Stocks surged in the United States and around the world today as markets reacted to the latest news out of Europe. We’ve had so many deals and false starts, but it looks like serious progress might be at hand in Europe.
By the end of a vital two-day summit here, European diplomacy had played out like soccer, with Spain and Italy — the two nations headed to the Euro 2012 finals — emerging victorious and the Germans returning home in shock.
After a marathon 14 hours of talks, Berlin unexpectedly agreed to concessions clearing the way for a deal that could help both Madrid and Rome in their desperate efforts to stave off economic collapse.
The agreement, while conditional on the creation of a regulatory body, addressed the core of the questions facing Europe: Who will cover the tab for its 2½-year-old debt crisis, and how?
Under the terms of the deal, troubled euro-zone countries would have more options for aid, including using a pool of European rescue funds to directly recapitalize ailing banks. That, in turn, would spare governments the humiliation of having to ask for aid themselves to channel to domestic banks, sidestepping the kind of intrusive financial inspections imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The big change has to do with the decision to directly fund the troubled banks. Check out the whole article for the story, but it looks like Germany will cave here.
The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries.
The 64-35 vote for passage defied political odds. Many inside and outside of Congress had predicted that legislation so expensive and so complicated would have little chance of advancing in an election year.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called it “one of the finest moments in the Senate in recent times in terms of how you pass a bill.”
Is there a better example of what’s wrong with our politics?
On a day when we heard about disappointing job numbers, the Obama administration got some good economic news for car sales numbers. The news was particularly good for Chrysler, which had another huge month with 30% year-over-year growth in May.
It marked a 12th consecutive month of sales gains of more than 20% for the company, which has gained about two percentage points in U.S. market share to nearly 11%. Total sales were 150,041.
And it comes as Chrysler prepares later this month to roll out its key new car introduction for the year, the Fiat-based Dodge Dart, above, that it aims to get the company back into the small-car game. Dart is an enlarged, Americanized version of Fiat’s sporty Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
All the company’s brands — Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat — posted year-over-year gains in May. Fiat was up most, 128% to a record month as the tiny 500 finally gains some traction.
But the Chrysler brand was heroic — up 81%, as the 200 sedan zoomed 87% and the big 300 rocketed 140% for its best May since 2007.
The administration would be wise to emphasize this news at a time when the unemployment rate is getting plenty of attention.
U.S. factory output surged in December by the most in any month in 2011, offering the most visible evidence yet that manufacturing is roaring back from the recession’s depths even as declining prices at the wholesale level shows inflation remains in check, according to two reports out Wednesday.
Stronger demand for business equipment, vehicles and energy drove the 0.9% increase in manufacturing output, the biggest monthly increase since December 2010. And a larger portion of U.S. factories were operating, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in a report on the nation’s industrial production.
Overall output of the nation’s factories, mines and utilities grew 0.4% in December although warm weather dampened demand for energy produced by utilities.
Industrial output is now less than 5% below its pre-recession peak, reached in September 2007. It has increased more than 14% since hitting a recession low in June 2009.
We’re seeing improvement in the job numbers as well, so hopefully we’re now on a positive business cycle.
The housing slump has been a killer for economic growth since the great crash of 2008. Many people think we won’t be able to get the economy going until the housing market recovers. We’ve heard some good news lately, with an unexpected jump in housing sales at the end of 2011. Some bankers like Jamie Diamond are calling the bottom in real estate.
It will be interesting to see what happens. As we work through the housing inventory, consumers are finally feeling better about the economy. This could spark another home improvement boom. One thing to look for in 2012 is the health of retailers like Home Depot. If more Americans are feeling better about the economy and more homes start selling, then we could see this drive economic growth.
There are so many resources out there for consumers to do work on their homes. In-store shopping at places like home depot are very popular, as are online options. You can do research on price and design options very easily online. You can shop for furniture and other needs, like buying picture frames here, and you can save so much time and money while making your home look beautiful.
We’ve seen the auto industry recover. Now if we can see housing and home improvement make gains as well, then we might finally be on our way to a real recovery.
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