“Bubble Watch” digs into trends that may indicate economic and/or housing market troubles ahead. Buzz: Despite promises of a smooth increase in home financing costs from the Federal Reserve — a prediction reinforced by so-called industry “experts” — we’ve just witnessed one of the largest hits to a house shopper’s buying power in history. Source: My trusty spreadsheet’s analyzed Freddie Mac’s […]

The number of households suffering “fuel stress” because they spend 10% or more of their budget on energy bills looks set to triple to 6.3 million, according to a think-tank. Bills for customers on standard tariffs are in line to rise sharply from April when a new price cap – expected to be increased by 50%, taking a typical annual […]

An uncertain New Zealand sharemarket suddenly burst into life at the end of another light trading day – with concerns over rising inflation and interest rates still calling the tune. The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a bumpy day but rose strongly in the last 45 minutes, climbing from a low of 12,753.32 to an intraday high of 12,806.9, up 16.74 […]

COMMENT: A Dunedin woman was declined an urgent extension to her mortgage because what she described as a $187 Christmas shopping trip to Kmart. Another loan applicant claims to have had her social life probed in a series of inquiries on everything from her eyebrow waxing and parking bills. Elsewhere, headlines have warned that those Uber Eats, Netflix and Spotify […]

Lord John Sainsbury of Preston Candover – the former chairman of the supermarket chain – has died aged 94. The supermarket’s current chairman and chief executive announced the death of the Baron on Friday evening, saying he had lived a “remarkable life”. Martin Scicluna said: “We are all deeply saddened to learn of the death of our Life President, Lord […]

(Reuters) – A bipartisan piece of legislation to be introduced in the U.S. Senate on Friday would force defense contractors to stop buying rare earths from China by 2026 and use the Pentagon to create a permanent stockpile of the strategic minerals.FILE PHOTO: A mining machine is seen at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, […]

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard on Thursday became the latest and most senior U.S. central banker to signal that interest rates will rise in March to battle inflation that’s eroding the value of workers’ recent wage gains and putting policymakers under a political spotlight. The Fed “has projected several rate hikes over the course of the year,” Brainard […]

Benefits need to be hiked by twice as much as planned this spring in order to protect millions of the poorest in society from the impact of surging inflation, a respected economic think tank has argued. In April, payments including the jobseekers’ allowance, working tax credits and disability benefits are due to rise by 3.1% – in line with the […]

Thousands of grocery workers started walking the picket lines at King Soopers stores from Boulder to Parker early Wednesday morning, a day after the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 rejected the company’s latest contract offer. The strike is being called on claims of unfair labor practices and is expected to last three weeks. The union Tuesday rejected what […]

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the media after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Turkey, December 20, 2021. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via REUTERSANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will bring prices down as soon as possible, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, after annual inflation soared above 36% in December due largely to a currency crisis brought on by his unorthodox low-rates […]