Author: starbpo

According to former agency commissioner Martin O’Malley, beneficiaries can anticipate a lag in service and may want to start setting money aside to help pay the bills as a result of impending personnel cuts at the Social Security Administration. As part of a “massive” restructure revealed late Thursday, the SSA stated Friday afternoon that it plans to lower its regional-office structure and employment levels from 57,000 to 50,000. SSA stated that “rumor of a 50% reduction is false.” However, several press sources suggested that staffing cuts could reach 30,000 positions, or half of the agency’s workforce. The cut comes as…

Consumer sentiment has been severely damaged by worries about government layoffs, tariffs, and inflation during the second Trump administration. Even while the credit spreads in the bond market are close to multiyear lows, that caused consumer stocks XX:SP500.25 to enter correction territory in February and unnerved equity investors. Though investors haven’t precisely been abandoning the market, recession rhetoric is making a comeback. Trump’s repeated threats of tariffs, however, seem to be having a negative impact and may make it more difficult for the Fed to lower interest rates this year. Andrzej Skiba, head of U.S. fixed income at RBC Global…

March seems like a good time to catch up or reduce streaming. Since there aren’t many launches this month, consumers on a tight budget may be able to cancel a few streaming services. Or to binge something you’ve missed and take advantage of the little pause in action. The upcoming months will be crowded with what should be the best shows of the year because Emmy season is getting underway, with the eligibility cutoff being at the end of May. It’s not too early to start planning your approach; perhaps you should pick up Peacock and Disney+ for the next…

Contrary to what many analysts are saying, the recent significant declines in consumer sentiment and confidence are not portentous. This is wonderful news for stock market bulls because consumers, who are thought to be the backbone of the American economy, have recently become considerably more pessimistic. Over the last three months, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) has fallen 14.5 points, more than it has in all but 8% of months since 1979. Just 13% of months since 1979 saw a greater decline over the previous three months, compared to the 7.1-point decline in the University of Michigan’s Index…

According to a fund manager who spoke to MarketWatch, despite a slower-than-expected start to deal-making and stubborn inflation, banks may still see more bank mergers and an uptick in capital markets activity. “Speculation about a more positive banking environment that drove a rally in bank stocks late last year has not yet fully materialized in 2025,” said Cheryl Pate, senior portfolio manager at Angel Oak Capital Advisors. She said that concerns about the effects of trade tariffs, stock market volatility, and DOGE budget cuts have caused investment-banking activity to be less than expected. Despite these obstacles, negotiations should resume this…

The director of the U.S. Treasury Department has pointed out one potentially fruitful path for America’s neighbors as traders across the world await if U.S. President Donald Trump would once again postpone imposing new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. When asked if nearby nations could evade U.S. tariffs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded, “I do think one very interesting proposal that the Mexican government has made is perhaps matching the U.S. on our China tariffs,” in a Friday afternoon interview with Bloomberg TV. “I think it’d be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also, so in a way,…

One of the first services to provide video and phone calls over the internet, Skype, was shut down by Microsoft Corp. on Friday. The present users of Skype, a holdover from the digital boom and bust of the early 2000s, will be switched to free accounts on Microsoft Teams, the company’s favorite videoconferencing and workplace communications tool and a fierce competitor to Slack, the CRM software from Salesforce Inc. In May, Skype will formally retire. In a blog post, Microsoft’s (MSFT) president of collaborative apps and platforms, Jeff Teper, stated that “the way we communicate has evolved significantly over the…

Although it will take years to see results, President Donald Trump has expressed his concern about the United States’ reliance on other nations for a large portion of its copper supply and is seeking to increase domestic copper mining. The president instructed the secretary of commerce to begin an investigation into the national security threat posed by copper imports and to suggest measures to lessen that threat, which the order stated could include “potential tariffs, export controls, or incentives to increase domestic production.” The order was issued on February 25. The largest producer in the world, Chile, as well as…

One expert outlines the crucial lines in the sand for carefully followed assets when the so-called “bro bubble”—the testosterone-fueled boom in cryptocurrencies and other speculative tech stocks—pops. According to Michael Hartnett, a strategist at Bank of America, the price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) broke when it was unable to maintain the volume-weighted average price of $97,000 since the election. It has now dropped below $80,000. Tesla Inc. (TSLA) closed Thursday at $282, well below its post-election VWAP of $371. In addition, Hartnett found the VWAP lines in the sand for Meta Platforms Inc. (META) at $639, Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) at…

Though the AI leader left some investors wanting a little more, Nvidia seems to have provided earnings just enough for Wall Street to advance, so things are off to a good start. However, we’ve also heard billionaire investor Paul Singer caution against the stock market’s complacency and risk, while others discuss the stock market’s deteriorating mood. Friday’s 1.7% decline spurred by soft data has been the weakest day for the S&P 500 so far this year. Could things grow worse? There is only one response to our call of the day from Piper Sandler’s chief investment strategist and head of…