Bloomberg:
- New Home Sales Surge 27%, Goods Orders Climb. Sales of new homes surged 27 percent in March and orders for most durable goods climbed, indicating the U.S. economy sped up heading into the second quarter. The gain in new-home sales was the biggest in 47 years as buyers rushed to qualify for a government tax credit and the weather improved, a Commerce Department report showed. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years, excluding cars and aircraft, climbed 2.8 percent. Sales increased in all four U.S. regions last month, led by a 44 percent jump in the South. The median price of a new home increased 4.3 percent in March from a year earlier to $214,000. The gain in orders for durable goods excluding transportation equipment last month was the biggest since the recession began in December 2007, another Commerce Department today showed. Business investment in equipment and software climbed at a 19 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the biggest gain in 11 years. Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, increased 4 percent. Shipments of those items, used in calculating gross domestic product, increased 2.2 percent.
- IMF's Lipsky Confident Greek Plan Will Be Adopted, Help Economy. The International Monetary Fund’s No. 2 official said he’s confident a plan to reduce Greece’s budget deficit will be adopted, enabling the institution and euro-area countries to send a financial lifeline. “A coherent, multi-year economic program of adjustment is being negotiated right now in Athens, will be agreed I believe, I’m confident will be put in place, will receive the requisite support that has been pledged,” John Lipsky said in an interview today with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Radio. “It’s going to take sustained effort over a period of time but I think we can do it.”
- Mountaintop Coal Rules May Send More U.S. Miners Underground. A U.S. crackdown on mountaintop mining in Appalachia may force coal producers to rely increasingly on underground sites such as the Massey Energy Co.(MEE) mine where 29 workers were killed this month in West Virginia. Four days before the April 5 accident, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued water-pollution guidelines making it difficult for operators to secure permits for new above-ground mining in the region.
- UBS Exits Short-Dollar Recommendation, Citing Growth Surprise. UBS AG recommended that investors close short bets that the dollar will fall against the euro, pound, Australian dollar and yen. The eight-week moving average of the U.S. growth surprise index rose above the 1.5 standard deviation band, wrote Geoffrey Kendrick, a foreign-exchange strategist at UBS in London, in a research note today. “The dollar recommendation is closed,” Kendrick wrote. A short is a bet a currency will decrease.
Wall Street Journal:
- 2 More Signs china's Economy is Overheating. The Chinese central bank’s latest analysis of the economy (original Chinese-language PDF here) has two interesting pieces of data that could help shift the debate about just how hot the Chinese economy is running. So far, the government seems to be taking the view that China’s main problem is that property prices are too high, not that the total economy is overheating. Most of its policy measures in recent weeks have focused narrowly on reining in property speculation, while conspicuously avoiding broader measures – like interest rate hikes – that would affect everyone. Many outside observers, including the World Bank, think China still needs tighter overall monetary policy if it is to avoid inflation and overheating.
Business Insider:
Forbes:
- Those Bullish Spreads. The global yield curve is steeper than it has been in half a century. That's a sign of strengthening economies.
- 3 Million in Middle Class to Pay Health Law Penalty. Some 3 million middle-class Americans will be required to pay a penalty for not getting health insurance under the Obama administration's new health care law, raising questions about the president's willingness to break a campaign promise by increasing taxes on some families earning less than $250,000. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released Thursday said the average cost of the penalty will be slightly more than $1,000 apiece in 2016. Republicans chided the Obama administration for hurting middle-class Americans. "The president and his supporters in Congress are celebrating the benefits of health reform, but they also have an obligation to acknowledge the other side of the coin," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "There's a price for not participating, and people will pay it."
- Federal Investigation Boosts Concerns Over Debt-Relief Firms. A new report by undercover government investigators bolsters longstanding concerns that companies promising to help consumers overwhelmed by credit card and other debts often turn out to be financial predators that charge high fees but deliver little or nothing in return. When investigators for the Government Accountability Office posed as distressed consumers seeking help, so-called debt management companies gave them wildly exaggerated descriptions of the firms' success rates and sometimes promised savings of as much as 50 cents on the dollar, Gregory Kutz, the GAO official who ran the investigation, told Congress on Thursday. But after paying big up-front fees, often running to several thousand dollars, many consumers end up deeper in debt than they were before seeking help, Kutz said.
- Starbucks(SBUX) Results Prove Recession's Over. If a national economic recovery is defined as two quarters of growth in a row, how should we define what's happening at Starbucks? Boom times. Profits: up eightfold in the second quarter. Revenues: up 9 percent. Same-store sales: up 7 percent. The company also boosted its profit forecast for the year from between $1.05 and $1.08 a share to between $1.19 and $1.22. "Given the substantial headwinds facing Starbucks during the past two years, the firm's rapid turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable," wrote Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy in a note today.
Chicago Sun-Times:
National Review:
Rasmussen Reports:
- 60% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism. Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. adults nationwide say that capitalism is better than socialism. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 18% disagree.
- Schumer: Obama's 'Counter-Productive' Israel Policy 'Has to Stop'. New York Senator Chuck Schumer harshly criticized the Obama Administration's attempts to exert pressure on Israel today, making him the highest-ranking Democrat to object to Obama's policies in such blunt terms. Schumer, along with a majority of members of the House and Senate, signed on to letters politely suggesting the U.S. keep its disagreements with Israel private, a tacit objection to the administration's very public rebuke of the Jewish State over construction in Jerusalem last month. But Schumer dramatically sharpened his tone on the politically conservative Jewish Nachum Segal Show today, calling the White House stance to date "counter-productive" and describing his own threat to "blast" the Administration had the State Department not backed down from its "terrible" tough talk toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Financial Times:
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