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Trade Wars
Refinance Demand For FHA Loans Jumps 24%, As Homeowners Seek The Most Savings They Can
Total applications to refinance a home loan rose 14% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume was 88% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 58.2% of total applications from 53.0% the previous week. Demand for FHA refinances was up 24% for the week, as the FHA interest rate for 30-year fixed rate loans fell to 6.08%, the lowest level since September 2024.
In contrast, the average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $806,500 or less, increased to 6.33% from 6.32%, with points increasing to 0.60 from 0.58, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home dropped 2% for the week and were 19% higher than the same week one year ago. Potential buyers are also turning to the FHA for additional savings.
Read more at CNBC
Eli Lilly To Build $6 Billion Manufacturing Plant In Alabama To Help Make Upcoming Obesity Pill, Other Drugs
Eli Lilly on Tuesday said it will spend $6 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, to help boost production of its closely watched experimental obesity pill and other drugs. It is the third facility in a string of new planned U.S. investments by the drugmaker. Eli Lilly announced in February that it would spend at least $27 billion to build four new domestic manufacturing plants, adding to $23 billion in previous investments since 2020. “Today’s investment continues the onshoring of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production, strengthening supply chain resilience and reliable access to medicines for patients in the U.S.,” said Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks in a release.
That added production capacity for Eli Lilly’s obesity pill, orforglipron, is crucial as the company races to file for its approval and tries to maintain its dominance in the booming market for GLP-1s. The company and its chief rival, Novo Nordisk, faced supply shortages for their existing weekly injections after demand skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent years, though they have managed to alleviate those issues. Eli Lily’s pill in November won a priority review voucher from the Food and Drug Administration, which will significantly speed up the regulator’s assessment of the drug to potentially a few months.
Read more at CNBC
Lockheed Plans Factory-of-the-Future
Lockheed Martin entered into a memo of understanding with Hadrian “to accelerate the pace and value of advanced American manufacturing at Lockheed.” According to a joint release, Hadrian will apply its factory-as-a-service approach to install a scalable work cell for machining and inspection at a Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control plant, relying on artificial intelligence and automation systems to increase the production rate for parts needed for missile programs, including PAC-3 MSE®, THAAD, PrSM, and GMLRS, among others.
The production cell will consist of CNC machines, robotics and Hadrian’s manufacturing execution system, which the partners claim will speed Lockheed’s production rate and improve efficiency for a variety of machined parts. Hadrian was established in 2020 to prioritize advancing aerospace and defense system manufacturing, emphasizing capabilities like robotics and a proprietary software “stack” for highly automated production of aerospace and defense systems. Its "factories of the future" are in Torrance, Calif., and Hawthorne, Calif.
Read more at American Machinist
Deere Targets Big Sales Goals As Trump Pushes For Lower Equipment Prices
Deere is targeting a 10% annual sales growth rate over the next five years as the company looks to be more technology-focused, SVP and CFO Josh Jepsen said at the company’s investor day event Monday. That translates to roughly $63 billion by fiscal year 2030 driven by a mix of technological advances, organic growth, market cycle improvements and inflationary pricing, Jepsen said. Deere’s net sales totaled $38.9 billion during fiscal year 2025.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said at a farmers’ roundtable that equipment prices from Deere and other companies have “gotten too expensive,” in part because of “environmental excesses” that make the products complicated. Currently, Deere and other tractor makers must adhere to certain emissions regulations. Most recently, the EPA adopted standards that reduce emissions from “nonroad diesel engines” by integrating engine and fuel controls, according to its website. To meet the agency’s Tier 4 standards, implemented in 2004, tractor makers are required to produce new engines with advanced emission control technologies that use ultra-low sulfur diesel.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Oracle’s Revenue Falls Short Of Wall Street Estimates
Oracle reported revenue of $16.06 billion for its fiscal second quarter, up 14% from the previous year but lower than the $16.21 billion projected by analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The tech firm's closely watched AI segment, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), saw a 68% climb in revenue to $4.1 billion, roughly in line with analyst estimates. Meanwhile, Oracle's earnings per share of $2.26 surpassed the $1.64 projected by the Street, marking a jump from EPS of $1.47 in the year-ago period.
The company's AI-fueled RPO, or remaining performance obligations — a measure of future revenue from customer contracts — soared nearly 440% from the prior year and 15% from the first quarter to $523 billion for the three months ended Nov. 30. Oracle principal financial officer Doug Kehring said in a press release that the jump was driven by new commitments from Meta (META), Nvidia (NVDA), and other customers.
Read more at HR Dive
BMW Names Veteran Nedeljkovic As CEO To Tackle China, Tesla
BMW named 30-year company veteran Milan Nedeljkovic as its next CEO on Tuesday to replace long-time chief Oliver Zipse, as the German automaker bets on a new generation of electric cars to counter U.S. tariffs, Chinese competition and Tesla. The move, not unexpected with 61-year-old Zipse already beyond the usual retirement age, will put one of the architects of the new "Neue Klasse" EV range at the helm of the company at a time when cheap Chinese models are flooding the market.
Nedeljkovic, 56, will take over on May 14 and be expected to steer BMW back towards sales growth, particularly in China, the world's biggest auto market. “The success of the Nedeljkovic era will be decided in China," said Moritz Kronenberger, portfolio manager at BMW shareholder Union Investment. He also urged BMW to push ahead on autonomous driving, saying Level 3 capability - where cars handle many tasks but drivers must be ready to take over - needed to be rolled out across the range in future to keep pace with Tesla.
Read more at Reuters
Can Nissan Reverse Its Decade-Long Slide in the U.S.?
When Christian Meunier took over Nissan’s Americas business at the start of the year, he said the company was lost. “There was no North Star. There was no vision. There was no direction,” Meunier said in an interview. The automaker had been slow to make decisions and was complacent with its sinking status in the U.S., he said. One of Meunier’s first actions was to order corporate employees at Nissan’s Tennessee headquarters back to the office four days a week. Collaboration is “very difficult” from home and problems often go unsolved, he said.
Meunier’s task is turning around the company in its biggest market, the U.S. Sales have fallen about 40% over the past decade, and its share of the market has dwindled to 6.4%, from a peak of 8.4% in 2017, according to Cox Automotive. Nissan dealers often struggle with higher inventory levels than their competitors and frequently have to discount products to get them off the lot and earn volume bonuses from the automaker. “It isn’t that their products aren’t valuable, but you kind of train people that this is the cheap one,” said Stephanie Brinley, North America auto analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “Being the cheapest available and the best deal isn’t always the way to generate as much loyalty as you want.”
Read more at The WSJ
Ford Teams With Renault To Bring New Evs To Europe
Ford has teamed up with the Renault Group to bring a new generation of electric passenger cars to European customers. In a joint statement, the companies pledge to launch two new Ford-branded electric models tailored for European markets in a venture expected to boost both companies’ “competitiveness in the rapidly evolving automotive landscape in Europe.” The new models will be based on Renault’s Ampere platform and produced by Renault Group in northern France at Ampere’s ElectriCity’ manufacturing plant.
Ford said it has designed the vehicles in line with its strategy of distinctive driving dynamics, authentic Ford-brand DNA and intuitive experiences. The automakers said these cars mark the first step in a “comprehensive new product offensive for Ford in Europe.” The first vehicle is expected in showrooms in early 2028.
Read more at Ward’s Auto
Hormel Foods Turns To Pricing, Supply Chain Revamp To Battle Meat Inflation
Hormel Foods faced elevated pork and beef prices in fiscal 2025, while turkey supplies were constrained by the avian flu, interim CFO and Controller Paul Kuehneman said on a Dec. 4 earnings call. Cost inflation for pork bellies, pork cutout and pork trim rose 25%, 10% and 20%, respectively, during the year. Beef prices also rose significantly throughout the year, Kuehneman told investors.
Hormel leaned on its multiyear Transform and Modernization initiative to offset some margin pressure in fiscal 2025, which ended Oct. 26, according to Kuehneman. The global branded food company launched the project at the end of fiscal 2023, focusing in part on transforming the supply chain and minimizing portfolio complexity. The initiative has led to increased distribution capacity and optimization of the manufacturing footprint. In fiscal 2026, Hormel expects the initiative to continue offsetting inflationary pressures and to support margin expansion, interim CEO and Director Jeffrey Ettinger said.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
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