Written by Econintersect
This feature column missed being included in the newsletter mailed to all Econintersect members WSednesday 30 January due to a processing error. This column is normally only accessed by opening the newsletter email. So that it will be readily available to members it is being reposted in a public format after the Read more >> jump. If you wish to subscribe (for free) to receive the GEI daily email, links are available below. Hope you enjoy this special edition.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons.
Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.
Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.
This feature is published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the late afternoon New York time. For early morning review of headlines see “The Early Bird” published Monday through Friday in the early am at GEI News (membership not required for access to “The Early Bird”.).
BECOME A GEI MEMBER – IT’s FREE!
Most of this column (“What We Read Today”) is available only to GEI members.
To become a GEI Member simply subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter.
Topics today include 16 articles and 11 graphics:​
- Goldman Sachs: Long-Run U.S. Growth Seen at 1.75%
- Housing Affordability in the U.S.
- 10-Investing Axioms Every Investor Should Learn
- Urbanization and Economic Growth
- Global Export Orders Fall
- Dems signal flexibility at border meeting
- Exclusive: Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant
- Ocasio-Cortez on Schultz: Why are billionaires who want to run for president never told to ‘work their way up’?
- Sarah Sanders: God ‘wanted Donald Trump to become president’
- Fed Chairman Chamberlain Appeases Wall Street To Gain Peace in Our Time
- Powell’s Mao Moment
- U.S. Corporate Credit Liquidity Has Dried Up
- Rain leads to cancellation of the Willow 300 Sled Dog Race
- Industrial Production in the EZ Has Turned Down
- EU negotiator, Council chief tell May: No renegotiation
- Non-residential Investment in China
- And More
.
Articles about events, conflicts and disease around the world
Global
- Global Export Orders Fall (The Daily Shot) New factory orders for export goods is falling which suggests that global trade activity will slow further.
U.S.
- Dems signal flexibility at border meeting (The Hill) Democrats on Wednesday strongly suggested they are open to a compromise with President Trump even as they unveiled an initial proposal for securing the border that includes no physical barriers. Democratic leaders emerged from a bipartisan budget meeting on border security taking a hard line on the Trump’s proposed border wall, while hinting they were open to a deal.
- Exclusive: Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant (Reuters) Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at a $10 billion Wisconsin campus, and said it intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers rather than the manufacturing workforce the project originally promised. The company has received billions in tax incentives for the plant.
Announced at a White House ceremony in 2017, the 20-million square foot campus marked the largest greenfield investment by a foreign-based company in U.S. history and was praised by President Donald Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing.
- Ocasio-Cortez on Schultz: Why are billionaires who want to run for president never told to ‘work their way up’? (The Hill) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) on Wednesday ripped former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over his possible independent presidential bid, suggesting his lack of political experience pointed to a double standard.
- Sarah Sanders: God ‘wanted Donald Trump to become president’ (The Hill) White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that God “wanted Donald Trump to become president.” Sanders spoke with David Brody and Jennifer Wishon of the Christian Broadcasting Network. Brody during the interview asked the press secretary for a “spiritual perspective” on Trump’s presidency.
- Fed Chairman Chamberlain Appeases Wall Street To Gain Peace in Our Time (Lee Adler, Liquidity Trader) LA has contributed to GEI. You’re probably dying to know what I think about the FOMC statement and Chairman Pow’s press conference today. OK, maybe not, but this report will tell you, why you should not be misled by what went down today. Just as with Neville Chamberlain, this apparent abject surrender to Trump and Wall Street’s threats does not mean “peace in our time.” (Subscription required.) See also Powell’s Mao Moment (marc to market)
The Fed has not changed what it is doing. It has changed its rhetoric. ​
- U.S. Corporate Credit Liquidity Has Dried Up (The Daily Shot) Dealers’ inventories of corporate debt have collapsed due to the Volcker rule. The trend has resulted in a substantial deterioration of liquidity in recent years.
- Rain leads to cancellation of the Willow 300 Sled Dog Race (Anchorage Daily News) Rain and poor trail conditions have led to the cancellation of this year’s Willow 300 Sled Dog Race, organizers announced Tuesday. Thirty-four mushers had been signed up to start the 300-mile race in Willow on Thursday morning, said Christine Stitt, the race’s director and organizer. The race is a qualifier for the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest. A stretch of above-freezing temperatures had led to open water on sections of the trail. Crews repaired those areas, but then the rain came Monday night. It continued raining Tuesday, Stitt said.
EU
- Industrial Production in the EZ Has Turned Down (The Daily Shot) This chart shows the industrial production trends (index) by country. Except for Germany, IP in large Eurozone countries has never recovered pre-crisis levels. And in 1918 IP has turned down everywhere in the EZ.
- EU negotiator, Council chief tell May: No renegotiation (Reuters) The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator told Britain on Wednesday that time was too short to find an alternative to the Irish border arrangement agreed in their divorce deal, as London wants, and that this deal was not open for renegotiation.
China
- Non-residential Investment in China (The Daily Shot) This chart shows non-resident portfolio investment in China.
.
Other Scientific, Health, Political, Economics, and Business Items of Note – plus Miscellanea
- Goldman Sachs: Long-Run U.S. Growth Seen at 1.75% (The Daily Shot)
- Housing Affordability in the U.S. (longtermtrends.net) Chart at source is inetractive to show data. Annotations added to chart below by Econintersect. From the source:
Historically a house in the US cost around 3 to 4 times the median annual income. During the housing bubble of 2007 the ratio surpassed 5 – in other words, the median price for a single family home in the United States cost more than 5 times the US median annual household income. The Shiller Case Homes Price Index seeks to measure the price of all existing single-family housing stock. Based on the pioneering research of Robert J. Shiller and Karl E. Case the index is generally considered the leading measure of U.S. residential real estate prices. According to Mikey Maloneythis ratio is heavily influenced by interest rates. When interest rates go down the affordability of a house goes up, so people spend more money on a house. Interest rates have now been falling since 1981 when they peaked at 15.32%(for a 10-year US treasury bond).
- 10-Investing Axioms Every Investor Should Learn (Lance Roberts, Real Investment Advice) LR is a regular weekly contributor to GEI. Lance has the following 10 axioms:
- You Are A “Saver” – Not An Investor
- Don’t Forget The Income
- You Can’t “Buy Low” If You Don’t “Sell High”
- Patience And Discipline Are What Wins
- Don’t Forget Rule No. 1 (Never lose money.)
- Your Most Irreplaceable Commodity Is “Time.”
- Don’t Mistake A “Cyclical Trend” As An “Infinite Direction.”
- Success Breeds Over-Confidence
- Being A Contrarian Is Tough, Lonely & Generally Right.
- Comparison Is Your Worst Investment Enemy
- Urbanization and Economic Growth (The Daily Shot) The GDP per capita vs. the urbanization rate for selected countries:
.