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Trade Wars
Existing Home Sales in December Jump 5.1%, Biggest Gain in Nearly 2 Years
Home sales finished 2025 with surprisingly strong momentum, rising 5.1% in December for the biggest gain in nearly two years. The increase in sales, which was more than double what economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected, reflected easing mortgage rates and slower growth in home prices. On a monthly basis, existing-home sales rose 5.1% in December, the biggest gain since February 2024 and the fourth-straight monthly increase, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The four consecutive months of rising sales is the longest streak since 2020.
The higher sales “were essentially driven, in my view, by lower interest-rate conditions,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “There is pent-up demand. When does it get released? When the mortgage rate begins to move.” The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has hovered around 6.2% in recent weeks, down from the start of last year when rates were close to 7%.Home-price growth is also slowing. The national median existing-home price in December was $405,400, a 0.4% increase from December 2024, NAR said. Existing-home sales of 4.06 million last year held at their lowest level since 1995, NAR said. But the U.S. population is now more than 70 million larger than it was 30 years ago, and last year’s sales pace looks worse when measured as a share of total households.
Read more at the WSJ
New Home Sales Picked Up in September and October on Lower Mortgage Rates and Builder Incentives
Prices for newly built homes fell to a four-year low in the fall as builders cut prices, according to a report delayed by the government shutdown. The median sales price for new homes that went under contract in October was $392,300, down 8% from a year earlier and the lowest level since 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. New-home prices have been trending down since late 2022, after the affordability crisis priced many potential buyers out of the market. Homebuilders responded by cutting prices and boosting incentives. New home sales averaged a 737K unit pace in September and October, marking the strongest pace of the year.
Sales of new single-family houses were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 737,000 in October, little changed from the prior month but up 19% from a year earlier. Transactions rose as falling mortgage rates and prices both contributed to making new homes more affordable for prospective homebuyers. Mortgage rates averaged 6.25% in October, down from 6.43% in October 2024, according to Freddie Mac. With a 10% down payment, that means the typical monthly mortgage payment on new homes sold in October was about $2,170, about $240 cheaper than new homes purchased a year earlier. Regionally, the South (+42.1%) and Midwest (+21.3%) drove the uptick in sales volume year over year, while the Northeast (-40.0%) and West (-24.8%) lagged behind.
Read more at Wells Fargo
Boeing Outsold Airbus Last Year For First Time Since 2018, Deliveries Rise To 600
Boeing logged net orders for 1,173 airplanes last year, marking the first time it outsold its European rival Airbus since 2018, the latest sign of Boeing’s recovery.Boeing handed over 63 jetliners to customers last month, bringing its annual delivery total to 600 aircraft, the most in seven years, before two deadly crashes and a host of other problems derailed its output. Forty-four of those deliveries were 737 Maxes, Boeing said Tuesday.
Airbus still delivered more aircraft last year than Boeing, with 793, though that sum is below the record 863 airplanes the European manufacturer handed over in 2019. Airbus had 889 net orders for 2025. Engine and other supply chain issues continue to hold up aircraft deliveries. Deliveries are key for airplane manufacturers because airlines pay the bulk of a jet’s price when they receive the plane.
Read more at The WSJ
Raytheon Invests $1B In Patriot Supply Chain As EU Demand Grows
RTX subsidiary Raytheon is investing over $1 billion to enhance its Patriot air and missile defense system supply chain as the company anticipates additional European orders in the face of Russia’s threat, according to a top company official in Europe. “We do have additional Patriot orders coming in 2026, in terms of both fire units and PAC-2 [Patriot Advanced Capability-2] GEM-T [Guidance Enhanced Missile-T] missiles. We’ve got significant backlog, both on that fire unit side and on the missile side,” Tom Laliberty, president of land and air defense systems at Raytheon said in a recent interview.
An uptick in new Patriot business across the continent in 2025 was bookended with Spain’s $1.7 billion order for four fire units — a matter of weeks after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media platform X that he wants to order 25 Patriot systems from the US. At the time, he also called for European “colleagues” to loan “their systems now and then take back ours once they arrive from the manufacturers.” Earlier this month, it was also reported that Kyiv has deployed two more Patriot systems to defend against Russian attacks.
Read more at Breaking Defense
Northrop Uses VR To Speed Production, Delivers 1,500th F-35 Fuselage
Northrop Grumman has delivered its 1,500th F-35 Lightning II center fuselage, marking a milestone in advanced manufacturing and highlighting its critical role in the global fighter program. From its Integrated Assembly Line (IAL) in Palmdale, California, Northrop produces the center fuselage — a central portion of the aircraft that connects the cockpit, wings, and rear fuselage, housing critical systems and providing structural integrity.
Using augmented reality and virtual reality tools, the plant has cut assembly time by 35 percent and reduced the technician learning curve by 20 percent. On average, the IAL produces one center fuselage every 30 hours, with the flexibility to manufacture components for all three F-35 variants on a single line. Northrop began producing center fuselages as part of early production runs, a role that has scaled up as global demand increased. Over the decade that followed, production efficiencies gradually improved, with the IAL coming online in 2011 — a move that helped rationalize and speed up fuselage fabrication by consolidating multiple production steps into one automated flow.
Read more at The Defense Post
Commerce Department Will Host “Made in America: Building Supply Chains with U.S. Manufacturing Partners” Webinar Next Week
Join the U.S. Commercial Service and Sustainment for a webinar that will transform how you source, connect, and grow your supply chain network. The webinar will help businesses find reliable and efficient U.S. manufacturers. It will also help you understand how you can showcase your own products to those looking to source locally through the Sustainment platform.
- Learn proven strategies for identifying and vetting top-tier U.S. manufacturers
- Navigate the challenges of local sourcing with expert insights
- Showcase your products.
- Build mutually beneficial partnerships that drive growth and innovation
- Discuss real-world success stories from businesses that have mastered domestic supplier networks .
Read more and register here
UPS, Postal Service Lock In Renewed Ground Saver Deal
The U.S. Postal Service will soon deliver some UPS Ground Saver packages again after the two delivery giants finalized a renewed agreement, a UPS spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive.The Postal Service will begin making deliveries for the economy shipping service in the next week, with activity increasing as the year progresses, UPS spokesperson Jim Mayer said. The agency will also deliver some UPS Mail Innovations volume as part of the contract, he added.
“Our collaboration with the postal service will benefit our customers who need economical delivery options and will give us more flexibility as we continue to provide industry-leading on-time service to our customers,” UPS said in an emailed statement. The Postal Service did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. At the start of 2025, the two sides halted their Ground Saver relationship as the Postal Service overhauled agreements with logistics companies that used its final-mile capabilities. UPS determined that the agency’s changes could present service risks and cost challenges, and opted to make all its Ground Saver deliveries in-house.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
Big Bank Earnings at Citi and BofA
Citigroup posted better-than-expected earnings, demonstrating solid underlying growth, with particular strength in investment banking and wealth management. Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.81. Q4 revenue of $19.9B decreased from $22.1B in the prior quarter and increased from $19.5B a year ago. The company said net income fell 13% from the year-earlier period to $2.47 billion, or $1.19 per share, because of a $1.1 billion after-tax loss tied its plan to divest Citigroup’s Russian operations. The bank’s loan loss provision in the quarter was $2.2 billion, about $330 million below expectations. – Seeking Alpha
Bank of America on Wednesday posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ expectations on gains from net interest income and equities trading. Earnings were 98 cents per share vs. and revenue was $28.53 billion. The company said profit rose 12% from a year earlier to $7.6 billion, or 98 cents per share. Revenue climbed 7.1% to $28.53 billion, thanks to rising net interest income, asset management fees and trading revenue. Equities trading revenue rose 23% to $2.02 billion, or about $160 million more than expected. Fixed income trading revenue edged up by 1.5% to $2.52 billion, or about $120 million below what analysts had forecast for the quarter. Fees generated by the firm’s investment bankers were roughly flat from a year ago at $1.67 billion. - CNBC
Everstream Analytics: Global Divisions and Trade Policy Pose Biggest Supply Chain Threats for 2026
The 2026 Annual Supply Chain Risk Report from Everstream Analytics outlines four critical events poised to significantly impact the supply chain this year:
- “Geopolitical fragmentation and the strategic use of trade regulations.”
- “Extreme weather intensification.”
- “Critical infrastructure aging and failure.”
- “Cyberattacks on logistics.”
Everstream ranked “geopolitical fragmentation and the strategic use of trade regulations,” as the most notable risk for 2026 supply chains, giving it a “threat level” score of 97%. Abrupt geopolitical shifts have the potential to “upend political alliances, alter trade relationships, create regional uncertainties and disrupt logistics networks,” says the report. In addition, rapid tariff and policy adjustments have become the new normal for supply chain management. From 2023 to 2025, export controls that caused severe disruptions doubled, and other trade restrictions increased 167%. Due to this rise, Evetstream recommends ensuring your supply chain strategies follow a resilience-first model.
Read more at IndustryWeek
Detroit Auto Show Kicks Off With Media Day
The Detroit Auto Show is back with dozens of automakers coming to Huntington Place in Downtown Detroit over the next nearly two weeks. The Auto Show kicks off Wednesday and Thursday with Media and Industry Preview days, before the annual Charity Preview event on Friday. Officials said there will be 41 brands featured during the Detroit Auto Show, which includes Detroit's Big 3, plus award-winning vehicles, luxury vehicles, exotic supercars and more. The brands include Alfa Romeo, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Ram, Subaru, and Toyota, plus dealer-supported vehicles that represent Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, INEOS, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes, Mini, Polestar and Volkswagen.
This year, two immersive tracks are returning to the Detroit Auto Show. The Detroit Grand Prix and Powering Michigan Experience indoor tracks. Both tracks offer attendees ride-alongs in both internal combustion engine, hybrid and EVs. Camp Jeep and the Ford Bronco Built Wild Experience are also returning where people can climb high and over rugged terrain in both Jeep and Bronco vehicles. This year also features the Michigan Overland Adventure area, which features custom-built trucks, off-road SUVs, adventure-ready rigs and expedition equipment with vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Ram, Toyota, INEOS, Subaru and AEV.
Read more at WXYZ Detroit
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