US Manufacturing Survey Strongest Since May 2022 On AI Spend, Prices Paid Spike

Shareholder Ownership Gives Way To Corporate Control Authored by Iain O'Brien via RealClearMarkets, Today's business ownership landscape is increasingly complicated by financial, voting, contractual and capital arrangements. A direct relationship between ownership and control can no longer be assumed, particularly for strategically important companies. Sika, a Swiss chemicals company, entered a four-year corporate battle in 2014, when building-material firm Saint-Gobain announced it would buy a controlling majority. Although the Burkard family owned 16% of shares, a dual-class structure granted them over 52% of voting rights. Sika showed why economic ownership does not...

A Dollar Is Not A Dollar: A Plea To Make Dollar Policy Great Again Authored by John Tamny via RealClearMarkets, Le Diplomate is one of the toughest tables in Washington, DC. When it opened in 2013 its wildly popular Burger Americain (with French fries) set diners back $14, according to the Washington Post. Thirteen years later, the same meal retails for $29. As Tim Carman and Federica Cocca report at the Post, "the wholesale price of ground beef has soared between 18 and 30 percent in the past few years." Ok, so...

US Gasoline Prices Could Top $4 Per Gallon Within Days After several weeks of reprieve for drivers, the US national average price of gasoline could top $4 per gallon within a week, as crude oil prices rallied by about 12% in the three days since Friday amid the all-but-collapsed U.S.-Iran ceasefire. The renewed hostilities in the Middle East have fueled a new crude oil price rally this week, while tight fuel markets globally are also pushing US prices at the pump higher, OilPrice notes. “I've seen enough and believe the national average...