The Rise of Automation: How Robots May Impact the U.S. Labor Market
An important long-run change in U.S. labor markets is the decline of middle-skill occupations, like manufacturing and production jobs, and the growth in both high- and low-skill occupations, like managerial jobs on one end and jobs that assist or care for others on the other. Economists have coined the term “job polarization” for this process.1 […]
Fed Sounds Alarm on Commercial Real Estate, Business Bankruptcy
(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve warned of significant risks of business bankruptcies and steep drops in commercial real estate prices in a report published on Friday. “Business leverage now stands near historical highs,” the central bank said in its semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress. “Insolvency risks at small and medium-sized firms, as well as at some […]
100 Million Workers May Need to Switch Occupation by 2030: Chart
Thursday, February 18, 2021 06:00 AM By Lucy Meakin (Bloomberg) – – Over 100 million workers in eight of the world’s largest economies may need to switch occupation by 2030 as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates changes to the labor force, according to research by McKinsey & Co. One-in-16 workers in China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, […]
Homebuilder confidence improves, despite record high lumber prices
Buyer demand for newly built homes continues to surge, and that is keeping builder confidence high even as building material prices climb. Builder sentiment rose one point to 84 in February according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released Wednesday. Anything above 50 is considered positive sentiment. The […]
Retail sales burst higher in January as consumers use stimulus checks to spend heavily
Consumers flocked to spend their stimulus checks in January, sending retail sales for the month up 5.3% in a blockbuster start to 2021, according to a government report Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting a rise of just 1.2%. Excluding autos, sales rose 5.9%, also far ahead of the 1% estimate in a […]
The Fed’s new focus on employment above inflation has important investing implications
The Federal Reserve has long been thought of as first and foremost an inflation fighter, using its power over interest rates to maintain price stability in the U.S. economy. At least for the foreseeable future, that role is taking a backseat to a larger effort at getting America back to work. Under the central bank’s new […]
A historic decline in volatility sets the stock market up for more gains ahead, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee says
By Matthew Fox February 04, 2021 A near 40% decline in volatility this week suggests the stock market has more room to the upside, according to Fundstrat. The volatility decline was likely sparked by extreme de-leveraging due to the GameStop short-squeeze. The stock market has historically been higher 87% of the time in the months […]
U.S. construction spending hits record high in December
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. construction spending raced to a record high in December as historically low mortgage rates powered outlays on private projects. The Commerce Department said on Monday that construction spending increased 1.0% to $1.490 trillion, the highest level since the government started tracking the series in 2002. Data for November was revised higher […]
Apple Credit Research
(Bloomberg Intelligence) — RECENT EVENT REACTION: Apple is returning to the bond market, even with $196 billion of cash on hand, which we believe suggests the pace of shareholder returns is likely to rise to new highs. With 1Q returns exceeding $30 billion, and net cash $84 billion above its target, Apple’s near-zero weighted cost […]
From an underwater warehouse to a drone tower, these Amazon patents show what future deliveries may look like
By Claire SicardJanuary 29, 2021Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019. MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images Amazon files dozens of patents every year at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Many of them paint a futuristic picture of Amazon’s delivery service, with ideas like an underwater warehouse and accordion-like drone chute. Should these patents turn into […]