Why the Housing Market Is Swinging in Buyers’ Favor

Ryan Knutson (0:00)

Hey, it's Ryan Knutson, host of The Journal Podcast, our show about money, business and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.

Alex Ossola (0:22)

Another government shutdown means there won't be a jobs report this Friday. Plus, a pension fund's $86 million loss on a coffee farm shows the risks of investing in private markets.

Heather Gillers (0:33)

This is just a much more Wild West type of investing than public markets. And the commitments that institutional investors make when they sign on for these types of ventures don't often give them a ton of recourse when things go poorly.

Alex Ossola (0:52)

And if you've been looking to buy a home, the market might be finally swinging in your favor. It's Monday, February 2nd. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. First up in News Today from the Trump administration, the January jobs report that was scheduled to come out this Friday is delayed because of a government shutdown. If you're thinking deja vu, well, you're not wrong. It's the second time in five months that work has stopped at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. House Democrats are pushing for changes on immigration enforcement. That's stalled a package of bills that includes money for the BLS. WSJ economics reporter Matt Grossman says a delayed report isn't great news for investors.

Matt Grossman (1:43)

It seems likely that the shutdown might not last quite as long, but until they actually get that vote done, we're just in a holding pattern again. In normal times, investors rely on data from the BLS every week and every month to get a sense of what's happening in the economy. The private sector produces some reports that cover parts of the same information and let you piece together a picture of what's happening out there. But none of it is as comprehensive as what the government produces. And so when you're not getting these reports, you are trying to piece together a puzzle that's always going to be a bit incomplete.

Alex Ossola (2:21)

The report will be rescheduled when funding resumes. The House is expected to vote on the bills as soon as tomorrow. Since it's a partial shutdown, it won't affect all agencies and programs. National parks remain open, for example, while the IRS is affected, but employees are exempt from any furloughs through Saturday. Meanwhile, we're exclusively reporting that a US intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The whistleblower complaint is so highly classified that it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress. Since it was filed last May, the complaint has prompted a behind-the-scenes struggle about how to assess and handle it. For example, the complaint is said to be locked in a safe, and one official said that disclosure of its contents could damage national security. The whistleblower's lawyer has accused Gabbard of stonewalling the complaint. Gabbard's office rejects that characterization and has dismissed the complaint as quote baseless and politically motivated. A representative for the intelligence community's inspector general said the office had determined specific allegations against Gabbard weren't credible. And we have three more updates from Washington. The president said today that the US has agreed to cut tariffs on India to 18 percent from 50 percent and that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil. A deal between the US and India would end a months-long saga of trade negotiations and tariffs that strain the relationship between the two. The Trump administration is creating a roughly $12 billion stockpile of rare earths and critical minerals such as gallium and cobalt. It's meant to help US manufacturers navigate shortages and make them less reliant on China. The stockpile, called Project Vault, would be similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a government stash of oil created to guard against supply issues. And people familiar with the matter say officials from the US and Iran are planning to meet in Turkey on Friday. Trump and Iranian leaders have expressed a willingness to talk in recent days, cracking open a window for diplomacy as the US gathers military forces in the region, and Trump warns of a strike if negotiators fail. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Europe, Elon Musk said his satellite internet service Starlink had stopped unauthorized use by Russian drones after Ukraine asked for help. Starlink, the backbone of Ukraine's military communications, wasn't activated in Russia, but a black market for user terminals had sprung up. On the rest of the show, low-cost investing pioneer Vanguard cuts its fees again and shares in Disney fall after the company reports earnings. That's after the break.