U.S. national debt exceeds $21 trillion for first time

The national debt has exceeded $21 trillion for the first time, according to the U.S. government. It had hit $20 trillion in September. President Donald Trump signed a debt-limit suspension in February, allowing unlimited borrowing until March 1, 2019. Economists are expecting the U.S. to run wider budget deficits due to the tax cut Trump signed into law in December. The government had a monthly deficit of $215 billion in February, up 12% from the same month last year due to lower revenue and higher spending.

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From:: Stock Market News

Boeing CEO makes 166 times a typical Boeing worker

Boeing Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg received $18.5 million in compensation in 2017, which the company said late Friday was 166 times the salary of a typical Boeing worker. Companies this year are reporting their CEO pay in relation to the compensation of a median worker for the first time as a result of a 2015 rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank act. Boeing said its median employee earned $111,204 in 2017. Muilenburg’s compensation included a $1.7 million salary, nearly $6 million in stock awards, and more than $8 million in a non-equity incentive plan. He received $15.1 million in compensation in 2016. Boeing shares have jumped more than 85% in the past 12 months, compared with 19% gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the same period. Earlier this week, General Electric Co. and AT&T Inc. reported their CEO pay ratios, and Honeywell International Inc. reported its ratio last month.

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From:: Stock Market News

Fee Simple: Understanding CA’s New Recording Fees

On Sept. 29, 2017, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 2, the Building Homes and Jobs Act, authored by Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego).

The act creates a new source of funding for affordable homes by charging a $75 fee for recording certain types of real estate documents. It is estimated that the new fee will generate $250 million each year.

The act, which became effective immediately, is part of a comprehensive package of legislation that aims to address California’s housing dilemma by imposing a new duty on counties to send quarterly revenues from this fee, after deduction of administrative costs, to the state controller for deposit in the Building Homes and Jobs Fund, created within the State Treasury.


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From:: Financing

Oil futures settle higher to notch a second straight weekly rise

Oil prices rose Friday to notch a second straight weekly climb, as expectations for growing global crude demand helped to outweigh pressure from concerns over strong U.S. production. Data from Baker Hughes , however, showed a weekly rise in the number of active U.S. oil drilling rigs, erasing the decline seen a week earlier. April West Texas Intermediate crude added $1.15, or 1.9%, to settle at $62.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It settled at its highest since March 6 and climbed about 0.5% for the week.

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From:: Stock Market News

Multifamily Drives Down Permits, New Construction

Multifamily activity drove down overall housing permits and new construction last month, though there was an increase in completed apartment buildings. Construction activity in the Northeast was exceptionally strong.

In places where housing permits are issued, there were preliminarily 90,500 privately owned housing units authorized during February, bringing the year-to-date total to 187,200.

Last month’s activity worked out to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.298 million, slowing from a downwardly revised 1.377 million one month previous.


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From:: Financing

Another executive leaves Nike due to misconduct complaints – WSJ

A second executive has been forced out at Nike Inc. due to misconduct complaints, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. Jayme Martin, vice president and general manager of global categories, was a “top lieutenant” to Trevor Edwards, the Nike brand president who resigned Thursday. “Messrs. Martin and Edwards protected male subordinates who engaged in behavior that was demeaning to female colleagues, according to another person,” the Journal wrote. A Nike spokesman told the paper it doesn’t comment on personnel moves. Nike shares are down 0.6% in Friday trading, but up 14.6% for the last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 19% for the past 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold prices end at a two-week low, down 0.9% for the week

Gold settled at its lowest level in just over two weeks on Friday, losing roughly 0.9% for the week. Dollar-denominated prices for the metal traded inversely with the dollar ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision on monetary policy. April gold fell $5.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,312.30 an ounce, logging its lowest finish since March 1 for a second session in a row, according to FactSet data.

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From:: Stock Market News

Boeing’s stock tries to avoid its first excursion in to correction territory since 2016

Shares of Boeing Co. were trying to avoid closing in correction territory for the first time in in about two years, according to WSJ Market Data Group. Boeing’s stock needs to end Friday’s session above $328.18 to avoid registering a correction, defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent peak. The last time the industrial giant closed in correction was around June of 2016. The unsightly stretch for the component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , and one of its most influential blue-chip members, has it on track to book its worst weekly decline since February of 2016, as Wall Street wrestles with concerns that tariffs, instituted on steel and aluminium imports, will spark a trade war with multinationals like Boeing on the frontlines of potential retaliatory measures from other countries, market participants said. Most recently, Boeing’s shares were up 0.1% at $330.47, with the price-weighted Dow up 115 points, or 0.5%. at 24,988, while the S&P 500 index is trading 0.2% higher at 2,753. The industrials sector, as gauged by the exchange-traded Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF , has declined 2.4% this week, while those for the metals sector, measured by the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF , has lost about 0.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Boeing’s stock tries to avoid its first excursion in to correction territory since 2016

Shares of Boeing Co. were trying to avoid closing in correction territory for the first time in in about two years, according to WSJ Market Data Group. Boeing’s stock needs to end Friday’s session above $328.18 to avoid registering a correction, defined as a drop of at least 10% from a recent peak. The last time the industrial giant closed in correction was around June of 2016. The unsightly stretch for the component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , and one of its most influential blue-chip members, has it on track to book its worst weekly decline since February of 2016, as Wall Street wrestles with concerns that tariffs, instituted on steel and aluminium imports, will spark a trade war with multinationals like Boeing on the frontlines of potential retaliatory measures from other countries, market participants said. Most recently, Boeing’s shares were up 0.1% at $330.47, with the price-weighted Dow up 115 points, or 0.5%. at 24,988, while the S&P 500 index is trading 0.2% higher at 2,753. The industrials sector, as gauged by the exchange-traded Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF , has declined 2.4% this week, while those for the metals sector, measured by the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF , has lost about 0.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

GSE Refinances Sink to 6-Month Low

Monthly refinances of government-sponsored enterprise mortgages plunged to the lowest level in six months as government-supported refinance volume fell to a new low.

Primary originators of single-family loans closed 123,170 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinances during the first month of this year — the fewest since there were 109,199 in July 2017.

GSE mortgage refinances numbered 155,910 in the final month of last year, while the total came to 208,699 during the first month of 2017.


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From:: Financing