Discover Boating Atlantic City Boat Show Continues Winter Sales Momentum

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FEATURED INDUSTRY NEWS Discover Boating Atlantic City Boat Show Continues Winter Sales Momentum The 2024 Discover Boating Atlantic City Boat Show®, in partnership with Progressive Insurance®, ended its run on Sunday, attracting more than 35,000 attendees to the Atlantic City Convention Center. Winter boat sales momentum continued through the show with reports of steady sales and leads heading into spring. Read More LEADING ECONOMIC AND POLICY NEWS Trade Groups Planning Ad Campaign, Lobbying Effort To Boost Support For Increasing Foreign Workforce Bloomberg says what has been “lost in much of the public angst over migration is that the US has never relied more on the foreign-born for economic growth,” but this has “not [been] lost on employers, however, who are desperate to hire and expand.” As a result, the Associated General Contractors of America is “planning its first-ever targeted ads on immigration in this year’s congressional campaigns,” while the Associated Equipment Distributors trade group is “trying to raise awareness of labor shortages by bringing members to Washington to lobby for more legal immigration.”         Meanwhile, a Bloomberg analysis says that while the influx of illegal immigration in recent years “might have seemed like a potential solution” to “eas[ing] a severe labor shortage and fill[ing] jobs that Americans don’t want to do,” which is “a problem that by the end of this decade could lead to $1.75 trillion in unrealized economic output,” migrants “who qualify for work permits have often struggled to secure them, because the government bureaucracy has been overwhelmed.” Bloomberg adds that “politicians in Washington...are more concerned about how the jump in unauthorized arrivals has inflamed anti-immigrant sentiment among voters.” Bloomberg goes on to report that “some 9 million positions are open across the economy, equal to 1.4 vacancies for every unemployed worker.” Oil Prices Drop 1% Amid Skepticism About China’s Economic Growth Target Reuters reports oil prices “fell nearly 1% on Tuesday, pressured by skepticism around China achieving its economic growth target and investors’ declining risk appetite despite support from a weaker U.S. dollar.” Brent crude oil futures prices “settled 76 cents, or 0.9%, lower at $82.04 a barrel, their fourth straight decline. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 59 cents, or 0.8%, to $78.15 a barrel.” Both benchmarks “had dropped by more than a dollar during the session.” Weighing “on prices, China...set an economic growth target for 2024 of around 5%. While the target is similar to last year’s goal and in line with analysts’ expectations, the lack of big-ticket stimulus plans to prop up the country’s struggling economy disappointed investors.” DOJ, FTC To Lead New “Strike Force” Targeting “Unfair And Illegal Pricing” The AP reports President Biden on Tuesday “said he’s forming a new strike force to crack down on illegal and unfair pricing on things like groceries, prescription drugs, health care, housing and financial services.” Reuters reports according to Administration officials, “the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ‘strike force’ will aim at illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on Americans through anticompetitive or fraudulent business practices.”         CNBC reports FTC Chair Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s antitrust division, will co-chair the strike force. Khan said, “We’re excited to be co-chairing the president’s new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing, which builds on the FTC’s far-reaching work to promote competition and tackle unlawful business practices that are inflating costs for Americans.” Kanter added the DOJ is “confronting some of the world’s most powerful corporations so that we can improve the lives of American families.” According to CNBC, “Biden sees [this pricing] as a major reason why consumers are not yet feeling the impact of cooling inflation rates and a strong economy.” However, Politico says that while the President “is making competition a key part of his domestic economic agenda, the effort will face headwinds from Congress.” Politico adds Tuesday’s announcement of the strike force “comes just as lawmakers are poised to rebuff most of the administration’s request to increase the budget for the Justice Department’s antitrust division as part of the government funding deal announced Sunday.”         A Wall Street Journal editorial condemns the strike force and says that its mission “isn’t to help consumers, but to blame business for the price increases.” The Journal argues the Administration instead should be focused on “rolling back burdensome government regulation that is raising prices.” Stocks Fall For A Second Session CNBC reports, “Stocks fell for a second session Tuesday, as steep declines in major tech names such as Apple dragged the broader market further from record highs recently reached.” The Nasdaq Composite “pulled back by 1.65% to 15,939.59,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average “lost 404.64 points, or 1.04%, to 38,585.19,” and the S&P 500 “dipped 1.02%, closing at 5,078.65.” CNBC notes that Apple “slipped almost 3% on the back of a report from Counterpoint Research that found iPhone sales plunged in China in the first six weeks of 2024.” CNBC adds that “several other mega-cap technology stocks including Netflix and Microsoft shed close to 3%, while Tesla dropped nearly 4%.” Previous Top Stories  • Join NMMA At The 2024 American Boating Congress In Washington, D.C., May 8-10  • Congress Expected To Pass First Half Of Funding Bills To Avoid Shutdown

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