BETWEEN THE HEDGES: Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

China Home Prices Stop Three-Month Drop as Market Stabilizes. Chinese home prices rose in more cities in October, snapping a three-month decline, a sign the market is stabilizing amid government efforts to curb property speculation. New-home prices, excluding state-subsidized housing, climbed in 50 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, compared with 44 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday. Prices fell in 14 cities from the previous month and were unchanged in six. The moderate gains show China is having some success in its bid to rein in the buoyant property market without forcing a sharp deceleration. Prices had been coming off after the government imposed restrictions on purchases earlier in the year. Giving support to that campaign, President Xi Jinping used his speech to the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress last month to say that homes are meant “to be inhabited, not for speculation.”

Goldman Sachs(GS) Sees Four 2018 Fed Rate Hikes as U.S. Growth Gains. The U.S. economy is heading into 2018 with strong momentum that’s likely to boost wages and inflation more broadly, requiring the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates four times next year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists said in a research note. The New York-based investment banking and securities firm raised its growth outlook for 2018 to 2.5 percent and lowered its forecast for unemployment to 3.7 percent by the end of 2018, said Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius, a co-author of the note, which was released by email late Friday. Before the latest revision the most recent Goldman Sachs forecast for 2018 growth was 2.4 percent, according to forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.

American Drivers Boost Fuel Use to New High on Stronger Economy. American drivers took gasoline consumption to a new high as the U.S. economy strengthens and adds jobs. Demand for the motor fuel rose to the highest level on record for the month of October, the American Petroleum Institute said in a monthly report Friday. Consumption of distillate fuel, however, declined. "The economy continues to grow as fuel demand remains strong and more people find work," said API Director of Statistics Hazem Arafa. "Unemployment went down last month and gas prices remain relatively low benefiting American businesses and workers."

Wall Street Journal:

Trump vs. the Deep Regulatory State. The tempestuous president is overseeing a principled, far-reaching reform of agencies that had exceeded their constitutional writ.