When America Chose Empire

Two people were killed today in the southern Lebanese town of Mayfadoun when they came upon unexploded ordinance left behind in a recent Israeli operation against the area. This brought the number of confirmed deaths in this year’s invasion of Lebanon to 4,346, with over 12,000 others wounded. Israeli strikes were also reported today against […]

"Late Spring Buyer Rush": US Pending Home Sales Just Surged By The Most In Almost 2 Years Pending home sales in the US were expected to rise for the fourth straight month in May and they did with a huge beat (+3.8% MoM vs +0.9% MoM exp - above the highest analysts estimate), which was slightly offset by a downward revision for April (from +1.4% to +0.3%). That is the best monthly improvement in pending home sales since Sept 2024 and that lifted sales by just over 2% YoY. “A late spring...

Fed's Favorite Inflation Indicator Ticks Up In July As Americans Suddenly Start Saving More Following the CPI and PPI internals, this morning's PCE data should not offer too many surprises with expectations for the headline price Index to rise just 0.1% MoM in July (after deflating for the first time since COVID in June). The (old) Fed's favorite inflation indicator - Core PCE (a measure of price changes in consumer goods and services that excludes volatile food and energy costs) - printed in line with expectations (+0.2% MoM and +3.3% YoY),...