Saw a report somewhere saying the national average gas price is expected to be around $2.99 a gallon by the end of December. Light at the end of the tunnel.
Share By Cate Chapman, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 43 minutes ago
Home sales extended their longest losing streak in November since records began in 1999, falling for a 10th straight month. The 7.7% decline in sales of previously owned homes was also the deepest since February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Mortgage rates that have doubled since last year are smothering affordability and sales, and come on the back of the most aggressive ratcheting up of interest rates by the Federal Reserve since the ‘80s.
Home prices are still higher than they were year ago, buoyed by inflation and a lower-than-normal supply.
Mortgage rates chart: Historical and current rate trends
Freddie Mac — the main industry source for mortgage rates — has been keeping records since 1971. Between April 1971 and December 2022, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.76%.
While it will take home buyers time to adjust to the rise i interest rates, from a historical standpoint it is still well below the average interest rate for home buyers.
This is bad because this means less materials being bought which means less freight being moved, less workers collecting checks for building stuff, etc... Less trucks moving less stuff is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS BAD.
If interest rates come back down around 4%-5%, this should resolve easily, but right now there is a glut of inventory out there and not a lot of new construction happening.
It is what it is. In 1971 mortgages hovered between 7.29% and 7.73%. And if you look at the time period I mentioned you'll find historic lows as well as highs. Here is an article from 2002 that states that at as of august 16th, 2002 rates that fell to 6.22% had not been seen since the 1960's.
Quote
And rates tallied separately by financial publisher HSH Associates were the lowest since 1966. Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages through Wednesday fell to 6.13 percent with 0.66 points nationwide, down from 6.34 percent and 0.55 points the previous week, according to Butler, N.J.-based HSH.
That's basically the rate that my dad bought my childhood home at. There's nothing about the current prime home interest rate that's actually high right now. It just seems that way due to historic low interest rates.
I expect the dow to be down almost 800-1000 points today with the news of home sales tanking.
the real estate market represents about 15-20% of our economy.
Well it fell about one third as much as you claimed. Another failed prediction. So far it's up about 700 points today after the November numbers showed a slow donn in inflation. I didn't want to see you get caught not being prepared.
I expect the dow to be down almost 800-1000 points today with the news of home sales tanking.
the real estate market represents about 15-20% of our economy.
Well it fell about one third as much as you claimed. Another failed prediction. So far it's up about 700 points today after the November numbers showed a slow donn in inflation. I didn't want to see you get caught not being prepared.
Um. it was down over 800 points yesterday. it rallied late to be only be down about 350 points.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/23/5-t...ock-market-opens-friday-december-23.html It was the last trading day before Christmas, and all through Wall Street, barely a bull was stirring ... Ok, we’re going to leave that there. Investors entered Friday a little bruised after Thursday’s rough session. At one point, the Dow fell more than 800 points before a late-day push helped the blue-chip index finish down about 350 points. It was a particularly bad day for tech stocks, which dragged the Nasdaq down nearly 2.2%. With just five trading days left in December, stocks are on the cusp of finishing 2022 in the red, potentially wrapping up the worst year for equities since 2008.
Early Friday, key inflation data arrived in the form of the November Personal Consumption Expenditures price index. The PCE price index came in cooler than expected, rising 0.1% in November vs. Econoday's estimates for 0.2% growth vs. October.
Year over year, the PCE price index rose 5.5%, matching estimates. Personal income rose 0.4% in November, higher than estimates.
Meanwhile, the core PCE price index came in hotter than expected, rising 4.7% year over year vs. the 4.6% estimate.
Are you reading articles from 2013 or doing that common core math?
Also, not sure why Dow Jones you are looking at. It's down about 25 points right now.... not up 700 points.
It's like you get your news from some sort of Marvel Multiverse...
This is bad because this means less materials being bought which means less freight being moved, less workers collecting checks for building stuff, etc... Less trucks moving less stuff is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS BAD.
If interest rates come back down around 4%-5%, this should resolve easily, but right now there is a glut of inventory out there and not a lot of new construction happening.
So you claimed it would be down 800-100 points yesterday and it closed at 350 down. Stop trying to rewrite your claim. It was up 700 points this morning. That doesn't mean "now".
Quote
I expect the dow to be down almost 800-1000 points today
So you claimed it would be down 800-100 points yesterday and it closed at 350 down. Stop trying to rewrite your claim. It was up 700 points this morning. That doesn't mean "now".
Quote
I expect the dow to be down almost 800-1000 points today
That didn't happen.
It was down 800 points yesterday. It did not close down 800 it closed down over 350.
No. It was never up 700 points today.
Today's high is 33,154 (as of this moment) 12/23/2022 at 12:13 pm EST and it opened at 32,961. That's 193 points, not 700.
Again, please stop making stuff up / stop watching the Multiverse News Channel. It's 100% wrong.
Dear Lord. Anyone can see you predicted it to be down 800-100 points on the day yesterday. That simply didn't happen and you're trying to crawl your way out of it on your belly. Spending is still up and there have been monthly job increases. And all you can do is still play Chicken Little. You're hilarious!
And just for the record, I'm not saying there aren't indicators that we may enter into a recession. There certainly are. But there are also indicators that we may not. You just never point any of those out and seem to try and dismiss that those positive indicators even exist. I'm simply pointing out that there's a yin to your yang whether you like that or not.
Consumer price growth cooled in November, indicating a slowing economy and a sign that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-raising campaign to fight inflation is starting to pay off.
On a year-over-year basis, inflation hit 7.1%, a slowdown from the 7.7% in October and lower than the 7.3% expected by analysts. It's the smallest 12-month increase since December 2021, when it was 7.0%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, inflation climbed just 0.1%, compared to 0.4% in October.
Pending home sales in November dipped for their sixth month in a row, as current economic conditions scare away many potential buyers.
Contracts to buy previously owned homes fell 4% to just 73.9 – becoming the smallest amount of signings since 2001 (aside from the pandemic), according to the National Association of Realtors.
The November decline "was worse than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists." Despite the dip, home-buying activity could soon rebound as mortgage rates continue to fall, says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Home prices fell for a fourth consecutive month as rising mortgage rates continue to eat into buyer demand.
**Pending home sales were a noticeable 37.8% below year-ago levels, with double-digit declines in all regions of the country. **
**The monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home is $780 higher than it was last year.**
Holiday sales were up 7.6% despite inflation. Inflation dropped to 7.1% year over year in November.
Fact-Checking Results: misleading.
Holiday sales rose 7.6%. However, people are not buying more items. They are actually buying less stuff because the costs of goods are up 8.2% (inflation has nothing to do with the present cost of goods) and people were desperately buying gifts on their credit cards.
Overall spending has slowed from the pandemic-infused splurges and shifted increasingly toward necessities like food, while spending on electronics, furniture, new clothes and other non-necessities has faded. Many shoppers have been trading down to private label goods, which are typically less expensive than national brands. They've been going to cheaper stores like dollar chains and big box stores like Walmart.
Inflation is continuing to wallop Americans, with consumer prices up 8.2% in September from a year ago. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, have jumped 6.6% over the last 12 months — the fast rise in 40 years.
As of the third quarter of 2022, Americans hold $925 billion in credit card debt, which is a rise of $38 billion since Q2 2022. The Federal Reserve of New York says this is a 15% year-over-year rise – the biggest jump we’ve seen in more than 20 years.
*This was the last gasp from consumers (spending on credit cards) before consumer spending takes a nose dive and I was really hoping this wouldn't happen so quickly*
If we look at last year’s Q3 data from Experian, we can see that the average credit card balance was $5,221 in 2021. If we add a 15% increase to that number, we see that the average credit card balance for Americans in Q3 2022 is somewhere around $6,004.
The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates since March 2022. They’ve gone up by 375 basis points in just 11 months, which means borrowing has quickly become much more expensive.
In fact, the average credit card’s interest rate is the highest it’s been since the Fed started tracking in 1994. In Q3 2022, the average APR of all credit cards was 16.27%, up from 14.51% in Q4 2021 before the Fed started raising rates. Those who are carrying a balance and actually paying that interest are seeing an average APR of 18.43%.
*So, we have now reached the consumer purchasing tipping point and it will happen faster because Americans have maxed out their credit cards and are paying astronomical interest rates. At this point, there is pretty much nothing left we can do. This really s terrible news and millions are going to suffer.*
You can't fix stupid. Or frivolous. Or what ever you want to call people buying on credit what they can't afford. I get that people have less disposable income - but there were Christmas's when I was a kid we got very little and what we did get were "soft presents" - meaning clothes and underwear.
As for inflation and the discussion as if this is a Biden made thing - EU rate is over 11% ... UK rate is over 10%. smh.
Man, you have to love living in the FREE MARKET. All these people blame Biden for out-of-hand inflation triggered worldwide due primarily to the effects of Covid Shut Downs initiated by Trump and pure corporate greed. Free Markets, not Biden, not Trump, not just in America; inflation is not a valid partisan point for us because we all hate it. Smh.
Maybe GOPers can get Dark Brandon to create them a little nanny state to keep them safe.
Pending home sales in November dipped for their sixth month in a row, as current economic conditions scare away many potential buyers.
Contracts to buy previously owned homes fell 4% to just 73.9 – becoming the smallest amount of signings since 2001 (aside from the pandemic), according to the National Association of Realtors.
The November decline "was worse than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists." Despite the dip, home-buying activity could soon rebound as mortgage rates continue to fall, says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Home prices fell for a fourth consecutive month as rising mortgage rates continue to eat into buyer demand.
**Pending home sales were a noticeable 37.8% below year-ago levels, with double-digit declines in all regions of the country. **
**The monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home is $780 higher than it was last year.**
Recognizing that you just love to beat on Liberals, I should point out that this might be a good thing. Hopefully housing prices will return to more normal levels....
So you can't deny that holiday spending was up and inflation has dropped from it's high of just over 9% to 7.1% but wish to try to do everything to undermine those facts because you hate to admit anything positive. Got it.
So you can't deny that holiday spending was up and inflation has dropped from it's high of just over 9% to 7.1% but wish to try to do everything to undermine those facts because you hate to admit anything positive. Got it.
Originally Posted by PitDAWG
Holiday sales were up 7.6% despite inflation. Inflation dropped to 7.1% year over year in November.
You said spending was up despite inflation. The facts show that the only reason spending is up is because of inflation.
Holiday spending was .5% higher than the inflation rate. Many claimed holiday spending would be down. Even accounting for inflation is rose slightly. Like I said, anything positive certain people try to shoot down. When their predictions fall flat they make excuses as to why that happened.
As I've said before, there are certainly reasons to think we may enter into a recession. There are also reasons to think we may not. Doom and gloom is not inevitable.
Debt is certainly a concern. I've never gone into debt for the holidays. I do think increased debt has been an ongoing trend that has been talked about a lot on this board over the years. From everything I've seen it's Lending Tree that is tracking holiday debt and they've only been doing that for eight years. I'd love to see how that actually played out over the last few decades allowing for inflation.
It's crazy how consistently inconsistent it has been. Not just the daily yo-yo, but the price differences from location to location. I'm always back and forth from Fort Wayne... on any given weekend trip we regularly see ranges differ by over a dollar.
Speaking of the economy, has anybody noticed gas prices? They jumped for $2.74 per gallon around here to $3.35 per gallon in the last 2 weeks.
GM, I don't think that this has much to do with the price of oil or the economy-more like gas stations owners just jacking up the price for the holidays. I use gas buddy alot, especially when I travel.
If you don't want to pay 3.35 for regular-a few minutes checking where you are going and a) gas at Sams in Boardman is 2.87 for regular-If you are a member b) on Gasbuddy, there are (3) stations in salem that listed prices as of yesterday-2 were 2.47 for regular and one was 2.57-The gas station across from Dutch Haus had regular listed at 2.59-I went by last night and they raised it to 2.99 when i was going down through Columbiana and I thought I saw it for 3.35 when I was coming home about 2 hours later. c) Shell at Glenwood and Western Reserve was 2.68 for regular d) there are a couple more out by Eastwood Mall that were listed in the mid 2.60-2.70's. e) Valley View in Lisbon was 2.69 yesterday afternoon. e) if all else fails-i go to Sheetz and get the 88 octane-it is normally about 30 cents a gal cheaper than their regular. Just don't put the 88 in the power tools/ATV's
Lol …. it’s like global warming. In the middle of winter and the weather is cold and nasty. “Where’s all the global warming we keep hearing about?” Then in June and it’s already 110 deg by noon and 30% of the American West is on fire. “Crickets”
Anyways it’s not like Putin’s war is helping the issue, but let’s point fingers toward our own leaders like Biden.
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - British and Dutch wholesale gas prices jumped on Wednesday's close after Russia said it would start selling gas to "unfriendly" countries in roubles, while the European Union proposed legislation on minimum gas storage levels.
The spike came after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would start selling gas to "unfriendly" countries in roubles, with the British price for day-ahead delivery jumping by 11.8% to close at 246.00 pence per therm, while the winter 2022 price rose by 11% to 264.01 p/therm.
I disagree. When gas prices blow up, you hear about it. When they slowly decrease, you don't hear about it. What people may be forgetting is, in warmer months, prices always go up due to "warm weather blends" being more costly to produce. When winter prices go down, it's due to "non warm month blends" in large part.
I'm not agreeing with you, or disagreeing. Just stating a fact.
Amid challenges faced by major U.S. firms that include high interest rates, growing costs and a strong dollar, analysts predict S&P 500 companies will report their first year-on-year decline in quarterly earnings since 2020 this week. Profits in the fourth quarter are forecast to have fallen by 4.1%, compared to 31% growth recorded the previous year, according to Fact Set. Morgan Stanley strategists say investors remain pessimistic about economic growth, suggesting the S&P could drop even further. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs will reportedly lay off some 3,200 employees this week.
Despite falling 19% in 2022, the S&P 500 rose 1.4% in the first week of 2023 following the Labor Department's recent jobs report, which suggested the jobs market remains strong.
Lol …. it’s like global warming. In the middle of winter and the weather is cold and nasty. “Where’s all the global warming we keep hearing about?” Then in June and it’s already 110 deg by noon and 30% of the American West is on fire. “Crickets”
Anyways it’s not like Putin’s war is helping the issue, but let’s point fingers toward our own leaders like Biden.
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - British and Dutch wholesale gas prices jumped on Wednesday's close after Russia said it would start selling gas to "unfriendly" countries in roubles, while the European Union proposed legislation on minimum gas storage levels.
The spike came after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would start selling gas to "unfriendly" countries in roubles, with the British price for day-ahead delivery jumping by 11.8% to close at 246.00 pence per therm, while the winter 2022 price rose by 11% to 264.01 p/therm.
Amen, like the "border crisis"- it hasn't changed much in 70 years- Ike, 50s Prez- Operation Wetback, imagine that operation in today's world....WOW. Illegals have been an issue FOREVER- and no President has fixed it....maybe they don't want to- cheap labor. Who's working the yards, putting roofs on, working in chicken factories, slaughter houses, restaurants, etc- how many folks paying people with cash to do jobs they don't want to do.....lots.
So once again the GOPers are using the debt ceiling to force their will. They’ve flipped flopped on this issue for decades being for and against raising the debt ceiling depending on who’s in the oval. Party over country as usual. Sighs…
How about a call for a constitutional amendment, that would outlaw, profiting from advertising at a rate greater than one hundred thousand times the federal minimum wage. Commercial advertising, should not cost more than one hundred thousand times the federal minimum wage.
A penalty of shutting down their business for I4 years, fourteen years, would give that bill some teeth.
On the surface, it seems that a hundred thousand times the federal minimum wage, ought to be enough of a rate for advertisers but if you consider... well at the current minimum wage, the most premium advertising allowed would be just over twelve thousand dollars per minute, or over six thousand for a 30 second add.
Which would have an effect on the dynamics of the economic systems, and eventually lead to more affordable goods.
How about a call for a constitutional amendment, that would outlaw, profiting from advertising at a rate greater than one hundred thousand times the federal minimum wage.
LOL you are ridiculous.
There is a difference between profit vs cost of goods.
What determines the price of any object is what someone is willing to pay for it.
If it wasn't worth it... no one would buy it... much like a Beta VCR player.
Unless of course it's fuel, housing and food. You know, things you need to survive. Then you have to pay the asking price whether it's worth it or not. It's not that "you're willing to pay it". It's that you have to pay it.
Unless of course it's fuel, housing and food. You know, things you need to survive. Then you have to pay the asking price whether it's worth it or not. It's not that "you're willing to pay it". It's that you have to pay it.
advertising doesn't fit into any one of these items.
There is a difference between profit vs cost of goods.
What determines the price of any object is what someone is willing to pay for it.
If it wasn't worth it... no one would buy it... much like a Beta VCR player.
You never mentioned a word about advertising in the post I was responding to. Not a single word. And yes, realtors, oil companies and grocery stores advertise.
There is a difference between profit vs cost of goods.
What determines the price of any object is what someone is willing to pay for it.
If it wasn't worth it... no one would buy it... much like a Beta VCR player.
You never mentioned a word about advertising in the post I was responding to. Not a single word. And yes, realtors, oil companies and grocery stores advertise.
This is what happens when you jump in the middle of 2 people talking and you start quoting people without context.
And here you are pulling up the rear again. Do you mean the thread where someone said they would not respond again and lied about it? Did you actually have anything relevant to the thread to add? I didn't think so.
And here you are pulling up the rear again. Do you mean the thread where someone said they would not respond again and lied about it? Did you actually have anything relevant to the thread to add? I didn't think so.
You really need a blog. Then you can be the only one posting on it.
Why? It's rather enjoyable watching some of you get all triggered and come after me. It's not like I'm going anywhere. It's a futile effort on the part of those who do but funny none the less. I almost forgot, you don't get humor.
Why? It's rather enjoyable watching some of you get all triggered and come after me. It's not like I'm going anywhere. It's a futile effort on the part of those who do but funny none the less. I almost forgot, you don't get humor.
At least you can, tangentially, admit to being a troll.
See, you're inability to translate what someone is saying is severely flawed. Just like when you claimed to know more about what trump said than trump did. It's just funny watching some of you attempt to be trolls because you're so poor at it.
See, you're inability to translate what someone is saying is severely flawed. Just like when you claimed to know more about what trump said than trump did. It's just funny watching some of you attempt to be trolls because you're so poor at it.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's flawed.
You claimed to know what Trump said so you must be right, but others cannot. You also live in a delusion.
I bet he never said "it is time for a peaceful transition power" because you said he didn't, no matter the actual reality of him saying it.
Trump said it himself. He did not concede the election as you claimed. And now you wish to move the goal posts on to something else. Yes, AFTER he caused Jan. 6th to become violent trying to stop the election from being certified. Which is the number one thing that must be done after the election is held in the peaceful transfer of power process.
Trump said it himself. He did not concede the election as you claimed. And now you wish to move the goal posts on to something else. Yes, AFTER he caused Jan. 6th to become violent trying to stop the election from being certified. Which is the number one thing that must be done after the election is held in the peaceful transfer of power process.
So the things you do or say tomorrow causes the things you do or say today to cease existence?
No, that it doesn't work that way. He gave a concession speech. It was during that he conceded. That happened. It is fact, it is recorded and even the major anti-Trump media spinners called it that. What happened after that does not change that it happened. You would be correct in implying he recanted the concession, you would be correct that the concession was weak, well, only if you had said anything of that. What you said, and continue to say in the face of facts is it did not happen at all.
You keep arguing with trump because you think you are so smart you know what he meant more than he does.
Send those thoughts to....
Donald Trump
1100 S Ocean Blvd
Palm Beach, FL 33480
So you think history changed because of some tweet that agrees with you? Yeah, that's how physics works.
Oh and the sound bite you rely on is cut off at the end. I dunno what he was gonna say, but I bet you will tell us cause you can predict what Trump says and means.
Can't make this stuff up, just can't even make this stuff up.
Share By Melissa Cantor, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 36 minutes ago
Amazon will cut another 9,000 jobs in the coming weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday. This is the second round of layoffs this year at the e-commerce behemoth, which announced plans in January to reduce its workforce by 11,000 and later revised the figure up to 18,000. Facebook parent company Meta also announced a fresh round of job cuts last week, saying it will shed 10,000 positions in addition to the 11,000 it eliminated in late 2022. The ongoing reductions suggest many tech companies still consider themselves overstaffed after hiring aggressively during pandemic boom times.
The new cuts will primarily affect employees in Amazon's cloud computing, human resources and advertising divisions, along with roughly 400 workers at live streaming platform Twitch, according to TechCrunch.
Share By Melissa Cantor, Editor at LinkedIn News Updated 36 minutes ago
Amazon will cut another 9,000 jobs in the coming weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday. This is the second round of layoffs this year at the e-commerce behemoth, which announced plans in January to reduce its workforce by 11,000 and later revised the figure up to 18,000. Facebook parent company Meta also announced a fresh round of job cuts last week, saying it will shed 10,000 positions in addition to the 11,000 it eliminated in late 2022. The ongoing reductions suggest many tech companies still consider themselves overstaffed after hiring aggressively during pandemic boom times.
The new cuts will primarily affect employees in Amazon's cloud computing, human resources and advertising divisions, along with roughly 400 workers at live streaming platform Twitch, according to TechCrunch.
All I know is the economy has gone to hell since the election and people are arguing about Trump. It's so freaking ignorant that it's funny for a few minutes until reality sets back in.
We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago that was not on my schedule until about 10 minutes before, and called by the director of my group. That always gets the nerves up. He starts talking about how we are changing responsibilities and reporting and "not sure what it all means" and stuff like that. About 10 minutes in he says "everyone's job is safe and this is more about long term slow realignments". I'm like "dude you could have led with that bit". We all had a good laugh and he agreed that might have been a good idea.
At my age the word "reorganization" is not a friendly word.
It's that sad kind of funny. Where you laugh, almost out of habit, but are already shaking your head in disbelief.
And it just keeps going... and going... excuse after excuse, non-stop finger-pointing at the previous admin. Skirting all responsibility in the name of some boogeyman; nothing changing.
It's exactly as they want it. People so caught up in Left or Right, that they don't see the real problems.
I don't care what Trump or Biden are doing, or the Left or the Right, on a daily basis.
When I wake up each morning, all I care about is can I pay my bills and enjoy my life? If the elected officials aren't going to help me with that, then I don't need them to represent me, and I will try someone new, regardless of party. But my vote isn't the only one that counts, and I'm stuck relying on people who don't give a damn about anything but party numbers, and keep voting the same non-effective people into office.
All I know is the economy has gone to hell since the election and people are arguing about Trump. It's so freaking ignorant that it's funny for a few minutes until reality sets back in.
Yeah calling for violence and being under criminal investigation in several places should never be mentioned.
We're only allowed to talk about the economy because according to you nothing else matters. Get that crap outta here.
Yes. I know you don't seem to think saying take America back is calling for violence. But that's what he said right before Jan. 6th. He knows it works and he just used it again. I'm sorry you don't see the pattern.
So what is your point exactly? He used it before to invoke violence and now he's using it again for the same purpose. When you can't attack the message, attack the messenger. Trump has taught you well Weedhopper.
Fate you must not know the three envelope method of leadership---3 envelopes- use the envelopes sparingly - first big crisis open an envelope- blame it on your predecessor, ....next crisis- blame it on your subordinates ,.... next big crisis- prepare three envelopes. Easy!!!
Who is really benefiting from the high inflation, it's the owners, owners of big business taking food off of your table. taking a roof from over your head. placing 8I percent of your income to a place to sleep. can't go on.
if you make more they'll take more if you make more they'll take more.
All I know is the economy has gone to hell since the election and people are arguing about Trump. It's so freaking ignorant that it's funny for a few minutes until reality sets back in.
I am not 100% sure this is what you meant - but did you suggest this is cause and affect - your post sure reads like that. We elected a Democrat and the economy went in the tank. Clearly cause and correlation in your mind?. The rest of the world, Covid, War in Ukraine and supply chain issues be damned. US inflation rate 6.04% -- United Kingdom -- 10% -- EU 9.9%. Must have all been caused by Biden.
And not sure about anyone else - but I can talk about many things at the same time. Economy, Biden's administration, the War in Ukraine, Past presidents, the front runners of the GOP who will be the candidate in the next election - hell you can even throw in some football, soccer and March Madness and I can still keep up .... all at the same time and all of it relevant.
All I know is the economy has gone to hell since the election and people are arguing about Trump. It's so freaking ignorant that it's funny for a few minutes until reality sets back in.
I am not 100% sure this is what you meant - but did you suggest this is cause and affect - your post sure reads like that. We elected a Democrat and the economy went in the tank. Clearly cause and correlation in your mind?. The rest of the world, Covid, War in Ukraine and supply chain issues be damned. US inflation rate 6.04% -- United Kingdom -- 10% -- EU 9.9%. Must have all been caused by Biden.
And not sure about anyone else - but I can talk about many things at the same time. Economy, Biden's administration, the War in Ukraine, Past presidents, the front runners of the GOP who will be the candidate in the next election - hell you can even throw in some football, soccer and March Madness and I can still keep up .... all at the same time and all of it relevant.
As far as the United States goes. This bad economy is all Joe Biden and the Democrats fault. They own it! They cut of the pipelines day 1 that led to higher gas prices that in turn was a major contributing factor in the inflation here in the States. You can spin it however you want. He is a failed President with failed policies. Jimmy Carter's 2nd term is in full effect. Is there a Ronald Reagan that can somehow pull us out of it like he did in 1980?
They don't build Presidents like Ronald Reagan anymore. He was the first great President in my lifetime and sad to say he might be the last of the great Presidents. He stood for principles and integrity. That is a trait that is lost in today's politicians.
Reagan also caved to the democrat congress too often too, but people rarely want to highlight that. Reagan comproimised his principles and did not veto all he could, a number of times. I may have not been born yet, but that doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention and maybe born yet. Reagan wasn't all he was cracked up to be, actually a pretty liberal *word at times, far too many times than to deserve this over celebration. He could have stood harder for his principles, namely stopping the democrats awful agenda, of that time or any time. He, or his signature on laws acted like what today would be termed a rino in too many times in the middle of his presidency and you didn't need to be a politician for it to be obvious.
They don't build Presidents like Ronald Reagan anymore. He was the first great President in my lifetime and sad to say he might be the last of the great Presidents. He stood for principles and integrity. That is a trait that is lost in today's politicians.
Clinton, Obama, and Biden are all better presidents. And I loved Reagan when he was in office, but he took the country for a 40+ years ride to exactly where we are now with all that trickle-down crap. That's why everything is so damn lopsided in favor of the rich. But bro, anybody with a lick of sense and a grasp on reality can see he wasn't so "great" as much as admired and hyped by others. He had some damn fine wins with Russia, and at first, the economy seemed to have boomed after a sharp downturn under Carter. But in the long run, his domestic economic policy was horrible; his tax reduction policy hurt America by seriously reducing the tax burden of corporations and the financial elite while focusing on cutting services offered on the entitlements side of the equation and simultaneously doubling our defense spending. Can you tell me with a straight face he was great? Smh. Maybe you can, but I live in the real world where feelings never become facts.
I'd say simply based on policy and fighting for actual working-class people, Biden is approaching a historically great presidency himself. Think FDR-lite.
After reading a glance of the Reagan presidency in online junction, what stood out? He raised taxes on cigarettes but helped the corporate elite, he didn't veto the tax bills that create the wealth gap, and led to a loss of pensions for the worker, and he crushed unions. he busted Lebanon, what the ' were they doing negotiating between the PLO and Israel, to hold back Israel, .. oh, the military attack there.
then, He began the war on drugs, now, one can't say the news stories about the war on drugs caused Nine Eleven, but, BUT, one can say all the news stories of resources in anti terrorism right after nine eleven, were a shift a direct opposite shift from the same agencies which had been making stories about the anti drug campaign, the war on drugs... the war on drugs became the war on terrorism and if they hadn't been busy focused so soley on drugs had they might have found and stopped the terrorism? Who knows. Actually, we can't know what they were focused on only that the news stories prior to nine eleven weren't or were almost exclusively drug war related and anti terrorism was barely and rarely mentioned, and after nine eleven an instant shift. But the war on drugs started during the Reagan years. He expanded surveilence of what we can all be sure included regular americans. because it was spelled out not to include americans, Oh? How on brand. Haven't they all. His eighty one, tax act, made changes but then he didn't veto the next two that rolled things back and made it clear that the corporations would benefit and the regular people would get burdened. He began amnesty for illegals. No?
People only follow them when they're going up but never when they're going down. So I would venture to guess yes, at the current time people are following them.
Is 3.79 for premium in charlotte supposed to be a high price or a low one? It's three twenty nine, to three forty nine for the basic here, depending on the day.
Is 3.79 for premium in charlotte supposed to be a high price or a low one? It's three twenty nine, to three forty nine for the basic here, depending on the day.
Not supposed to be high or low. Just a factoid. I don't really pay that much attention to the price of gas.
1, I have no choice but to buy it 2, My car takes premium. If you have to worry about a couple hundred dollars/year in gas then you shouldn't be driving a car that takes premium.
Seems to be around where the pice has fluctuated around, to the best of my recollection.
Didn't know you are also in Charlotte. Gas prices seemed to have fluxed between 3.09 - 3.39 for most of the last few months. It pops up over that every once in a while but hasn't seemed to ever stay there. There are pockets like Mathews, Carrowinds (SC) that are regularly 10-15 cents a gallon cheaper. I only keep an eye on gas prices because it has such an impact on inflation and like everyone I'm looking forward to inflation dropping.
I noticed a couple months ago that you were in Charlotte. As the season got closer, i was planning on PM'ing you to get together to watch a Browns game or 2 this upcoming season.
Oil prices surge 5% after OPEC’s surprise output cut; analysts warn of $100 per barrel
The voluntary cuts will start from May, Saudi Arabia announced, saying it was a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilizing the oil market.
Oil prices surged as much as 8% at the open after OPEC+ announced it was slashing output by 1.16 million barrels per day.
Brent crude futures last jumped 5.1% to $83.95 a barrel on that news, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures soared 5.2% to $79.64 a barrel.
The voluntary cuts will start from May to end 2023, Saudi Arabia announced, saying it was a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilizing the oil market.
The move comes on the back of Russia’s decision to trim oil production by 500,000 barrels per day until the end of 2023, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
In addition to Saudi Arabia’s output cut of 500,000 barrels per day, other member states have also pledged cuts: the UAE will be cutting output by 144,000 barrels per day, while Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria and Kazakhstan will also be reducing output.
“The selected involvement of the largest OPEC+ members suggest that adherence to production cuts may be stronger than has been the case in the past,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar said in a note.
Oil at $100 per barrel?
“OPEC+‘s plan for a further production cut may push oil prices toward the $100 mark again, considering China’s reopening and Russia’s output cuts as a retaliation move against western sanctions,” CMC Markets’ analyst Tina Teng told CNBC.
Teng noted, however, that the cut could also reverse the decline in inflation, which would “complicate central banks’ rate decisions.”
In March, oil prices tumbled to their lowest since December 2021, as traders feared the banking rout could dent global economic growth.
The oil cartel and its allies are looking to avoid a repeat of the 2008 crash, one analyst said.
“They’re looking into the second half of this year and deciding they don’t want to relive 2008,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, citing oil prices crashing from $140 to $35 in six months in that year.
McNally added that while it’s not his base case, oil prices could “make a dash for $100 … if Chinese demand goes back to 16 million barrels a day second half of this year [and] if Russian supply starts to go off because of sanctions and so forth,”
“Then these cuts, if they stick with them, are going to super tighten the market,” he said.
According to Wood Mackenzie, China could make up 40% of the world’s demand recovery in 2023.
In October, the oil cartel announced its decision to cut output by two million barrels per day.
The White House said at that time that President Joe Biden was “disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+” to cut production quotas while the world was still grappling with the war in Ukraine.
Significant, but not ‘set in stone’
However, some analysts say the latest cut is set to deliver a more significant impact than the one set last year.
“Most of the cuts will be made by countries that are producing at or above quotas, which implies a higher share of the announced cuts will translate into real supply reductions than in October 2022,” said Energy Aspects’ founder Amrita Sen, who also expects prices to hit $100 per barrel.
However, Sen holds the view that the output cut could potentially be reversed, hinging on easing global market pressures.
“I do believe if the market over tightens, exogenous issues or shocks fade, they will reverse this cut down the line so this isn’t set in stone for the rest of the year — but very clearly defending a [price] floor,” she said.
“Unlike [the cut in October], the momentum for global oil demand is up, not down with a strong China recovery,” Goldman Sachs also said in a note.
That could nudge up Goldman’s Brent forecasts by $5 per barrel to $95 per barrel for December 2023, the investment bank said in a note after the surprise decision overnight.
Goldman analysts led by Daan Struyven said the surprise cut is “consistent” with OPEC+’s doctrine to act preemptively.
So none of this will go into effect until May but oil has already gone up by over 5% now. Hmmmm... I guess they must have adopted the W Bush preemptive strike policy.
Oil barrel price goes up and down....don't understand- JMHO, nobody controls except producers. Gas in Tampa Fl area is 3.45 most retailers, yet if you think/shop- Costco and Sam's Club- 3.13 and they aren't losing money- greed by some retailers. What's new.
Very little margin in retail gas sales, it's more a tool to bring customers in, that hopefully run inside for a coffee, snack or soda, cigarettes, beer, than a profit producer.
Costco and Sams has memberships, and the gas is more of a perk in their situation, and in some markets a tool to get you to choose one wholesale club over the other.
Oil barrel price goes up and down....don't understand- JMHO, nobody controls except producers. Gas in Tampa Fl area is 3.45 most retailers, yet if you think/shop- Costco and Sam's Club- 3.13 and they aren't losing money- greed by some retailers. What's new.
Nothing to understand. The working poor got a little too uppity and demanded raises, this world wide inflation is more about greed than anything else. Every damn bit of what we've been experiencing in our economy is was and always has been controlled by big business. This is just them putting the poor in their places.
I do realize that the bulk of the profit gained from what we still call gas stations but are actually more convenient stores, come mostly from the products they sell other than gas. My son in law is actually a district manager for such a company. While he's fully aware of that fact even he can't explain or understand how the price of gas can fluctuate as much as 30 cents a gallon in only a few days time when the price for a barrel of oil fluctuates very little during that same time period. Here in Tennessee just over last ten days or so the price went from $3.09 a gallon up to $3.49 a gallon then back down to $3.19 a gallon.
US regional banks plunge as investors worry crisis not over US officials are assessing the possibility of ‘market manipulation’ behind recent big moves in banking sector stocks.
Uncertainty continued to pummel the banking industry, despite assurances from financial regulators and bankers such as Jamie Dimon that the worst of the recent crisis is over and the health of the banking system remains strong.
Shares of smaller regional lender PacWest Bank plunged nearly 50 percent Thursday after the company confirmed reports that it was considering “strategic options,” that may include the possible sale of the company.
Uncertainty continued to pummel the banking industry, despite assurances from financial regulators and bankers such as Jamie Dimon that the worst of the recent crisis is over and the health of the banking system remains strong.
Shares of smaller regional lender PacWest Bank plunged nearly 50 percent Thursday after the company confirmed reports that it was considering “strategic options,” that may include the possible sale of the company.
PacWest, based in Los Angeles, said in a statement that it was not experiencing any out-of-the-ordinary deposit withdrawals and still plans on selling off some assets to free up cash on its balance sheet.
With $44bn in assets, PacWest is roughly one-fifth the size of the three regional banks that failed over the past two months — Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank. The bank experienced significant deposit outflows after Silicon Valley Bank failed in mid-March, but said deposits have increased since March 31, including in its venture banking division, which serves technology and start-up companies.
Still, investors feared that PacWest’s fate could mirror that of another California bank — First Republic — which spent weeks looking for a buyer before failing Monday. The regional banks that have run into trouble have seen heavy outflows of deposits and need to raise capital. Nearly all have large amounts of low-interest bonds and commercial real estate assets on their books, and would record losses if they sold them on the open market.
Healthier banks have been reluctant to step in to buy struggling lenders. All assets of Silicon Valley, Signature and First Republic were bought after regulators seized these institutions and their remnants were transferred to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
In another sign of potential trouble for the banking industry, a major deal was called off Thursday. TD Bank Group and First Horizon Corp said they called off a planned merger, citing regulatory hurdles. Toronto-Dominion Bank had said in February that it was buying regional bank First Horizon in a $13.4bn all-cash deal.
Western Alliance shares were among the most volatile and were down 39 percent when trading was halted. The Phoenix-based bank put out a statement overnight saying it has not experienced any unusual withdrawals and its plans to readjust its balance sheet were under way. Thursday morning, The Financial Times reported that the bank was also considering strategic options. The bank strongly denied the report.
“Western Alliance is not exploring a sale, nor has it hired an advisor to explore strategic options,” a bank spokesperson said.
Other regional banks come under selling pressure Thursday morning. Zions Bancorp dropped 10 percent, Comerica fell 12 percent, and KeyCorp fell more than 6 percent.
‘Tumultous enviornment’ The Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation has played a key role in the banking turmoil. The Fed on Wednesday raised its key interest rate by a quarter-point to the highest level in 16 years as part of that campaign, its tenth consecutive rate hike.
The higher rates have prompted depositors to move money into higher-paying certificates of deposit and money market funds. They also played a role in the slowdown in the tech industry, which had major implications for West Coast banks such as Silicon Valley.
Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed would monitor several factors, including the turmoil in the banking sector, in deciding its next move on rates.
The Fed chair stressed his belief that the collapse of three large banks in the past six weeks will likely cause other banks to tighten lending, and that would help the Fed in its inflation fight. Powell also said the seizure of First Republic was an important step towards “drawing a line under” the recent bank stress.
But some analysts on Wall Street saw continued turbulence for the industry.
“Banks have weathered a tumultuous environment for the past two months and uncertainty lingers in the smaller regional bank segment,” JPMorgan told clients.
The firm anticipated bank stocks continuing to be pressured due to regulatory and economic uncertainty, among other factors.
“Regulatory concerns primarily would translate into how much banks need to add to capital, liquidity, and debt, all of which would strengthen them longer term but hurt [earning per share],” it said.
You do realize you have been posting pretty much the same BS for several months now and have been wrong to this point, correct? And what do your comments have to do with the fact you keep claiming job growth will stop while it still continues to rise? Let me give you a clue. Nothing.
The banking industry is a sh*tshow. Most major industries are in one way or another but banking might be the worst. They are encouraged to take risks with other peoples money (or with money they don't even have), if those risks payoff in good times, they keep windfall profits, if they fail, we all pay the price and the government bails them out. The whole industry is artificially controlled by the pseudo-government federal reserve.. and any industry that is that heavily manipulated to go against market forces, is going to fail frequently.
You do realize you have been posting pretty much the same BS for several months now and have been wrong to this point, correct? And what do your comments have to do with the fact you keep claiming job growth will stop while it still continues to rise? Let me give you a clue. Nothing.
Job growth with inflation and low unemployment is only going to punnish the working class more.
If you actually read my posts I have always said stuff would stsrt falling apart in July and almoat all of the models back that up.
Wages increased 4.4% in April. Both you and the models have been on a revolving calendar the entire time. You do realize that the economy revolves both up and down so no matter your prediction, if you stick with it long enough, eventually it will come true.
![[Linked Image from pbs.twimg.com]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FajoPHhXoAEQexQ.jpg)
![[Linked Image from d21rhj7n383afu.cloudfront.net]](https://d21rhj7n383afu.cloudfront.net/washpost-production/The_Washington_Post/20181030/5bd8b8f5e4b03d7fbe950b8b/5bd8bf9be4b0a7b220f6e269_1450955028646-chsuqu_t_1540931488076_640_360_400.gif)
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The jokes write themselves sometimes.
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![[Linked Image from media1.giphy.com]](https://media1.giphy.com/media/3beQTEj0PqcWMZCbx2/giphy.gif)
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