Free Republic

With soaring borrowing costs, the Federal Reserve has slammed the brakes on the once-booming used car market. The latest data on wholesale used-vehicle prices show October's decline on a year-over-year basis was the worst since the financial crisis over a decade ago. The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index for October declined to 200, or about 10.6%, the worst decline since December 2008 when the global economy was melting down (and the 5th largest decline ever)... The Fed's rapid pace of rate hikes this year is slowing demand, as Edmunds data showed the average annual percentage rate on used-car loans was...

Even if the country cut its rate of transmission in half — a tall order — some 650,000 people might become infected in the next two months. “We’re looking at something that’s catastrophic on a level that we have not seen for an infectious disease since 1918,” said Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia and the leader of the research team, referring to the Spanish flu... at least 1 in 5 Americans will be under orders to stay home in the coming days, and more states are expected to follow suit. But other places have resisted....