Find a Del Taco. For that category, they are 10X better than Taco Bell. And a little cheaper.
Closest to New England are 2 locations in Ohio. Ahh well.
Find a Del Taco. For that category, they are 10X better than Taco Bell. And a little cheaper.
Closest to New England are 2 locations in Ohio. Ahh well.
nothing conspiratorial about in qsr sector. yum china and mcd china spin off were to unlock shareholder value, otherwise it would be just an eps number rather than price earnings.
the operators hold the real estate leases and/or stores, they can't go public unless they are spin-off or switch allegiances. if the franchising fees are too high, they will create a new brand and try to go public.
work at taco bell and pizza hut part time when i was in college, never touch their food ever again.
It's important to keep things in proper perspective, which headlines sometimes hide. "Slowing" to 4.5% growth should not be thought of as slow growth but simply "less amazing" for a country of China's size and population.japantoday.com![]()
China 2023 economic growth tipped to be weakest in decades
Jan. 16, 2024
China's economy likely grew at its weakest annual rate for more than three decades in 2023, data is expected to show Wednesday, as it was battered by a crippling property crisis, sluggish consumption and global uncertainties.
A group of ten experts interviewed by AFP forecast China's gross domestic product (GDP) to have expanded 5.2 percent, which would represent the lowest rate since 1990, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reading would be an improvement on the three percent seen in 2022, though that year saw business activity hammered by tight health curbs designed to contain the virus.
After lifting the measures, Beijing set itself a growth target of "around five percent" for 2023.
The return of normal life initially sparked a recovery at the start of last year but the long-awaited rebound soon ran out of steam as a lack of confidence among households and businesses battered consumption.
An intractable real estate crisis, record youth unemployment and a global slowdown are also gumming the gears of the Chinese growth engine.
"The main challenge for China's economic recovery still stems from the property sector," said Jing Liu, chief economist for Greater China at HSBC.
The property sector has long accounted for around a quarter of China's economy.
It experienced dazzling growth for two decades, but financial woes at major firms such as Evergrande and Country Garden are now fuelling buyer mistrust, against a backdrop of unfinished housing developments and falling prices.
Purchasing property has long been seen by many Chinese as a safe haven for parking savings, but the price drop has hit their wallets hard.
"Real estate investment, dwelling prices and new dwelling sales are set to fall throughout 2024 before returning as a modest driver of growth in 2025," said Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody's ratings agency.
That crisis, alongside "sluggish labour market conditions", are dampening consumer confidence, said Helen Qiao, head of Asia Economic Research at Bank of America.
A record of more than one in five people aged 16 to 24 in China were unemployed in May, according to officials, the monthly publication of which has since been suspended.
The uneven recovery has largely benefitted services, as customers have returned to restaurants, transport and tourist sites.
But the level of spending is often lower than 2019, before the pandemic took hold.
A rare bright spark is the state-subsidised auto sector, where a wave of electrification has buttressed domestic manufacturers such as BYD, which dethroned Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's best-selling EV maker in the fourth quarter.
However, other areas are struggling, notably industry, which has been weakened by ailing demand at home and abroad.
Chinese exports -- historically a key growth lever -- fell last year for the first time since 2016, according to figures published by the country's customs agency on Friday.
The decline is partly explained by geopolitical tensions with the United States and efforts by some Western nations to reduce dependence on Beijing or diversify their supply chains.
"More Western companies (are) reducing or maintaining current levels of investments" in China but diversifying elsewhere, said Teeuwe Mevissen, an analyst at Rabobank.
"China saw significant capital outflows" as a result, but also due to increasing its own investments abroad, he told AFP.
All of these challenges "will continue to play an important role in 2024", Mevissen warned.
This year, China's growth is expected to slow to 4.5 percent, according to World Bank forecasts. The average prediction by AFP's pool of experts was 4.7 percent. Beijing is expected to announce its new growth target in March.
But you can see that they've already suspended publishing unemployment number (see below). It's these kind of actions that invite suspicion. So can we really trust the numbers they report?It's important to keep things in proper perspective, which headlines sometimes hide. "Slowing" to 4.5% growth should not be thought of as slow growth but simply "less amazing" for a country of China's size and population.
A record of more than one in five people aged 16 to 24 in China were unemployed in May, according to officials, the monthly publication of which has since been suspended.
(From the same article above.)
japantoday.com![]()
China 2023 economic growth tipped to be weakest in decades
Jan. 16, 2024
China's economy likely grew at its weakest annual rate for more than three decades in 2023, data is expected to show Wednesday, as it was battered by a crippling property crisis, sluggish consumption and global uncertainties.
A group of ten experts interviewed by AFP forecast China's gross domestic product (GDP) to have expanded 5.2 percent, which would represent the lowest rate since 1990, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reading would be an improvement on the three percent seen in 2022, though that year saw business activity hammered by tight health curbs designed to contain the virus.
After lifting the measures, Beijing set itself a growth target of "around five percent" for 2023.
The return of normal life initially sparked a recovery at the start of last year but the long-awaited rebound soon ran out of steam as a lack of confidence among households and businesses battered consumption.
An intractable real estate crisis, record youth unemployment and a global slowdown are also gumming the gears of the Chinese growth engine.
"The main challenge for China's economic recovery still stems from the property sector," said Jing Liu, chief economist for Greater China at HSBC.
The property sector has long accounted for around a quarter of China's economy.
It experienced dazzling growth for two decades, but financial woes at major firms such as Evergrande and Country Garden are now fuelling buyer mistrust, against a backdrop of unfinished housing developments and falling prices.
Purchasing property has long been seen by many Chinese as a safe haven for parking savings, but the price drop has hit their wallets hard.
"Real estate investment, dwelling prices and new dwelling sales are set to fall throughout 2024 before returning as a modest driver of growth in 2025," said Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody's ratings agency.
That crisis, alongside "sluggish labour market conditions", are dampening consumer confidence, said Helen Qiao, head of Asia Economic Research at Bank of America.
A record of more than one in five people aged 16 to 24 in China were unemployed in May, according to officials, the monthly publication of which has since been suspended.
The uneven recovery has largely benefitted services, as customers have returned to restaurants, transport and tourist sites.
But the level of spending is often lower than 2019, before the pandemic took hold.
A rare bright spark is the state-subsidised auto sector, where a wave of electrification has buttressed domestic manufacturers such as BYD, which dethroned Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's best-selling EV maker in the fourth quarter.
However, other areas are struggling, notably industry, which has been weakened by ailing demand at home and abroad.
Chinese exports -- historically a key growth lever -- fell last year for the first time since 2016, according to figures published by the country's customs agency on Friday.
The decline is partly explained by geopolitical tensions with the United States and efforts by some Western nations to reduce dependence on Beijing or diversify their supply chains.
"More Western companies (are) reducing or maintaining current levels of investments" in China but diversifying elsewhere, said Teeuwe Mevissen, an analyst at Rabobank.
"China saw significant capital outflows" as a result, but also due to increasing its own investments abroad, he told AFP.
All of these challenges "will continue to play an important role in 2024", Mevissen warned.
This year, China's growth is expected to slow to 4.5 percent, according to World Bank forecasts. The average prediction by AFP's pool of experts was 4.7 percent. Beijing is expected to announce its new growth target in March.
Yup, that's how the market operates. Those who thought the Nasdaq was insanely expensive in the late 90s got their heads chopped off. Those who bet against the housing market before the 2008 crash got their heads handed back to them on a silver platter. And those who thought Corona would bring the stock market to its knee in the early 2020 never really had any heads in the first place.Nothing but bullish news. There markets are going to do a complete 180 and skyrocket. They are going to join the other bull markets around the world and catapult 50 to 100% in the next 2 to 3 yrs while the dow skyrockets to 70k by end of 2024-2025. There Is absolutely nothing that is going to stop this bull run. China is only going to add even more gains to the global markets once everyone sees their markets gaining. Ita going to be one massive AI market bull run where every world market participates amd rallies beyond anyone's wild imagination!!!