U.S. HOUSING STARTS JUMPED 5% IN MAY
» A surge of WASHINGTON construction in the Midwest drove U.S. housing starts up 5 percent in May from the prior month.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million, the strongest pace since July 2007. All of May’s construction gains came from a 62 percent jump in the Midwest, while building slumped in the Northeast, South and West. Home construction can be volatile on a monthly basis, so May’s gains may be a blip rather than a trend.
The solid job market has helped to boost demand for new homes. Housing starts have risen 11 percent so far this year, with gains for both single family houses and apartment buildings. Permits to build tumbled 4.6 percent in May, but permits are running 8.9 percent higher year-to-date.
Still, builders are concerned that tariffs announced by President Donald Trump that could affect steel, aluminum and lumber would make construction much more expensive, possibly limiting how many properties are built.
Iran rebuffs Trump’s call for OPEC to increase oil output.
» Iran lashed out Tuesday against U.S. President Donald Trump’s call on OPEC to increase oil production and limit global energy prices, saying the cartel “is not an American organization.”
The OPEC oil ministers began arriving in Vienna on Tuesday ahead of their official meeting Friday, when they will also confer with Russia, a non-OPEC country that since late 2016 has cooperated with the cartel to limit production.
Analysts expect the group to consider an increase in production of about 1 million barrels a day, ending the output cut agreed on in 2016.
The cut has since then pushed up the price of crude oil by about 50 percent. The U.S. benchmark in May hit its highest level in three and half years, at $72.35 a barrel. That prompted Trump to call on OPEC to cut production, tweeting in April and again this month that “OPEC is at it again” by allowing oil prices to rise.
Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, said upon arriving in Vienna that “OPEC is not an organization to receive the instruction from President Trump and follow it.”
Underscoring how difficult the discussion about a production increase will be, Zanganeh said that Trump’s comments have cast doubt on the prospect of a deal.
Audi names Schot interim CEO, puts jailed Stadler on leave. »
German automaker Audi has named sales chief Abraham “Bram” Schot as interim CEO following the arrest of Rupert Stadler as part of a probe into emissions cheating.
Audi, a division of Volkswagen, said in a statement Tuesday that it has also complied with Stadler’s request to temporarily relieve him of his duties.
German prosecutors ordered Stadler’s arrest Monday due to fears he might try to evade justice. A week earlier, authorities had searched his private residence on suspicion of fraud and indirect improprieties with documents.
The probe against Audi follows the emissions scandal that has rocked Volkswagen since 2015 and led to billions in fines, the arrest of executives and the indictment in the U.S. of its former CEO.
Schot has been a member of Audi’s management board since September. — Denver Post wire services