Economy
Oil shock hits a global economy that’s already on shaky ground (Saxplayer00o1)
Following the release of fresh data for August, analysts at Societe Generale pointed out Monday that the industrial sector is “losing momentum at an alarmingly rapid pace,” and expressed concern that weakness could spill over into consumer spending and the services sector. Higher oil prices, which would come as the price of pork soars, are the last thing the country needs.
Repo Market Chaos Signals Fed May Be Losing Control of Rates (Saxplayer00o1)
One of the key U.S. borrowing markets saw a massive surge Monday, a sign the Federal Reserve is having trouble controlling short-term interest rates.
Amid the settlement of Treasury coupon auctions and the influx of quarterly corporate tax payments, the rate on overnight repurchase agreements soared by as much as 248 basis points to 4.75%, the highest level since December, according to ICAP pricing.
St. Clair County Home Values Down 23%, Property Taxes Up 5% Since Recession (Illinois) (Saxplayer00o1)
The biggest factor driving rising property taxes? Unsustainable growth in pension costs for government workers. Pension liabilities have risen faster than taxpayers’ ability to pay, forcing state and local governments to constantly scramble for new sources of revenue – often in the form of property tax hikes.
$53.2 Billion In QE Lite: Fed Concludes First Repo In A Decade Amid Liquidity Panic (Sparky1)
While the Fed did not disclose how many banks participated in the operation, it is safe to say it was a sizable number. Worse, the result from today’s unexpected repo operation, we can now conclude that in addition to $1.3 trillion in ‘excess reserves’, a Fed which is now cutting rates and will cut rates by 25bps tomorrow, the US financial system somehow found itself with a liquidity shortfall of $53 billion that almost paralyzed the interbank funding market.
SpaceX’s Next Starship Prototype Taking Shape (Photos) (Thomas R.)
The Mk1 and Mk2 follow in the footsteps of SpaceX’s Starhopper vehicle, which was retired after acing a big test flight last month. But the new vehicles are far more ambitious and more capable. Whereas Starhopper sported just a single Raptor engine and stayed within a few hundred feet of the ground, for example, the Mk1 and Mk2 will be powered by at least three Raptors and will go much higher.
IBM will soon launch a 53-qubit quantum computer (Thomas R.)
The fact that IBM is now opening this Quantum Computation itself, of course, is a pretty good indication about how serious the company is about its quantum efforts. The company’s quantum program also now supports 80 partnerships with commercial clients, academic institutions and research laboratories. Some of these have started to use the available machines to work on real-world problems, though the current state of the art in quantum computing is still now quite ready for solving anything but toy problems and testing basic algorithms.
Need a loan? Equifax plans to sell more utility, phone records (Sparky1)
The Equifax move and other credit-industry changes in large part are aimed at assessing people who have no credit reports or scores—or low scores.
Critics say the changes could make risky consumers appear safer than they actually are. But Equifax says some consumers—such as loan applicants who are new to the U.S. or pay for most expenses with cash—simply don’t have traditional borrowing backgrounds.
Need Cash? Companies Are Considering Magazine Subscriptions and Phone Bills When Making Loans (Sparky1)
For decades, banks and other financiers have relied primarily on consumers’ borrowing history to make lending decisions. Now revenue-hungry companies are considering metrics both mundane and peculiar, like whether applicants shop at discount stores, subscribe to magazines or pay their phone bills on time.
Just last month, 53 Americans died in mass shootings…while 40,000 died from obesity (LesPhelps)
In short, the human body is designed to live off the land and move around without the aid of transport, but “modern life” means we’re eating far too much processed food and being more sedentary as we’re ferried from A to B.
But even though the food industry must take its fair share of blame, it’s also the case that certain healthier alternatives introduced by KFC, among others, failed due to lack of interest from customers.
Mortgage demand from buyers jumps, just as interest rates spike (Thomas R.)
Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 6% for the week and were a strong 15% higher annually. Buyers have been coming back to the market in the past few weeks, despite the low supply of homes for sale. Higher interest rates and overheated home prices last spring held buyers back, so some of that demand may be showing up now.
The silenced: meet the climate whistleblowers muzzled by Trump (tmn)
“The National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service had it worst because they didn’t have anything to do with oil and gas or mining permitting process, and the lobbyists in charge had no interest in wildlife, conservation or biodiversity.
“But every agency suffered, because the mantra of the administration was to drain the swamp – and it quickly became clear that the swamp was not the high-paid lobbyists, but the rank-and-file government professionals who serve the country.
Gold & Silver
Click to read the PM Daily Market Commentary: 9/17/19
Provided daily by the Peak Prosperity Gold & Silver Group
Article suggestions for the Daily Digest can be sent to dd@peakprosperity.com. All suggestions are filtered by the Daily Digest team and preference is given to those that are in alignment with the message of the Crash Course and the "3 Es."
The post Daily Digest 9/18 – Equifax To Sell More Utility & Phone Records, Oil Shock Hits Global Economy Already On Shaky Ground appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
from Peak Prosperity https://ift.tt/2ApO5nX
