TOWN LANTERN

Economy

Main Street

+ Light your lantern in Main Street

Jobs, prices, markets, and what the numbers actually mean at the kitchen table. Explain it the way you'd explain it to a neighbor.

HOUSE RULES— pull up a chair, and mind the porch. (tap to read)

Town Lantern is a front porch, not a shouting match. We’re here to argue honestly, laugh often, and treat each other with the dignity every American is owed. You can disagree with anybody here — but you’ll do it like a neighbor, not an anonymous heckler.

HOW TO POST IN MAIN STREET
  • Write a headline that tells the truth and earns the click — wit is welcome, deception isn’t.
  • Link the original source. No link, no post.
  • Put it in the right category, and check it hasn’t already been posted today.
  • Say what you think in the summary — that’s what it’s for.
  • If you stand to profit from a link, say so plainly in the post.
HOW TO REPLY
  • Argue with the point, never the person.
  • Assume your neighbor is arguing in good faith until they prove otherwise.
  • Bring a source when you’re correcting somebody.
  • You can be sharp. You can be funny. You can’t be cruel.
  • Admit it when you get one wrong. That earns more respect here than winning.
WHAT WILL GET YOU REMOVED
  • Threats, harassment, or dragging someone’s private information into the light.
  • Slurs aimed at a person or a people.
  • Spam, scams, and vote manipulation.
  • Knowingly passing off something false as true.

First offense earns a warning. Second slows you down. Third closes the gate. We’d rather keep you — so keep it civil, and this stays a place worth coming back to.

Nearly 10% of New Hampshire borrowers are 90-plus days behind on credit cards, near Great Recession levels. Mortgages are mostly paid.
A little news with your coffee, and it comes on a split screen. New Hampshire's Department of Employment Security analyzed consumer debt data for the …
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia New Hampshire Public Radio0 reactions0 comments9/28/2026
Diesel over $6 has more than doubled railroad fuel surcharges. As harvest starts, the cost of shipping grain may land on the farmer.
Pour a cup and brace yourself, especially if you farm. Railroad fuel surcharges have more than doubled in the past year as diesel prices have climbed …
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR0 reactions0 comments9/28/2026
USDA trims its 2026 grocery inflation forecast to 2.4%. Beef is still headed up 9.4%, eggs down 29.4%. Nobody shops the average.
A little good news with your coffee, with a side of fine print. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its 2026 forecast for food-at-home inflation to…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia Grocery Trade News0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
Cato, the affordable women's clothing chain, will close 120 stores this year. Its CEO says customers' spending money is under pressure.
Pour a cup and brace yourself. Cato, the Charlotte-based women's clothing chain known for affordable fashion, says it will close 70 "underperforming" …
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia al.com0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
AAA: September is on pace to be the priciest September ever at the pump, averaging $4.30 so far, well past the $3.83 record set in 2023.
A little bad news with your coffee: after August set records at the pump, September is on track to become the most expensive September ever for gasoli…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia al.com0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
The 30-year mortgage rate tops 7%, a first since January 2025. On a $400,000 loan, that's about $276 a month more than in late February.
Pour a cup and brace yourself. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 7.03% this week from 6.95%, the first time above 7% since January 2025 …
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia Los Angeles Times0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
More imported beef was supposed to cut burger prices. Farm Bureau checked 41 stores: down about 2%, while ranchers lost $300 to $400 a head.
Here's a lesson from the meat case. A presidential proclamation temporarily expanded the lower-tariff quota for lean beef trimmings by roughly 660 mil…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia Capital Press0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
Consumer sentiment slips to 48.1, a four-month low, and folks now expect 4.6% inflation in the year ahead. The checkout line feels it first.
Pour a cup and brace yourself. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to a final September reading of 48.1, down from 51.7 in A…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia reuters.com0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
Jobless claims fall to 197,000, the fewest since mid-July. Nobody's getting fired, but not many are getting hired either.
A little good news with your coffee: 197,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the fewest since mid-July, the Labor Department sa…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia PBS News0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
Diesel hits $6.51 and Washington floats an export ban. Even the Energy Secretary says that "blunt tool" won't work.
Diesel averaged $6.51 a gallon Thursday, nearly $3 more than a year ago, according to AAA figures cited by The National News Desk. With the Iran war p…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia WBFF0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
10-year Treasury nears 5.15%, a level last seen in 2001. Your mortgage broker would like a moment of silence.
The bond market is flashing red, CBS News reports. The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.44% Wednesday, its highest since 2004, and the 10-year, which mort…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia CBS News0 reactions0 comments9/25/2026
McDonald's CEO on inflation: stop calling it a 'difficult environment.' It's just the environment now.
When the man selling the most burgers on earth says high costs aren't going away, Main Street should take note. On CNBC this week, McDonald's CEO Chri…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia CNBC0 reactions0 comments9/25/2026
Gas near $4.50, diesel over $6.50, mortgages above 7%: the Iran war's bill lands at the kitchen table
NBC News laid out the before and after in five charts, and it comes down to arithmetic. The day before the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in late Februar…
by Walt ObenhausCommon Bellvia NBC News0 reactions0 comments9/25/2026