Americans Recover $7 Trillion In Home Wealth as Prices Firm
In March 2014, Steven and Bernadette Doherty paid $183,000 for a two-bedroom home in Charlotte, N.C., $6,000 more than its appraised value. Today, similar houses in the neighborhood are being priced at $300,000 or more. “We bought at the right time,” said Bernadette, a retired Wells Fargo & Co. information technology worker. “In retrospect, we were lucky as prices have gone up so much more.” Home-price appreciation is a welcome...
Technology Could Change Trend of Global Trade
Two of the biggest forces influencing global economic activity over the past three decades — globalization and automation — have had polar-opposite effects on workers in emerging markets. The former pushed multinationals to move production to countries with cheaper labor costs than advanced economies, while the latter effectively substitutes capital for labor in the production process. In a note to clients, analysts at the Goldman...
Fewer Chinese Auto Brands in U.S. Than Predicted
Ten years ago, as new-vehicle sales were slipping and incentives were rising, auto manufacturers faced a potentially greater issue: Chinese brands were gearing up to sell low-cost vehicles in the U.S. that threatened to undercut the established brands. The first Chinese vehicles were due to arrive as early as 2007, and industry analysts said it was almost certain they would be here by 2010. Fast forward to 2016, and the only Chinese...
New Film Examines Market Basket Saga
Concord — There was an air of pleasant routine amid the hustle and bustle at the Fort Eddy Road Market Basket in Concord on Monday. Just as the sun poked through some rain clouds, 85-year-old Kay Helms exited through the store’s automatic door, her cart pushed and eventually emptied by employee Daniel Beldin. The two had just met that day. “I just had a big order,” said Helms, who lives in Bow, N.H. Moments later, 88-year-old Fred...
Cater to Boomers or Millennials? Homebuilders Caught in Between
Las Vegas — The U.S. housing industry is being pulled in two directions. Baby boomers with big housing bucks to spend still rank at the top of many builders’ customer lists. But rising sales to millions of millennials have sent builders scrambling to tailor houses for the next generation of buyers. “Millennials are really coming into the market in significant numbers,” Dan DiClerico of Consumer Reports told homebuilders from around...
