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Record drought gripped much of the U.S. in 2022
January 10, 2023--Nation struck with 18 billion-dollar disasters
The large coverage and long duration of drought conditions across the U.S. set several records in 2022.
The year was also marked by numerous severe weather events, devastating hurricanes and deadly flooding across parts of the country.
Here is a summary of the climate and extreme weather events across the U.S. in 2022:
Climate by the numbers-2022
The average annual temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 53.4 degrees F -1.4 degrees above the 20th-century average- ranking in the warmest third of the 128-year record.
Florida and Rhode Island both saw their fifth-warmest calendar year on record while Massachusetts ranked sixth warmest. Four additional states experienced a top-10 warmest year on record - California, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. Alaska saw its 16th-warmest year in the 98-year record for the state.
Annual precipitation across the contiguous U.S. totaled 28.35 inches (1.59 inches below average), which placed 2022 in the driest third of the climate record. Nebraska saw its fourth-driest year on record while California had its ninth driest. Meanwhile, above-average precipitation caused Alaska to have its fourth-wettest year on record.
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Source: NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, cost the U.S. $165 billion in 2022.
January 10, 2022--A town-flattening hurricane in Florida. Catastrophic flooding in eastern Kentucky. Crippling heatwaves in the Northeast and West. A historic megadrought. The United States endured 18 separate disasters in 2022 whose damages exceeded $1 billion, with the total coming to $165 billion, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The annual report from the nation's premier meteorological institution highlights a troubling trend: Extreme weather events, fueled by human-caused climate change, are occurring at a higher frequency with an increased cost-in dollars and lives.
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Source: npr.org
CBO-Monthly Budget Review: December 2022
January 10, 2022--Summary
The federal budget deficit was $418 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates-$41 billion more than the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were $26 billion (or 2 percent) lower and outlays were $15 billion (or 1 percent) higher from October through December 2022 than they were in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year.
Outlays in fiscal year 2023 were reduced by the shifting of certain payments-totaling $63 billion-from October 1, 2022 (the first day of fiscal year 2023), into fiscal year 2022 because October 1 fell on a weekend.
In addition, as was the case in fiscal year 2022, outlays increased in the first quarter of this fiscal year (through December 2022) because certain payments that otherwise would have been due on January 1, a holiday, were instead made in December. If those various shifts had not occurred, the first-quarter deficit in fiscal year 2023 would have been $455 billion, or $102 billion more than the first-quarter deficit of $353 billion in fiscal year 2022, an increase of 29 percent.
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Source: CBO.gov
Kathleen Moriarty, aka 'Spider Woman,' Helped Launch Exchange-Traded Funds
January 6, 2023--Securities lawyer, who has died at age 69, worked on pioneering SPDR S&P 500 fund
As a securities lawyer, Kathleen H. Moriarty was known for her ability to persuade staff members at the Securities and Exchange Commission that they could live with strange new types of investments.
Her greatest triumph was exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, a type of asset that regulators pondered for years before approving. In 1993, she helped launch the hugely successful SPDR S&P 500 ETF.
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Source: wsj.com
IMF Working Paper-The Pricing-Out Phenomenon in the U.S. Housing Market
January 6, 2023--Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic further extended the multi-year housing boom in advanced economies and emerging markets alike against massive monetary easing during the pandemic. In this paper, we analyze the pricing-out phenomenon in the U.S. residential housing market due to higher house prices associated with monetary easing.
We first set up a stylized general equilibrium model and show that although monetary easing decreases the mortgage payment burden, it would raise house prices, lower housing affordability for first-time homebuyers, and increase housing wealth inequality between first-time and repeat homebuyers.
We then use the U.S. household-level data to quantify the effect of the house price change on housing affordability relative to that of the interest rate change. We find evidence of the pricing-out effect for all homebuyers; moreover, we find that the pricing-out effect is stronger for first-time homebuyers than for repeat homebuyers. The paper highlights the importance of accounting for general equilibrium effects and distributional implications of monetary policy while assessing housing affordability. It also calls for complementing monetary easing with well-targeted policy measures that can boost housing affordability, particularly for first-time and lower-income households. Such measures are also needed during aggressive monetary tightening, given that the fall in house prices may be insufficient or too slow to fully offset the immediate adverse impact of higher rates on housing affordability.
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Source: imf.org
The RBB Fund Expands ETF Platform with Innovative Offering
January 4, 2022--The RBB Fund Complex ("RBB"), a pioneer of the independent series trust, is proud to announce the launch of the Element EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt) Futures Strategy ETF (NYSE: CHRG).
CHRG seeks to provide actively-managed exposure to the core commodities essential to the production of electric vehicles ("EV"), battery energy storage systems, and other renewable infrastructure.
Element ETFs, LLC, a newly launched investment adviser to CHRG, brings decades of private equity experience in metals investing to the ETF market for Electric Vehicle and Battery Energy Storage System Critical Inputs. CHRG seeks to provide investors with institutional-quality exposure to the futures contracts of commodities-such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper -that are key to the shift to a net-zero carbon renewable economy.
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Source: RBB Fund Complex
GCAD Gabelli Launches Aerospace and Defense ETF
December 28, 2022--Veteran PM Tony Bancroft to Lead Team
Gabelli Funds ("GAMCO") (OTCQX: GAMI) announced today the launch of its fifth ETF, which will begin trading under the symbol GCAD on the New York Stock Exchange on January 4, 2023. GCAD will focus on the aerospace and defense sectors, one of Gabelli Funds’ research core competencies. Following an update to the registration statement, GCAD will trade under the name: "Gabelli Commercial Aerospace & Defense ETF".
Lieutenant Colonel G. Anthony (Tony) Bancroft, USMCR, is the team leader and portfolio manager of the Fund. Mr. Bancroft joined Gabelli Funds in 2009 after serving as an F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot with the United States Marine Corps. Tony graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in systems engineering and holds an MBA in finance and economics from Columbia Business School.
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Source: Gabelli Funds
John Hancock Investment Management launches International High Dividend ETF
December 22, 2022--John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, announced today that it has launched John Hancock International High Dividend ETF (NYSE: JHID). The new ETF is actively managed and subadvised by Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, John Hancock Investment Management's affiliated asset manager.
The investment objective of JHID is to seek a high level of current income, with long-term growth of capital as a secondary objective. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in dividend-paying large-and mid-cap equity securities of non-U.S. developed-market companies. These dividend-paying large- and mid-cap equity securities are incorporated in, or have their primary listing exchange in, developed markets, excluding the United States.
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Source: John Hancock Investment Management
Vanguard on track to lead US ETF sales in 2022
December 22, 2022--Rival iShares, however, was bestselling manager in November
iShares bested Vanguard in US exchange trade fund flows last month, but Vanguard remains on pace to finish the year on top.
iShares took in $19.9bn in net flows in November, lifted by an $11.6bn haul for its stock ETFs, new data from Morningstar show.
Vanguard's ETFs, meanwhile, added $11bn, the data show, and Invesco was the third bestseller, with $7.7bn.
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Source: FT.com
Viridi Funds Announces ETF Liquidation, De-listing
December 20, 2022--Upon the recommendation of Empowered Funds, LLC, dba EA Advisers, the Board of Trustees (the "Board") of EA Series Trust (the "Trust") approved a proposal to liquidate the Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF ("RIGZ" or the "Fund"), a series of the Trust.
After careful consideration of a number of factors, including the negative macroeconomic climate that has significantly affected the underlying constituents and the ability to deliver on the ETF mandate, the Board concluded that it is advisable and in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders to liquidate the Fund. Any shareholders still holding shares of the fund at liquidation will receive a cash distribution equal to the net asset value (NAV) of their shares.
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Source: ETF Architect
