Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

April’s new housing construction and existing home sales

Commenter and blogger RJS at Market Watch 666 Just two widely watched reports were released this week: the April report on New Residential Construction from the Census Bureau and the Existing Home Sales Report for April from the National Association of Realtors…in addition to those, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary for […]

Coronavirus dashboard for May 24: 3 weeks to “0” new cases?

Coronavirus dashboard for May 24: 3 weeks to 0 new cases? No, that won’t happen. But, even so, that is the current trajectory. Let’s start with the overview:Total *confirmed* cases: 33,117,737Total deaths: 589,893 Note that there are many more cases that we don’t know about because the people were never tested. Since about half of […]

Bibi Gets To Stay In Office (For Now)

Bibi Gets To Stay In Office (For Now)  With the welcome cease fire in Israel-Palestine, it looks like Bibi Netanyahu has achieved his near term goal of remaining prime minister of Israel, thus not only remaining power but also out of jail, with barely anybody noticing that he has done this.  His rival, Yair Lapid, […]

Existing vs. new home sales: sales have peaked, expect prices to soon peak

Existing vs. new home sales: sales have peaked, expect prices to soon peak I normally don’t pay much attention to existing home sales. Even though they constitute about 90% of the housing market, they have much less impact on the economy overall than new home sales (because all of the economic activity involved in building […]

Genetically Modified Mosquitos Released in the United States

First Genetically Modified Mosquito Released in the United States, Nature (News in Focus), Emily Watz, presented by Professor Joel Eissenberg commenter at Angry Bear. Biotech firm Oxitec launched a controversial field test of its insects in Florida after years of opposition from residents and regulatory complications. The issue at hand is whether it is ethical […]

Weekly Indicators for May 17 – 21 at Seeking Alpha

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for May 17 – 21 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The theme of a supply-constrained economic Boom continues, with the addition this past week of the national average of gas prices going over $3 a gallon for the first time since 2014, probably […]