Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Memetrics
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktStocks are higher this morning on optimism for a Greek deal. Bonds and MBS are down.
New home sales rose 546k in May, higher than the 523k expectation and the upward-revised 534k April number. We will hear from homebuilding giant Lennar tomorrow. This is the highest number in 7 years, which will hopefully alleviate the problem of low inventory.
Durable Goods Orders fell 1.8% in May. April was revised downward from -0.5% to -1.5%. Capital Goods Orders ex defense and air (which is a proxy for business capital expenditures) rose 0.4% in May after falling a revised 0.3% in April. The low CAPEX numbers were largely driven by the decline in oil prices, which appear to have stabilized.
Home Prices rose 0.3% in April, according to the FHFA. The index is now roughly 2.3% below its March 2007 peak and corresponds to Feb 2006 prices. Note the FHFA index is narrower than the other indices like Case-Shiller in that it only looks at homes with a conforming mortgage. As usual, the West coast did the best, while the Northeast lagged.
Tspiras surrenders. That is the headline in Bloomberg regarding the Greek situation. Greece has more or less offered to meet the demands of their creditors. The glass of ouzo is close to being full.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
You’ve been Fristed.
You’re welcome.
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Full on heresy at Vox:
“What if health insurance doesn’t make you much healthier?
Updated by Ezra Klein on June 22, 2015, 12:20 p.m. ET
Is Medicaid a bad idea?”
http://www.vox.com/2015/6/22/8822813/what-if-health-insurance-doesn-t-make-you-much-healthier
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““What if health insurance doesn’t make you much healthier?”
Did we just notice this?
The things that have extended lifespans and reduced mortality (especially infant and child mortality) are:
antibiotics
vaccines
clean water/functioning sewer systems
air conditioning
central heating
If a fraction of the money spent on healthcare was siphoned off to insure every senior citizen whose air conditioner or heating broke down got it fixed the same day, it would do more to increase longevity statistically than all the preventive care we pay for.
Everything that actually increases health and longevity are technological innovations (and not all, as you notice, medical). The only “policy” change I can think of that has improved health generally would be the policies that helped to reduce the use of tobacco products, and effectiveness there has been limited.
Isn’t Medicare and Medicare really about preventing senior citizens with fixed incomes from being bankrupted by expensive medical bills? Rather than increasing longevity?
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Worth a note:
“Benghazi was a sideshow. Republicans are looking at Clinton’s role in launching Libya war.
Updated by Jonathan Allen on June 22, 2015, 5:40 p.m. ET”
http://www.vox.com/2015/6/22/8826507/Clinton-Libya-Blumenthal-email
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Laugh or cry?
https://twitter.com/hunterschwarz/status/613351825828245504
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Bahaahaa. when will they learn. Americans don’t like to be told what to do.
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Krugman on why the sequester didn’t kill economic growth is hilarious.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/2013-and-all-that/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body
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I wrote back then –
I expect sequester related cuts to be rolled out over the next several months, but if the economy grows, almost no one will notice. There is a mistake some make of equating the federal impact on the economy – which is real, no doubt, and profound – with the economy itself.
and also that it was a moderate’s dream approach to beginning to deal with the budget deficit.
Even YJ made fun of the gloom and doom then.
It is good to feel schadenfreude about Krugman’s backtracking.
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Sigh, now I have to go buy one on principle.
“Walmart, Amazon, Sears, eBay to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise
By MJ Lee, CNN Politics and Finance Reporter
Updated 3:10 PM ET, Tue June 23, 2015”
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/confederate-flag-walmart-south-carolina/
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jnc:
Sigh, now I have to go buy one on principle
That is pretty much how I feel about bakeries that get boycotted for not doing gay “weddings”.
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It’s funny ’cause *she’s* the fake Indian.
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““Walmart, Amazon, Sears, eBay to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise”
I wonder if Amazon and eBay intend to stop selling swastika related merchandise. Or if it’s just the Confederate flag. I wonder if eBay will ban the sale of Confederate money. Thankfully, I’m sure I’ll be able to buy the Hammer and Sickle without restraint. And probably the flags of nations that currently practice slavery (with a wink and a nod).
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Scott, apparently companies only have the right to discriminate based on morals when progressives approve of them.
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jnc:
Scott, apparently companies only have the right to discriminate based on morals when progressives approve of them.
Exactly. As ever, progressivism is not about principles but rather preferences.
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I wouldn’t accuse Walmart of anything more nefarious than a carefully scrutinized marketing decision.
Sears, on the other hand, avoids carefully scrutinized market based decisions in favor of doing the most stupid thing it can do at any given time. The inventor of catalog shopping has yet to figure out that the internet is the natural extension of the catalog.
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Mark:
I wouldn’t accuse Walmart of anything more nefarious than a carefully scrutinized marketing decision.
I don’t fault Walmart for responding to market pressure. I fault the left for manufacturing market pressure for political reasons.
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lms:
we’re filling it today.
Are you allowed to? No water restrictions?
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Sears has fantastic brand loyalty, it’s amazing how they squander it.
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