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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire border wall along the southern border with Mexico is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration and she credited President Trump with the idea.Noem spoke during a visit to a portion of the wall in New Mexico, where she also picked up a roller brush to help out with the painting.She touted the height of the wall as well as the depth as ways to deter people seeking to go over or under the walls. And then Noem said Homeland Security was going to be trying black paint to make the metal hotter.“That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here when something is painted black it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb. So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally,” Noem said.U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, who attended the event with Noem, said the paint would also help deter rust.During Trump’s first term, building the wall was a central focus of his hardline immigration policy. During his second term, his mass deportation agenda with arrests in the interior of the country has been the main focus, but Homeland Security will be getting about $46 billion to complete the wall as part of new funding passed by Congress this summer.Noem said they have been building about a half mile of barrier every day.“The border wall will look very different based on the topography and the geography of where it is built,” she said.She said that in addition to barriers like the one she visited Tuesday, the department is also working on “water-borne infrastructure.” Long sections of the roughly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico sit along the Rio Grande River in Texas.The Trump administration is pushing forward with completing the wall at the same time that the number of people crossing the border illegally has plummeted. Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Lowe’s is buying Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, insulation and other products, for approximately $8.8 billion as the home improvement retailer intensifies its focus on professional builders.FBM also provides metal framing, ceiling systems, commercial doors and hardware and other products that serve large residential and commercial professionals in both new construction and repair and remodel applications. It has more than 370 locations in the United States and Canada serving 40,000 professional customers.The acquisition is part of Lowe’s move to provide more options for professional builders. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company recently closed on its $1.3 billion acquisition of Artisan Design Group, a provider of design, distribution and installation services for interior surface finishes, including flooring, cabinets and countertops, to home builders and property managers.Rival Home Depot has been making similar moves. In June the home improvement retailer announced that it was buying specialty building products distributor GMS for $4.3 billion.GMS Inc. of Tucker, Georgia, is a distributor of specialty building products like drywall, steel framing and other supplies used in both residential and commercial projects.Home Depot’s acquisition of GMS came after it purchased SRS Distribution, a materials provider for professionals, last year for more than $18 billion including debt. SRS provides materials for professionals like roofers, landscapers and pool contractors.Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said that the professional builder market provides a growth opportunity to both Home Depot and Lowe’s as there’s a lot of spending in the segment.“Pro is basically the new battleground for home improvement,” he said. “Naturally, with two big giants in the arena, there are likely to be some bruising battles ahead. However, at this stage, we believe the market is big enough and fragmented enough to allow both players to extract some wins.”Lowe’s deal for FBM is expected to close in the fourth quarter.Aside from the acquisition, Lowe’s reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The company posted an adjusted profit of $4.33 per share, which topped the $4.23 per share that analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research expected.Revenue totaled $23.96 billion in the period, which met Wall Street’s expectations.Lowe’s raised its full-year sales outlook to a range of $84.5 billion to $85.5 billion. It previous predicted sales would be between $83.5 billion and $84.5 billion for the year.The company’s stock rose more than 3% before the market open. Michelle Chapman, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump this week called on a Federal Reserve governor to resign over an accusation of mortgage fraud, the latest effort by his administration to exert greater control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington.Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook says she won’t leave her post.Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him. Powell, who will speak Friday at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt. Trump has also accused Powell of mismanaging the U.S. central bank’s $2.5 billion building renovation project.Firing the Fed chair or forcing out a governor would threaten the Fed’s venerated independence, which has long been supported by most economists and Wall Street investors. Here’s what to know about the Fed: Why the Fed’s independence matters The Fed wields extensive power over the U.S. economy. By cutting the short-term interest rate it controls which it typically does when the economy falters the Fed can make borrowing cheaper and encourage more spending, accelerating growth and hiring. When it raises the rate which it does to cool the economy and combat inflation it can weaken the economy and cause job losses.Economists have long preferred independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular steps to fight inflation, such as raise interest rates, which makes borrowing to buy a home, car, or appliance more expensive.The importance of an independent Fed was cemented for most economists after the extended inflation spike of the 1970s and early 1980s. Former Fed Chair Arthur Burns has been widely blamed for allowing the painful inflation of that era to accelerate by succumbing to pressure from President Richard Nixon to keep rates low heading into the 1972 election. Nixon feared higher rates would cost him the election, which he won in a landslide.Paul Volcker was eventually appointed chair of the Fed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, and he pushed the Fed’s short-term rate to the stunningly high level of nearly 20%. (It is currently 4.3%). The eye-popping rates triggered a sharp recession, pushed unemployment to nearly 11%, and spurred widespread protests.Yet Volcker didn’t flinch. By the mid-1980s, inflation had fallen back into the low single digits. Volcker’s willingness to inflict pain on the economy to throttle inflation is seen by most economists as a key example of the value of an independent Fed. Investors are watching closely An effort to fire Powell would almost certainly cause stock prices to fall and bond yields to spike higher, pushing up interest rates on government debt and raising borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt. The interest rate on the 10-year Treasury is a benchmark for mortgage rates.Most investors prefer an independent Fed, partly because it typically manages inflation better without being influenced by politics but also because its decisions are more predictable. Fed officials often publicly discuss how they would alter interest rate policies if economic conditions changed.If the Fed was more swayed by politics, it would be harder for financial markets to anticipate or understand its decisions. The Fed’s independence doesn’t mean it’s unaccountable Fed chairs like Powell are appointed by the president to serve four-year terms, and have to be confirmed by the Senate. The president also appoints the six other members of the Fed’s governing board, who can serve staggered terms of up to 14 years.Those appointments can allow a president over time to significantly alter the Fed’s policies. Former president Joe Biden appointed four of the current seven members: Powell, Cook, Philip Jefferson, and Michael Barr. A fifth Biden appointee, Adriana Kugler, stepped down unexpectedly on Aug. 1, about five months before the end of her term. Trump has already nominated his top economist, Stephen Miran, as a potential replacement, though he will require Senate approval. Cook’s term ends in 2038, so forcing her out would allow Trump to appoint a loyalist sooner.Trump will be able to replace Powell as Fed chair in May 2026, when Powell’s term expires. Yet 12 members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the Chair doesn’t guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants.Congress, meanwhile, can set the Fed’s goals through legislation. In 1977, for example, Congress gave the Fed a “dual mandate” to keep prices stable and seek maximum employment. The Fed defines stable prices as inflation at 2%.The 1977 law also requires the Fed chair to testify before the House and Senate twice every year about the economy and interest rate policy. Could the president fire Powell before his term ends? The Supreme Court earlier this year suggested in a ruling on other independent agencies that a president can’t fire the chair of the Fed just because he doesn’t like the chair’s policy choices. But he may be able to remove him “for cause,” typically interpreted to mean some kind of wrongdoing or negligence.It’s a likely reason the Trump administration has zeroed in on the building renovation, in hopes it could provide a “for cause” pretext. Still, Powell would likely fight any attempt to remove him, and the case could wind up at the Supreme Court. Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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