Contractors work on single-family homes under construction in the Cadence Park development of The Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, California, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images Strong buyer demand is keeping homebuilders confident, but the risk of rising construction material costs continues to weigh on housing affordability. Builder sentiment
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The fracas between governors and legislatures over executive powers during the COVID-19 pandemic is reaching a new level in Pennsylvania — two proposed constitutional amendments. Keystone State voters on Tuesday will decide on two ballot measures that would limit the governor’s emergency disaster declaration powers and enable the state legislature to end a declaration with
A Harvey, Illinois, pension fund claims it’s entitled to share in the Chicago suburb’s American Rescue Plan funds and wants to block the distribution of aid until a judge decides. The financially stressed suburb south of Chicago, which has battled over the last decade with its public safety pension funds, the city of Chicago, and
Connecticut will bring three rating upgrades to the table when it comes to market with a $1 billion exempt and taxable general obligation deal set for Wednesday. Fitch Ratings on Friday lifted Connecticut to AA-minus from A-plus. The action “reflects enhancements to the state’s fiscal management practices in recent years that are materially increasing the
Municipals held steady to slightly firmer in spots Friday after flat retail sales moved U.S. Treasuries stronger while equities gained back mid-week losses. Despite the slight pressure from economic data and overall market volatility, municipals continue to hold their own place in the capital markets. In the current environment, muni technicals are “simply overpowering,” said
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board voted to overrule the territory’s House of Representatives on spending for the privatization of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority transmission and distribution system. On Wednesday the House voted 43 to 0 with 2 abstentions against authorizing a revision to this year’s General Fund budget allocating $750 million for the
The Federal Reserve’s policy is in a good place right now, said Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, while playing down signals from data that she warns will be volatile as the economy reopens. “The volatility month-to-month I think is something we should expect, Mester said Friday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We’re really at
California Gov. Gavin Newsom capped a week of daily multi-billion dollar additions to his proposed $267.8 billion budget Friday with a plan to bring universal broadband to the state and expand Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants over the age of 60. The governor began the week by declaring the state will a $75.7 billion surplus and
Connecticut officials enter this week’s $1 billion general obligation bond sale armed with four upgrades in six weeks, including three within two days last week. Fitch Ratings on Friday upgraded the state’s GO rating to AA-minus. One day earlier, Kroll Bond Rating Agency and S&P Global Ratings elevated Connecticut to AA and A-plus, respectively. Moody’s
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board appears poised to do away with a requirement that dealers provide disclosures to customers who may not be invested in municipals, a request industry groups have been making for years. The MSRB requested comment May 14 on potential changes to Rules G-10 on investor and municipal advisory client education and
As Colorado lawmakers seek a long-term source of transportation funding, the Centennial State is issuing $500 million of certificates of participation for rural highway projects. This week’s deal, scheduled to price Wednesday, is part of $2 billion authorized by the 2017 legislature under Senate Bill 17-267 for projects through fiscal 2022. The financing will go
In the wake of widespread outrage and protests about racial injustice, many people are looking at their stock portfolio and wondering: what can I do to support racial justice with my dollars? If you are an investor of any type — whether you have a 401(k), IRA, or trading account — there are a few
It’s possible to squeeze more yield out of the cash you are keeping on the sidelines. That’s important, because long gone are the days when you could earn even one percent from a money-market fund. In fact, yields consistently have been below 0.5% for the past decade; nowadays the average national money market fund yield
Wall Street is so full of greed, fraud and ego, a cynic might say it’s no place for any kind of spirituality to find a home. But several religious precepts might actually help investors if they paid them more mind, judging by the long-term returns of Amana Growth Fund AMIGX, +1.76%. The fund avoids companies
Index-fund investors who didn’t sell into a crashing stock market in March should be pleased, as the S&P 500 has returned 1% in 2020. That’s despite a drop of as much as 30% earlier this year. Active fund managers want to beat the S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.46%, but most can’t do it because it’s
A century after winning the right to vote and in the midst of a pandemic, female fund managers are outperforming their male colleagues on Wall Street. That is according to a team of equity strategists at Goldman Sachs, who crunched the numbers in honor of 2020, which marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment’s
Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund celebrated its 50th birthday in July. A mutual fund being in business that long has become about as rare as couples reaching their 50th wedding anniversary, and so the fund’s longevity is noteworthy in its own right. But, by analyzing this mutual fund’s performance, we can draw important investment lessons for
Two proposed rulemakings from the Labor Department in the past eight weeks would largely gut sustainable investing options and strategies in retirement plans. These proposals would reverse the Labor Department’s 2015 and 2016 guidance while ignoring the growing consensus among academics, retirement plan fiduciaries and professional money managers that responsible companies are likely to outperform
Clean-energy stocks and exchange-traded funds are on a tear this year, sharply outperforming the broader market and traditional fossil-fuel investments. The clean-tech ETFs with the most powerful year-to-date rallies include Invesco Solar ETF TAN, -2.89%, up 81% through Thursday; First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund QCLN, -2.20%, up 58%; and iShares Global
For the 55 calendar years from 1965 through 2019, Berkshire Hathaway’s stock rose at an 18.6% annualized pace, versus 11.8% for the S&P 500 SPX, -0.46% . (Both returns reflect reinvested dividends.) Warren Buffett can take credit for this, and he appears to be very much in charge of Berkshire. But, given that he just