17 thoughts on “Despite being out of reach for many Americans, single-family housing is relatively cheap”
The mounting level of US government debt, on track for $40 trillion courtesy of this summer’s “big beautiful bill,” risks a tectonic face plant for the economy if the pace of growth doesn’t pick up. A common sense sentiment certainly, but one that arguably carries more weight when coming from the chief executive of Goldman Sachs.
“If we continue on the current course and we don’t take the growth level up, there will be a reckoning,” David Solomon said on Thursday. He was echoing widespread concern that the US and other western economies are becoming addicted to debt-fueled stimulus.
Solomon has dismissed concerns about a potential “systemic” crisis in US credit after a small number of high-profile bankruptcies, and says he sees a “low” chance of a recession in the near-term. But still, he says that for economies drowning in debt, there is only one real alternative: “The path out is a growth path.”
All these warnings of a reckoning but no acceptance? Let’s get it over with already. Or kick the can down the road for another decade as stated on here that can happen too. Another last minute changarooski, judge out of nowhere declares SNAP will continue. They can’t take way the danglin carrot just yet. What happene to the Noahs ark video, I agreed with it, but I think the bible is mostly bunk except for certain scriptures.
I reposted it. I didn’t want to be too derogatory towards the alt-Christian dummies, but I am no longer concerned about the Pauline Catholics and Christians. It’s always Jew versus gentile with them.
I used to have a bunch of Catholics stop by my blog, but as we can see, I’m not too friendly to the Catholics. I was a Catholic for the first 35 years of my life. I made the fateful decision to crack open the Bible and the rest is history.
With regards to the existing monetary policies shared by all the privately run central banks around the world, including the Bank of Russia and PBOC, “they” can kick the can forever.
Why? The heterogeneous people don’t fight back anymore. It’s becoming very clear that they will take anything, even being essentially financially ass raped forever. The people lay down like dogs and I don’t really give a shit about the average person anymore.
Race mixing serves many useful functions. It’s primarily used to diffuse righteous indignation. A mongrelized and mamzered society poses no risk to the established oligarchy, because it lacks basic cohesion and the ruling oligarchy bullies population into behaving like caged animals. In a homogeneous Caucasian society, none of this would be taking place.
So, I say go fornicate with whomever anyone wants. Jesus loves everyone and my assets continue to go up in price!
Thank you for the resource. I downloaded and read his complete works – 389 pages. I will re-read in detail over the weekend, his historical accounts are very well written and accurate. Jewish historians have made a mess of all that including dismissing his writings, the only place we can find accuracy and a semblance of truth is in old writings.
The invasion is already complete. No bullets were necessary.
You may have mentioned this before but it was certainly front and center for us last night as my wife and I went to the a new Costco that has opened in central PA. We live in a red county 15mins away from it which is a very rural part of Pa still with rolling hills farmland and dying or sparsely attended churches all over representing the obvious decay of the old America all around us. Upon arrival and seeing the 800 car parking lot at capacity and my wife was surprised saying she knew it was the first day open but didn’t expect this madness. Anyway as we made our way inside we left America and entered I guess a new Mumbai as almost everyone was some form of Indian and if not Indian oriental. There were possibly some white people here and there but the ones I witnessed were anything but normal or they were them employees pandering to their new foreign masters.The marginalization is complete. Also as being white we were treated as if we were in enemy territory and unwelcome. Even more interesting was that in nearly every product category there were Indian products for sale so clearly what was unexpected for us was not only expected but designed for by the operators of the Costco. Further I witnessed how many of these people couldn’t apparently read or understand the signs on where there cart should go for checkout and again more pandering and accommodation from the elderly white workers. I can’t help but wonder if there is any country that is not primarily English speaking around the world where we could get the same accommodation but I would suspect not.
US has only ‘scratched the surface’ of its oil potential as emerging technology strengthens energy outlook
Fox Business
The U.S. has only “scratched the surface” of its oil potential, with new technologies and untapped resources emerging that could help cement America’s energy dominance for years to come.
“The biggest opportunity is to recover more of the molecules that are in the ground,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told FOX Business in an exclusive interview.
Currently, only about 10% of the oil in place can be extracted with existing technology — a figure Chevron aims to increase.
Wirth told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the company is investing in a new generation of drilling innovations, including artificial intelligence-powered systems and fiber-optic sensors that adjust fracking operations in real time. He said the goal is to fine-tune how fractures move through rock formations.
When Bartiromo suggested the U.S. has only “scratched the surface” of its oil potential, Wirth agreed — saying advances in technology and innovation could extend America’s energy dominance well into future.
Wirth’s conversation with Bartiromo — part of her two-day trip to the Permian Basin in Texas — underscored how U.S. innovation and resource strength could secure America’s economic and energy future.
“The Permian Basin is the part of the world that has delivered most of the oil production growth over the last decade to meet all the demand growth in the world,” Wirth said.
“It’s made the U.S. the No. 1 producer, and it’s a massive area. It’s the size of the U.K. and has rewritten the history books of oil and gas.”
In this photo from Oct. 2025, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth sits down with Maria Bartiromo at the Permian Basin in Texas to talk about the connection between energy dominance and national security.FOXBusiness
But that wasn’t always the case.
Two decades ago, the U.S. was the world’s third-largest producer, trailing Saudi Arabia and Russia and steadily declining. Wirth noted that those two countries together pumped nearly three times more oil and gas than the U.S. at the time — but that trend has since reversed.
“Today, U.S. oil and gas production is greater than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined,” Wirth said, adding that America is now a net exporter of energy rather than an importer.
That shift, he added, has fundamentally reshaped global energy diplomacy — giving the United States more leverage to support allies, reduce dependence on unstable regions and strengthen control over its own economic future.
Maybe these young Communists should look up in to the sky and see the real horror taking place above them; chemtrails. But that will never happen.
Canada Pension Fund Sued by Young People Over Climate Risks
Groups of young people in several nations have sued governments and major energy companies for allegedly contributing to future climate change or failing to address it.
(Bloomberg) — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was sued by a group of young people who claim the pension fund is putting their benefits in jeopardy by mismanaging climate-related financial risks.
Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh and Chloe Tse, who don’t plan to retire until after 2050, allege in the lawsuit that the country’s largest pension fund breached its legal duties to them by failing to “prudently identify, assess or manage climate-related risks.” The suit, filed in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, also calls out the pension plan for its continued investments in fossil fuels.
CPPIB is “flying blind to the real risks of climate change and failing to protect the pensions of young Canadians,” Karine Peloffy, a lawyer and sustainable finance lead at Ecojustice who’s representing the investors with attorneys from Goldblatt Partners LLP, said in a statement.
CPPIB said in a statement that it intends to take whatever steps are necessary to uphold the interests of all Canadians who contribute to the pension plan. Climate change is “one of many material factors we consider in managing risk and pursuing opportunities across the whole economy over the long term,” CPPIB added.
Groups of young people in several nations have sued governments and major energy companies for allegedly contributing to future climate change or failing to address it. Perhaps the most prominent of these — a case against the US government alleging it had violated their rights to life, liberty and property by encouraging fossil fuel consumption — was dismissed by a federal appeals court in 2020. The US Supreme Court declined to hear the case in March.
The four Canadian workers, all under the age of 33, are seeking a range of declarations, including that CPPIB act “in the best interests of all contributors and beneficiaries,” and an order that CPPIB disclose more information about the climate-related risks in its investment portfolio.
“I’m part of this case because I want to protect the financial interests of hardworking young people like me who want to be able to retire when we are older,” said Olson, who’s one of plaintiffs, in a statement. “My financial future is on the line.”
CPPIB has said said it doesn’t intend to sell fossil fuel assets, but rather invest in the energy transition. The pension fund has reported a 41% decline in its portfolio’s carbon footprint since fiscal 2020 and says on its website that it remains committed to sustainability. However, CPPIB announced in May that it dropped its commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, three years after making the pledge.
Toronto-based CPPIB currently manages the retirement funds of more than 22 million Canadians with almost C$732 billion ($523 billion) of assets under management, making it the world’s sixth-largest pension fund.
Ecojustice said the case against CPPIB is 100%-funded by organizations and individuals who share the Canadian nonprofit’s vision as the country’s largest environmental law charity.
14 dead in more strikes against alleged drug boats, Hegseth says
The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday, killing 14 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, where he posted a video of the strikes.
The latest action brings the total number of people believed to have been killed to at least 57.
Legality of US military activity around Venezuela is ‘questionable,’ Sen. Mark Kelly says
According to Hegseth, there was one survivor from Monday’s round of strikes.
“Regarding the survivor, USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” he wrote on X, though it’s unclear if that individual has been rescued.
This is the second time that there has been a survivor in an attack. Two survivors from an earlier attack in the Caribbean Sea were repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.
@SecWar/X – PHOTO: The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Oct. 28, 2025, killing 14 people.
The strikes are part of what the administration has called its “war” against drug cartels. Since the beginning of September, the U.S. military has now hit 10 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The use of lethal force, however, has raised several legal questions.
“The Department has spent over TWO DECADES defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them,” Hegseth wrote in his post on Tuesday on the latest strikes.
In addition to the strikes, the U.S. last week ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its accompanying aircraft to the waters around Central and South America — a move designed to ratchet up pressure against the Venezuelan government. President Trump has even threatened potential land strikes against Venezuela.
Bloomberg – Chinese and US trade negotiators have lined up an array of agreements for Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to formally unveil this week, but none address the core issues of America’s economic conflict with China. While markets have rallied on news that the latest trade spat between the two nations is easing, analysts caution that the deals now set for them to sign in South Korea ignore foundational problems.
While little fish are being scooped up, some of the big fish are getting away, including national security and Trump’s desire to somehow rebuild America’s industrial base. The Republican president has envisioned a “rebalancing” between the two largest economies—a world in which the US revives its manufacturing sector and China stokes domestic consumption to engineer a dramatic reduction in both US trade deficits and Chinese surpluses.
In reality, President Xi may have other ideas. While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushes China to light a fire under consumer spending and the White House touts Trump’s Asia trip as a ringing success, China’s latest five-year plan appears to show Trump’s rebalancing dream to be—as far as Beijing is concerned
Will the stocks of rare Earth miners tank on Monday?
Bessent says China to delay rare earths rules by a year, buy U.S. soybeans
By Reuters
October 26, 20259:40 AM EDTUpdated 8 hours ago
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he anticipates that China will revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans for several years and will delay its expanded licensing regime for rare earths by a year and re-examine it after two days of trade talks in Malaysia.
Bessent told the CBS program “Face the Nation” that the soybean purchases would be substantial. Bessent said on ABC’s “This Week” program that when President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping announce a trade deal next Thursday U.S. soybean farmers “will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years.”
Bessent also said on “Face the Nation” that the details for a deal to transfer ownership of Chinese short video app TikTok to U.S. control were ironed out and that Trump and Xi would be able to “consummate” the transaction next week.
U.S. Homeowner Population Stops Growing for First Time in Nearly a Decade
•The number of homeowner households fell 0.1% year over year in the second quarter—a small decline, but the first since 2016.
•Meanwhile, the number of renter households rose 2.6%—one of the biggest increases in recent years.
The number of homeowner households in America fell 0.1% year over year to an estimated 86.2 million in the second quarter. While that’s a marginal decline, it’s the first since 2016.
I am finishing up working on a new loan that is a straight refinancing.
The new loan is a 30-year fixed with a 5-year prepay at 6.25%. The loan comes out to be about 55% LTV. I’m not taking out any cash. It replaces a 7.825% loan on the same property. I took the original loan out just under 25 months ago and I’m paying a 3% prepay penalty.
Even though I’m paying a 3% prepay, the refinancing more than makes up for any penalty. The interest rate on the new loan is 157 basis points less than the current loan.
That is a huge difference and anything more than 100 to 125 basis points makes the refinancing worthwhile, as long as I intend to own the property for at least five more years; which I do. This property will be an indefinite hold and I have no plans on selling it. It is quickly becoming a nice cash cow for me.
Since I took out the original loan two years ago, I’ve paid down about 10% of the loans principal balance, while I was able to increase the rent this year by $550.
Thus, my rental income will increase by almost $850 a month since last year. This same time last year, my rental income was zero. Through fixing up the property and doing some financing, my rental income will increase $10,000 a year on that one house.
The mounting level of US government debt, on track for $40 trillion courtesy of this summer’s “big beautiful bill,” risks a tectonic face plant for the economy if the pace of growth doesn’t pick up. A common sense sentiment certainly, but one that arguably carries more weight when coming from the chief executive of Goldman Sachs.
“If we continue on the current course and we don’t take the growth level up, there will be a reckoning,” David Solomon said on Thursday. He was echoing widespread concern that the US and other western economies are becoming addicted to debt-fueled stimulus.
Solomon has dismissed concerns about a potential “systemic” crisis in US credit after a small number of high-profile bankruptcies, and says he sees a “low” chance of a recession in the near-term. But still, he says that for economies drowning in debt, there is only one real alternative: “The path out is a growth path.”
All these warnings of a reckoning but no acceptance? Let’s get it over with already. Or kick the can down the road for another decade as stated on here that can happen too. Another last minute changarooski, judge out of nowhere declares SNAP will continue. They can’t take way the danglin carrot just yet. What happene to the Noahs ark video, I agreed with it, but I think the bible is mostly bunk except for certain scriptures.
I reposted it. I didn’t want to be too derogatory towards the alt-Christian dummies, but I am no longer concerned about the Pauline Catholics and Christians. It’s always Jew versus gentile with them.
I used to have a bunch of Catholics stop by my blog, but as we can see, I’m not too friendly to the Catholics. I was a Catholic for the first 35 years of my life. I made the fateful decision to crack open the Bible and the rest is history.
With regards to the existing monetary policies shared by all the privately run central banks around the world, including the Bank of Russia and PBOC, “they” can kick the can forever.
Why? The heterogeneous people don’t fight back anymore. It’s becoming very clear that they will take anything, even being essentially financially ass raped forever. The people lay down like dogs and I don’t really give a shit about the average person anymore.
Race mixing serves many useful functions. It’s primarily used to diffuse righteous indignation. A mongrelized and mamzered society poses no risk to the established oligarchy, because it lacks basic cohesion and the ruling oligarchy bullies population into behaving like caged animals. In a homogeneous Caucasian society, none of this would be taking place.
So, I say go fornicate with whomever anyone wants. Jesus loves everyone and my assets continue to go up in price!
Thank you for the resource. I downloaded and read his complete works – 389 pages. I will re-read in detail over the weekend, his historical accounts are very well written and accurate. Jewish historians have made a mess of all that including dismissing his writings, the only place we can find accuracy and a semblance of truth is in old writings.
The invasion is already complete. No bullets were necessary.
You may have mentioned this before but it was certainly front and center for us last night as my wife and I went to the a new Costco that has opened in central PA. We live in a red county 15mins away from it which is a very rural part of Pa still with rolling hills farmland and dying or sparsely attended churches all over representing the obvious decay of the old America all around us. Upon arrival and seeing the 800 car parking lot at capacity and my wife was surprised saying she knew it was the first day open but didn’t expect this madness. Anyway as we made our way inside we left America and entered I guess a new Mumbai as almost everyone was some form of Indian and if not Indian oriental. There were possibly some white people here and there but the ones I witnessed were anything but normal or they were them employees pandering to their new foreign masters.The marginalization is complete. Also as being white we were treated as if we were in enemy territory and unwelcome. Even more interesting was that in nearly every product category there were Indian products for sale so clearly what was unexpected for us was not only expected but designed for by the operators of the Costco. Further I witnessed how many of these people couldn’t apparently read or understand the signs on where there cart should go for checkout and again more pandering and accommodation from the elderly white workers. I can’t help but wonder if there is any country that is not primarily English speaking around the world where we could get the same accommodation but I would suspect not.
The Israelites are now outsiders in a land their ancestors built and made great.
Yes, European Caucasians are outsiders and aren’t welcome anymore. Imagine what it will be like when a Democrat retakes the White House….
Trump’s kayfabe politics weaponizes the left.
Remember Trump said this is the last election? The transformation may well be completed by the end of his term.
US has only ‘scratched the surface’ of its oil potential as emerging technology strengthens energy outlook
Fox Business
The U.S. has only “scratched the surface” of its oil potential, with new technologies and untapped resources emerging that could help cement America’s energy dominance for years to come.
“The biggest opportunity is to recover more of the molecules that are in the ground,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told FOX Business in an exclusive interview.
Currently, only about 10% of the oil in place can be extracted with existing technology — a figure Chevron aims to increase.
Wirth told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the company is investing in a new generation of drilling innovations, including artificial intelligence-powered systems and fiber-optic sensors that adjust fracking operations in real time. He said the goal is to fine-tune how fractures move through rock formations.
When Bartiromo suggested the U.S. has only “scratched the surface” of its oil potential, Wirth agreed — saying advances in technology and innovation could extend America’s energy dominance well into future.
Wirth’s conversation with Bartiromo — part of her two-day trip to the Permian Basin in Texas — underscored how U.S. innovation and resource strength could secure America’s economic and energy future.
“The Permian Basin is the part of the world that has delivered most of the oil production growth over the last decade to meet all the demand growth in the world,” Wirth said.
“It’s made the U.S. the No. 1 producer, and it’s a massive area. It’s the size of the U.K. and has rewritten the history books of oil and gas.”
In this photo from Oct. 2025, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth sits down with Maria Bartiromo at the Permian Basin in Texas to talk about the connection between energy dominance and national security.FOXBusiness
But that wasn’t always the case.
Two decades ago, the U.S. was the world’s third-largest producer, trailing Saudi Arabia and Russia and steadily declining. Wirth noted that those two countries together pumped nearly three times more oil and gas than the U.S. at the time — but that trend has since reversed.
“Today, U.S. oil and gas production is greater than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined,” Wirth said, adding that America is now a net exporter of energy rather than an importer.
That shift, he added, has fundamentally reshaped global energy diplomacy — giving the United States more leverage to support allies, reduce dependence on unstable regions and strengthen control over its own economic future.
Singapore’s Prime Minister warns of turbulence ahead in a ‘post-American’ order and discusses the ‘great transition to a multi-polar world’.
These puppets know something of the future the average person doesn’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXSI4cCm3BM
Maybe these young Communists should look up in to the sky and see the real horror taking place above them; chemtrails. But that will never happen.
Canada Pension Fund Sued by Young People Over Climate Risks
Groups of young people in several nations have sued governments and major energy companies for allegedly contributing to future climate change or failing to address it.
(Bloomberg) — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was sued by a group of young people who claim the pension fund is putting their benefits in jeopardy by mismanaging climate-related financial risks.
Aliya Hirji, Travis Olson, Ravneet Singh and Chloe Tse, who don’t plan to retire until after 2050, allege in the lawsuit that the country’s largest pension fund breached its legal duties to them by failing to “prudently identify, assess or manage climate-related risks.” The suit, filed in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, also calls out the pension plan for its continued investments in fossil fuels.
CPPIB is “flying blind to the real risks of climate change and failing to protect the pensions of young Canadians,” Karine Peloffy, a lawyer and sustainable finance lead at Ecojustice who’s representing the investors with attorneys from Goldblatt Partners LLP, said in a statement.
CPPIB said in a statement that it intends to take whatever steps are necessary to uphold the interests of all Canadians who contribute to the pension plan. Climate change is “one of many material factors we consider in managing risk and pursuing opportunities across the whole economy over the long term,” CPPIB added.
Groups of young people in several nations have sued governments and major energy companies for allegedly contributing to future climate change or failing to address it. Perhaps the most prominent of these — a case against the US government alleging it had violated their rights to life, liberty and property by encouraging fossil fuel consumption — was dismissed by a federal appeals court in 2020. The US Supreme Court declined to hear the case in March.
The four Canadian workers, all under the age of 33, are seeking a range of declarations, including that CPPIB act “in the best interests of all contributors and beneficiaries,” and an order that CPPIB disclose more information about the climate-related risks in its investment portfolio.
“I’m part of this case because I want to protect the financial interests of hardworking young people like me who want to be able to retire when we are older,” said Olson, who’s one of plaintiffs, in a statement. “My financial future is on the line.”
CPPIB has said said it doesn’t intend to sell fossil fuel assets, but rather invest in the energy transition. The pension fund has reported a 41% decline in its portfolio’s carbon footprint since fiscal 2020 and says on its website that it remains committed to sustainability. However, CPPIB announced in May that it dropped its commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, three years after making the pledge.
Toronto-based CPPIB currently manages the retirement funds of more than 22 million Canadians with almost C$732 billion ($523 billion) of assets under management, making it the world’s sixth-largest pension fund.
Ecojustice said the case against CPPIB is 100%-funded by organizations and individuals who share the Canadian nonprofit’s vision as the country’s largest environmental law charity.
Today’s economic data dump is better than expected.
FHFA House Price Index (YoY) (Aug)
Act: 2.3% Cons: Prev: 2.4%
FHFA House Price Index (MoM) (Aug)
Act: 0.4% Cons: -0.1% Prev: 0.0%
FHFA House Price Index (Aug)
Act: 435.3 Prev: 433.6
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 s.a. (MoM) (Aug)
Act: 0.2% Prev: -0.1%
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 n.s.a. (MoM) (Aug)
Act: -0.6% Prev: -0.3%
S&P/CS HPI Composite – 20 n.s.a. (YoY) (Aug)
Act: 1.6% Cons: 1.4% Prev: 1.8%
CB Consumer Confidence (Oct)
Act: 94.6 Cons: 93.4 Prev: 95.6
Richmond Manufacturing Index (Oct)
Act: -4 Cons: -11 Prev: -17
Richmond Manufacturing Shipments (Oct)
Act: 4 Prev: -20
Richmond Services Index (Oct)
Act: 4 Prev: 1
Dallas Fed Services Revenues (Oct)
Act: -6.4 Prev: -2.4
14 dead in more strikes against alleged drug boats, Hegseth says
The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday, killing 14 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, where he posted a video of the strikes.
The latest action brings the total number of people believed to have been killed to at least 57.
Legality of US military activity around Venezuela is ‘questionable,’ Sen. Mark Kelly says
According to Hegseth, there was one survivor from Monday’s round of strikes.
“Regarding the survivor, USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” he wrote on X, though it’s unclear if that individual has been rescued.
This is the second time that there has been a survivor in an attack. Two survivors from an earlier attack in the Caribbean Sea were repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.
@SecWar/X – PHOTO: The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Oct. 28, 2025, killing 14 people.
The strikes are part of what the administration has called its “war” against drug cartels. Since the beginning of September, the U.S. military has now hit 10 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The use of lethal force, however, has raised several legal questions.
“The Department has spent over TWO DECADES defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them,” Hegseth wrote in his post on Tuesday on the latest strikes.
In addition to the strikes, the U.S. last week ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its accompanying aircraft to the waters around Central and South America — a move designed to ratchet up pressure against the Venezuelan government. President Trump has even threatened potential land strikes against Venezuela.
Bloomberg – Chinese and US trade negotiators have lined up an array of agreements for Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to formally unveil this week, but none address the core issues of America’s economic conflict with China. While markets have rallied on news that the latest trade spat between the two nations is easing, analysts caution that the deals now set for them to sign in South Korea ignore foundational problems.
While little fish are being scooped up, some of the big fish are getting away, including national security and Trump’s desire to somehow rebuild America’s industrial base. The Republican president has envisioned a “rebalancing” between the two largest economies—a world in which the US revives its manufacturing sector and China stokes domestic consumption to engineer a dramatic reduction in both US trade deficits and Chinese surpluses.
In reality, President Xi may have other ideas. While US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushes China to light a fire under consumer spending and the White House touts Trump’s Asia trip as a ringing success, China’s latest five-year plan appears to show Trump’s rebalancing dream to be—as far as Beijing is concerned
Will the stocks of rare Earth miners tank on Monday?
Bessent says China to delay rare earths rules by a year, buy U.S. soybeans
By Reuters
October 26, 20259:40 AM EDTUpdated 8 hours ago
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he anticipates that China will revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans for several years and will delay its expanded licensing regime for rare earths by a year and re-examine it after two days of trade talks in Malaysia.
Bessent told the CBS program “Face the Nation” that the soybean purchases would be substantial. Bessent said on ABC’s “This Week” program that when President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping announce a trade deal next Thursday U.S. soybean farmers “will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years.”
Bessent also said on “Face the Nation” that the details for a deal to transfer ownership of Chinese short video app TikTok to U.S. control were ironed out and that Trump and Xi would be able to “consummate” the transaction next week.
Redfin news release
U.S. Homeowner Population Stops Growing for First Time in Nearly a Decade
•The number of homeowner households fell 0.1% year over year in the second quarter—a small decline, but the first since 2016.
•Meanwhile, the number of renter households rose 2.6%—one of the biggest increases in recent years.
The number of homeowner households in America fell 0.1% year over year to an estimated 86.2 million in the second quarter. While that’s a marginal decline, it’s the first since 2016.
https://www.redfin.com/news/homeownership-rentership-rate-q2-2025/
Just an FYI for my fellow SFR investors…
I am finishing up working on a new loan that is a straight refinancing.
The new loan is a 30-year fixed with a 5-year prepay at 6.25%. The loan comes out to be about 55% LTV. I’m not taking out any cash. It replaces a 7.825% loan on the same property. I took the original loan out just under 25 months ago and I’m paying a 3% prepay penalty.
Even though I’m paying a 3% prepay, the refinancing more than makes up for any penalty. The interest rate on the new loan is 157 basis points less than the current loan.
That is a huge difference and anything more than 100 to 125 basis points makes the refinancing worthwhile, as long as I intend to own the property for at least five more years; which I do. This property will be an indefinite hold and I have no plans on selling it. It is quickly becoming a nice cash cow for me.
Since I took out the original loan two years ago, I’ve paid down about 10% of the loans principal balance, while I was able to increase the rent this year by $550.
Thus, my rental income will increase by almost $850 a month since last year. This same time last year, my rental income was zero. Through fixing up the property and doing some financing, my rental income will increase $10,000 a year on that one house.
That’s a great deal, congrats. 10k a year increase on one house is insane, no way that happens in my area.