Extra, Extra
Recession Supression: “The economy is ending the year in a remarkably better position than almost anyone on Wall Street or in mainstream economics predicted, having bested just about all expectations time and again. Inflation has dropped to 3.1 percent, from a peak of 9.1. The unemployment rate is at a hot 3.7 percent, and the economy grew at a healthy clip in the most recent quarter. The Fed is probably finished hiking interest rates and is eyeing cuts next year. Financial markets are at or near all-time highs, and the S&P 500 could hit a new record this week, too.” Everyone expected a recession. The Fed and White House found a way out.
+ Oil Tanked: Key remaining threats to the economy include the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. And, in terms of economics, the actions of the Iran-backed Houthis could have the biggest impact. Oil giant BP has announced it is pausing all shipments of oil through the Red Sea after recent attacks on vessels by Houthi rebels. Here’s the latest from CNN, BBC, and Times of Israel.
+ Deal Estate: “Conceived about 40 years ago to give seniors more freedom in their final years of life, the assisted-living industry has been reshaped by real estate speculators looking to cash in on an aging nation. They were aided by Congress in 2008, when a new law gave certain investors the ability to hold senior-housing properties tax-free while also taking a slice of their annual income.” WaPo (Gift Article): Understaffed and neglected: How real estate investors reshaped assisted living.
+ Why Don’t We Steel Away: “China and Chinese companies have come to dominate global steel production. Of the nearly 2 billion metric tons of steel produced annually across the globe, about 54% comes from China.” That increases the likelihood of regulators approving a deal just struck between US Steel and a Japanese giant. Storied US Steel to be acquired for more than $14 billion by Nippon Steel.
+ Putin on the Ritz: “In all, Mr. Putin has overseen one of the biggest transfers of wealth within Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. Huge swaths of industries — elevators, tires, industrial coatings and more — are now in the hands of increasingly dominant Russian players.” NYT (Gift Article): How Putin Turned a Western Boycott Into a Bonanza.
+ Francis Boom Bah: “Pope Francis formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced Monday, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage.”
+ Watch Case: “The move comes following an ITC ruling as part of a long-running patent dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo around the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor technology.” Apple to halt Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales in the US this week.
+ Howard Weaver: The journalism world lost a great champion last week. A pen-pal friend of mine and a mentor to so many young journalists. Howard Weaver, editor who led Anchorage Daily News through transformative years, dies at 73. You can read Howard’s memoir of his news years: Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War.
