US Treasury to Double Amount of Debt Buybacks
On Wednesday of this week, the US Treasury Department moved to increase its weekly purchase of US debt from $2 billion to $4 billion. That additional demand helped bond prices rise, and interest rates fall. By day’s end, the yield on the widely followed 10-year Treasury bond fell 53 basis points (or 1.13%) to 4.653%. The 30-year bond fell 91 basis points (or 1.72%). One rarely sees such large daily moves in interest rates. This is good news for borrowers.
Source: CNBC, Wall Street Journal
Prime Air
Prime Air is not a new airline but rather Amazon’s expanding drone delivery fleet. Earlier this week, Amazon announced its plans to expand its drone delivery service to nearly 500 cities by year-end. They will focus on smaller, lightweight packages and may deliver them to customers in as little as 30 minutes. An obvious hurdle is getting people over the noise the drones make. We all know about that. There has been a surge in noise complaints in the pilot markets near Amazon fulfillment centers. How this rollout goes will certainly be controversial given the jurisdictional confusion around airspace.
Source: CBS, New York Times
Mystery Vacations
And here you thought Groupon was only for local stuff. Partnering with Mystery Vacations, a U.K.-based online travel agency, Groupon offers “black box” travel deals. Once you buy a package coupon, Mystery Vacations sends you a form to fill out your preferred travel dates and departure airports. A travel agent calls you and helps determine the cost of the trip depending on preferred hubs. Atlanta and Miami are the lowest at $199, which covers the flight and a two- to seven-night trip. The deal requires purchasing two coupons (two people). Traveling solo incurs an additional fee.
Source: Wall Street Journal
The Fiat Topolino
Fiat has begun importing an eight-foot-long electric car with a $15,000 price tag called the Topolino (Italian for “little mouse”). Golfers have taken notice and have snapped up the early arrivals. It comes with a max speed of 19 mph, but with a conversion kit coming soon, it will go up to 25 mph, which would make it street legal. With a range of only 46 miles, the golf course will likely remain its core market.
Source: Bloomberg
American Air Bringing Back Seat Screens
In an attempt to match competitor amenities, American Airlines will begin installing screens in the seatbacks of every plane in its fleet. Removed in 2017 in a program called “Project Oasis”, the goal was to standardize cabins and cut weight and maintenance costs. Earlier this week, American reversed course and will install 4K seatback screens at every seat across its narrowbody fleet. Bluetooth connectivity, USB-C ports, more first-class seats, extra leg room and Starlink are all coming, but most upgrades won’t be complete until 2030.
Source: Bloomberg
