October 2015

The House Republican Caucus Does the Impossible

The clueless, corrupt and cowardly House Republican Caucus has done the impossible. By electing Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House today it has made the Chamber of Commerce Party appear even more beholden to the donor class and out of touch with the middle class base that actually votes for it than it already did, which is no mean feat.

New Home Sales Plunge -11.5% While Prices Soar

The September 2015 New Residential Single Family Home Sales plunged by -11.5%.  Sales dropped by 61,000 annualized units to 468,000 for the month.  August was significantly revised downward from 552 thousand to 529 thousand sales.  The plunge took annual growth from 21.6% as reported last month to only 2.0% growth from the 459,000 year ago sales levels.

New Budget Deal Cuts Social Security, But How?

MSNBC, CNN, HLN and Fox News have all been reporting non-stop about the Spring Valley school officer caught on video slamming a South Carolina student to the ground during an arrest — but very few details are being reported by the media about the new budget deal, which will soon go to a vote. (BTW, the student wasn't even hurt, but that has been "breaking news" for hours now.)

CEOs Offshore Jobs for "Humanitarian" Reasons

Is it America's moral duty and global responsibly to make sacrifices in our own lives to help other people in other countries to raise their standard-of-living? 

Some people will use that argument to defend their practices of offshoring jobs overseas to low-wage countries, making it appear that somehow our "job creators" are doing something noble for humanity.

September Retail Sales Up 0.1% on Autos; Would Add 0.09 Percentage Points to 3rd Quarter GDP

Seasonally adjusted headline retail sales rose just 0.1% in September while August sales were revised 0.2% lower and July's sales were revised 0.1% higher, resulting in an advance sales figure statistically unchanged from last month's report.  The Advance Retail Sales Report for September (pdf) from the Census Bureau estimated that our seasonally adjusted retail and food services sales totaled $447.7 billion,

September Consumer Price Index Down 0.2% on Lower Energy Prices

Despite higher prices for food and shelter, the consumer price index fell in September on significantly lower energy costs.  The Consumer Price Index Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that seasonally adjusted prices fell 0.2% in September after falling 0.1% in August and rising monthly since March. 

Mortgage Delinquencies and Foreclosures Increased in August; Mean Time in Foreclosure at 1015 Days

The Mortgage Monitor for August (pdf) from Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS, formerly LPS) reported that there were 695,548 home mortgages, or 1.37% of all mortgages outstanding, remaining in the foreclosure process at the end of August, which was down from 711,265, or 1.40% of all active loans that were in foreclosure at the end of July

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