Free Republic

The housing market was expected to rebound this year, but the Iran war has changed that trajectory... In early June, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 6.52%, according to Freddie Mac. Just before the war began, rates fell below 6% for the first time in years... The rate environment is typically driven by numerous economic and political events, but the war is driving the movement now, Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, said. “Over the last couple of months, the rate market has been held hostage by this conflict in Iran,” he said. “When it looks like a ceasefire is in...

Russia is getting an unexpected windfall from the war in the Middle East. The Kremlin’s oil revenues this month hit a four-year high as oil prices jumped to $100 per barrel amid the Iran war and the de facto closed Strait of Hormuz. Moscow expects so much additional revenues from the oil price spike that authorities are unlikely to downgrade Russia’s economic prospects, hold off on planned budget cuts, and even boost military spending on the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. A month ago, Russia was considering lowering the oil price level above...

Several postal services around the world have paused package deliveries to the United States this week, and it's not because they're overwhelmed with shipping demand. The suspensions, which affect shipments of goods valued under $800, follow a recent executive order that President Trump signed that effectively ends the de minimis exemption on August 29. The fallout has been swift and global. We're talking about major disruptions from Europe to Asia that might impact many American small businesses, limit where you can shop, and make it more complicated and expensive to receive the items you order. What countries have limited deliveries,...

At least 25 countries have decided to suspend their package deliveries to the United States following the Trump administration's announcement of the abolition of a tax exemption on small packages entering the United States from August 29.

Kodak announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Monday that there was “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to stay in business. The company plans to pay off some of its debt and preferred stock using money it expects to get back from its pension plan. The company is hoping to change the terms, push out due dates or refinance its remaining debt and preferred stock obligations, which are payments promised to holders of special shares that usually get paid before regular shareholders. Still, since these plans depend on things outside Kodak’s control, they aren’t considered reliable...

(President Trump's Operation Warp Speed Update) (CDC says no more masks, if you are fully vaccinated! State and Local orders still in effect, but many are updating them) Total Vaccine Doses Delivered: 341,865,945 (20,123,800 J&J) Administered: 268,438,666 (9,431,604 J&J) People Vaccinated, At Least One Dose: 155,251,852 Fully Vaccinated: 120,258,637

Republicans winning at this time

The national debt hit $22 trillion this week. You won’t find many in either major party who think this is a healthy development. But isn’t part of the reason people vote Republican because that party presents itself as fiscally responsible compared to Democrats? For as long as the debt has grown, Republicans have been promising to stop it. Yet, in 1981 the national debt topped $1 trillion after former President Ronald Reagan’s first year. When former President George H.W. Bush left office in 1993, it was more than $4 trillion. His son, former President George W. Bush, would push it...

Developing... President Trump is expected to announce, as early as Friday, plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which stops young illegal immigrants from being deported, a senior administration official tells Fox News.