News and my thoughts from last week (03Feb2025)
US private sector full-time jobs have DROPPED by nearly 2 MILLION over the past year. Such a drop has never happened outside of recessions. The only gain in jobs has been in the government sector. - X user Global Markets Investor
16.2% of total pending home sales in December fell out of contract, the highest December rate on record. This also marks the third-largest percentage since data began in 2017. Nominally, a whopping ~40,000 home-purchase agreements were canceled last month. Home purchase cancellations have surged since 2022 as mortgage rates remain historically high. The weekly average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate reached 7.04% last week, the highest since May. Homebuyers have lost confidence in the market. - X user The Kobeissi Letter
The general contractor complains that ICE raids are resulting in illegals he depended on to do roofing now disappearing. Guess he needs to stop hiring illegals and profiting off of their slave labor. - X user Paul A. Szypula
In the last year alone, gold is up almost +40% A move we haven't seen in years
Mark Zuckerberg's $META in talks to exit Delaware and reincorporate in Texas, per WSJ
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The US stock market has become a CASINO-like place. US total options volume 60-day moving average hit a new RECORD of ~53,000. Notably, a very risky 0DTE (options expiring at the same day) accounted for over 60% of total options volume on Tuesday. This market is crazy. - X user Global Markets Investor
The LA Times, the largest news site in California, just released an article confirming that President Trump's orders are entirely responsible for the massive new water flow into Californian cities. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abruptly increased the amount of water flowing from two California dams. - After President Trump signed an order calling for increased water deliveries. - Local water managers, who were caught off-guard by the decision, said they convinced Army Corps officials to release less water than originally planned. In other words, Democrat leaders in California deliberately screwed the people over. The next time you Liberal Californians turn on your showers or drink water, please take a moment to thank God for giving you Trump to undo the damage the Democrats have done to your state. X user BehizyTweets
"Businesses outside the fire zones are experiencing ripple effects from power outages, infrastructure strain and shifting consumer demand,” Lisa Anderson said. - Constructiondive
50% of TSMC's Arizona employees are from Taiwan, despite recent controversies — the company plans to hire more US workers over time (Nov 2024) - Tom’s Hardware
"If the rates had been adequate... I don't think we'd have seen these non-renewals," said Tom Quirk, a 40-year veteran insurance broker based in San Jose. "You know, right now it's really a disaster." From fire to insurance crisis. - ABC7News
Boeing loses almost $1bn every month in 2024 - BBC
China increasingly using dry bulk carriers to move project cargoes around the world There has been a remarkable doubling of the amount of project cargoes leaving China on dry bulk carriers over the past year. - Splash247
75,000+ CANADIANS DIED WAITING FOR HEALTH CARE New data reveals over 15,000 Canadians died in 2023-24 while stuck on waitlists for surgeries or diagnostic scans. Since 2018, that number has surpassed 75,000. Some patients waited years for treatment they never received, while others turned to euthanasia due to lack of timely care. Experts say Canada’s system is failing compared to better-performing universal models in Europe. For a country that pays high taxes for "free" health care, many are left asking—at what cost? Source: ZeroHedge
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