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Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Government-funded grocery store flounders in Midwest city as similar proposal gains steam in NYC
A community-owned grocery store in Kansas City, Missouri, is on the brink of closing as the concept of municipal subsidies for such stores gets more attention around the country due to the New York City mayoral race. The local government in Kansas City sought to address a so-called "food desert" — a term used to describe areas without access to full-service grocery stores that sell fresh produce, meat and other healthier options along with the standard supermarket fare. The store, known as KC Sun Fresh, lost nearly $900,000 over the last year and received tens of millions of dollars dating back to 2018. The store's nonprofit operator's pre-pandemic success gave way to a downturn in the years since the pandemic, as customer traffic dropped and the store's operations suffered. FOX Business Network's Kelly Saberi visited the store and noted that large portions of the store's shelves were bare or only partially stocked — including meat, produce and dry goods. Mamdani's Public Grocery Stores May Have Devastating Effects On City's Food Supply One customer told Saberi that the quality of products and the price they sell for in comparison to other local options is better, though another took issue with the lack of inventory for shoppers and said a change of ownership would be beneficial. Read On The Fox Business App "There's no meat. There's no vegetables. There's no nothing. Are you going to take care of the community that's surrounded around you? If not, sell the store to someone that can be more responsible," the patron told Saberi. Grocery Ceo Warns Nyc Could Become 'Like Havana Under Castro' If Progressive Candidate Wins Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas acknowledged the crime issues impacting the area around the store, though he noted another grocery store nearby is faring well, so the city needs to find a way to resolve the operational issues. "While I hear and understand the crime issues and concerns, there's a grocery store right down the street — largely in the same kind of area, some of the same criminal numbers and statistics — that still is doing pretty darn well," Lucas said. "So we do want to make sure that we can get those operations right and that's the work that we're collaboratively trying to do." Grocery stores run on relatively thin profit margins that fall into the range of 1% to 3%, which can make it very difficult to operate in a financially sustainable manner. Grocery Chain Shutters Multiple Locations As Industry Struggles Continue To Mount Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for the New York City mayoral race who has advocated for socialist policies, included a plan in his campaign platform to create city-owned grocery stores in each of the city's five boroughs. "They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods in products and sourcing," his platform states. Mamdani's plan calls for halting city subsidies to private grocery stores to redirect those funds to a real "public option." Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed a city-owned grocery store in 2023 after the city experienced the closure of a Walmart and Whole Foods. However, Johnson's administration has since backed off the plan for a city-owned grocery store and is exploring the creation of a city-owned farmer's market — potentially with multiple locations — that would be more focused on providing vendors with a location to sell products instead of a full-fledged article source: Government-funded grocery store flounders in Midwest city as similar proposal gains steam in NYC Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mortgage rates tick higher for first time in weeks
Mortgage rates ticked higher for the first time in weeks, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.72% from last week's reading of 6.67%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.89% a year ago. Housing Crisis Deepens As 47 Major Metro Areas Now Require Homebuyers To Spend More Than 30% Of Income "After declining for five consecutive weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage moved slightly higher following a stronger than expected jobs report," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Despite ongoing affordability challenges in the housing market, we are seeing home purchase and refinance applications respond to the downward trajectory in rates, increasing by 25% and 56%, respectively, compared to the same time last year." The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage climbed to 5.86% from last week's reading of 5.8%. One year ago, the rate on the 15-year fixed note averaged 6.17%. Read On The Fox Business App These States Were The Housing Market Mvps, According To The Labor Department on Thursday reported that employers added 147,000 jobs in June. That figure was above the estimate of economists polled by LSEG, who projected 110,000 jobs would be added. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.1%, which was lower than economists' expectations of 4.3%. The market viewed the June jobs report as solidifying the outlook for the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged for its fifth consecutive meeting later this month. The probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in July declined from 23.8% a day ago to 6.7% on Thursday following the report's release, according to the CME FedWatch article source: Mortgage rates tick higher for first time in weeks Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major housing markets finally rebounding as buyers gain upper hand in unexpected cities
Housing inventory in a significant number of major metropolitan areas hit levels higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from The real estate marketplace said nearly half of America's 50 largest metros had real estate markets whose number of active listings as of May had surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The ten metro areas that had the largest jumps in active inventory from their averages in 2017-2019 all posted double-digit percentage increases, according to Housing Crisis Deepens As 47 Major Metro Areas Now Require Homebuyers To Spend More Than 30% Of Income Eight states had representation among the ten areas that identified as having the "most dramatic improvement in active inventory," with Texas claiming three spots within the top-five. Denver stood out as the metro with the largest increase in active housing inventory from pre-pandemic levels, seeing a 100% jump, the report said. linked the surge in inventory to factors like increased construction and the time homes remain on the market. The city serves as the capital of the Centennial State. Read On The Fox Business App Austin is located in Central Texas. Inventory in the metro was up 69% in May from where it stood before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The real estate marketplace pegged Seattle's change in active inventory at 60.9%. More than 780,000 people call the city home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the Dallas-Forth Worth area, inventory rose 55.5% from pre-COVID, the report said. Homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area carried a median price of $440,000 in May. San Antonio's active inventory posted a 58.3% jump from pre-pandemic levels, per The metro areas of San Francisco, Nashville, Orlando, Las Vegas and Tuscon rounded out top-10 when it came to having notched the "largest gains" in inventory. Their increases compared to before the pandemic ranged from 53.5% for San Francisco to 23% for Tuscon, according to the real estate marketplace. Top Five Buyer-friendly Markets Offer Price Cuts And Increased Inventory "In general, we're seeing strong inventory reboards in metros that have built more in the last 6 years," Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a statement. "This milestone underscores both the importance of enabling housing construction and the growing divide in housing conditions across regions, where some markets are rapidly normalizing and others remain stuck in low-supply dynamics." The national housing market appears to be moving towards being a "buyer-friendly" one, according to The U.S. had over one million homes on the market in May, a level that the U.S. hadn't climbed above since the winter of 2019, a separate June 5 report found. Small Real Estate Investors Reach Record Market Share, Now Dominate 59% Of Investor Purchases In March, the real estate marketplace said the U.S. was contending with a supply gap of about 3.8 million homes. Supply and affordability have been two major issues that many homebuyers have been dealing with in recent article source: Major housing markets finally rebounding as buyers gain upper hand in unexpected cities Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fireworks business booms this Fourth of July as trade talks fizzle out incoming supplies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The fireworks industry is expecting to get by this Fourth of July holiday, but trade tensions with China have some worried that sales leading up to America's 250th birthday in 2026 could be a bust. Pyrotechnicians and firework distributors have held out hope that the fireworks will be exempt from President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports. Tariffs with China are held at 30% after the U.S. and China agreed to pause tariff increases for 90 days. In April, Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports peaked at 145%. However, those rates could shoot back up when the pause ends in August. "It's been a bit of a roller coaster since February with the constant change in the tariffs," Julie Heckman, American Pyrotechnics Association Executive Director, said. Firework Sales Boom As Americans Gear Up For Fourth Of July Celebrations Fireworks are an American tradition, but they rely on Chinese production. Read On The Fox Business App The APA estimates that 99% of backyard consumer fireworks in the U.S. come from China. Heckman said about 90% of professional display fireworks also come from China. "It's almost impossible to produce fireworks in the United States. It's a very laborious process. Everything is made by hand," Heckman said. "You're dealing with explosives. They are highly sensitive to heat, humidity, and friction. It's a very dangerous job." Trump Urged To Take On South Korea Over Tech Regulations That Target Us, Spare China Firework prices remained steady this Fourth of July, but Heckman warned that supply could be low among newly released products. However, industry leaders think the price of fireworks could rise in the next year. "Basically, all the importers contacted their Chinese suppliers and said, 'don't ship my product. I can't afford to pay 145% tariff,'" Heckman said. Nashville, Tennessee is home to one of the nation's largest Fourth of July firework displays. Forty-thousand pounds of fireworks will soar in the sky over the Cumberland River for thirty minutes on Friday. Pyro Shows Inc. President Lansden Hill is the man behind the fuse. His crew bought the fireworks for Music City's Fourth of July celebration a year ago. "The product we use here in Nashville doesn't come on one container. It comes on a lot of containers throughout the year," Hill said. "The fireworks that are used in the show this year weren't subject to any of the new tariffs." Fourth of July celebrations reap huge economic benefits for the cities that host them. Over 355,000 people showed up to last year's Fourth of July celebration in Nashville. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. reported about 60% of the annual Fourth of July spectators are visitors. Each year, visitors book about 30,000 hotel rooms and spend about $17.5 million during the Fourth of July holiday, according to NCVC President and CEO Deana Ivey. Click Here To Get Fox Business On The Go "That money goes to schools, it goes to the police force, it goes to sidewalks. All of the public accommodations we need for the community," Deana Ivey, NCVC President and CEO, article source: Fireworks business booms this Fourth of July as trade talks fizzle out incoming supplies Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
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PETER NAVARRO: Trump's 50% steel tariff is a necessary shield for American industry
President Donald Trump has now raised steel tariffs to 50% from 25%. This increase is absolutely essential to protecting the U.S. steel industry and America's national security. This decision comes not a moment too soon. As global steel overcapacity reaches dangerous new heights and import surges hammer American producers, the original 25% tariffs under Section 232 are no longer sufficient to shield our industrial base from foreign market manipulation, particularly by Chinese state-linked exporters. A stronger line must be drawn – and today's move draws it. When President Trump first imposed Section 232 tariffs in 2018, they immediately spurred a resurgence in domestic steel investment. American steelmakers poured more than $20 billion into expanding and modernizing production across critical product lines – from hot-rolled sheet and corrosion-resistant plate to rebar and wire rod. These investments weren't speculative; they were foundational to national resilience, designed to restore domestic self-sufficiency and economic security. Trump's Tariff Strategy Can Work But America Still Needs Deeper Economic Reform By 2024, those investments had paid off. U.S. steel capacity now exceeds domestic consumption by more than 19 million tons annually. In product after product, America can meet its own needs without relying on a single ton of imports. For instance, U.S. hot-rolled sheet capacity exceeds demand by 18.1 million tons. Cold-rolled sheet? Overcapacity of 13.2 million tons. Rebar? An excess of 1.5 million tons. Read On The Fox Business App In short, American steel is fully capable of standing on its own – if foreign trade abuses don't undermine it. Yet that is exactly what's happening. Global steel overcapacity – fueled by China's relentless export machine – has surged to a staggering 600 million metric tons in 2024 and is projected to exceed 720 million metric tons by 2027. China alone exported nearly 111 million metric tons last year, destabilizing global prices. Trump Risks It All, Takes On The World With Tariffs And Puts America First This massive Chinese dumping – what else is new from the world's largest dumper of manufactured goods – has forced steelmakers in countries like Korea, Japan, Vietnam and the UAE to aggressively chase U.S. market share. No strangers to dumping themselves, these foreign producers have brazenly told American customers they will simply "price through" the existing 25% duties – absorbing the costs to undercut U.S. mills. The result has been a flood of imports across multiple product lines. In the first part of 2025 alone, standard pipe imports from Vietnam surged 160% compared to the same period in 2024. Oil country tubular goods imports jumped 223% from Vietnam, 70% from Korea and 44% from Taiwan. Rebar imports from Vietnam doubled. Wire rod from Korea soared 67%. These are not normal market fluctuations; they are coordinated assaults on America's steel backbone. Compounding the problem, some foreign suppliers are now using fraud – falsifying invoice values to reduce tariff exposure. Doubling the tariff to 50% makes such schemes far less profitable and far easier to detect and deter. The fallout is already visible. U.S. steel industry capacity utilization has dropped to unsustainable levels – falling from 81.2% in 2021 to 75.2% in 2025. Financially, the picture is even more dire. The four largest U.S. steelmakers saw their average net income ratio plummet from 14.9% in 2022 to a loss of 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (see below). The Census Bureau now ranks the steel sector among the worst-performing industries in the country. Without swift action, this trajectory threatens to undo the progress made under President Trump's original Section 232 proclamation. But with President Trump's decisive move to raise tariffs to 50%, America is sending a clear message: We will not surrender our industrial core to foreign manipulation and overcapacity. We will not allow imported steel, dumped at below-market prices or snuck in through fraud, to destroy the viability of U.S. mills. Click Here To Read More On Fox Business The stakes are not just economic – they are strategic. Economic security is national security and steel is the bedrock of national defense, critical infrastructure and advanced manufacturing. A strong steel industry means a strong America. President Trump's action is bold, timely and absolutely necessary. He is putting American workers, American producers and American security first. Click Here To Read More From Peter NavarroOriginal article source: PETER NAVARRO: Trump's 50% steel tariff is a necessary shield for American industry
