China’s PBOC announces RRR cut as it seeks to boost growth

Pan Gongsheng was named party secretary of the People’s Bank of China on July 1, 2023. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China pledged to reduce the amount of liquidity that its banks are required to hold as reserves early next month in its bid to boost its struggling economy. Reserve … Read more

China strategist warns of deflation and rock-bottom consumer confidence

BEIJNG, CHINA – NOVEMBER 13: Illuminated skyscrapers stand at the central business district at sunset on November 13, 2023 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Gao Zehong/VCG via Getty Images) Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images Deflation may soon start biting into Chinese growth, as Beijing looks at another three to six months of … Read more

Insurance costs hit corporate earnings at Travelers and J.B. Hunt

A stealth inflationary cost is biting into corporate profits. While some companies are now seeing lower input and freight costs, one expense is not falling: insurance. In its earnings report Friday morning, Dow component Travelers said insurance premiums that it charges are still soaring. Premiums on business policies jumped 14% in the last quarter. Consumers … Read more

December home sales slump to close out worst year since 1995

A delivery man delivers packages in a Los Angeles neighborhood on January 17, 2024.  Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Sales of previously owned homes fell 1% in December compared with November to 3.78 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 6.2% lower than … Read more

January homebuilder sentiment improves, following mortgage rate drop

A home is constructed at a housing development on June 21, 2023 in Lemont, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Homebuilder sentiment improved in January, jumping 7 points to 44 on the National Association of Home Builders monthly index. Anything below 50 is still considered negative, but the index has now moved 10 points higher … Read more

Mortgage demand surges more than 10% as lower interest rates lure homebuyers

Prospective home buyers visit a home for sale during an Open House in a neighborhood in Clarksburg, Maryland on September 3, 2023. Homeownership feels increasingly out of reach for younger generations of Americans, who are squeezed by student debt and childcare costs in an era of slower economic growth. The pressures come as President Joe … Read more

Russian demand for Dubai property is slowing, China’s is up: DAMAC

Dubai’s property boom in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the fastest in the world, fueled by investor-friendly reforms and a surge in expat demand, particularly from Russia in the wake of the start of Moscow’s full-scale war with Ukraine. Some of Dubai’s luxury developments cater specifically to Russian buyers, with … Read more

Trump loses gag order appeal at top New York court

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak to the press after attending the civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization in New York State Supreme Court, in New York City on Jan. 11, 2024. John Lamparski | AFP | Getty Images The top court in New York State on Tuesday rejected an appeal by … Read more

How Gen Zers can build credit before renting their own place

Fg Trade | E+ | Getty Images Rising inventory is helping push rent prices down. For young adults, building credit is a smart step to take as they prepare to enter the rental housing market. The median U.S. asking rent price in December was $1,964, a 0.8% decline from a year ago, according to real … Read more