What we’re reading (3/23)
“Credit Cards Slash $99 Billion From Spending Limits During Pandemic” (American Banker). “The notices went out to one cardholder after another, sparking complaints. Big banks were trimming credit limits by hundreds or thousands of dollars as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. None were saying how far it would go.”
“Homes Are Selling At Record Speed As Buyers Scramble To Find Properties” (CNN Business). “Finding a home to buy remains a challenge for house hunters right now. Inventory of homes for sale remained at a record low 1.03 million homes in February, the same as January, and dropped a record 30% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.”
“Tech Stocks Led The Market Rally. Now They’re Falling Behind.” (Wall Street Journal). “Recently…[the] rally has stalled, sending the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite briefly into a correction—a 10% decline from a recent high. Since the index’s recent record on Feb. 12, growth and tech stocks have largely struggled. In contrast, other sectors have surged, including energy and financials.”
“Pension Funds Have To Buy Bonds To Rebalance Portfolios, And That Might Be Good For Stocks” (CNBC). “Pension funds and other major investors should be big buyers of bonds during the next week or so, as they rebalance their holdings to make up for the bond market’s first quarter sell-off. That could send bond yields lower, at least temporarily.”
“Miami Wants To Be The Hub For Bitcoin” (New York Times). “Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami is selling his city as the world’s cryptocurrency capital. “We want to be on the next wave of innovation,” he told DealBook. To make that happen, Mr. Suarez said he was ‘refashioning’ the city’s ‘fun in the sun’ image. Thanks in part to the mayor’s marketing efforts, tech and finance titans have flocked to Miami during the pandemic.”
