The U.S. housing market has strong supply — but that's not necessarily a good sign. Active listings in November were up 12% year over year, largely because houses are staying on the market longer, according to data from Redfin. More than half of the homes listed in November had been up for sale for at least 60 days, the highest share for any November in five years. As one Redfin agent put it:'A lot of listings on the market are either stale or uninhabitable.
There's a lot of inventory, but it doesn't feel like enough.' Meanwhile, Apple is facing stiff competition from Huawei in China. Shipments of Apple smartphones fell 6% year over year in China during the third quarter, according to Canalys, while shipments of Huawei devices jumped 24% year over year. In response, Apple is discounting its top-line phones in the all-important market around the upcoming Chinese New Year — as much as 500 Chinese yuan ($68.50) off. On a somber note, a crash in the French Quarter of New Orleans on New Year's Day killed at least 15 people and injured 30 more. The FBI has identified a 42-year-old Texas man who crashed a pickup truck into a New Year's celebration and then opened fire on police. The suspect was killed at the scene