Coming Used Car Price Crash
Years of rock-bottom interest rates and loose lending have led to a debt bubble that President Donald Trump will have to confront during his time in office. As interest rates go up, people will no longer have access to cheap financing. Prices will decline as cheap money propped up used car values.
What does all of this mean? Those screaming lease deals that we’ve seen in recent years will go away. Also, the value of that car in your driveway will decline radically. Some are saying we’re positioned for up to a 50 percent drop, causing massive disruptions to a key industry in our country.
This is not good news for car dealers, manufacturers, consumers, the wider economy or the Trump administration. Remember folks, last time we popped a debt bubble in mortgages, it caused the Great Recession.
Apple Worth A Trillion Dollars?
Some analysts are expecting Apple to be worth more than $1 trillion in one year. Apple has come a long way since its early days in a Silicon Valley garage, and it has continued its success story even after the tragic death of its beloved founder Steve Jobs.
Right now, there’s a race among our biggest tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, to be the world’s first trillion dollar company. As a reminder, a trillion dollars is an insane sum of money. In fact, only 15 countries in the world have economies with a GDP greater than a trillion dollars.
If Apple becomes the first trillion dollar company, the company will be worth approximately the GDP of Mexico.
Millennials And The Stock Market
Millennials are typically viewed as a demographic that doesn’t have enough money to invest in the market. But as the oldest batch of millennials reaches their mid-30s, that’s beginning to change.
According to a Bankrate survey, older millennials own stocks at rates that resemble older generations, such as Generation X and Baby Boomers. As a result, millennial habits are beginning to disrupt the investment scene.
We’re much more likely to use financial technology, or fintech, to better manage our portfolios than past generations. We’re also more actively curious in our investments than past generations, who often passively invested through their broker. Additionally, millennials are more apt to invest in stocks that touch our lives such as tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Netflix. Fortunately, tech stocks have been growing faster than other traditional stocks in recent years.
Small Business Owners Are Hiring
Many now believe that the unemployment rate has reached a floor, approaching what economists call maximum employment. But underneath all of this good news is a growing problem. Labor participation remains very low, meaning that there are still millions of workers who have yet to rejoin the workforce.
Additionally, employers, especially small businesses, are having a tough time finding workers to fill their open positions.
Business owners complain that their applicants don’t have the education or experience needed, suggesting a mismatch between our education system and our real-world economic needs.
American Health Care Act & Surprise Hospital Bills
Republican-controlled Congress and the Trump administration secured their first big legislative win with the passage of the American health care act in the House. This was a campaign promise made over and over again by both Trump and congressional Republicans, and after one failed attempt, they delivered. But this legislative saga is far from over.
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