US ECONOMY & POLITICS

US Previously Owned Home Sales Edge Up From a 13-Year Low – Bloomberg, 12/20/2023

• Sales of previously owned US homes unexpectedly rose in November, led by a pickup in the South and representing a respite in a two-year downturn caused by higher borrowing costs and a lack of inventory.
• Contract closings increased 0.8% from a month earlier to a 3.82 million annualized rate, still near the lowest since 2010, according to National Association of Realtors data released Wednesday.
• The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 3.78 million pace.
• Purchases were down 7.7% from a year ago on an unadjusted basis.
• The number of previously owned homes for sale dropped to 1.13 million.
• At the current sales pace, it would take 3.5 months to sell all the properties on the market.
• Realtors see anything below five months of supply as indicative of a tight resale market.
• The median selling price increased 4% from a year ago, the most since November 2022, to $387,600.
• NAR data showed 62% of homes sold were on the market for less than a month.
• Homes stayed on the market an average of 25 days in November, compared with 23 days a month earlier.
• Sales rose in two of four regions, led by a 4.7% advance in the South — the largest US region.
• Purchases also climbed in the Midwest, but dropped in the West to a record low.
• Single-family home sales increased 0.9% to a 3.41 million annual pace.
• Condominium and co-op sales were flat.
• First-time buyers made up a 31% of purchases, up from 28% in the prior month.
• Cash sales represented 27% of total sales.

US Consumer Confidence Surges by Most Since Early 2021 – Bloomberg, 12/20/2023

• US consumer confidence rose in December by the most since early 2021 as Americans grew more upbeat about the labor market and inflation.
• The Conference Board’s index increased to 110.7 in December from a revised 101 reading in November, data published Wednesday showed.
• The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of forecasters called for a 104.5 reading.
• Expected inflation a year ahead fell to the lowest level since late 2020.
• Meanwhile a gauge of current conditions rebounded from the lowest reading in more than two years.
• Labor-market sentiment improved from November.

US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Slides to 6.83%, Lowest Since June – Bloomberg, 12/20/2023

• US mortgage rates slid for a fifth-straight week, reaching the lowest level since June in a welcome sign for potential home buyers.
• The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped by 24 basis points to 6.83% in the week ended Dec. 15, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed Wednesday.
• The rate on five-year adjustable mortgages also decreased.
• At the same time, the group’s index of home-purchase applications eased 0.6% from the highest level since August.
• Combined with a decline in refinancing, the MBA’s overall index of mortgage applications decreased 1.5%, the first drop since the end of October.

Colorado Trump Ban Puts Supreme Court in Hot Seat – Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2023

• The Colorado ruling disqualifying former President Donald Trump from the ballot puts a novel and highly sensitive set of constitutional questions before the Supreme Court, likely forcing the justices to intervene directly in a presidential election in a way not seen since Bush v. Gore in 2000.
• The 4-3 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court’s justices will almost certainly be reviewed by the high court, legal experts said, and Trump’s campaign has said it would lodge an appeal.
• The Colorado justices put their ruling on hold until Jan. 4, anticipating further litigation.
• If Trump appeals before then, the hold will continue until the Supreme Court rules.
• Section 3 of the Civil War-era 14th Amendment says that acts of insurrection can disqualify someone from office.
• Only in Colorado, however, has such a case been decided against Trump.

IRS Zaps Nearly $1 Billion in Penalties for Taxpayers – Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2023

• Americans who owe back taxes will be given an incentive to pay up after the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday it would waive nearly $1 billion in late-payment penalties.
• Roughly 4.6 million individual taxpayers who owe for tax years 2020 and 2021 will be eligible for the penalty relief.
• The IRS is extending the olive branch because it stopped sending out many collection letters during the pandemic.
• The penalty relief applies to taxpayers who owe under $100,000 in taxes for 2020 or 2021 who received an initial balance due notice on or before Dec. 7, 2023.
• The relief expires for debts not paid by April 1, 2024.
• Eligible taxpayers will receive a special notice in early January reflecting their new balances due, the IRS said.
• Those who already paid these penalties will get a refund or credit on their IRS account as early as this week, Werfel said.
• As of year-end 2022, 18.6 million individual taxpayers owed the IRS $316 billion in overdue taxes, up from 16.8 million owing $308 billion in September 2019.

EUROPE & WORLD

Alibaba CEO Takes Direct Control of Domestic E-Commerce Businesses – Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2023

• Alibaba Group Chief Executive Eddie Wu will take direct control of the company’s domestic e-commerce arm, the latest management shuffle at the e-commerce giant as it struggles with new competition from the likes of PDD Holdings.
• Alibaba said Wednesday that its board has approved Wu’s appointment as chief executive of Taobao and Tmall Group, the company’s domestic e-commerce business, effective immediately, according to an exchange filing.
• Wu is replacing Trudy Dai, previously Taobao and Tmall Group CEO and one of Alibaba’s founding members.
• The change-up represents the latest leadership moves at the e-commerce titan, which after dominating China’s e-commerce market for years, has now stumbled on several fronts.

UK Inflation Slows More Than Forecast, Fueling Rate-Cut Bets – Bloomberg, 12/20/2023

• UK inflation slowed far more than economists forecast in November, a surprise that prompted traders to boost bets the Bank of England will soon have to abandon its higher-for-longer narrative on interest rates.
• Consumer prices rose 3.9% from a year earlier, down from 4.6% in October, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
• The slowdown was much sharper than the 4.3% economists had expected.
• The 10-year gilt yield fell as much as 11 basis points to 3.54%.
• Consumer prices fell 0.2% between October and November, the biggest decline for the month since 2014.
• Core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy costs — eased to 5.1% from 5.7%, while services inflation fell to 6.3%, down from 6.6%.
• Food prices rose 9.2% from a year earlier, down from 10.1% in October.
• Auto fuel prices were down 10.6% after dropping 2.4% on the month.
• Factory gate prices dropped 0.2% compared to a year earlier, below the 0.5% slump predicted by economists.
• The 2.6% tumble in input costs that producers pay for raw materials and fuel was unchanged from the previous month.

Hamas Starts Planning for End of War With Israel – Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2023

• Hamas’s political leaders have been talking with their Palestinian rivals about how to govern Gaza and the West Bank after the war ends, a fraught negotiation that threatens to put them at odds with the militant wing fighting Israel.
• The talks are the clearest sign that Hamas’s political faction is starting to plan for what follows the conflict.
• “We don’t fight just because we want to fight. We are not partisans of a zero-sum game,” Husam Badran, a member of Hamas’s Doha-based political bureau, told The Wall Street Journal during an interview at a villa on the outskirts of the Qatari capital.
• “We want the war to end,” he said.
• Now, after more than two months of war, and about 20,000 Palestinian casualties in Gaza, according to health authorities there, Hamas’s political wing is talking about an end to the conflict.
• “We want to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Badran said.

Israel Offers One-Week Cease-Fire in Exchange for More Hostages – Wall Street Journal, 12/20/2023

• Israel has offered a one-week cease-fire in exchange for dozens of hostages still being held by Hamas, Egyptian officials said Wednesday, as Israeli forces stepped-up operations in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, believed to be the hiding spot of the group’s military leader.
• Israel wants Hamas to release 40 of roughly 100 hostages—including all the remaining women and children that the militants abducted from Israel during the Oct. 7 attacks—as well as elderly male hostages who need urgent medical treatment, the Egyptian officials said.
• In return, the Israeli military would pause its ground and air operations in Gaza for a week and allow further humanitarian aid to enter the enclave, the officials said.
• Hamas leaders, some of whom were in Egypt for talks on Wednesday, are demanding a two-week break in the fighting, the officials said.

Factmonster – TODAY in HISTORY

• Samuel Slater built the nation’s first cotton mill in Pawtucket, R.I. – 1790
• The United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million. – 1803
• South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. – 1860
• The United States invaded Panama and installed a new government but failed to capture General Manuel Antonio Noriega. – 1989