Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyTrade Challenges Await New Year It seems likely President Trump will have several major battles on his hands over trade. After a bit of a rally earlier in the week, the global markets have tumbled again in response to renewed concerns regarding trade. After the initial enthusiasm over comments by Trump and Direct...

With housing affordability squandering buyer interest, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau saw new single-family home sales take a seasonal dive in October. Sales were up nearly 3% from December 2017; however, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the seasonally adjusted annual rate dr...

NACM has extended the deadline for the Elevator Speeches contest to 5pm EST Dec. 7, 2018. So if you missed out on earning .1 road map point toward your designation plus a chance to win a free registration to NACM's Credit Congress & Expo in Aurora, Colorado, on May 19-22, 2019, fret not—you still have until Dec. 7.To enter, submit your best ele...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyChina Makes First MoveIt has not come as a great shock, but it seems that China has been the first to blink in the trade war. The concession made by China has to do with removing some of the barriers to U.S. car imports. This was not seen as one of the most important areas of dispute between the U.S. and China, h...

After teasing automakers throughout last week and over the weekend, the U.S. and China may have reached an agreement on auto tariffs. As of Nov. 29, Supply Chain Dive reported the U.S. and China will look to equalize tariffs. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called Chinese tariffs "egregious," citing the 40% tariff on U.S. imports and th...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyNAFTA Is Dead—Long Live NAFTA The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement has been signed by the respective leaders of the three nations, but that may be the easier of the battles to wage. Now the agreement has to be approved by the legislatures of the three signatory nations. That is expected to be an uphill battle. ...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyEconomic Indicators Flashing Yellow Of course there are a wide variety of indicators to choose from and no two economists will look at exactly the same ones, but some of the more widely used indicators are not as robust as they were even a few months ago. There has been talk of a recession in 2019 or 2020 dependi...

Warmer temperatures in the east and hurricane recovery efforts are sustaining employment rates in the construction industry, where Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) said unemployment rates dropped across 45 states year-over-year (YOY).According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the not-seasonally adjusted (NSA) national construction ...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyMixed Start to Retail Season Black Friday has come and gone. Then there is Cyber Monday to consider. At one time, the only one of these that really mattered was that fabled Friday after Thanksgiving when the retailers pulled out all the stops to get that first consumer dollar. Now, we are dealing with what many a...

Investors in the automotive industry will want to pay attention to the latest move by General Motors Co. after the U.S. No. 1 carmaker announced Nov. 26 its plans to transition from the traditional gas-powered vehicles to electric and autonomous vehicles. The decision will have a direct impact on the company's workforce in North America.According t...

The outlook for the U.S. building materials sector has been lowered due to a decreased demand in private construction. Moody's Investors Service downgraded its outlook from positive to stable following four years of strong growth. "We expect lower organic operating income growth in the building materials sector over the next 18 months, as growth in...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyEmerging Crisis in Inventory Levels What do you get when you combine a growing economy and all manner of trade restrictions and tariffs? The most immediate problem is an inventory shortage. That has started to affect a whole slew of manufacturers in a wide variety of sectors. The problem is they can't get the rep...

Only 11 days remain to submit your elevator speech for NACM's annual Elevator Speeches contest. The best speech—selected by NACM's editorial staff—will receive a free registration to NACM's Credit Congress & Expo in Aurora, Colorado, on May 19-22, 2019. Each participant also receives .1 roadmap point toward an NACM designation, regardless of wh...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyIndustrial Production Is Up For the fifth straight month, the rate of industrial production has risen. It has been due to the surge in manufacturing activity. The category of industrial production is a three-legged stool that includes activity in the mining sector as well as utility activity. There was little gro...

Unlike the Chapter 11 bankruptcy whirlwind that struck Toys R Us more than a year ago, Sears is finding success in its Ch. 11 filing after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the department store's plan to "stay in business and sell itself." The announcement was made about a month after Sears filed for Ch. 11 to the dismay of some credit managing bu...

Future residential projects in California will likely take place farther outside of wooded areas, and more will be completed by licensed, contract workers. The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) reached out to thousands of residents affected by the California campfires and wildfires urging them to only work with licensed contractors to ensure p...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyInflation Surges Due to Gas Prices The pace of consumer price hikes accelerated last month. The consumer is now looking at higher gas prices for the first time in a while. Prices have been going up from time to time in the last few years, but this is the first time these prices have been accelerating over a signi...

Housing affordability in the U.S. continues to turn heads as the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) revealed a decade-long low in the third quarter of 2018. Economists say rising interest rates and home prices as well as the ongoing labor shortages are to blame."Builders are increasingly ...

Short Items of Interest—U.S. EconomyDollar Surges As much as the U.S. would like to see imports decline and exports surge ahead that will be hard to pull off as long as the dollar keeps getting stronger. The dollar has been hitting highs not seen in 18 months. That is making it very hard on exporters at the same time it makes imports easier to sell...

During the week of Nov. 5, the first-ever loan between three countries was transmitted via blockchain. A total of $150 million in a syndicated loan for Red Eléctrica, the Spanish grid operator, was sent over a private blockchain network BBVA, which also worked with partners MUFG of Japan and BNP Paribas of France.This marks an innovation in the dev...