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At least some versions of Gatorade will no longer have synthetic colors, PepsiCo said on April 16.
One new version, Gatorade Lower Sugar, has no artificial flavors, sweeteners, or colors, in addition to having less sugar than regular Gatorade.
Gatorade is working to remove synthetic colors from all its products, and will later in the spring roll out powder sticks without artificial colors.
Gatorade also plans to debut three of its Gatorade Thirst Quencher and Gatorade Zero flavors, including fruit punch, with colors from fruits and vegetables rather than artificial dyes.
“By listening to consumers, we’re learning more of what they want and don’t want in their Gatorade,” Mike Del Pozzo, president of PepsiCo Beverages U.S., said in a statement. “We’re on a journey to remove artificial colors from our product portfolio while maintaining the bold Gatorade color people know and love.”…

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Ford Motor Company announced a recall of 1,392,935 F-150 trucks due to an issue with the vehicles’ transmissions that could result in an unintended downshift into second gear at high speeds.
According to a recall notice posted April 17 on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s X account, the affected trucks were manufactured between March 2014 and August 2017 and span model years 2015-2017. The downshift problem, federal regulators say, stems from degraded electrical connections in the vehicles’ six-speed transmissions’ lead frames, which are caused by repeated thermal cycling and vibration.
A sensor in the transmission may send a faulty signal to the transmission’s power train module that could result in a temporary and unintended downshift into second gear, the NHTSA said….

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Allbirds, following the sale of its assets and shoe brand, announced on April 15 that it is pivoting to artificial intelligence (AI) and will receive $50 million in a convertible financing facility. Allbirds will change its name to “NewBird AI.”
“The rise of AI development and adoption has created unprecedented structural demand for specialized, high-performance compute that the market is struggling to meet. … Enterprises, AI developers, and research organizations are unable to secure the compute resources they need to build, train, and run AI at scale,” Allbirds said in its press release. “NewBird AI is being built to help close that gap.”
Its stock rose around 582 percent on April 15, rising from $2.49 to $16.99; 288 million shares were exchanged. On April 16, its stock fell almost 36 percent to $10.91….

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A federal judge on April 17 temporarily blocked Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of local broadcast station owner Tegna amid antitrust challenges from eight states.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento issued a preliminary injunction, finding that plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their claims that the merger would reduce competition in ​local television markets and make it difficult for distributors like DirecTV to reject Nexstar’s demands for higher prices.
“Based on the foregoing, the court finds defendants’ rebuttal evidence is insufficient to overcome plaintiffs’ prima facie case. Plaintiffs establish ‘a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effect’ in the market,” the judge wrote in a 52-page ruling….

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Volatility in global cocoa markets has been pushing candymakers to revisit their chocolate supplies.
Over the past couple of years, international confectioners have been spooked by the wild swings in cocoa prices, fueled by supply challenges in West Africa and growing worldwide demand.
The cocoa market stabilized after peaking in December 2024 at almost $12,000 per metric ton. As of April 17, cocoa futures are slightly above $3,000 on the U.S. ICE Futures exchange.
While there are still issues in global supply chains—aging infrastructure in Ghana and other West African countries, black pod disease, and fertilizer shortages—changes in demand helped bring down prices….

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Blue Origin successfully landed a 29-story reusable rocket booster for the first time on April 19, marking a new wave of possibilities for the Jeff Bezos-led company to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The New Glenn rocket booster, nicknamed Never Tell Me the Odds, took off from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida just before 7:30 a.m. ET and landed on a sea-based platform hundreds of miles downrange nearly 10 minutes later.
Bezos posted a video showing the successful landing on the platform, called Jacklyn, located east of Cape Canaveral in the Atlantic Ocean.
“During the final descent onto Jacklyn, the three middle BE-4 engines on the booster will reignite to slow down the vehicle,” Blue Origin said on X….

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Uber bought an approximately $318 million stake in German delivery platform Delivery Hero from Dutch technology investment company Prosus, the European companies announced on April 17.
Delivery Hero, started in 2011 as a food delivery service, said the nearly 13.6 million shares sold to Uber represent around 4.5 percent of its shares outstanding.
“We welcome Uber’s additional investment in Delivery Hero. As a global tech leader, Uber’s increased position is a meaningful endorsement of our platform, our strategy, and our ongoing work to deliver long-term value for all shareholders,” CEO and co-founder Niklas Ostberg said.
Prosus said the sale price of 20 euros a share was a 22 percent premium over Delivery Hero’s average trading price over the past month….

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USA Rare Earth said on April 20 that it has agreed to acquire Brazil-based Serra Verde Group in a deal valued at approximately $2.8 billion, a significant move to expand production of rare-earth elements outside Asia.
The company said it will purchase 100 percent of Serra Verde through a combination of $300 million in cash and 126.849 million shares of newly issued stock.
Based on USA Rare Earth’s closing share price of $19.95 on April 17, the transaction implies an equity value of about $2.8 billion for Serra Verde.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Barbara Humpton, CEO of USA Rare Earth, which is based in Stillwater, Oklahoma, described the acquisition as a step toward a global rare earth platform….

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Eli Lilly and Company announced on April 20 that it will acquire clinical-stage cancer biotechnology company Kelonia Therapeutics for $7 billion.
The acquisition expands Eli Lilly’s pipeline into experimental cancer treatments, specifically in vivo genetic therapy. Kelonia Therapeutics is advancing CAR-T genetic medicines that reprogram a cancer patient’s T-cells to fight cancer and underlying diseases. Its lead program, KLN-1010, targets cancerous myeloma plasma cells that affect bone marrow.
Jacob Van Naarden, executive vice president and president of Lilly Oncology and head of corporate business development, said in a statement that in vivo CAR-T therapies have helped patients fight a range of cancers, but barriers to access and manufacturing challenges have limited their widespread use….

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Apple announced a shakeup to its top leadership on April 20, with Tim Cook to become executive chairman of the company’s board of directors and John Ternus the next CEO.
In a statement, Apple said the decisions were unanimously approved by the board and follow a “thoughtful, long-term succession planning process.”
The pair will begin their new roles on Sept. 1.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in the statement.
“I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”…

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President Donald Trump said he opposes a potential merger between American Airlines and United Airlines, while suggesting the federal government could help keep struggling Spirit Airlines afloat.
Speaking Tuesday on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Trump said he was not in favor of a tie-up between two of the nation’s largest carriers.
“I just heard it a few days ago. I know them both very well. I don’t like it, no,” he said.
The president moved on to say that he did not “mind mergers” in general, and that he would welcome a deal that might save Spirit Airlines from going out of business. He also floated the idea of federal assistance for the discount airline….

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Online interactive gaming platform Roblox has agreed to settle with West Virginia, Alabama, and Nevada for a combined $35.78 million, committing to strengthen children’s safety through measures such as mandatory age verification and chat restrictions.
Roblox reached an $11.08 million settlement with West Virginia. In an April 21 statement, the office of West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey said that Roblox has agreed to “major child safety overhaul.” The settlement came after an investigation conducted by the office found that the platform exposed child users to sexual predators, sexual and violent content, and grooming risks.
McCuskey said there were “serious failures that left children exposed to real danger.”…

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SpaceX announced on April 21 that it has an agreement in place that gives it the right to acquire artificial intelligence coding startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year.
If SpaceX does not opt to acquire the company, it will instead pay Cursor $10 billion for the collaborative work the two have already been doing. It is unclear if the payment would be made in SpaceX stock or cash.
The company revealed the deal in a post on X.
“SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI,” it stated.
SpaceXAI is not a standalone company but an informal brand name used for the combined SpaceX and xAI entity after SpaceX acquired xAI earlier this year….

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has entered into a $300 million agreement with Palantir Technologies to modernize farm programs and strengthen agricultural security.
The deal, announced on April 22, is meant to improve efficiency, reduce administrative burdens and provide greater oversight of risks to the nation’s food supply.
At its center is the USDA’s “One Farmer, One File” initiative, launched in February and aimed at reducing waste and duplication.
Under the partnership, Palantir will provide software tools designed to help both farmers and USDA staff work more efficiently.
Field staff will have access to mobile tools aimed at reducing administrative tasks and speeding up program delivery….

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Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg’s aggressive turnaround plan announced in early 2026 appears to be taking hold, as the Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace manufacturer reduced its net loss by 77 percent in the quarter ended March 31.
Boeing on April 22 reported a net loss of $7 million in the first quarter versus a net loss of $31 million in the same quarter of 2025.
While Boeing is still burning through cash, the net cash outflow was $1.45 billion in the first three months of 2026—a slower pace than the $2.29 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
“We’re building on our momentum with a strong start to the year and growing record-breaking backlog across our business, while supporting our customers with inspiring missions like Artemis II,” Kelly Ortberg, Boeing president and CEO, said in a statement….

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The Ford Motor Company has issued a recall for 140,201 Ranger pickups due to malfunctioning sun visor or headliner wiring harnesses that could result in a fire in the 2024–2026 models.
According to a report posted on April 22 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the damaged wires could create a short circuit and possibly cause a fire in the front of the vehicle near the windshield.
The NHTSA noted that the sun visor or headliner wiring harnesses could be damaged due to excessive tape thickness or improper harness positioning following installation. The report also stated that exposed wiring could come into contact with sheet metal, possibly causing arcing and soot buildup over time….

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Microsoft will invest $25 billion ($17.9 billion) over three years to expand artificial intelligence capabilities in Australia, including data centres, job training, and cybersecurity.
The company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on AI with the federal government, under which it will follow new national guidelines for data centres and AI infrastructure released in March.
Industry and Science Minister Tim Ayres said the investment would support Australia’s AI-driven economy and help train three million workers.
“This MoU outlines how the Australian government and Microsoft will work together to strengthen AI infrastructure, improve safety measures and encourage adoption across the economy,” he said….

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Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery overwhelmingly approved Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition, according to a company statement.
In a special April 23 meeting, Warner Bros. stockholders agreed to support the merger, following months of intense bidding between Paramount and streaming giant Netflix.
Preliminary tallies indicate that Warner Bros. investors voted by a wide margin to approve the merger agreement with Paramount.
The results will be finalized once the independent inspector of elections certifies the numbers. The company will submit the official vote totals to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a Form 8‑K filing.
“We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” said Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr., chair of the Warner Bros. Discovery board of directors….

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JetBlue Airlines has been sued in a class action lawsuit seeking damages for allegedly using consumers’ personal data to increase airfares.
The case was filed on April 22 in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York.
Brought by plaintiff Andrew Phillips of New York, the litigation states that Phillips booked his ticket on JetBlue’s website, which included a flight from New York to Florida. As required, he provided his contact and payment information, as well as desired airfare and accommodations, according to the lawsuit. However, Phillips was unaware that the airline’s tracking code had also collected and provided other information to a third party….

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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on April 23 became the latest drug manufacturer to enter a Most Favored Nation drug pricing agreement with the United States.
President Donald Trump announced the deal from the Oval Office.
“With this announcement, 17 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, representing 80 percent of the branded drug market, have now agreed to sell their drugs to American patients at the lowest prices anywhere in the world,” Trump said.
With Regeneron’s agreement, all of the pharmaceutical CEOs that Trump directly asked to join the Most Favored Nation pricing model have responded favorably.
Trump has said his aim in making the deals is to correct the long-standing practice by pharmaceutical companies of charging Americans about three times more for prescription medications than those in other countries….

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The Supreme Court on April 27 will hear oral arguments in a case with major implications for privacy rights—and how law enforcement uses Americans’ cellphone data while investigating crimes.
The case, Chatrie v. United States, centers on law enforcement’s use of “geofencing warrants”—judge-authorized requests for cellphone location data near the scene of a crime.
Okello Chatrie told the Supreme Court that the government’s use of these warrants, which resulted in a criminal conviction over his robbing a bank while his smartphone was on his person, violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The government, meanwhile, has argued that such data are not protected when provided voluntarily to a “third party” such as Google….

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The Chinese communist regime’s economic planning agency said on April 27 that it had blocked foreign investment in Meta’s proposed acquisition of AI startup Manus.
The National Development and Reform Commission said it had “made a decision to prohibit foreign investment in the Manus project” and ordered the parties involved to withdraw the transaction.
The decision was made by the commission’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Security Review of Foreign Investment in accordance with the Chinese laws and regulations, the statement said. No further explanation for the decision was given.
The announcement was made less than three weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, a trip that the White House confirmed last month….

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Electric air taxi developer Joby Aviation said on April 27 it will begin a weeklong testing campaign in New York City, having successfully completed three days of test flights across the city’s heliport network.
Joby’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi launched from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and made stops at Downtown Skyport on the southern tip of Manhattan, West 30th St. heliport on the West Side, and E. 34th St. Heliport on Manhattan’s eastern waterfront.
The routes are potential commercial flight patterns for Joby Aviation’s electric air taxis that could quietly and with zero operating emissions traverse Manhattan in less than 10 minutes, the company said….

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Long-awaited banking regulation—also known as the Basel III Endgame framework—will be released next month, said the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator.
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, appearing at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Feb. 26, confirmed that regulators are expected to release an updated Basel III proposal at the end of March.
But while this is the chief goal, Bowman hinted that the deadline might need to be extended.
She told lawmakers that officials at the Fed, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have reached a consensus on the reproposal….

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Out-of-market buyers dominated residential home purchases—especially in areas where data-center campuses and artificial intelligence (AI) jobs are flourishing—in the nation’s largest metropolitan markets in the final quarter of 2025, according to a new report from online real estate listing service Realtor.com.
According to the cross-market demand report released on Feb. 26, out-of-market buyers accounted for the majority of home purchases in 87 percent of the country’s 100 biggest metropolitan markets. Just less than two-thirds of all online traffic viewing home listings came from out-of-market shoppers, up sharply from 48 percent in the same quarter in 2019, an indicator that the residential housing market is experiencing a fundamental shift in buyer demand, Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu noted….

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With wealthy buyers relocating from states such as New York and California and large financial institutions drawn by local economic policies, pending sales and demand for luxury real estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, are bucking national sales trends.
Pending sales in January for luxury homes in the area spiked 30 percent from a year ago, real estate brokerage Redfin reported on March 2. That jump—the sharpest among the 50 most populated metropolitan regions in the United States—follows a 31.5 percent year-over-year gain in pending sales in December, Redfin said.
Nationally, however, pending sales of luxury homes dipped 3.6 percent year over year in January, while non-luxury pending sales declined 1.8 percent, according to Redfin….

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The U.S. construction industry missed its mark again as the country’s housing-supply gap grew to an estimated 4.03 million homes in 2025 from 3.8 million in 2024.
Realtor.com’s 2026 Housing Supply Gap Report, issued on March 3, indicates that construction once again fell short in meeting housing demands, particularly from younger households. The data shows nearly 1.41 million new households were formed last year, compared with just 1.36 million housing starts.
“Even when annual construction and household formation are roughly balanced, the market is still digging out from more than a decade of underbuilding,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in the report.
“A supply gap exceeding 4 million homes underscores how deeply rooted the shortage has become. Without a sustained and targeted increase in housing supply, particularly in areas with strong job growth and persistent demand, affordability challenges will continue to sideline many would-be buyers.”…

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U.S. homeowners stayed in their houses for about 12 years as of 2025—the longest median time since 2022.
In a March 4 report, Redfin noted that the “stay put” trend peaked at 13.4 years in 2020, then gradually declined every year until 2024, when it hit 11.8 years. Last year’s rising home costs and interest rates led to an uptick to 12 years.
“High mortgage rates and home prices perpetuate a cycle that locks up housing inventory,” Redfin’s head of economics research, Chen Zhao, said in the report.
“It can keep existing homeowners in place and financially discourage them from moving to a different home or a different neighborhood, which drives prices up even higher for first-timers trying to break into the market.”…

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Nearly 45,000 homes that were delisted in 2025 were back on the market in January, according to a Redfin report on March 5. This marks the highest relisting numbers since 2016, when Redfin began tracking this metric.
Home delistings soared in 2025 as sellers began to outnumber buyers, giving them more negotiating power and forcing some sellers to offer concessions. Those sellers unwilling or unable to negotiate retreated from the market, with delistings reaching a record high of 112,788 in December.
These start-of-year relistings represented 3.6 percent of all homes on the market.
“Many sellers who pulled their homes off the market last year are relisting now in hopes of capitalizing on spring homebuying season,” Redfin Austin, Texas, agent Andrew Vallejo said in the report….

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U.S. existing home sales saw a 1.7 percent month-over-month increase in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units. While sales of year-over-year existing homes fell by 1.4 percent, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) remains cautiously optimistic about the upcoming spring market.
The month-over-month increase exceeded the market estimate, which had projected a decline to 3.89 million.
“Housing affordability is improving, and consumers are responding,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the firm’s March 10 report.
“Still, there is a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels of transaction activity. There are more than 6 million more jobs than in 2019, yet home sales per year are down by one million.”…

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Australians now own $12.3 trillion (US$8.8 trillion) worth of residential real estate after the value of homes rose by $384.8 billion or 3.2 percent in the December quarter of 2025, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The mean price of residential dwellings rose in all states and territories, led by Western Australia (7.5 percent or $70,500), Queensland (4.8 percent or $48,800) and South Australia (4.5 percent or $40,800).
Western Australia became the third state—after New South Wales and Queensland—to reach a mean house price of over $1 million. It was also an outlier in new construction, being the only state besides Tasmania not to record a decline in new home approvals in January compared with the previous month….

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In the fourth quarter of 2025, 18.8 percent of house hunters across the United States were looking to relocate to a different part of the country.
This was up from 17.9 percent a year back and 15.9 percent five years ago during the COVID pandemic period, real estate brokerage Redfin said in a March 10 statement.
During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the average weekly mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage mostly hovered around 2.5–3.5 percent, according to Freddie Mac. Pandemic-fueled remote work was also common. These factors drove many people to relocate, the brokerage said.
Mortgage rates began to climb in the following years, hitting a peak of 7.79 percent in October 2023. In January 2025, rates hit 7.04 percent and have been declining since. For the week ending March 4, the rate was 6 percent….

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While the national luxury housing threshold increased to $1,205,081 in February, some top U.S. metropolitan areas were offering lower entry-level luxury prices, making these homes more accessible to more buyers.
In its February Luxury Housing Report, released on March 10, Realtor.com noted that entry-level luxury home prices experienced a 1 percent month-over-month growth, but fell by 3.1 percent year over year.
When analyzing the top 10 percent of the country’s most expensive homes, Realtor.com uses the 90th percentile price point to serve as a baseline for the luxury market in a particular region. Typically, luxury homes start at 2.9 times the median price, while high-end luxury homes start at 4.6 times the median….

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The number of “accidental landlords”—homeowners who initially listed their properties for sale but pulled their listings after a few weeks and instead offered their homes for rent—has risen to near-record highs, online real estate company Zillow said.
Unsold listings that are now offered as rental properties accounted for 2.3 percent of all housing inventory currently listed on Zillow, the company reported on March 11. It’s the highest number of homeowners turning their properties into rentals since November 2022, when accidental landlords reached 2.4 percent, Zillow noted.
Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow, said sellers face a different reality than just a few years ago as the housing market continues to rebalance….

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The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill on March 12 that aims to lower home prices and make housing more affordable for Americans.
The upper chamber voted 89–10 to advance the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The bill must now be reviewed and voted upon by the House of Representatives.
Lawmakers opposed to the bill included Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
The bill package was led by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and combines the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 with provisions from the House of Representatives’ Housing for the 21st Century Act, according to a March 10 statement from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs….

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President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on March 13 related to improving home-ownership opportunities for Americans by reducing regulatory burdens and increasing access to mortgage loans.
“Every American seeking to buy a home should have access to a mortgage from a reliable lender, at a rate commensurate with his or her creditworthiness,” Trump wrote in an order titled “Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit.”
“Layers of unnecessary regulatory barriers, slow permitting processes, and onerous mandates at all levels of government have delayed construction, restricted development, and driven up the costs of new housing.”
The directive seeks to mitigate the impact of compliance costs originating from legislative actions over the past 20 years….

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Renters across the United States may be able to save a bit more on apartment leases this month, as rents nationwide hit a four-year low last month, marking the 30th consecutive month of declines.
In its February Rental Report issued on March 17, Realtor.com recorded that the national median rent was $1,667, with 15 major markets posting rents more than 10 percent below their pandemic-era peaks.
The median rent for studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments fell last month to its lowest level since March 2022. Nationally, the median rent fell by $29, or 1.7 percent, from a year earlier. While rents remained 14.2 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, they were $90, or 5.1 percent, lower than their peak in the summer of 2022….

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Interest rates are at their highest levels since late December, leading to slower mortgage market activity, according to new industry data released on Wednesday.
For the week ending March 18, the average contract rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.3 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This is up from 6.19 percent the previous week.
Despite the increase, the 30-year rate is still down from last year’s 6.72 percent.
Mortgage rates typically track the U.S. Treasury market, particularly the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond.
Even as Wall Street experiences jitters while traders seek shelter in safe‑haven assets amid the war in Iran, yields have shown little sign of retreating this month….

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled new rules for mortgages that will help in reducing homeowners insurance bills for millions in American families, especially in condos and rural areas, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in a March 18 statement.
According to the agency, which is responsible for the overall management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a key change relates to Actual Cash Value (ACV) and Replacement Cost Value (RCV) coverage for homes.
An ACV policy pays for the cost of repair or replacement of part or whole of a homeowner’s property, accounting for depreciation of the asset. In contrast, an RCV policy pays the full repair amount using materials of similar quality and kind, without considering depreciation….

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Sales of newly built homes fell by more than expected in January, hitting their lowest level since 2022, the latest federal government figures suggest.
New single-family home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000 in January, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Thursday. That was down 17.6 percent from the downwardly revised December 2025 reading of 712,000 and 11.3 percent below the level recorded in January 2025.
The slowdown in sales pushed inventory higher. The supply of new homes on the market rose to 9.7 months in January, meaning it would take that long to clear the existing inventory at the current sales pace. That was up from 8.0 months in December and 7.8 percent higher than the 9.0-month supply estimated a year earlier….

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The United States has nearly 50 percent more home sellers than home buyers, a new analysis suggests, a shift that could put downward pressure on prices even as high mortgage rates continue to strain affordability.
New estimates published by Redfin on March 23 found that, as of February 2026, there were 630,000 more people selling homes than buying them. That is the largest gap the online real estate brokerage has recorded since it began tracking the data in 2013.
Redfin said the seller-to-buyer ratio climbed to 46.3 percent in February, marking a record high. The ratio rose to about 30 percent at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, then swung to roughly minus 30 percent in 2021 as buyers vastly outnumbered sellers. It has since reversed course, returning to early COVID-19 pandemic levels in spring 2025 before surging to a new peak this year….

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David Simon, who built the Simon Property Group into one of the world’s largest retail real estate firms, has died at 64 after battling cancer.
“Our family is deeply grateful for the tremendous outpouring of love and support we have received from across the globe,” a family spokesperson said in a statement.
“Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother poured his heart and soul into building Simon Property Group.”
Simon leaves behind his wife of more than 40 years, Jackie, and their five children—Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Sam, and Noah—as well as seven grandchildren.
The Indianapolis-based firm’s board of directors has appointed his son, Eli Simon, as CEO. Meanwhile, Eli Simon will continue to serve as chief operating officer and a member of the board….

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Mortgage demand tanked for the second straight week as higher interest rates slowed homebuying and refinancing activity, new industry data show.
For the week ended March 20, total mortgage application volumes declined by 10.5 percent, according to figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on March 25.
Applications also fell, by 10.9 percent, during the previous week.
The index for refinancing tumbled by 15 percent while applications to purchase a home decreased by 5 percent.
Weaker mortgage market activity was driven by rising interest rates and affordability constraints, says Joel Kan, deputy chief economist and vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
“The threat of higher for longer oil prices continued to keep Treasury yields elevated, and mortgage rates finished last week higher,” Kan said in a news release….

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Home-loan giant Fannie Mae will soon accept so-called crypto-backed mortgages for the first time, marking another step in cryptocurrencies’ push into mainstream consumer finance.
On Thursday, mortgage lender Better Home & Finance and crypto exchange Coinbase Global announced a new product that ties digital assets to down payments on Fannie Mae-eligible home loans.
Under the structure, homebuyers can pledge Bitcoin or USDC stablecoin as collateral for a separate loan that funds the cash down payment—rather than converting those assets into U.S. dollars, which not only incur tax liabilities but also cost them any potential future gains.
Crypto-backed mortgages are not new, but the Better–Coinbase product is the first to be accepted by Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored enterprise overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and a central force in the U.S. housing market….

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The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.38 percent, according to a survey by Freddie Mac published on March 26.
The rate jumped from 6.22 percent the previous week and now stands at its highest level in more than six months. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.75 percent from 5.54 percent.
Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater said: “The housing market continues to show gradual improvements compared to a year ago amid recent rate volatility. Purchase and refinance applications are up year-over-year, and rates remain lower than last year when they averaged 6.65 percent.”
The survey covers conventional, conforming loans with 20 percent down and excellent credit. Freddie Mac did not cite specific reasons for the increase….

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The interest rate on the nation’s most popular home loan climbed again last week, adding pressure on prospective homebuyers and driving down the number of applications.
The Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday reported that the average contract interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.57 percent in the week ended March 27, up 14 basis points from one week earlier.
Over the past four weeks, the rate has jumped by nearly half a percentage point, the sharpest increase since 2024, the MBA said. The figure comes from the national group’s weekly applications survey, which tracks rates tied to submitted mortgage applications reported by lenders….

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The median monthly mortgage payment in the United States hit $2,742 for the four weeks ending March 29, marginally up from last year and registering the first year-over-year increase in almost six months, real estate brokerage Redfin said in an April 2 statement.
“Housing payments are climbing because the Iran war and rising oil prices have pushed the weekly average mortgage rate up to a six-month high of 6.38 percent,” the brokerage said.
In 2025, the average weekly mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had hit its annual high of 7.04 percent in mid-January, according to data from Freddie Mac. Rates then entered a downward trend, falling to a low of 5.98 percent for the week ending Feb. 25 this year, the first time since September 2022 that rates had fallen below the 6 percent level….

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In some corners of the United States, a seven-figure home price tag does not signal exceptional wealth so much as simply the mere cost of entry.
A Realtor.com report published on Wednesday identified 13 U.S. housing markets that fit this profile. In each of them, at least half of active home listings were priced at $1 million or more, while the total number of such listings remained below 500.
A prime example is Nantucket, Massachusetts. The small island, home to about 14,000 year-round residents, topped the list, with nearly all of its active home listings priced at $1 million or above. Its median listing price stood at $4.08 million….

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The United States has a shortage of 10 million homes, a gap that the White House’s newly released 2026 Economic Report of the President attributes in part to government regulations that have increased construction costs.
The estimated shortage was calculated by tracking how many single-family homes would have been built if the historical pace up to 2008 had continued, according to the report, issued on April 13 by the Council of Economic Advisers.
Housing costs surged as demand outpaced supply, with regulatory hurdles such as fees, mandates, and permitting delays adding what it described as a six-figure “bureaucrat tax” to the cost of building a new home. The report highlights “California-style” regulations as a key example….

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Golden handcuffs in the U.S. housing market remain firmly locked, with COVID-19 pandemic‑era mortgage rates still accounting for about half of all outstanding loans.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to zero percent to cushion the economic blows of the public health crisis.
The decision fueled historically low borrowing costs across the economy. Homebuyers and homeowners who refinanced were some of the chief beneficiaries, as millions of households locked in 30-year mortgage rates as low as 2.65 percent.
Several years later, these loans continue to account for a large share of the U.S. mortgage market….

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San Francisco’s housing market continued to heat up in March as the artificial intelligence boom generated new wealth and high-paying jobs, according to a report from Redfin.
The real estate brokerage said on April 16 that the median home sale price in the San Francisco metropolitan area jumped by 14.4 percent year over year in March to a record $1.7 million, the biggest increase since March 2018.
Redfin said the gain was also the largest among the nation’s 50 most populous metro areas. It now identifies San Francisco as the major U.S. metro with the highest home prices, overtaking neighboring San Jose, California, which held that title for much of 2024 and 2025….

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The aftermath of Austin’s tech boom in the COVID-19 pandemic era, and the layoffs that followed, are still reshaping the Texas city’s housing market, according to a new report.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an influx of tech workers created an unprecedented spike in housing demand that sent sales and property values soaring, according to a report released on April 20 by Homes.com.
The Austin real estate market hit its all-time peak in 2022, with a median sold price of $555,400. The surge was driven in part by some of the country’s highest-profile tech employers—including Tesla, Apple, and Amazon—which either relocated headquarters or expanded their presence in the area to take advantage of Texas’s favorable tax environment….

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Mortgage market activity surged last week as interest rates declined for the third consecutive week, new industry data released on April 22 show.
Total mortgage applications climbed nearly 8 percent for the week ending April 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Application for new-home purchases advanced 10 percent, while refinancing jumped 6 percent.
“Mortgage rates declined last week as financial markets responded positively to the Middle East ceasefire and the lower trend in oil prices,” Mike Fratantoni, the group’s chief economist and senior vice president, said in a news release.
“Despite the geopolitical uncertainty, housing demand is being supported by a still resilient job market, and homebuyers are experiencing a buyer’s market in most of the country given the higher levels of inventory relative to last year.”…

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America’s housing market is increasingly splitting into two different realities: one where desirable homes are snapped up almost immediately, and another where listings linger for weeks.
A Zillow analysis released on Thursday found that 18.5 percent of homes nationwide went under contract within seven days in February 2026. This March, the typical home that sold went pending in 19 days, while the median active listing had already been sitting on the market for 56 days.
That 37-day gap marks the widest divide for any March since 2020, just before the pandemic-era housing boom began, according to Zillow.
In parts of the Midwest and Northeast, where limited new construction has kept supply in check, homes continue to move quickly. Zillow found that at least three in 10 homes sold within a week in Midwest metro areas such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Kansas City….

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Homebuilder earnings reports released in recent days point to a challenging environment for the industry, as companies increasingly rely on incentives and mortgage rate buydowns to reduce elevated inventories during a sluggish spring selling season.
Executives’ commentary has underscored the pressures facing the sector. D.R. Horton’s April 21 conference call, following its earnings report for the fiscal second quarter, which ended on March 31, highlighted the broader trend.
Incentives on the Rise
The company began the quarter with 20,000 homes in inventory and ended with 36,900. As of March 31, 23,500 of those homes were unsold, including 8,400 completed, down by 2,000 from December 2025, Paul Romanowski, CEO of D.R. Horton, said during the call….

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New home listings are on the rise across the United States, potentially spurred by hopes of falling mortgage rates and a possible end to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, an April 23 report by real estate brokerage Redfin said.
The turn of spring may also have led to an increase in listings, which jumped by 3 percent to 107,644 during the four weeks ending April 19—the largest increase since November 2025, Redfin reported.
Late spring and early summer typically see a run-up in residential home sales, the National Association of Realtors said.
Late April is also considered the most favorable month of the year to list a home for sale since buyers have a greater chance of securing quick offers above asking price, Redfin’s housing insights team noted….

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Wall Street extended its recent rally into another week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reaching fresh record highs as investor focus shifted away from tensions in the Middle East and toward corporate earnings and economic fundamentals.
Market participants appeared encouraged by continued consumer spending despite elevated oil prices, as well as strong earnings reports from major companies, including UnitedHealth, Boeing, and Intel, which exceeded expectations.
Trading throughout the week remained uneven, with sentiment swinging between optimism and caution amid a steady flow of geopolitical developments and corporate news.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.44 percent to close at 49,230, below its April 21 peak. The S&P 500 rose by 0.55 percent to 7,165, hovering near record territory. The Nasdaq Composite led gains for a third straight week, advancing by 1.5 percent to an all-time high, while the Russell 2000 edged up by 0.36 percent….

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Germany’s economy ministry cut its growth forecasts ​in half for 2026 and 2027 amid the Iran war.
“The economic recovery expected for this year will once again be slowed down by external geopolitical shocks,” German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in an April 22 post on Facebook presenting Germany’s spring forecast.
The government expects 0.5 percent growth for 2026, down from an earlier projection of 1 percent, and cut its 2027 growth outlook to 0.9 percent from 1.3 percent.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action noted that the conflict in the Middle East, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has “especially” led to shortages and a rise in the price of energy and other commodities, which also affect companies and private households in Germany….

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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits edged up last week, but the total remained below this year’s high amid a steady job market.
For the week ending April 18, initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 to 214,000, according to Department of Labor data released on April 23. This is up from the previous week’s upwardly revised 208,000 and slightly more than the 210,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
Despite all the noise traversing through the U.S. and global economies—high gasoline prices, war in Iran, and growth risks—the national labor market has been a source of stability….

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Land prices across the United States over the last decade seem to be following the path of home prices, according to an April 21 report from Realtor.com.
In its first-ever land listing analysis, the national real estate listing database found that prices per acre have escalated by 76.6 percent from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2026, while inventory has declined by 23.6 percent over the same period. During the first quarter of 2026, there were 426,986 land listings recorded, with a median price of $62,365 per acre.
“The pandemic didn’t only drain home inventory, it drained land inventory, and that loss is permanent,” Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner said in the report. “When a builder develops a parcel, that land never returns to the market.”…

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President Donald Trump said he would remember the companies that didn’t try to get refunds on tariffs the Supreme Court ruled were illegal earlier this year.
During an interview with CNBC on April 21, Trump was asked about reports that Amazon and Apple Inc. had delayed seeking the refunds over concerns that it would upset the president.
“It’s brilliant if they don’t do that,” Trump said. “If they don’t do that, I will remember them.”
Amazon and Apple Inc. have not publicly stated whether they will seek refunds. Neither company responded to requests for comment by The Epoch Times….

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Car buyers rolled a record amount of negative equity into new auto loans in the first quarter, and longer loan terms are increasing the amount of debt consumers bring to new loans, automotive pricing and insights company Edmunds said on April 20.
The average negative vehicle equity—also called being “underwater” or “upside-down” in automotive financing parlance—for vehicles whose loans are underwater at the time of trade-in jumped to $7,138 in the first quarter, the highest amount ever recorded in the first three months of a new year and a 42 percent spike from the same quarter in 2021, Edmonds researchers said.
The quarter saw 30.9 percent of vehicle trade-ins for new vehicles carrying negative equity, a number topped only by the 31.9 percent seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2021….

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Kevin Warsh, the nominee for chair of the Federal Reserve, testified before the Senate Banking Committee on April 21, fielding a wide range of questions.
Warsh, selected to replace outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell next month, faced questions about monetary policy and central bank independence.
He also faced pushback from lawmakers regarding his financial disclosures and his relationship with President Donald Trump.
Despite opposition from several members of the committee, including Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), prediction markets widely expect the former Fed governor to be confirmed by June 30 at the latest.
For now, here are key takeaways from Warsh’s appearance on Capitol Hill….

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Commentary
Most of the early reports of first-quarter earnings and sales came from financial companies, and most of them reported very good results. Goldman Sachs (GS) kicked off the earnings announcement season with its strongest result in the past five years. Then, JPMorgan (JPM) posted a big beat on Tuesday, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) on Wednesday, announcing 41% annual sales growth and 58% earnings growth – both exceeding analyst expectations – which got many investors excited about data center and AI stocks.
This week, many fundamentally superior stocks in our portfolio will begin to announce their quarterly results, and expectations are very high due to positive analyst earnings revisions. Also, some welcome news from our stocks, such as Bloom Energy (BE) surging on news that Oracle (ORCL) is expanding its purchase of the company’s natural gas fuel cells for its data centers. Oracle’s goal is to become the largest data center company in the U.S., so naturally, Bloom Energy should be a big beneficiary. With Bloom Energy’s natural gas fuel cells, Oracle’s data centers do not have to depend on utilities to provide electricity for its aggressive expansion….

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Americans kept on spending in March amid a sharp rise in gasoline prices, new government data suggest.
Retail sales, an estimate of how much money people spend on goods and services at the retail level, rose 1.7 percent in March from the previous month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on April 21. Compared with a year earlier, retail sales were up 4 percent.
That marked a significant surge from the Bureau’s upwardly revised 0.7 percent monthly gain recorded in February.
Much of the increase was driven by spending on gasoline, which jumped 15.5 percent month over month in March. Excluding gasoline stations, retail sales rose just 0.6 percent in March from the previous month….

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Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, called for a “regime change” at the central bank.
Appearing at his April 21 confirmation hearing, Warsh reaffirmed the importance of Fed independence, but touted reforms to restore the century-old institution’s credibility.
“Once you let inflation take hold in the economy, it’s more expensive and harder to bring it down, and so the fatal policy error going back four or five years is still a legacy that we’re dealing with,” Warsh told the Senate Banking Committee.
“I think that means a regime change in the conduct of policy. I think that means a different, new inflation framework.”…

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Australians are showing a renewed reliance on cash for everyday transactions, defying predictions of a cashless economy.
New findings from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) 2025 Consumer Payments Survey showed cash use was on the rise across the country.
“Around 15 percent of payments, by number, were made in cash in 2025, compared with about 13 percent in 2022,” the RBA said.
“In value terms, the share of payments made in cash was little changed, at around 8 percent. A higher share of in-person payments, 19 percent by number and 16 percent by value, were made in cash.”
The RBA survey also revealed 50 percent of Australians still made some kind of cash transaction each week and a third would face hardship and inconvenience if cash was not available….

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An April 20 report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) indicated that while more Gen Zers are now considering a career in the construction industry, recruitment to the trades still faces obstacles.
The NAHB found that construction trade interest among adults aged 18 to 25 has doubled from 3 percent to 6 percent over the past decade. Today, 73 percent of young adults cited good pay and the opportunity to gain useful skills as the main reasons for choosing this career.
However, additional work is still needed to educate the public about the increasing opportunities for long-standing, lucrative careers in skilled trades, the NAHB stated….

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is set to begin the first phase of its refund process for certain tariffs on April 20, following a ruling by the Supreme Court in February.
CBP will deploy the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) through its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system, which would allow businesses to seek refunds for tariffs they paid that were imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that the IEEPA does not clearly authorize the president to impose tariffs.
The agency said the CAPE will be implemented in phases, with the first phase starting at 8 a.m. ET on April 20 and covering “certain unliquidated entries and certain entries within 80 days of liquidation.”…

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Stocks extended their rebound into the third week of April, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reaching new record highs following announcements by President Donald Trump and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns over global energy supply disruptions.
The decline in oil prices and Treasury bond yields supported investor appetite for risk assets, helping fuel a broad-based rally led by software, financial, travel, and leisure stocks, small caps, and a strong initial public offering.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 3.19 percent to 49,447, near its weekly high. The S&P 500 gained 4.54 percent to 7,126, surpassing 7,100 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite led for a third consecutive week, surging 6.84 percent to an all-time high, while the Russell 2000 advanced 5.56 percent….

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While homeownership remains a top goal for many Americans, an April 16 report from Realtor.com indicates renting is the more affordable option now in all 50 largest U.S. metros.
“A person moving into the typical rental spends less each month than someone buying a starter home today,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in a statement.
“As buying costs have eased in many markets, renters who are intentional about saving have a real opportunity to build toward a down payment faster than they might think.”
According to Hale, renters can save an average of $920 per month compared to the cost of buying, and those savings can be earmarked for a down payment when they are ready to purchase. She noted that savings can be substantial in markets with the widest percentage gaps between renting and buying….

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BEIJING/SINGAPORE—China’s economy picked up speed early in 2026, riding an export surge before the Iran war sent energy costs soaring and put global demand—vital to Beijing’s growth ambitions—at risk.
The 5.0 percent year-on-year pace in the first quarter sits at the top of China’s full-year target range of 4.5–5.0 percent, highlighting a resilience that sets it apart from much of Asia, helped by ample strategic oil reserves and a diversified energy mix.
Yet the Middle East conflict lays bare a core vulnerability: an export-led growth model that delivers annual trade surpluses the size of the Dutch economy depends on open sea lanes—for China and for the customers it sells to….

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Residential foreclosures are on the rise across the United States.
An April 16 report by real estate analytics firm ATTOM showed that 118,727 homes were in foreclosure in the first quarter of the year. That’s a 6 percent jump from the fourth quarter of 2025 and a 26 percent year-over-year increase.
March was an especially active month for foreclosure filings, ATTOM noted. Just under 46,000 homes were in the foreclosure process for the month, up by 18 percent from February and 28 percent from the same month in 2025.
ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said initial foreclosure proceedings and completed foreclosures spiked in the quarter and were also up significantly compared to the first quarter of last year….

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Grillers received some bad news ahead of the summer barbecue season: Beef prices are surging.
Live cattle prices climbed a record $2.52 per pound at the end of the April 15 trading session, adding to their year-to-date gain of about 8 percent. Futures retreated modestly, slipping 1 percent the next day.
Prices have climbed 25 percent over the past year amid shrinking supply and steady demand.
At the retail level, the average price for a pound of ground beef is at a record high of $6.70, up 16 percent from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The March consumer price index report confirmed modest relief, with beef prices coming down more than 1 percent….

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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits remained around historically low levels, signaling a stable U.S. labor market.
Initial jobless claims fell by 11,000 to 207,000 for the week ending April 11, according to new Department of Labor data released on April 16. This is down from the previous week’s 218,000, which was the highest reading since early February during the storm-driven fallout. Economists had penciled in a level of 215,000.
The four-week average, which strips out week-to-week volatility, was little changed at 209,750.
Unemployment claims data further support that layoffs remain low as companies refrain from shrinking headcount while navigating turbulence in the broader economy….

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American housing builders’ sentiment has experienced a “sharp decline” in April due to concerns about the economy.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) declined four points this month, NAHB said in an April 15 statement. The index, which measures builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes, was at 34 this month, the lowest level since September 2025.
“Builder sentiment has fallen back in spring as buyers face ongoing elevated interest rates and growing economic uncertainty,” NAHB Chairman Bill Owens said.
“The year started with hopes for housing momentum growth, but risks with respect to the Iran war, energy costs, and declines for consumer confidence have slowed the market.”…

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. economy could grow more than 3 percent this year despite disruptions from the Iran war, while President Donald Trump said energy prices would soon fall sharply, limiting inflation risks.
“I think the underlying economy remains strong,” Bessent said on April 14 during a Wall Street Journal Opinion Live event in Washington. “I do think that the growth could easily exceed 3 percent, 3.5 percent this year, still.”
His comments come as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth outlook, warning on April 14 that the world economy could edge toward recession if the Middle East conflict intensifies and energy prices remain elevated….

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As blue states raise taxes to fund an expanding array of social programs, companies, jobs, and families are moving out.
On March 30, Washington state enacted a 9.9 percent “millionaire’s” income tax, transitioning it from a no-income-tax state that had attracted companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Costco, Boeing, and Starbucks, to joining the ranks of the 10 states with the highest income tax rates. That list includes California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. 
In signing the tax bill into law, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson stated: “Adoption of the historic Millionaires’ Tax makes our tax system more fair, and means free meals for K-12 students, the largest tax break in state history for small businesses, eliminating the sales tax for baby diapers, and sending a check to nearly 500,000 working families to make life more affordable.”…

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Companies, jobs, and families are moving out of blue states that are raising taxes to fund an expanding array of social programs.
On March 30, Washington state enacted a 9.9 percent “millionaire’s” income tax, transitioning it from a no-income-tax state that had attracted companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Costco, Boeing, and Starbucks to one of the 10 states and districts with the highest income tax rates, along with California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
In signing the tax bill into law, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said, “Adoption of the historic Millionaires’ Tax makes our tax system more fair, and means free meals for K–12 students, the largest tax break in state history for small businesses, eliminating the sales tax for baby diapers, and sending a check to nearly 500,000 working families to make life more affordable.”…

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China’s export growth slowed to its lowest level in five months as market watchers monitor the global economic fallout from the seven-week-old war in Iran.
Exports rose 2.5 percent year over year to $321.03 billion, customs data released on April 14 showed. This is sharply down from the February spike of almost 40 percent.
Last month’s reading fell short of the consensus estimate of 8.3 percent and represented the weakest reading since October 2025.
But while a slowdown could relate to the war’s impact on global trade, it could also reflect seasonal factors from the Lunar New Year holiday and a high base effect from the 2025 tariff-driven acceleration….

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday cut its growth outlook and warned the global economy could edge toward recession if the Iran war intensifies, as energy disruptions ripple through inflation, financial markets, and trade.
In its latest World Economic Outlook and accompanying analysis, the IMF said the Middle East conflict—now disrupting a key share of global oil and gas flows—sent previously positive growth momentum to an unexpected halt and introduced unusually high uncertainty for policymakers and investors.
“Downside risks dominate,” IMF analysts wrote in the executive summary. “Geopolitical tensions could worsen even more than they already have—turning the situation into the largest energy crisis in modern times—or domestic political strains could erupt.”…

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Sales of existing homes in March slumped 3.6 percent from the previous month in a sign of waning consumer confidence and sluggish job growth, a new report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on April 13.
Consumer sentiment plummeted 11 percent in April versus March as the U.S.–Israel war with Iran, surging fuel costs, and higher prices weighed on personal finances, a University of Michigan survey found. On the employment front, U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate stagnant at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on April 3.
Those factors—along with elevated interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages—combined to stifle the volume of existing homes sales for March….

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Immigration has dominated the conversation around today’s labor market, but another force reshaping employment conditions is the steady exit of older Americans from the workforce.
The share of Americans aged 55 and older who are working sits slightly above 37 percent, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the lowest level since April 2005 and has been steadily declining since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Age is playing a central role in the downward trend, as the youngest Baby Boomers are 62. With millions of Americans turning 65 this year, the demographic shift will persist, experts say.
But rising home values and a surging stock market have also supported older workers’ decision to step aside from professional life and ease into a game of pickleball and sleeping in….

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Commentary
The S&P 500 rose 4.4% in the first 10 days of April, and NASDAQ is up 6.1%, after Iran and the U.S. agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. During this ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz was initially opened up in a limited way to alleviate crucial shortages of crude oil and fertilizer, but that flow of ships was very limited last week and may be terminated again as the peace talks broke up last weekend.
During this peace process, I wouldn’t become over-concerned with day-to-day news. I’d rather examine the endgame. In last week’s Navellier Market Buzz, veteran investment strategist Eric Fry and I discussed whether controlling world energy markets was part of the original Trump administration’s “master plan” for attacking Iran. After all, the U.S. is already controlling LNG shipments, so crude oil would be the next logical step toward stabilizing global energy prices. Since U.S. sanctions remain on Iranian crude oil, the U.S. has negotiating leverage. Furthermore, the U.S. bombed Kharg Island before the ceasefire, and our U.S. Marines could easily take control of Iran’s deep-water port there, a spot controlling 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports….

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Higher energy prices raised producer prices in March, but the jump undershot economists’ expectations, suggesting less underlying pressure than anticipated.
The producer price index—a measure of prices businesses pay for goods and services—jumped by 0.5 percent in March, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on April 14.
It came in below the consensus forecast of a 1.1 percent rise.
March’s increase was driven entirely by the 1.6 percent jump in final demand goods, the largest since August 2023. Most of this can be traced to higher energy costs, particularly an almost 16 percent spike in gasoline prices.
Other goods also edged up, including diesel and jet fuel, home heating oil, meats, and basic organic chemicals. Conversely, the indexes for fresh and dry vegetables and natural gas declined….

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President Donald Trump’s signature tax legislation—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—is expected to contribute to economic growth more than initially expected, the White House said.
The Council of Economic Advisers released the 2026 Economic Report of the President on April 13. The annual report offers a detailed assessment of the president’s policies over the past year and their effects on current and future economic conditions.
This year, officials concentrated on 14 topics, most notably the economic and fiscal effects of the president’s landmark bill, from gross domestic product (GDP) to inflation-adjusted wages.
Over the next four years, the White House now expects the bill to bolster real GDP by 4.9 percent, from the initial estimate of 4.6 percent….

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Property taxes are rising across the United States and, on average, have outpaced inflation.
Homeowners in 2025 paid a total of $396.8 billion in property taxes on more than 89.6 million single-family homes, a 3.7 percent increase from 2024, an April 9 report by real estate property data provider ATTOM states.
The average single-family home paid $4,427 in taxes, up by 3 percent from 2024, driven by a higher effective tax rate, according to the report.
The ATTOM report analyzed tax data collected from assessment offices, combined with estimated market values of single-family homes. The estimated home value of $494,231 for 2025 was down by 1.7 percent year-over-year, ATTOM noted, following a significant spike in 2024….

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Stocks extended their rebound into the second week of April, supported by a temporary truce in the Middle East that eased pressure on oil prices and improved investor sentiment.
The advance came despite fresh economic data pointing to rising inflation and slower growth, suggesting that investors view near-term risks as having passed and expect both inflation and growth to stabilize.
Healthcare, tech, and leisure stocks led the market gains.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 3.04 percent to 47,916, ending slightly below its weekly high. The S&P 500 gained by 3.56 percent to 6,816, also near its weekly high. The Nasdaq Composite led for a second consecutive week, climbing by 4.68 percent, while the Russell 2000 advanced by 3.97 percent….

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The war in Iran dragged consumer confidence to a historical low this month amid increasing concerns about inflationary pressures.
The University of Michigan’s preliminary April Consumer Sentiment Index, released on April 10, declined 11 percent to an all-time low of 47.6.
This is down from the previous month’s final reading of 53.5 and below the market estimate of 52.
April’s downturn reflected a sharp 20 percent plunge in expected business conditions, alongside an 11 percent deterioration in respondents’ views of their personal finances.
Consumers cited concerns surrounding high prices and weaker asset values.
Open-ended comments blamed current conditions on the six-week-old Iranian conflict. Nearly all the surveys of respondents were conducted before the two-week ceasefire agreed to by the United States and Iran on April 7….

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The U.S. annual inflation rate rose to 3.3 percent in March, driven almost entirely by a spike in energy prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This is the highest level since May 2024.
The 12-month core inflation rate, which removes volatile energy and food prices, edged up to 2.6 percent, from 2.5 percent.
Core inflation came in below the consensus forecast of 2.7 percent.
This is a developing story. Please check back for further updates.
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A record share of home sellers cut their listing prices in February as competition for homebuyers necessitated steep price reductions, an April 9 report by real estate platform Redfin said.
About 34.2 percent of sellers reduced their listing prices in February, up from 31.5 percent in the same month a year earlier, according to Redfin’s analysis of MLS data. That was the highest February share since the firm began tracking MLS records in 2012.
The sellers who cut their listing prices reduced them by an average of $40,915, said Redfin. That amounts to a 7.3 percent cut, the highest for any February since 2023.
Final sales prices could include further reductions due to negotiations on such items as closing costs, contingency fees, and other contractual stipulations….

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Israel on April 9 agreed to negotiate with the Lebanese government but continues to target Hezbollah-held pockets in the Bekaa Valley, saying its operations against the Iranian-backed militia are not included in the tentative two-week ceasefire negotiated less than two days prior by the Trump administration and Tehran.
That fragile truce—announced just after 7 p.m. ET April 7—appeared to be holding, despite reports from the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait of sporadic Iranian drone strikes.
With this in the background, a United States delegation led by Vice President JD Vance is set to meet for in-person talks with Iranian representatives in Islamabad starting on April 11….

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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to a two-month high.
For the week ending April 4, initial jobless claims jumped by 16,000 to 219,000, according to new Department of Labor data released on April 9.
This is up from the previous week’s upwardly revised 203,000 and higher than the consensus estimate of 210,000.
The four-week average, which strips out week-to-week volatility, ticked up to 209,500.
Weekly claims are still firmly below the elevated readings in the second half of last year and remain hovering around historically low levels.
Various economic indicators suggest that employment conditions have improved as of late, even as the labor market remains in a low-fire, low-hire state….

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U.S. economic growth nearly flatlined at the end of 2025. The fourth-quarter GDP growth rate was 0.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s final estimate, released on April 9.
This marks a downward revision from last month’s estimate of 0.7 percent, reflecting modest downward adjustments to investments and consumer spending.
While advanced forecasts had presented GDP estimates as high as 5 percent, the final reading was likely driven, in part, by the record-breaking 43-day federal government shutdown.
The federal government erased almost 1 percent from the GDP print.
Consumer spending and investments were the main drivers of growth. Net exports fell due to a slight increase in imports, which subtract from GDP calculations….

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With net population outflows and a slowing pace of company formation in advanced industries in recent years, California is losing momentum as a long-standing high-tech hub and, by extension, a housing hot spot, according to a recent report from Chapman University.
Conversely, new high-tech hubs and housing hot spots are emerging.
Jim Doti, president emeritus and professor of economics at Chapman University, recently spoke with Siyamak Khorrami, host of The Epoch Times’ “Market Insider,” about this ongoing shift in real estate hot spots.
Resale Market
Doti said the U.S. resale market, or existing-home market, is now “weaker than it has ever been,” as many homeowners are not putting their homes up for sale because they are locked into 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with ultra-low interest rates of 2.5 to 4 percent that they took out during the COVID-19 pandemic, a phenomenon known as the “golden handcuff” effect….

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Federal Reserve officials anticipate lower interest rates this year, despite the Iranian conflict clouding the economic outlook, according to minutes from the March policy meeting.
Policymakers left interest rates unchanged at the March 17—18 meeting, keeping the target federal funds rate range between 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent.
The meeting summary, released on April 8, suggested that most participants believed the war—now in its sixth week—could require rate cuts if higher gasoline prices adversely affect consumer spending or the labor market.
“Most participants raised the concern that a protracted conflict in the Middle East could lead to a further softening in labor market conditions, which could warrant additional rate cuts, as substantially higher oil prices could reduce households’ purchasing power, tighten financial conditions, and reduce growth abroad,” the document said….

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The first quarter of 2026 marked a renewed wave of megamergers in the food industry, as companies sought scale, efficiency, and synergies to navigate a more challenging global economic environment.
The return of large-scale consolidation reflects a broader shift in corporate strategy, as companies respond to persistent cost pressures, slower growth, and changing consumer behavior by pursuing size and operational leverage.
Back-to-Back Deals
The trend was highlighted by Sysco’s agreement to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot for approximately $29.1 billion and by McCormick’s combination with Unilever Foods, valued at about $44.8 billion.
According to London Stock Exchange Group, McCormick’s deal ranked second globally in the first quarter, trailing Amazon’s $50 billion investment in OpenAI, while Sysco’s ranked seventh—the first time since 2015 that two U.S. consumer deals have entered the global top 10 in the same quarter….

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Although many American companies, both large and small, have called employees back to the office over the past few years, remote jobs may still be holding up.
A new report from FlexJobs, a job search platform based in Boulder, Colorado, indicates that remote-job postings in the first quarter increased by 20 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025.
“As the remote-job market continues to evolve, both employers and job seekers are adapting to new expectations around flexibility, compensation, and long-term career growth,” the report states.
According to its findings, mid-career professionals are leading the market, with 65 percent of remote positions targeting experienced workers. During the first quarter, the top five remote positions were in the project management, sales, computer and information technology, business development, and operational fields….

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Moody’s Ratings on Tuesday downgraded its outlook on U.S. business development companies (BDCs) to negative, pointing to growing client redemptions that could pressure private credit.
Business development companies are publicly listed funds that provide debt and equity financing to small- and mid‑sized firms. Private lenders are one of the key gateways for investors to access the $2 trillion private credit market.
The mounting challenges, however, are falling primarily on non-traded BDCs, accounting for almost two-thirds of the sector.
Non‑traded funds collect money from investors, borrow additional capital, and use that combined pool to make loans to private companies. They are designed to continue raising new money over time, while giving investors only limited opportunities to cash out….

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Commentary
We’re approaching another earnings season, starting in mid-April, when many of our stocks shine the brightest. Some of the fundamentally superior stocks in our portfolio may bend, but they do not often break due to their strong underlying forecasted sales and earnings growth, so in a market like this, where it’s every stock for itself, we seek out fundamentally superior stocks – those likely to pop during earnings season.
One example is Argan (AGX), which surged 37.9% on March 27, a day when the Dow lost 793 points. Argan announced quarterly sales up 12.7% in the latest quarter. Better yet, earnings rose 56.3% to $49.2 million ($3.47 per share). Analysts expected sales of $255.3 million and earnings of $1.98 per share, so Argan posted a 2.7% sales surprise and a stunning 75.3% earnings surprise. Also, since Argan is a data center-related stock, it helped lift other data center stocks, which continue to exhibit relative strength….

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International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said that the current oil and gas crisis is worse than those in the 70s and 2022 combined.
“I am very pessimistic because this war is blocking one of the arteries of the world economy. Not just oil and gas, but also fertilizers, petrochemicals, helium, and many other things,” he told French newspaper Le Figaro in comments published on April 6.
“If we look at the three major oil and gas crises of the past, the current crisis is more serious than those of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined. We are facing a major energy shock that combines an oil shock, a gas shock, and a food shock. It is a major upheaval for the economy.”…

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International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said that the current oil and gas crisis is worse than those in the 70s and 2022 combined.
“I am very pessimistic because this war is blocking one of the arteries of the world economy. Not just oil and gas, but also fertilizers, petrochemicals, helium, and many other things,” he told French newspaper Le Figaro in comments published on April 6.
“If we look at the three major oil and gas crises of the past, the current crisis is more serious than those of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined. We are facing a major energy shock that combines an oil shock, a gas shock, and a food shock. It is a major upheaval for the economy.”…

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Years ago, buying a “fixer-upper” house to upgrade and resell was often seen as a viable means of earning quick money. Today, however, home flippers have seen their investments shrink to the lowest gross profit percentage since 2008.
In its 2025 year-end Home Flipping Report, ATTOM announced a significant drop in gross profit margins, with a return on investment of just 25.5 percent—the lowest rate recorded since 2008 and down from 32.1 percent the year before. A typical 2025 flip netted $65,981 in gross profit, compared to $77,000 in 2024.
Last year, buyers purchased homes intended for flipping at a median price of $259,019, with a median sale price after renovation at $325,000, according to ATTOM….

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Sales of new electric vehicles (EVs) trended sharply lower in February versus the prior year, but a wave of new EV launches scheduled for 2026—and painful prices at the gas pump—could spur increased demand for electric automobiles, according to a new report.
There were just under 69,000 new EVs sold in February, automotive industry insights and technology provider Cox Automotive said in its monthly EV market report, released on March 16. Sales were down by nearly 27 percent from February 2025, though they ticked up by 5.8 percent from January.
Automakers and dealerships are still adjusting to a new paradigm and gauge consumer appetite for new EV sales following the Sept. 30, 2025, expiration of a $7,500 tax credit that spurred record EV sales in the preceding months….

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Cut, hold, or hike? That is the question at the Federal Reserve.
The Fed will have six weeks until officials convene their next two-day policy meeting and decide the course of action for interest rates.
Officials voted overwhelmingly to keep the benchmark federal funds rates unchanged in its existing range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent.
The central bank, according to the Summary of Economic Projections, is still penciling in a single quarter-point rate cut sometime this year.
Investors largely agreed that the Fed would follow through with further monetary policy loosening.
However, futures market data suggest traders are increasingly betting on a rate hike, the first since the current easing cycle began almost two years ago….

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Stocks declined for a fourth consecutive week as rising oil prices and higher Treasury yields weighed on investor sentiment and reduced appetite for risky assets.
The downturn came as continued disruptions to Middle East energy supplies pushed oil prices higher, fueling inflation fears.
At the same time, signs of a weakening labor market and the ongoing U.S.–Israel conflict with Iran complicated the Federal Reserve’s ability to provide clear guidance on monetary policy, adding further pressure on equities.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2.11 percent to 45,577, closing at its weekly low. The S&P 500 dropped by 1.9 percent to 6,506, also closing near its weekly low. The Nasdaq Composite declined by 2.07 percent, while the Russell 2000 fell by 1.68 percent….

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WASHINGTON—Americans have become familiar with the H-1B visa, a skilled worker visa that has sparked heated debates among conservatives.
But there’s a key feeder for the visa that many Americans may not know—one that is meeting increased scrutiny from Congress ahead of possible reforms from the Trump administration.
Optional practical training (OPT) allows foreign nationals on student visas to work in the United States before or, in many cases, after they have completed their studies. Although some have touted its provision of skilled labor, concern has grown about potential displacement of American tech workers by the program, which has grown to more than 400,000 participants as of 2024….

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Staffing agencies provide job and career opportunities to more than 10 million Americans, including more than 1.7 million in California. While the state has the nation’s largest temporary employment market, experts said staffing agency fraud is rampant due to a lack of oversight.
Many employees are unable to access workers’ compensation due to these fraudulent practices, and taxpayers ultimately bear these medical costs, the experts noted.
According to the California Department of Insurance, authorities identified 2,932 suspected workers’ compensation fraud cases in the 2023–24 fiscal year in the state, resulting in 128 arrests and potential fraud losses of about $157 million.
Legitimate Firms Undercut
Siyamak Khorrami, host of The Epoch Times’ “California Insider,” recently spoke with employment and legal experts in the state to explore the issue….

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The private credit market showed signs of stabilization in February, with default rates declining, even as investor sentiment continued to weigh heavily on publicly traded private credit funds.
According to Fitch Ratings, the U.S. private credit default rate for the 12 months through February declined to 5.4 percent from 5.8 percent in the 12 months through January.
The agency reported seven private credit default cases in February, with health care providers accounting for two. Health care devices, technology software, building and materials, chemicals, and business services each recorded one case.
Despite the easing in defaults, shares of publicly traded private credit management funds have continued to decline, falling 25 percent to 35 percent since September 2025, as investors react to fears of a broader market downturn….

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HOUSTON—The Iran war’s global energy shock will be front and center when the 44th annual CERAWeek by S&P Global Energy convenes March 24 at the Hilton Americas–Houston and George R. Brown Convention Center.
More than 10,000 industry experts, financial analysts, and innovators—including 1,620 corporate executives and 445 government officials from 89 countries—will attend the five-day event, which features 1,470 speakers leading 744 presentations and forums covered by nearly 400 credentialed media, according to S&P Global.
Often described as “the Super Bowl of energy” and “the Davos of energy,” CERAWeek spans all realms of energy generation: Leading nuclear, geothermal, wind, and solar developers pitch their industries, and issues such as electric grids, global mining, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and data centers are extensively explored by government and industry leaders….

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President Donald Trump said on March 23 that he ordered a five‑day pause on planned U.S. strikes against Iranian energy sites after what he called “productive” talks toward a full resolution of the Middle East conflict.
In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that both sides discussed a “complete and total resolution” of the conflict, now entering its fourth week.
“I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” the president said on his social media platform….

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HOUSTON—U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the global economic shock fostered by Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on neighboring Gulf state energy infrastructure is a temporary disruption that underscores the long-term strategic value in increasing energy production, especially oil and gas.
“Things are being done” now to stem skyrocketing fuel costs that will create a more resilient supply chain once the Iran war is resolved, Wright told S&P Global Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin on March 23 during an opening session of the 44th annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference at the Americas Hilton-Houston….

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In 1976, the Steve Miller Band released its hit song “Take the Money and Run.” Fifty years later, that message appears to resonate with some of America’s wealthiest individuals who are relocating their families and businesses from high-tax states such as California and New York to lower-tax, business-friendly states, particularly Florida.
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, for example, announced his exodus from the West Coast to Miami in a recent LinkedIn post. He and his wife, Sheri Schultz, decided to leave Seattle after more than 40 years and move to Miami for their “next adventure.”
Schultz cited “sunshine” and proximity to family as the main reasons for the move….

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HOUSTON—The United Arab Emirates is calling on multinational corporations and governments to convene an international “working session on the resilience of the global energy system” to address vulnerabilities exposed by Iran’s targeting of neighboring Gulf states’ energy infrastructure and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Stability does not happen on its own. It must be built deliberately and politically,” UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber told energy company executives, financial analysts, and government officials on March 23, the first day of the 44th annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference at the Americas Hilton–Houston….

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Commentary
The current oil and commodity price shock has created an interesting pattern: The futures curve has moved further into backwardation, and market participants are shrugging off the headlines, discounting a short-term inflationary burst that would be rapidly corrected.
We should expect disinflationary pressures to dominate after the current energy shock, rather than a prolonged inflation crisis. The combination of a backwardated oil curve, contracting money supply, weak money velocity, and a strong U.S. dollar argues for lower—not higher—trend inflation once the temporary impact of higher crude prices fades.
Recent geopolitical tensions have pushed crude above $100 dollars per barrel (Brent), reviving fears of a new inflation wave. However, the structure of the oil market shows that this is being priced as a short‑lived supply disruption, driven by a geopolitical risk and scarcity premium in the front-end, not a persistent shock….

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U.S. stocks opened lower while oil prices held above $100 a barrel on March 24, as lingering doubts over easing Middle East tensions weighed on sentiment, tempering a relief rally from the previous session despite President Donald Trump’s delaying strikes on Iran’s power grid and energy infrastructure, citing progress in peace talks.
At the open, Wall Street’s main indexes gave back some of the prior session’s gains that followed Trump’s decision to extend by five days his weekend ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, after he pointed to “productive” discussions with Tehran….

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Commentary
The big investment news last week was Nvidia’s developer conference, which is already helping to boost storage companies like Micron Technology (MU) and Seagate Technology (STX), as well as companies speeding up optical connections, like Ciena Corporation (CIEN) and Ubiquiti (UI).
Nvidia Founder and CEO Jensen Huang said he expects at least $1 trillion in demand for its Blackwell and Rubin AI systems through 2027, up from about $500 billion in projected demand through 2026. In other words, Nvidia will be averaging over 100% annual sales growth. For this quarter, the analyst community is forecasting $78.7 billion in sales (+79%) and 119% annual earnings growth of $1.77 per share. In the past month, 31 analysts have revised their earnings estimates higher for Nvidia, and I am expecting more upward revisions after Huang’s strong 2027 guidance. Nvidia looks very strong now….

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Commentary
I have lost multiple restaurants over the past few years. The final two closed last year in California.
At first, it was easy to explain. COVID-19 hit, and everything changed overnight. Then came the actor strikes, the writer strikes, and the fires that swept through Los Angeles. One by one, these events reshaped the economic and cultural landscape. The city felt different. People moved differently. They spent differently.
Restaurants, especially the kind I built, started to struggle in a way that felt deeper than a temporary downturn. I operated in what I would call the middle, casual, sit-down, mid-priced restaurants. Not fast food, not fine dining. The place where families gather, where people linger, where community happens over a meal….

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Commentary
As the federal debt climbs to record levels, public trust in government is scraping the bottom.
Those two trends should concern every member of Congress. Lawmakers should restore credibility by sending good government reforms to the president’s desk. One place Congress could start is by reforming earmarks.
After a decade-long moratorium, Congress revived earmarks in 2021. The ban was in place for good reasons. Instead of allocating taxpayer dollars through competitive processes based on merit, agency review, and national priorities, earmarks direct funds to projects at the request of individual lawmakers.
Before the moratorium, earmarks exploded in number and cost, peaking at nearly 16,000 projects costing more than $29 billion in 2010….

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More than 43.5 million properties across the United States are at risk for hail damage, which could result in an estimated $17.8 trillion in reconstruction cost value, according to a new report.
In its 2026 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report, released on March 24, Cotality, an Irvine, California-based global property data company, noted that hail is one of the country’s most prominent drivers of property insurance claims today. Icy rain can damage roofs, resulting in leaks, cave-ins, mold, and in some cases, destruction of homes. The report notes that aged roofs are more susceptible to hail damage because they are usually more brittle.
Texas leads the nation in hail risk, not only due to its size but also its geographic position related to severe storm activity and housing concentrations, the report says. The Lone Star state has nearly 8 million properties that are at moderate or greater risk to hail damage, carrying nearly $3.1 trillion in reconstruction cost value, followed by Illinois with 3 million properties and $1.5 trillion in reconstruction cost value….

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National home sale agreements that fell through last month reached a record high for February, with 13.7 percent of home buyers backing out of deals.
A March 24 Redfin report indicates more than 42,000 agreements collapsed—the highest number since records began in 2017.
The Redfin analysis is based on multiple listing service (MLS) pending sales data and attributes the rise in back-outs to the influx of additional buyer options.
“There are hundreds of thousands more home sellers than buyers in the country, a near-record gap that gives buyers options and negotiating power,” the report states.
“A buyer may back out of a contract during the inspection period if they see a home they like better or an issue comes up that they don’t want to repair.”…

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San Francisco is considering a ballot measure that could expand its overpaid executive tax, raising rates for the wealthy in an attempt to combat income inequality.
The city’s proposed tax was approved in 2020. After it was scaled back in 2024, it could be on the ballot again in June.
Although critics call it government overreach into private business, proponents say it is an attempt to address what they say is outrageous compensation.
Here are the details on the tax and the debate unfolding in California.
What the Tax Does
The overpaid CEO tax applied to companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than $1 billion in revenue that had top executives who earned more than 100 times the median salary of their San Francisco-based workers….

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A new study finds that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have generated substantial federal revenue and accelerated a shift away from Chinese imports while having only a minimal overall effect on U.S. economic output.
The paper, released on March 25 by the Brookings Institution, analyzed the short-run impact of tariffs imposed in 2025, chiefly the reciprocal tariffs Trump first announced on April 2 of that year, a date he referred to as Liberation Day.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said when announcing his new tariff policies, which included a 10 percent baseline levy on nearly all imports, plus higher tariffs of varying degrees meant to penalize countries for their trade barriers….

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Edmunds, a Santa Monica, California-based online car shopping guide, is forecasting a significant drop in new vehicle sales by the end of the first quarter. Its March 26 report predicts sales of 3,693,599 new cars and trucks nationally by the end of the month, marking a 6.3 percent decline from the first quarter of 2025 and an 8.8 percent decline from the fourth quarter.
“Q1 marked a bumpy start for new-car sales in 2026,” Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights, said in the report.
“Between severe weather, geopolitical uncertainty, rising gas prices and ongoing affordability challenges, it’s no surprise sales are down year-over-year.”
But despite the drop, Caldwell said “sales are far from falling off a cliff.”…

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The surge in sports betting across the United States is starting to ripple through consumers’ credit health and bolster delinquencies, economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York caution.
Americans legally bet nearly $167 billion on sports last year, generating a record $16.96 billion in revenue for the industry, according to the American Gaming Association.
Now that sports betting is everywhere—even on smartphones—New York Fed economists said in a March 25 paper that the practice is impacting consumer credit outcomes.
This is especially true of the states that have legalized mobile sports betting.
“Following the legalization of sports betting in a state, credit delinquencies increase, driven by those under 40 years old,” researchers wrote….

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U.S. stocks declined for a fifth consecutive week, marking the longest losing streak since 2022, as higher oil prices, elevated Treasury yields, and renewed concerns about the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the technology sector reduced investor appetite for risk assets. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell into correction territory—about 10 percent below their recent peaks.
For the week, the Dow fell by 0.90 percent to 45,166, ending at its weekly low. The S&P 500 dropped by 2.12 percent to 6,368, also closing near the low of the week. The Nasdaq suffered the steepest loss, falling by 3.23 percent, while the Russell 2000 managed a modest 0.42 percent gain….

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Block’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Amrita Ahuja defended the San Francisco-based payments company’s mass layoffs due to AI adaptation and called the shift inevitable.
“We’re seeing an inevitability around productivity gains and what that means for us as a business,” she said at the WSJ CFO Council Summit in Palo Alto, California, on March 24. “We can actually reinvest those gains into what the new shape of operating expenses looks like. It’s investing in AI infrastructure. It’s investing in the tokens. It’s investing in the people who are truly AI native, and able to 10x themselves.”…

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It’s another record year for the conversion of office buildings into residential apartments in the United States, according to a recent RentCafe report.
At the beginning of 2026, 90,300 apartments were in the process of conversion across the country—a 28 percent increase from 70,600 in 2025, according to the March 24 report.
At 47 percent, office conversions now make up almost half of all adaptive reuse projects nationwide, with the New York metro area leading the way with 16,358 conversions in the pipeline. Washington placed second, with 8,479 conversions, and Chicago came in third, with 4,360.
“The imbalance in the office sector didn’t emerge overnight,” Yardi research director Peter Kolaczynski said in the report. “COVID-19 is to the office market what eCommerce was to retail. As a result, there is simply too much office space in the market right now.”…

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With the Strait of Hormuz—the primary gateway for Middle East oil exports—effectively shut down by Iran, the prices of both crude oil and gasoline have surged since the start of the U.S.–Israel war with Iran on Feb. 28.
As negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the war continue, an industry insider predicts upward pressure for oil prices will persist for decades, citing structural underinvestment in the oil industry.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $99.64 per barrel on March 27, more than 48 percent higher than the pre-war level of around $67 per barrel. The Brent crude oil benchmark closed at $105.32, up by 46 percent….

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U.S. job openings slipped below seven million in February as labor demand slightly cooled.
The number of job vacancies declined by 358,000 to 6.882 million, from an upwardly revised 7.24 million in January, according to new data released on March 31 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economists penciled in a reading of 6.92 million.
Last month’s decline was concentrated in accommodation and food services (211,000) and mining and logging (12,000). Vacancies in manufacturing also fell by 71,000.
Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, observed a modest drop in health care services, which fell by 51,000.
“This is important given the driving force in payrolls recently,” Roach said to The Epoch Times in a note. “Expect weakness in Friday’s non-farm payrolls for health care.”…

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About 52.2 percent of U.S. home listings in February had been on the market for more than 60 days, representing a record $347 billion in “stale” inventory,  according to a March 30 Redfin report.
The share of stale inventory in the month was up by 2 percent from February 2025 (50.1 percent), marking the highest level since 2019, the report shows.
Redfin defines a stale listing as “a home that has been on the market for 30 days or more without serious buyer interest.”
Redfin noted that the multi-billion-dollar value of stale inventory was up by 4.3 percent year over year and is the highest dollar amount on record for February. The report attributes the increase in dollar amount to “thousands more home sellers than buyers,” which is causing homes to sit on the market….

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Commentary
As the market opened last Monday, President Trump ignited a big rally before the stock market opening when he said on Truth Social that there were “productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East.” He also said the talks with Tehran would continue “throughout” last week and were described as “in-depth, detailed and constructive.”
Unfortunately, the market fell sharply after a hopeful Monday rise, and the major market indexes are now down over 7% for the month of March (as of Friday’s close), but April is usually a strong market month.
As if to contradict the President’s optimistic message, Iran’s state news agency, Tasnim, quoted an unnamed senior security official saying there were “no negotiations” with the U.S. last week, and it even appears the “top” person in any of these talks is not the new Supreme Leader, who may not even be alive….

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About 55 percent of Americans surveyed in a 2026 Quinnipiac poll said artificial intelligence (AI) will be more harmful than helpful.
The survey, released on March 30, was conducted in collaboration with the Quinnipiac University School of Computing & Engineering and the Quinnipiac University School of Business.
In April 2025, only 44 percent believed AI would do more harm than good in their daily lives.
In the 2026 poll, 21 percent answered that AI affects their lives a lot, while 29 percent said only somewhat, and 30 percent believed AI impacts are minimal. Only 17 percent said they are not impacted at all.
Regarding education, 64 percent of survey respondents said AI is more harmful, compared with just 27 percent who believe it will help. For health care issues, 45 percent of those surveyed believed AI will do more harm, while 43 percent said AI will be more helpful….

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Oil prices dropped and stocks around the world rallied on April 1 on renewed hopes of a quick end to the Middle East war after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States could be leaving Iran in two to three weeks, with or without a deal.
The front-month Brent contract for June fell $1.06, or 1 percent, to $102.91 per barrel at about 7 a.m. ET, having dropped to a session low of $98.35. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May slipped $1.44, or 1.4 percent, to $99.94 ​per barrel, after falling to $96.50 earlier.
“Oil prices fell after U.S. President Trump signalled a potential end to the war with Iran,” ING analysts said in an April 1 note….

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Shoppers opened their wallets again in February after consumers stayed home during January’s severe winter storm.
Retail sales rose by 0.6 percent, from an upwardly revised 0.1 percent decline in the previous month, according to new Census Bureau data released on April 1.
Market watchers had penciled in a 0.5 percent increase.
On a 12-month basis, retail sales jumped to 3.7 percent.
This represented the best monthly gain in seven months, fueled by transactions at department stores (3 percent), health and personal care stores (2.3 percent), and apparel (2 percent). Commerce was also strong for motor vehicle and parts dealers, gas stations, and digital retailers.
Despite concerns that consumers were pulling back, various indicators suggest that the public remains optimistic about current economic conditions, both before and during the Iranian conflict….

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It may take up to 45 days to review and process tariff refund payments once a new claims portal system becomes operational, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on March 31.
CBP stated in a court filing that it is developing a new claims portal within its existing Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system so that it can provide importers with refunds of duties that President Donald Trump imposed last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
That new claims system will be called the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) and will allow importers to file claims so that CBP can process, review, and issue refunds….

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The national median apartment rent shook off the seasonal winter chill and inched up by 0.4 percent in March from February to $1,363, Apartment List reported.
However, the median rent was down by 1.7 percent from March 2025, the largest annual decline since Apartment List began compiling records in 2017. By comparison, year-over-year growth peaked at 18 percent during the winter of 2021.
Rents are generally soft or stagnant during the late fall and winter months as renters tend to forgo moving plans when it’s cold outside, but rates trend upward with warmer springtime and summer weather. The slight gain in March was the second consecutive monthly increase following a six-month span of declining rents, the Apartment List report said….

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The war in Iran could bring a “skunk” to America’s economic party this year, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders, released on April 6.
Dimon warned that the conflict could elicit several scenarios, ranging from higher inflation to rising recession risks.
“A bad confluence of events generally causes various degrees of a recession,” Dimon said, adding that this climate can lead to higher credit losses, rising unemployment, and volatile markets.
“While the economy may be less fragile than in the past, this alone does not mean there is no ‘tipping point’—it just may mean it could take more straws on the camel’s back to get there,” he wrote….

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Commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings jumped 37 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from the same period last year, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) said in an April 3 statement.
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy seeks to reorganize a company’s debts and enable the entity to remain operational and become solvent. This is the most common bankruptcy filing made by businesses. According to the institute, there were 2,422 commercial Chapter 11 filings in the first quarter of 2026, up from 1,764 filings in the same quarter of 2025.
Among Chapter 11 filings, “subchapter V elections for small businesses increased 67 percent in the first quarter of 2026, as the 833 filings were up over the 499 registered during the first quarter of 2025,” ABI said….

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In the 1962 cartoon “The Jetsons,” people of the future drove flying cars. In 1982, the NBC-TV show “Knight Rider” featured a talking car named KITT that could scan, self-drive, “turbo boost” through the air, and fire weapons.
Decades later, these science fiction scenes are becoming reality, with now highly complicated vehicles often called “computers on wheels.” But as that complexity grows, so do the trade-offs, as highlighted by frequent software-related recalls, rising vehicle prices and insurance costs, and higher maintenance fees, experts say.
Software-Defined Vehicles
Cars were much simpler during the eras of “The Jetsons” and “Knight Rider.” In his 2023 white paper on “Trends Towards Software-defined Vehicles,” Ismet Aktas noted most cars harbored a simple engine control unit (ECU), the “brain” of the engine that manages performance, ignition timing, fuel injection, and emissions….

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 3 that the United States could “easily” reopen the Strait of Hormuz, seize oil supplies, and profit from distributing them globally, as disruptions in the critical shipping lane continue to rattle energy markets and strain international alliances.
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???” Trump wrote in an April 3 post on Truth Social.
The remarks mark one of Trump’s most explicit suggestions yet that Washington could directly intervene to control energy flows through the narrow waterway, which connects the Persian Gulf to global markets and handles roughly a fifth of the world’s oil shipments….

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Empty-nest baby boomers own more large homes than millennials with children in every major U.S. metropolitan area, creating a housing “mismatch,” according to an April 2 Redfin report.
Baby boomers (ages 62–80 years old) without kids living at home own more than one-quarter of the nation’s homes with three or more bedrooms, while millennials (ages 30–45) with kids still living at home own about 16 percent, the Seattle-based real estate brokerage said.
The much younger Generation Z (ages 13–28) owns less than 1 percent of the nation’s larger-sized homes, Redfin added.
Empty-nest baby boomers own 28 percent of large homes in the United States, with another 7 percent of boomers with at least three adults in the home also owning larger family-sized homes….

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The U.S. economy closed out a quarter marked by whiplash in the labor market, as hiring surged one month and sagged the next.
Employers added 178,000 new jobs in March, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on April 3.
Prior to the nonfarm payrolls report, economists had forecast a more modest reading of 60,000.
The unemployment rate also dipped to 4.3 percent last month, from the 4.4 percent registered in February.
Markets had projected the jobless rate holding steady at 4.4 percent.
It was a turbulent first quarter as employment data whipsawed between strike-driven losses, persistent tariff concerns, and weather-related rebounds. These conditions have offered a distorted view of the U.S. labor market, further complicating the Federal Reserve’s policymaking efforts….

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Equities staged a strong rebound this week, snapping a five-week losing streak as investors returned to the market amid more attractive valuations and easing concerns over the Middle East conflict.
The rally was supported by a solid retail sales report, which underscored the resilience of consumer spending and broader economic growth. At the same time, weaker labor market data renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates.
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.18 percent to 46,504, finishing near its weekly high. The S&P 500 gained by 1.63 percent to 6,582, also closing near its peak for the week. The Nasdaq Composite led gains, climbing by 2.20 percent, while the Russell 2000 advanced by 1.47 percent….

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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to simplify calculations for steel, aluminum, and copper tariffs and to mitigate efforts to avoid import taxes.
The new order defines how the value of metals is assessed, imposing 50 percent levies on the U.S. price of goods sold for raw material and 25 percent on products containing at least 15 percent of affected metals.
Stricter guidelines were needed because some wholesalers and exporters were artificially lowering the stated value of goods to reduce tariff liability, administration officials told reporters during a background call on April 2.
“So it’s now going to be proper and fair,” the official said….

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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Thursday raising levies on some medications and refining calculations on steel tariffs.
Pharmaceutical drugs produced outside the United States are subject to 100 percent tariffs, unless manufacturers agree to onshore production and offer most-favored-nation pricing.
The Commerce Department is authorized to reduce levies to 20 percent for companies that invest in American facilities and remove the tariffs entirely for those that agree to both conditions.
Generic medications are exempt from the tariffs for one year, with a reassessment scheduled for 2027.
Exceptions were granted, lowering tariffs to 15 percent for the European Union, Switzerland, Japan, and South Korea, and a 10 percent levy for the United Kingdom….

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The U.S. trade deficit widened in February after imports rebounded, slightly offsetting continued export growth, according to new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released on April 2.
The international trade in goods and services deficit rose by nearly 5 percent, totaling $57.3 billion.
Economists had forecast a $59.2 billion shortfall.
In the first two months, the goods and services trade gap declined by nearly 55 percent, or $136.1 billion, from the same period a year ago.
Exports have increased by more than 11 percent, while imports have fallen by more than 9 percent.
The latest data were released exactly one year after President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping global tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States. They were struck down by the Supreme Court in February, but the president introduced a universal 10 percent tariff shortly after for 150 days….

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The March jobs report, scheduled for release on April 3, will mark the end of a quarter defined by wild swings in the U.S. labor market. Economists project that about 60,000 new jobs were added last month, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.4 percent.
If those estimates are accurate, payrolls grew by about 94,000 in the first quarter of 2026—an improvement over the 61,000 jobs added during the same period a year earlier.
Health care and private education will likely be the leading categories for job creation, says Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM.
“In March, we anticipate that the jobs rebound will be in the health care and private education categories with modest gains in construction and goods-producing sectors,” Brusuelas said in an April 1 note….

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Oil prices jumped sharply on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled an escalation of military action against Iran, dampening hopes for a near-term diplomatic resolution and raising concerns about prolonged disruptions to global energy supplies.
Benchmark Brent crude rose by $8.34, or 8.2 percent, to $109.50 per barrel by 7:39 a.m. ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained $9.23, or 9.2 percent, to $109.35. Both contracts touched their highest levels since early March and were on track for their largest daily gains in three weeks, though still below peaks above $119 reached earlier in the conflict.
The rally followed Trump’s prime-time address late Wednesday, in which he vowed to intensify strikes against Iran over the coming weeks, while offering no clear timeline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz or ending the war….

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Generation Z, including those aged 18 to 29, for the first time has become the most interstate mobile generation, according to a March 25 analysis from StorageCafe. More than 2.2 million of America’s youngest adults moved to a different state in 2024, surpassing millennials, who had dominated this category for years.
Just over 2 million of the 30-to-45-year-old group moved to a different state in 2024, while 870,00 of Generation X (ages 45 to 60) and more than 758,000 Baby Boomers (ages 61 to 80) made interstate moves.
The report attributes the “state hopping” to early career moves and lifestyle exploration.
“With fewer family obligations and lower homeownership rates, Gen Zers often have greater flexibility to relocate for job opportunities, more affordable cities or simply a change of scenery,” the report indicates….

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