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- Office demand rebounds to highest level since Covid pandemic began
In the first quarter of this year, new in-person and virtual office tours reached their highest level since the pandemic began, per the VTS Office Demand Index. [TheTopNews] Read More.43 mins ago - LARRY KUDLOW: Never bet against the Trumpian America First economy
If any of the Iranian thugs from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps think a minor bump up in gas prices is gonna kill the American economy, and force President Trump to withdraw our military and make some watered-down Obama-Biden deal, those thugs had better think twice. Not only is Mr. Trump not going to back down on his key demands to end Iran’s nuclear capability, and transfer the enriched uranium to America from Iran, and stop the state-sponsored terrorism, and long-range missile building, but the economic fact is the American economy is doing quite well despite the bump in gas prices.It’s the Iranian economy that’s sinking and will continue to sink with the United States Navy’s blockade, basically ending Iran’s money and ability to pay their IRGC troops. The IRGC controls about a third of Iran’s economy. And roughly half of their energy revenues. They’ve been stealing and looting from the Iranian people for decades. It’s like a mafia-run operation. And Mr. Trump and Treasury man Scott Bessent are putting an end to it. Secretary Bessent spoke to me last night about Operation Economic Fury."The president gave the operation, gave the order for maximum pressure campaign more than a year ago," Mr. Bessent said. "It was that pressure that brought the Iranian economy to a standstill," and "the largest bank in Iran collapsed. The central bank had to monetize the debt, and that created massive inflation." He added that "their currency is down about 60 or 70 percent versus the U.S. Dollar, so they’re in the middle of a currency crisis. And what we’re doing now is we’ve been in a long race and we are sprinting for the finish line."Now, as far as the American economy. Lots of good economic numbers today and a record-breaking stock market. Over the past year, real GDP has increased 2.7 percent. If the Democrats hadn’t shut down the economy last winter, we’d have had growth higher than 3 percent. Yet inside that number the One, Big, Beautiful Bill and its 100 percent cost expensing has produced an amazing business investment boom. It’s up by 17 percent in the first quarter and almost 10 percent over the past year. It’s huge. And don’t forget record-breaking tax refunds from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill used by more than 50 million Americans, which is offsetting the temporary gas price spike, and even then consumer spending doing… [TheTopNews] Read More.55 mins ago - Mortgage rates tick higher as geopolitical tensions mountMortgage rates ticked slightly higher this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.3%, up from 6.23% last week. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.76% at this time last year.HOUSING MARKET GAINING MOMENTUM AS SPRING SEASON BEGINS"As rates had modestly declined the last few weeks, purchase demand has accelerated with purchase applications rising to over 20% above a year ago," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "It is clear that purchase demand continues to hold up as prospective buyers react to both modestly lower rates and more inventory to choose from than the last few years," Khater added.HOUSING CRISIS HITS ALL AGES AS HOMEOWNERSHIP DECLINES NATIONWIDEThe average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 5.64%, up from 5.58% last week. The rate on 15-year fixed mortgages averaged 5.92% last year.Mortgage rates are affected by several factors, including the Federal Reserve and geopolitics. Though mortgage rates are not directly affected by the Fed's interest rate decisions, they closely track the 10-year Treasury yield. The 10-year yield hovered around 4.37% as of Thursday afternoon.The latest mortgage data follows the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to leave its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%.AVERAGE MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT HITS NEW HIGH, TOPPING $2K FOR FIRST TIME EVERRealtor.com economist Jiayi Xu said that while the Federal Reserve "unsurprisingly held rates steady, the dissent among the voters raises further uncertainty of monetary policy ahead.""Despite key decisions and upcoming leadership transition for the Fed, geopolitics is likely to be the bigger driver of mortgage rates in the near term," Xu explained. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE"With the U.S.-Iran peace talks hitting an impasse this week, the 10-year treasury bond rose above 4.3% and passed the 4.4% threshold after the Fed left rates unchanged and expressed concerns about the overall uncertainty tied to Middle East tension," Xu added. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 hour ago
- Apple chief Tim Cook says it was the ‘right time’ to step down as CE...Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is stepping down after 15 years as chief executive because three key factors aligned: Apple’s current performance, its product roadmap and the readiness of his successor, John Ternus.Cook said the timing came down to a clear internal assessment of the company’s position and future."I looked at three things," Cook told FOX Business. "I looked at the performance of the company in the first half, and it’s been remarkable. I wanted to announce at a point in time where our roadmap was incredible, and so there would be some great things happening in the future. And I wanted to announce at a time that John was ready, and John is ready. And so all three of those things intersected, and it felt to me like the right time."APPLE CEO TIM COOK TO STEP DOWN IN MAJOR LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP, SUCCESSOR NAMEDApple announced last week that Cook will step down as CEO on Sept. 1 and transition to executive chairman. Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, will take over as the company’s next chief executive.Cook is entering the final stretch of his CEO tenure with a record second quarter. Apple revenue jumped 17%, ahead of analyst estimates, while iPhone sales increased 22% from a year earlier. Cook said iPhone sales could have been even stronger if not for supply constraints that limited availability.The war in Iran is also affecting Apple’s business, Cook said, creating pressure on both revenue and costs.WHO IS JOHN TERNUS, SET TO SUCCEED TIM TOOK AS APPLE’S CEO?"It creates both revenue pressure, as you would guess, in the region, and it creates input costs across the world," Cook said. Oil prices have risen to their highest level in four years amid supply disruptions in the Middle East and concerns around the Strait of Hormuz.LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT APPLE SPARKS INDUSTRY AND WALL STREET REACTIONS AS COOK TRANSITIONS ROLESCook also addressed investor concerns that Apple is perceived to be behind in the artificial intelligence race, as some Silicon Valley competitors spend far more aggressively on AI infrastructure."If you look at our year-over-year growth, we’ve really ramped significantly," Cook said, adding that Apple uses "a hybrid model" that includes "both our own data centers and other people’s data centers."Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet have collectively forecast more than $700 billion in spending this year, with much of that investment directed toward AI data centers.Asked how important AI… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 hour ago
- Apple hails “extraordinary” iPhone demand as boss Tim Cook heads out
Cook is preparing to bow out after 15 years at the helm and hand over to John Ternus. [TheTopNews] Read More.1 hour ago - US national debt surpasses size of the economy for first time since World War IIThe U.S. national debt has now surpassed the size of the U.S. economy, a historic threshold that hasn't been crossed since the conclusion of World War II.Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday showed that the national debt held by the public reached $31.27 trillion as of March 31, while nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $31.22 trillion for the 12-month period ending in March.That pushed the debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP above 100%, meaning that the public debt is now larger than the size of the U.S. economy. Public debt as a share of GDP is a measure preferred by economists in assessing a country's government debt burden, as it excludes debt held in government accounts.With the latest data showing the public debt eclipsing the size of the U.S. economy, the federal government is quickly approaching the all-time record debt to GDP percentage of 106%, which was set in 1946 as the U.S. was in the process of demobilizing after the end of World War II.US DEBT SET TO CRUSH WORLD WAR II RECORD AS ANNUAL DEFICITS EXPLODE TO $3T WITHIN DECADEThe nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a 10-year budget and economic outlook earlier this year which projected that the U.S. will break the post-WWII record in 2030 with the debt held by the public estimated at 108% that year. A decade from now, debt held by the public as a share of GDP is projected to reach 120%.Making the budget picture even worse, the CBO estimates that the debt held by the public is expected to grow faster than U.S. GDP as projected in the years ahead, which could have far-reaching implications for the nation's fiscal and economic outlook. It said that dynamic could slow economic growth and reduce private investment, while hiking interest costs from servicing the debt.US NATIONAL DEBT BREACHES $39 TRILLION MILESTONE FOR FIRST TIME AMID SPENDING SURGE"With debt now above 100% of GDP, it's only a matter until we pass the all-time record of 106% reached in the immediate aftermath of World War II," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB). "This time, the borrowing isn't borne from a seismic global conflict, but rather a total bipartisan abdication of making hard choices.""The higher we allow our debt to grow, the more we erode our own prosperity and… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago
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