Friday, December 15, 2023

12/15 WAKE-UP CALL: Mortgage Rates Slide


U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in November as the holiday shopping season got off to a brisk start amid deep discounting, likely keeping the economy on a moderate growth path this quarter and further alleviating fears of a recession. The rebound in retail sales reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday underscored consumers' resilience, thanks to a strong labor market, and cast doubts on financial markets' expectations for a rate cut as early as next March. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signaled in new economic projections that the historic tightening of monetary policy engineered over the last two years is at an end and lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024. 

➤E-U- TO TALK MEMBERSHIP STATUS FOR UKRAINE: The bloc also continues to discuss whether to offer Kyiv significant new financial support. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left Washington two days ago without securing a new commitment for weapons from the U.S. Meanwhile, during an end-of-year audience, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue the war in Ukraine, suggesting little likelihood that the conflict he began in February 2022 will end soon

➤'DAYS ARE NUMBERED' FOR HAMAS LEADER: A senior U.S. administration official served warning to the head of Hamas Yahya Sinwar on Thursday evening: Your days are numbered. It did not matter how long it took, the official added, but justice would be served. It came soon after Israel dropped leaflets on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, offering a $400,000 reward for information about the whereabouts of the terror mastermind. 

Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, pictured in the Gaza Strip in May 2021. A senior administration official said: 'His days are numbered' He added that 38 Americans were killed by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7 and that Americans were still being held hostage. 'I remind you that he has American blood on his hands,' the official told reporters on a briefing call. 'So it doesn't matter how long it takes, but justice will be served.' Israel pounded targets the length of Gaza on Thursday, as it continues its high-intensity bombing campaign.

➤U-S- PRESSES ISRAEL TO WIND DOWN THE WAR: National security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israeli leaders that it was critical to start transitioning the Gaza campaign to more precise, targeted operations and warned that a protracted conflict would further inflame the region and make governing postwar Gaza harder, U.S. officials said. 

Washington wants the fight to end within weeks. President Biden faces a backlash at home for supporting Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization; some Americans want Biden to support a ceasefire. 

The war began after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack that left an estimated 1,200 people dead and hundreds held hostage. The U.S. has said that the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, should run Gaza and that Israeli-Palestinian peace discussions should resume. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the plan.

➤HOUSE PASSES DEFENSE BILL: In a last-minute sprint to finish the crucial legislation, the House passed an annual defense bill Thursday, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk to approve $886 billion in spending. The National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress is required to pass every year, includes a 5.2% pay raise for troops and authorizes funding for Ukraine. The bill cleared the lower chamber by a bipartisan vote of 310-118 – but not without drama, a major source of which was the reauthorization of a controversial surveillance program. 

➤'NO EVIDENCE': White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blew up Thursday when pressed by a reporter on President Biden "lying" about past interactions with his son Hunter's business associates, declaring there was "no evidence" the president did anything wrong. Jean-Pierre also lashed out at House Republicans over the vote to approve an official impeachment inquiry against Biden, accusing them of "wasting their time," but the interaction began with New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asking why Biden interacted with so many of his family's business associates, which contributed to the inquiry's launch. 

➤FORMER SPEAKER BASHES TRUMP: Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., bashed former President Donald Trump Wednesday as an “authoritarian narcissist.” Ryan, who led the House under the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, said at a virtual event hosted by consulting company Teneo that Trump’s tendencies are “where narcissism takes him, which is whatever makes him popular, makes him feel good at any given moment. “He doesn’t think in classical liberal-conservative terms,” Ryan said. “He thinks in an authoritarian way. And he’s been able to get a big chunk of the Republican base to follow him because he’s the culture warrior.” 

➤CRACKDOWN ON OVERPRICED DRUGS: The Biden administration announced yesterday that it is cracking down on pharmaceutical companies that produce overpriced outpatient drugs, from chemotherapy treatments to certain antibiotics. A new law requires drugmakers to pay rebates to the federal government if they increase their prices above the rate of inflation. The money will be used to lower the prices Medicare enrollees pay for the drugs.

➤GM’S ROBOCAR HITS THE SKIDS: General Motors is laying off 900 employees of the subsidiary that builds its GM Cruise driverless “robotaxi.” That is about a quarter of the division’s workforce. Earlier in the week, the company fired nine of what it calls its “key leaders” for Cruise. The company has suspended all Cruise trips on public roads after a pedestrian was injured by one of its driverless cars in San Francisco.

➤LIGHTS FLICKER IN NEW YORK CITY: A brief power outage surprised New Yorkers in the wee hours of this morning. Some said they saw smoke pouring from a Con Edison plant in Brooklyn just after midnight this morning, but it was not immediately confirmed as the source of the problem. The power company said it was investigating.



➤SOUTHWEST PROMISES TO DO BETTER: Remember the Southwest Airlines meltdown a year ago? The airline collapsed under the strain of the holiday travel rush combined with bad weather and had to cancel 17,000 flights between Christmas and New Year’s. Its rivals also had problems, but not so much. CEO Bob Jordan promised that it won’t happen again, and said Southwest is better prepared for challenging circumstances this time.

🏈NFL RAIDERS 63 CHARGERS 21: Coming into their “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Los Angeles Charges, the Las Vegas Raiders hadn’t scored a touchdown in their last 19 offensive possessions — a streak that dated back to Week 12. On Thursday, the Raiders scored a touchdown on six of their eight possessions in the first half, building a 42-0 lead en route to what became a franchise-record win at Allegiant Stadium, putting up 63 points to the Chargers’ 21.

⚾DODGERS GET TYLER GLASNOW IN A TRADE: The Los Angeles Dodgers are not content with signing Shohei Ohtani. Now they are getting pitcher Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays along with center fielder Manuel Margot. In exchange, Tampa is getting pitcher Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny Deluca. According to ESPN, the deal is contingent on Glasnow signing an extension with the Dodgers.

🏈JOE FLACCO GETS A DEAL WITH THE BROWNS: Joe Flacco is moving from being on the Cleveland Browns practice squad to being its starting quarterback. He and the team agreed to a one-year deal that includes more than $4 million in incentives for wins, according to ESPN. He’s the fourth quarterback to start for the Browns this season after injuries sidelined Deshaun Watson, PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson..

⚽MESSI’S JERSEYS GO FOR BIG BUCKS: Six of Lionel Messi’s jerseys from his 2022 World Cup championship in Qatar sold at auction for $7.8 million yesterday. The buyer of the No. 10 Argentina jerseys was not identified. The title for the world’s most expensive jersey still belongs to the one worn by Michael Jordan in the 1998 Finals billed as “The Last Dance.” It sold last year for $10.1 million.

➤POWERFUL PRE-HOLIDAY STORM PREDICTED: Christmas travel is getting underway this weekend, but the FOX Forecast Center is tracking a powerful pre-holiday storm that will impact millions in at least 20 states as it slides up the East Coast this weekend and into early next week, slamming the region with heavy rain and strong wind. So, if you’re among the more than 115 million Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, you’ll want to prepare for delays on the roads and at some of our nation’s busiest airports if your travels take you to the East. “Timing is everything,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera said. “When you’re talking about Sunday, Monday, this is when we’re watching all of this energy coming together.”


And the impacts from the storm will vary as it slides up along the Interstate 95 corridor. “This is really one of those systems that is going to produce a whole lot of rain up and down the I-95 corridor,” Herrera continued. “You’re talking rain, more of it, from Florida clear up into New England.”

The storm system responsible for bringing snow to the Rockies and rain to Texas will continue to sweep across the Plains and Midwest this week. As it does so, it’s expected to spawn a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico, which will bring heavy rain, flash flooding, coastal flooding, and strong winds to Florida and parts of the Southeast. That low-pressure system will then move across the Sunshine State and remain well inland while it slides up the East Coast into early next week, bringing with it heavy rain, a flood risk, and gusty winds.



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