Free Republic

A great crisis in 2008, followed by an even greater one in 2020, as an "authoritarian, severe, unyielding" leader from the baby boomer generation resists a historic moment of change afoot in the US. Would you believe this was all predicted almost 25 years ago? In a book championed at the highest levels of the Trump administration, no less? Oh, and it was also written by the guys who invented the term "millennial." It was all prophesied in 1997 in Neil Howe and William Strauss' "The Fourth Turning," and, depending on who you ask, it was either a breakthrough in...

Mission-driven groups will get an early chance to make offers on properties that can be rehabilitated and preserved as affordable. he New York City Council passed a revised version of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), a law that gives certain nonprofits an early right to bid on available properties that could be rehabilitated and preserved as affordable housing. As Jeanmarie Evelly explains in City Limits, the law “specifically targets buildings with poor conditions or where an affordability provision is expiring.” The law allows “qualified entities” to purchase properties, make repairs, and maintain affordable rents. First introduced in 2020,...

In his second term, President Donald Trump certainly hasn’t been afraid to go bold — and now it could be the stock market’s turn. The slate of reforms under consideration could be the biggest positive development for our financial markets since the early days of the Reagan administration, if not since the creation of the federal securities laws themselves. It could also finally put the brakes on the rise of “woke capital.” For years, political activists have been using America’s biggest corporations as vehicles for their social agenda. They call it “ESG” — environmental, social and governance investing — but...

U.S. investors are sitting on a pile of cash. Even with rates now coming down, many are in no rush to move it. Assets in money-market funds reached a record $7.7 trillion last week, with more than $60 billion flowing into those funds during the first four days of the month, according to Crane Data, an industry researcher. The latest rush into money funds began in 2022, when the Federal Reserve started raising rates. The yields on these funds, which typically hold short-term government debt, also rose, giving investors higher returns on their cash than they have had in years....

Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers. Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors -- the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData. Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%. All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period a year earlier,...

In a wide-ranging and unapologetically pro-growth address Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out the Trump administration’s economic vision for the next four years, calling on global investors to align with what he described as a “new Golden Age” for American enterprise. Speaking before an audience of business leaders, financiers, and policymakers at the Milken Institute’s annual Global Conference, Bessent delivered what amounted to a comprehensive blueprint for the administration’s domestic agenda—one built around three interlocking pillars: strategic tariffs, aggressive tax incentives, and sweeping deregulation. “Our goal is not simply to grow the economy,” Bessent said. “It’s to re-anchor global...

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Apple shareholders voted to keep the tech giant's diversity, equity and inclusion policies on Tuesday, a win for management which had opposed efforts by a conservative group to scrap the program. The vote at the iPhone maker's annual meeting was seen as a test of shareholder views about the value of DEI programs, which many companies added or beefed up starting in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

<p>FORT MYERS, Fla. — Target has failed to persuade a judge in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit that accused the retailer of deceiving shareholders after its sales of LGBTQ-themed merchandise for Pride Month sparked a backlash and a customer boycott.</p>

Since the aggression against Ukraine, Russia has lost most of its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Bank of Russia admits that today Russian business can only count on itself. – The Russian economy needs money for structural transformation, but it can only count on its own resources – emphasized Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, in the analysis “Main Directions of Development of the Russian Financial Market” for the Next Three Years, published on Monday FDI has fled Russia, count on your own money The authors emphasize that investments can be financed through the financial market not only...

Two recent court decisions could have far-reaching impacts on oil and gas projects. The Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other anti-fossil fuel groups recently sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, claiming the agency’s “biological opinion” failed to properly assess the risks that offshore oil and gas drilling poses to endangered species. Last month, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

An increasing number of Silicon Valley investors and Wall Street analysts are starting to ring the alarm bells over the countless billions of dollars being invested in AI, an overconfidence they warn could result in a massive bubble. As the Washington Post reports, investment bankers are singing a dramatically different tune than last year, a period marked by tremendous hype surrounding AI, and are instead starting to become wary of Big Tech's ability to actually turn the tech into a profitable business. "Despite its expensive price tag, the technology is nowhere near where it needs to be in order to...

People who own cryptocurrency are more likely to be narcissistic, psychopathic sadists, according to a study. Cryptocurrency, which has exploded in popularity in recent years, is digital 'money' which lies beyond the control of central banks and governments. The global market is worth about £1.3 trillion and around five million adults in the UK have invested. But now a study suggests that those who own online currency - such as Bitcoin - are more likely to have 'dark tetrad' personality traits. Investors are also more likely to be men, rely on fringe social media sources, believe in conspiracy theories and...

Some nationwide real estate investors, like Cardone Capital’s Grant Cardone, have started telling their teams to pack their bags and leave New York after the verdict in former President Trump’s fraud trial. "We thought this year was the opportunity to come into Chicago, California and New York City. I've been waiting for 40 years now to invest in that marketplace. I was completely confident this was the year to come," Cardone told Steve Doocy on "FOX & Friends" on Wednesday. "And when that ruling happened, it was like, pencils down. Don't touch it. Don't go there." The business leader gained...

Likely based on the attention given to its control of proxy voting, BlackRock has unveiled what it calls “a new proxy voting opportunity in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).” The multinational investment giant notes that this particular product is its largest and among the most widely held exchange-traded fund. While giving individual investors a say in the votes related to their holdings is a good thing, this new scheme on closer inspection appears to be a way for BlackRock to push climate and social-related policies while making it seem like clients voted for them. Very sneaky. Following U.N. guidance...

The news is breaking today that the person who walked into Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday afternoon and opened fire was transgender. I have been waiting for more information about this shooting, as a Houstonian, and as a media observer. When the shooting was breaking news, one aspect of the story didn't sit well with me. It seemed as though local law enforcement and the media were not transparent with all they knew. It seemed like they were holding back. Frankly, I was waiting for the shooter to be identified as an illegal alien. It turns out it is...

Three of the five top shareholders in Norfolk Southern — the freight rail carrier under the spotlight for its saftey and environmental record following last month's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — have been aligned with the eco-conscious, socially aware ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing framework embraced by many leading financial firms in recent years. Asset management firms BlackRock Fund Advisors, JPMorgan Investment Management, and The Vanguard Group were all part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a coalition of ESG-minded money mangers committed to channeling investment capital to firms working toward the goal of net-zero greenhouse...

The U.S. Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an online FAQ allowing Americans to continue funding China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).The PLA is on the verge of launching its third aircraft carrier as part of its $9 billion dollar carrier program. This hefty price tag represents a small fraction of money the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has received from U.S. investors.China “exploits United States investors to finance the development and modernization of its military” wrote then-U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 12, 2020, in an executive order banning investment in Chinese stocks linked to the PLA. In the order, Trump accurately...

It may come as a surprise to some but the head US trader of the same bank that spawns mARKKo Kolanovic’s weekly bullishness, is also one of the most bearish market commentators. Below is the trading desk commentary for JPM’s Elan Luger, head of US trading. The most positive thing I can say about this market is that what had been heavily debated in Q1 is now the overwhelming consensus. Everyone is a bear. China is shutdown, inflation is running wild, Russia / Ukraine continues to impact supply chains, animal spirits are dead, the fed has lost control, QT is...

China’s corporate insiders are cheating small American investors of billions of dollars through advance information that enables lucrative trades just before the stock price falls.The total losses that insiders of Chinese companies listed on American exchanges have avoided by selling prior to price drops are at least $10 billion between 2016 and the middle of 2021, according to a new study of their security filings.Chinese company shares fell an average of 21 percent a year after the Chinese company insiders sold large quantities of stock, compared to a 2 percent rise after insiders from American companies sold. Given inflation, that...

More bad news for an already-crushed industry is making investors wonder how much more these companies can take. Stocks fell sharply as investors heard about a new COVID-19 variant. Cruise ship stocks took huge hits as a result. Investors have to hope that travel-hungry passengers will have the opportunity to sail in 2022 and beyond. Black Friday might not have created the same level of stock market discomfort that prompted the naming of Black Tuesday in 1929 or Black Monday in 1987, but stocks were nonetheless under pressure on the day after Thanksgiving. As of 10 a.m. ET on the...