Home sales fell 6.6% last month
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed last month as rising prices and a dearth of homes for sale kept some would-be buyers on the sidelines.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that existing homes sales in February fell 6.6% from January to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.22 million annualized units. Sales were up 9.1% from February last year.
Home prices continued to climb, driven by sales of higher-end homes. The report showed that the U.S. median home price was $313,000 in February, up 15.8% from a year earlier.
At the end of February, the inventory of unsold homes stood at just 1.03 million homes for sale, down 29.5% from a year earlier.
Vaccinated persons get free doughnut
While some Americans have soured on the idea of getting a vaccine shot, Krispy Kreme is trying to sweeten the deal by offering people who get vaccinated a free doughnut every day for the rest of the year.
The doughnut chain said Monday it’s giving one free doughnut a day through the end of 2021 at all U.S. Krispy Kreme locations to those showing they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Starting today, bring your Vaccine Card to a Krispy Kreme shop and get 1 FREE Original Glazed doughnut,” the pastry and coffee chain tweeted on Monday. The post has been “liked” over 10,000 times and drawn thousands of comments.
Krispy Kreme launched the giveaway Monday to qualified guests who have received at least one of the two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. To receive the free doughnut, persons must show their COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card. A sticker stating the guest has received a COVID-19 vaccine does not qualify them for this offer.
Guests are not able to redeem on behalf of family and friends. Each individual guest who requests the COVID-19 offer will be limited to one doughnut per day, no purchase required.
Fed pays US Treasury largest sum in 4 years
The Federal Reserve earned $88.6 billion in 2020 and paid back to the federal government $86.9 billion, the largest Fed payment to the government in four years.
The Fed said Monday that its earnings were up $33.1 billion last year, a gain that reflected falling interest rates which meant the central bank paid commercial banks less in interest payments on bank reserves that the Fed requires them to keep.
The $86.9 billion in payments to the U.S. Treasury was up 58.3% from the Fed’s payment of $54.9 billion in 2019. It was the largest amount since the Fed paid the Treasury $91.5 billion in 2016.
McKinsey pays $45 million in Nevada settlement
Nevada has struck a $45 million settlement deal with McKinsey & Company for the global consulting firm’s role in advising opioid makers how to sell more prescription painkillers amid a national overdose crisis.
“Nevada needed and deserved more than what was being made available to us in the multi-state settlement,” state Attorney General Aaron Ford said Monday. The state would have received $7 million had it stayed in the multi-state settlement, Ford said.
McKinsey said the deal reached with Nevada is “consistent with the commitment we made in February to be part of the solution to the opioid epidemic.”
The New York-based company reached a $573 million settlement that month with 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. It also at the time announced separate deals with Washington state for $13.5 million and West Virginia for $10 million.
In February, it said it hoped its settlement deals would allow it to be part of the solution in addressing the opioid overdose crisis in the U.S.