Pending home sales rose modestly last month, but remained close to January’s record low, in a possible signal of continued weak buying activity this spring. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) grew 2% in February from the prior month after seasonal adjustment, the National Association of Realtors® reported Thursday. However, pending transactions declined 3.6% from the same month in 2024, which went on to be the weakest year for home sales since 1995. Based on contract signings for previously owned homes, pending sales are a forward-looking indicator of existing home sales and usually translate to completed purchases in one to two months. “Despite the modest monthly…
Author: John Anderson
CEO Departures Boynes set to depart counseling group Shawn Boynes announced he will be stepping down as CEO of the $15M-revenue American Counseling Association, effective April 15. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done to advance ACA’s mission and I’m happy to leave the organization on a high note — better positioned for the future where mental health services will continue to be in high demand and where counselors will continue to answer the call to help,” said Boynes in a press release. Boynes joined ACA in July 2022 after the departure of Richard Yep, who led the organization for over 23…
CEO Departures Smith announces departure from blockchain group The $7.3M-revenue Blockchain Association announced CEO Kristin Smith will step down from her role, effective May 16. Smith will be joining the newly established Solana Policy Institute as president on May 19. “Kristin’s leadership has been instrumental in transforming Blockchain Association into the powerhouse it is today,” said Marta Belcher, president of the Blockchain Association Board of Directors. “Her passion for the industry and her ability to bridge the gap between technology and policy have left an indelible mark on our organization and the broader blockchain ecosystem. We are deeply grateful for her contributions and wish…
Sacre tapped to lead accounting group $9M-revenue Allinial Global announced Tony Sacre has been appointed as CEO. He succeeds Mark Koziel, who led Allinial Global for over four years and now helms the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and American Institute of CPAs. “With his extensive global experience, strategic mindset and deep connection to the Allinial Global community, Tony Sacre is the ideal leader to guide our association into the future,” said Jim Wallace, Chair of the Global Executive Board. “His understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing Allinial Global member firms and his leadership in fostering international collaboration align perfectly with our mission to…
Ukraine will send a team to Washington next week to begin negotiations on a new draft of a deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told The Associated Press. “The new draft agreement from the U.S. shows that the intention to create a fund or jointly invest remains,” Svyrydenko said Saturday, during a trip to northern Ukraine. The long-running negotiations over a mineral deal have already strained relations between Kyiv and Washington. The two sides had been preparing in February to sign a framework agreement but the plan was derailed following a contentious…
Economy Candy’s shelves brim with sweets from around the world – gummies from Germany, lollipops from Spain, chocolates from Japan and a panoply of candies from across the U.S. Standing amid it all, columns of bright jellybeans to his left and exotic Kit Kats to his right, owner Mitchell Cohen is quick with his assessment of how many of this shop’s 2,000-plus items are affected by the historic round of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump. “I think all of them,” Cohen says at his store on New York’s Lower East Side. Few corners of the American economy are untouched, directly or indirectly, by the sweeping…
Leonardo Baez and Nora Avila-Guel’s bakery in the Texas community of Los Fresnos is a daily stop for many residents to share gossip over coffee and pick up cakes and pastries for birthdays, office parties or themselves. When Homeland Security Investigations agents showed up at Abby’s Bakery in February and arrested the owners and eight employees, residents of Los Fresnos were shocked. But the bakery’s owners, Baez and Avila-Guel, a Mexican couple who are legal U.S. permanent residents, could lose everything after being accused of concealing and harboring immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally. It’s a rare case in…
As President Donald Trump has argued, America’s economic security is our national security, whether it’s reshoring jobs in critical industries or promoting robust commerce to create the jobs and technologies that will drive the world economy during this new Golden Age and into the future. America is already the leader in AI, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and more – but that position can still be threatened not just by China, our greatest economic adversary, but also by some of our oldest allies in the European Union. As China seeks to weaken the U.S. and expand its global influence, it’s…
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., took aim at The Daily Beast’s “nasty” headline on Monday that took an exchange she had with President Donald Trump out of context. Alex Isenstadt, Axios reporter and author of “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” made headlines with quotes allegedly said by Trump in a sneak preview published by Axios on Sunday. Among the quotes was one he allegedly said to Luna in 2023 offering her the bed on his jet when she was pregnant and feeling ill, though it included a joke about his wife Melania being jealous. “If you…
President Donald Trump will urge illegal immigrants to “self-deport” from the U.S. using a newly announced app from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Axios reported Monday. Trump will send the message in a video set to release on social media platforms this week, calling on illegal immigrants to use the CBP Home app to announce their departure from the country. The DHS unveiled the app earlier this month after removing the Biden-era CBP One app, which was used to allow migrants into the U.S. “People in our country can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the…