Sears
Revenues Plunge, to Hit Zero in 3 Years, Shares Jump - (www.wolfstreet.com) The
ingenious strategy of cost-cutting and store-closing your way out of trouble:
Pretty soon, it leads to zero. Sears reported first quarter earnings today.
“Earnings” has been a bad joke with Sears, which has lost money every one of
the past six years, $10 billion in total. First things first. Revenues plunged
20% year-over-year to $4.3 billion. Some of that plunge was caused by the
endless series of store closings with which Sears is trying to keep itself out
of bankruptcy for as long as possible. And some of it was caused by
same-store sales which plunged 12% at the surviving stores. That was about
twice the decline a year ago. So the downfall is picking up critical momentum.
Chinese
Money Funneled to Far-Flung Homes Heralds Bubble Trouble - (www.bloomberg.com) When
a 59-year-old accountant in Shanghai wanted to invest for her looming
retirement, she bought two cheap apartments -- on the other side of the
country. “When friends told me about a chance to buy properties in Xishuangbanna,
I thought ‘why not?”’ said Yuan Junxi, talking of the steamy, subtropical
region in Yunnan province, bordering Laos and Myanmar. “No buying limits;
cheap, easy mortgages; and maybe property prices will jump over there too.” Buyers
such as Yuan, a mother-of-one who borrowed to help fund her purchases of
280,000 yuan ($41,000) each in the city of Jinghong last month, are spreading
the risk of bubbles to ever-smaller places in China’s provinces, after a
crackdown by the government took some of the froth out of the property market
over the past 14 months.
Trump
Plans to Slash Spending by $3.6 Trillion, Increase Military Spending, Balance
the Budget in 10 Years - (www.mishtalk.com) In
a budget that provides insight into Trump’s thinking but is highly
unlikely to make it through Congress, Trump Seeks to Slash $3.6
Trillion of Government Spending in Budget. U.S. President Donald Trump wants lawmakers
to slash $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next decade, taking aim
in his first budget plan at healthcare and food assistance programs for the
poor while boosting the military. Trump seeks to balance the budget by the end
of the decade, according to a preview given to reporters on Monday. There is some
new spending in his plan for fiscal year 2018, which starts in October.
Arizona
Governor Signs Bill To Repeal State Capital Gains Taxes On Gold & Silver - (www.zerohedge.com) "If you’re for less government, you want sound
money. The people who want big government, they don’t want sound money.
They want to deceive you and commit fraud. They want to print the money.
They want a monopoly. They want to get you conditioned, as our schools
have conditioned us, to the point where deficits don’t matter." Good news for precious metals investors in Arizona.
On Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey signed
a bill into law that eliminates states capital gains taxes on gold and silver
specie. It's tax repeal will not only benefit Arizonans who invest in gold
and silver, it will also facilitate their use as currency and undermine the
Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. Rep. Mark Finchem (R-Tucson)
sponsored HB2014.
The legislation eliminates state capital gains taxes on income “derived from
the exchange of one kind of legal tender for another kind of legal tender.” The
bill defines legal tender as “a medium of exchange, including specie, that is
authorized by the United States Constitution or Congress for the payment of
debts, public charges, taxes and dues.” “Specie” means coins having precious
metal content.
The
great London property squeeze sees spillover into substandard housing - (www.theguardian.com) The
shortage of affordable housing has given rise to a range of problems in private
rented accommodation, from slum landlords and "beds in sheds" to
middle-class Londoners under the age of 45 who can no longer afford to live in
the city. A generation is being affected and our essential services, such as
hospitals and schools, and the majority of our small and medium-sized
businesses, are being undermined. .. Although it is notoriously difficult to
get accurate figures, a 2013 report by the Migrants' Rights Network concluded
that Ealing may have as many as 60,000 occupants in illegal structures, and
Slough borough council, which deployed planes equipped with thermal imaging
equipment in an effort to spot them, may have as many as 6,000 beds in sheds.
In 2013 a BBC investigation found estate agents renting out beds in sheds in
Willesden Green and Harrow.
China's
State Media Hits Out at Debt Downgrade With a Buffett Quote - (www.bloomberg.com)
Brazil Succession Race Heats Up as Temer Struggles With Crisis - (www.bloomberg.com)
Senate Weighs a Health Rewrite That Would Push Obamacare Repeal to 2020 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Brazil Succession Race Heats Up as Temer Struggles With Crisis - (www.bloomberg.com)
Senate Weighs a Health Rewrite That Would Push Obamacare Repeal to 2020 - (www.bloomberg.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment