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A gun-rights group is accused of illegally selling shooting insurance in Washington state.

A Wisconsin- based company has been fined $100,000 and barred from selling insurance policies in Washington after it sold policies to gun owners promising to pay legal costs if they were involved in a shooting, according to the Washington state insurance commissioner. The problem: It is illegal in Washington state to insure criminal activity.
A roofer works on a house foundation framing in Irving, Texas.

For those of us that try to keep up with current economic activity, it seems like it is getting more difficult trying to figure out where this economy is going. There are both positive and negative factors as we get current readings on the overall health of the economy.

—U.S. home building fell last month after reaching a 12- year high in August, driven by a sharp decline in the construction of new apartments. Yet single-family home construction ticked higher for a fourth month. The Commerce Department said Thursday that overall housing starts dropped 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.26 million.

Retail sales in the U.S. in September dipped for the first time in seven months and could prompt an interest rate cut in a few weeks. The dip may be attributed to the ongoing U.S. and China trade war, according to a Reuters report. “Weaker retail numbers provide further evidence that weakness in the manufacturing sector is spilling over into other areas of the economy,”…

—Joe Biden is punching left and right coming out of the Democrats’ latest presidential debate, casting his top primary rival, Elizabeth Warren, as potentially disastrous on foreign policy while mocking President Donald Trump as more corrupt than Richard Nixon. Biden pounced on Warren’s suggestion in Tuesday night’s debate that the U.S. should not have troops…
The economy should remain in the positive for at least 2019, economists say.

Retail sales fell 0.3% last month following a 0.6% gain in August, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Consumer spending was strong in the spring and economists had been counting on continued strength to protect the U.S. economy as it is buffeted by the fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Who will occupy the White House in 2021? The upcoming election is sure to hinge on the economy, pundits agree.

Bernie Sanders has released a major proposal to “end corporate greed and corruption” by requiring large companies to give ownership stakes to their workers. The senator has been recuperating at his Vermont home for nearly two weeks since having a heart attack while campaigning in Las Vegas but will travel to Ohio for Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate.

Up to 200,000 banking industry workers in the U.S. could find their jobs eliminated because of artificial intelligence by 2030, according to a recent report by a Wells Fargo& Co. industry analyst. Mike Mayo, a senior Senior banking analyst at Wells Fargo, said in a synopsis of his 200- page equity research report of Oct. 1 that “this will be the biggest reduction in…

—Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump’s lawyer and the Ukraine impeachment investigation were charged with federal campaign finance violations. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani, were arrested Wednesday trying to board an international flight with one-way tickets at Dulles International Airport in Virginia,…

—China announced a timetable Friday for carrying out a promise to allow full foreign ownership of some finance businesses, starting with futures traders on Jan. 1, as Beijing tries to make its slowing economy more competitive and efficient. Ownership limits will be ended for mutual fund companies on April 1 and for securities firm on Dec. 1, the China Securities…
The Federal Reserve system symbol on hundred dollar bill.

The Federal Reserve is easing restrictions imposed on banks following the 2008 financial crisis, giving a victory to the banking industry and President Donald Trump. The Fed on Thursday approved a set of rule changes that implement legislation passed by Congress last year to loosen restrictions, particularly for smaller community banks.

Oct. 10– Pollsters on both sides of the aisle agree that it’s Democrats who have the advantage on one of the 2020 election’s top issues: health care. The analysis from Democratic pollsters Celinda Lake and Paul Maslin, GOP pollster B.J. Martino and Republican strategist Brian Reisinger came during a WisPolitics.com polling summit in Madison Wednesday…

—China’s richest businesspeople got richer in 2019 despite a tariff war with Washington and an economic slowdown, a survey showed Thursday. The average net worth of China’s richest 1,800 people rose 10% over 2018 to $1.4 billion, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the country’s wealthy. The results reflect the importance of China’s consumer market at a…
Pressure is on the Federal Reserve to act on interest rates.

Federal Reserve officials were sharply divided last month when they decided to cut their key policy rate for a second time this year, a split that indicates the path forward for future rate cuts remains cloudy. The Fed’s benchmark rate currently stands in a range of 1.75% to 2% with the next meeting coming on Oct. 29-30.

—Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear before Congress this month as the tech giant is under pressure from lawmakers and regulators over its massive market power and record of privacy breaches. Lawmakers from both parties and top regulators, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, have criticized…

The rally came as investors turned hopeful that the U.S. and China may make some progress in their latest round of trade negotiations after Beijing reportedly signaled that it is open to a partial deal. Both sides had held off from further escalating the conflict up until this week, when the U.S. blacklisted a group of Chinese technology companies over alleged…

U.S. equities tumbled on concern tensions with China are escalating just days before high-level talks between officials from the world’ s biggest economies. That came after China said it strongly opposed a U.S. move to blacklist some of its technology firms and Bloomberg reported the White House is moving ahead with discussions about restricting capital…

—The government ran a budget deficit of just under $1 trillion in the just-closed fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday. Democrats have noted the spike in deficits since President Donald Trump’s tax cut plan was passed in 2017, while Trump has promised not to touch popular retirement benefits like Social Security and Medicare.
New home sales are continuing to fluctuate, perhaps signaling the difficulty young people are having financially.

An organization of business experts said in a new survey Monday the U.S. economy will grow by less than 2 percent in 2020– the slowest pace in three years. The National Association for Business Economics said in its October outlook it expects U.S. gross domestic product to grow by just 1.8 percent next year– a decline from the 2.1 percent projection it made in June.

—The justices are returning to the Supreme Court bench for the start of an election year term that includes high-profile cases about abortions, protections for young immigrants and LGBT rights. The court is beginning its second term with both of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, on board.

—The nation’s business economists think President Donald Trump’s trade war with China will contribute to a sharp slowdown in economic growth this year and next, raising concerns about a possible recession starting late next year. The latest survey by a panel of 51 forecasters with the National Association for Business Economics shows they expect growth, as…

WASHINGTON– With a potentially devastating round of new tariffs set to take effect Oct. 15, Minnesota multinationals that do business in China have adopted two distinct strategies depending on whether they buy from or sell into the Chinese market. These companies, plus 3 M, are Minnesota members of the U.S.-China Trade Council, a group representing more than 200…
The U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war.

On Thursday morning, the Institute for Supply Management announced that the nonmanufacturing index hit a three-year low. Economists and traders alike already knew that manufacturing was in a recession as a result of the global slowdown brought on by the U.S. trade war.

The Washington Times takes a weekly look at some of them that may have flown under the radar. Cory A. Booker on Thursday released a plan intended to cut child poverty in the U.S. by about two-thirds. Mr. Booker wants to expand the child tax credit and start a payment program that would give at least $250 per month to families with children.
The U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war.

The latest wave of selling came after a report showed hiring by U.S. companies slowed more than economists expected last month, with mining and manufacturing particularly weak. It added to worries that shook markets a day earlier, when a reading on U.S. manufacturing growth dropped to its worst level in a decade.

House Democrats will interview five U.S. officials this week and next, who are named in a whistle-blower complaint that says President Donald Trump attempted to pressure Ukraine to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden by threatening to withhold military aid. By the end of this week, the House intelligence and oversight committees will hear…

Other Democrats said they’re relieved that Mr. Sanders is OK, but said concerns over his age and health could dash his presidential aspirations. Mr. Sanders or former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, 76, could establish a new record if elected, while Sen. It marked the biggest single quarterly haul by any of the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, and it gave Mr….

Paychex, a provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, retirement and insurance services, issued the following news release:. Job growth increased in September, as did hourly and weekly earnings growth, according to the latest Paychex| IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch. “Employment and earnings increases…

—Asian shares followed U.S. stocks lower after a disappointing update on American manufacturing that stirred worries about the economic outlook. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.5% to 21,778.61 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2% to 26,029.11. The U.S. factory report showed that manufacturing weakened in September for the second straight month as…

No one has been getting rich stuffing their money into a savings account, and it’s bound to get even tougher, as the Federal Reserve shifts further into a rate-cutting mode. The Federal Reserve announced another rate cut after its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

Will Hurd on Thursday said there are “a lot of disturbing allegations” in the whistleblower report against President Donald Trump and addressed the possibility of running for president in 2024.. He was in Austin on Thursday for an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival with the news organization’s CEO Evan Smith. “There are a lot of elements in there that I think…

—Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods showed a slight increase in August but a key sector that tracks business investment plans declined, likely reflecting fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade wars. Orders for durable goods edged up 0.2% in August after a much bigger 2% gain in July, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

—The White House and the Justice Department learned about a CIA officer’s concerns about President Donald Trump around the same time the individual filed a whistleblower complaint that is now at the center of an impeachment inquiry, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter. The intelligence official initially filed a…

—The Trump administration’s reluctance to send a whistleblower complaint to Congress is part of a larger pattern of resisting lawmakers’ requests for witnesses, documents and other information. Executive privilege is the president’s power to keep information from the courts, Congress and the public to protect the confidentiality of the Oval Office…
The United States Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Eugene Scalia played a major role in convincing an appeals court judicial panel to vacate the Obama Labor Department’s fiduciary rule. The DOL is working on a replacement rule to be unveiled by the end of the year.

—The U.S. economy grew at a modest 2% annual rate in the second quarter, a pace sharply lower than the 3%- plus growth rates seen over the past year. The April-June increase in the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, slipped from a brisk 3.1% gain in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

—Japanese automakers on Thursday urged the government to do more to support the industry after their government signed a trade deal with the U.S. that kept auto tariffs unchanged. Automakers were hoping to see tariffs eliminated, but Japan only managed to keep them at 2.5% and win a U.S. promise of no more for now. The agreement only allows Japan to delay auto tariff…

Ms. Warren of Massachusetts was the top choice of 27% of Democratic voters and independents who lean Democrat, followed by Mr. Biden at 25%. The 2- point gap is within the survey’s margin of error, but the Wednesday poll marked the first time any Democratic presidential candidate other than Mr. Biden was in front since Quinnipiac started asking the question in…

“Impeachable misconduct entails a president’ s serious abuse of power and a serious abuse of public trust,” said University of North Carolina Law professor Michael Gerhardt. Trump in recent days has acknowledged that he withheld congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as he simultaneously pressed the Ukrainian president to investigate his possible 2020…
Presidential candidates can promise all they want, but Congress often has more input.

Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator, announced a plan Tuesday to tax the nation’s wealthiest households. He vows to go further than Warren and generate more than $4 trillion over the next decade, substantially reducing billionaires’ fortunes. Whether any such plan can get through Congress is debatable.
New home sales are continuing to fluctuate, perhaps signaling the difficulty young people are having financially.

Stopping just short of predicting a recession in the U.S. through its 2021 forecast horizon, the UCLA Anderson Forecast, in its third quarterly report of 2019, expects the national economy to slow to 0.4% in the second half of 2020, before rebounding to 2.1% in 2021.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday accused President Trump of a “betrayal of his oath of office” and said Democrats will rise to the challenge of the moment by opening an unprecedented inquiry that could lead to his impeachment. After months of resisting, Mrs. Pelosi emerged from a meeting with fellow House Democrats to say she was swayed by the latest…

Seven Democratic freshmen lawmakers who served in the military and national security say that if President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate rival Joe Biden for political benefit, it’s impeachable. Gil Cisneros of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Mikie Sherrill of New…
Presidential candidates can promise all they want, but Congress often has more input.

Elizabeth Warren’s plan to pay for a series of far-reaching government programs with a 2% wealth tax has liberal audiences chanting ” 2 cents” in much the same way that President Trump’s vow to build a wall along the southern border led to a “Build that wall” battle cry.

The economy today remains strong, but we all know that’ s not going to last forever. When the next downturn comes– and it will come– it’ s inevitable that some small business owners, for whatever reason, are going to face bankruptcy. About a month ago, President Trump signed a new law called the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, which goes into effect into effect…
The U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war.

A few hours before a divided Federal Reserve trimmed interest rates last week to keep the economy primed, the boss at one of the world’ s biggest banks addressed whether the U.S. was in danger of slipping into a recession. “My own gut tells me it’ s not imminent,” JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said.

—President Donald Trump repeatedly defended himself Friday against an intelligence whistleblower’s potentially explosive complaint, including an allegation of wrongdoing in a reported private conversation Trump had with a foreign leader. The complaint, which the administration has refused to let Congress see, remains shrouded in mystery but is “…

The National Association of Realtors issued the following news release:. Existing-home sales inched up in August, marking two consecutive months of growth, according to the National Association of Realtors (R). The median existing-home price/2 for all housing types in August was $278,200, up 4.7% from August 2018.
The facade of the Federal Reserve Bank.

The Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark interest rate again, big news for the U.S. economy but something that will likely have a muted impact on Americans’ personal finances, experts say. That’s because the reduction doesn’t offset the increases of recent years. The central bank on Wednesday reduced its key rate by a quarter-point to a range of 1.75% to 2%.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is “substantially” increasing economic sanctions against Iran in the wake of last weekend “s missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia” s oil fields that Washington says were launched by Tehran. Iran “s state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday that the government sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. denying…

—Weeks shy of his 95th birthday, former President Jimmy Carter said he doesn’t believe he could have managed the most powerful office in the world at 80 years old. Carter, who earlier this year became the longest-lived chief executive in American history, didn’t tie his comments to any of his fellow Democrats running for president in 2020, but two leading…
Pressure is on the Federal Reserve to act on interest rates.

The Federal Reserve looks poised to cut interest rates for a second time Wednesday to help extend the economic expansion in the face of global weakness, President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and geopolitical risks such as the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday shrugged off a series of recent retirement announcements from Republicans in the chamber, saying it’s healthy to have a decent bit of turnover and fresh faces in the ranks. He also pointed to Republican Dan Bishop, who won the recent do-over election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District by about 4,000…

—In less than three years, President Donald Trump has named more former lobbyists to Cabinet- level posts than his most recent predecessors did in eight, putting a substantial amount of oversight in the hands of people with ties to the industries they’re regulating. The Cabinet choices are another sign that Trump’s populist pledge to “drain the swamp” is a catchy…

Ed Rendell recently whacked Elizabeth Warren when she bashed Joe Biden for taking rich donors’ money. The former Pennsylvania governor wrote that he himself had run a “swanky” fundraiser for Warren’s Senate race, for which she thanked him royally. Bernie Sanders’ similar vision— a single-payer plan that does away with private coverage— would cost an estimated $33…
The facade of the Federal Reserve Bank.

No less a figure than former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has suggested that it’s just a matter of time before negative rates come to the United States. Last week, the ECB deepened its negative rates as part of a package to fend off a recession. Negative rates represent another technique by which central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, try to spark the economy.

Sep. 16– WASHINGTON– While the White House and President Donald Trump remained noncommittal on the prospect of an impending UAW strike of General Motors to begin at midnight, Democratic politicians voiced support for workers. Meanwhile, in a statement issued by his campaign, U.S. Sen. GM, Sanders went on, “is not a poor company.
Pressure is on the Federal Reserve to act on interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to deliver an update on its interest rate policy Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to announce another quarter-point rate cut as officials move to sustain the nation’s economic expansion. The Fed’s benchmark rate is now at 2% to 2.25%.