Inflation pressures ease despite food price jump Inflation pressures eased a bit in April despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last month, compared to a 0.3 percent rise in March. The lower inflation reflected a flat reading for energy, which helped offset a 0.9 percent jump in food costs as prices climbed for many basic items, from bread and milk to coffee and fresh fruits. The unchanged reading for energy reflected a big 4.8 percent jump in natural gas prices, offset by a 2 percent decline in gasoline costs. The reported drop in gasoline prices reflected the government's accounting process, which discounts expected seasonal price changes.
Home Foreclosures Continued to Soar in April U.S. home foreclosure filings in April rose 4 percent from March and were a whopping 65 percent higher than a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Wednesday. Home foreclosure filings in April totaled 243,353, up 4 percent from March, RealtyTrac, an online market of foreclosure properties, said in its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The figure is a total of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. "The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.
Greenspan sees U.S. house price bottom in '09 U.S. home prices will likely bottom out in early 2009 after the market absorbs excess inventories, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told audiences in Asia Wednesday, according to news reports. Greenspan, who spoke by video link to audiences in Hong Kong and Singapore, said the current pace of liquidation will accelerate, but excess supply won't be eliminated until early 2009, according to Dow Jones Newswires, which cited prepared remarks provided to investors by Deutsche Bank, which sponsored the conference. Greenspan told the audience U.S. economy is showing resilience and flexibility. He also said high oil prices are structural and will likely continue due to a lack of investment in capacity and infrastructure, the report said.
My check? It's going to pay off bills Consumers pinched by soaring prices for gasoline, granola and green grapes are increasingly looking at their stimulus checks as a means of making ends meet for at least a month or so. A growing number of consumers told pollsters in at least three separate surveys recently that they will use the money the government is sending them in coming weeks to pay down debt, fill up the family car and stock the kitchen pantry. That smacks at the government's objective to kindle economic growth with frivolous spending on electronics, clothing or a night out on the town. More important, however, is that it underscores the incredibly tight financial condition many Americans are finding themselves in as prices for day-to-day living expenses reach unparalleled levels.
Tax Rebate Will Only Stall, Not Stop Recession The U.S. economy is in a recession and stimulus from a government tax rebate later this quarter will only temporarily stem a fall in consumer spending, a Merrill Lynch economist said on Wednesday. U.S. households will get tax rebates next month as part of a $152 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year, aimed at propping up an economy hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, losses at top banks and a credit crunch. "I still maintain the business cycle is bigger than the government," Merrill's North American economist David Rosenberg said at a client conference in Singapore. He said the world's largest economy was already in recession as consumer spending and confidence had fallen and jobs losses were rising, with the number of hours worked having fallen sharply.
Indians bristle at U.S. criticism on food prices Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet, say a growing number of politicians, economists and academics here. Criticism of the United States has ballooned in India recently, particularly after the Bush administration seemed to blame India's increasing middle class and prosperity for rising food prices. Critics from India seem to be asking one underlying question: "Why do Americans think they deserve to eat more than Indians?" The food problem has "clearly" been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories than the average person in India, said Pradeep Mehta, the secretary general of CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment, a private economic research organization based in India with offices in Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam and Britain.
Foreclosure flood: 1,000 auctions per day in California California's foreclosure crisis passed another ominous milestone in April, when more than 1,000 foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday at courthouses across the state, the auction tracking firm ForeclosureRadar reported today. The April total of foreclosure sales at auction -- 22,838 for the state -- represents a jump of 44% over March totals and the highest level ever in California, ForeclosureRadar reports. A separate estimate of foreclosures by DataQuick Information Systems had counted 47,171 foreclosures in the first quarter, a rate of more than 500 per day from January to March. The new statistics show every category of foreclosure statistics rose in April.
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