Author: starbpo

According to polls, the race for the White House is very close between Vice President Kamala Harris and past President Donald Trump. This means that small changes in the economy could swing the race one way or the other. Andrew Lokay, an expert at Beacon Policy Advisors, says that the dockworkers’ strike on Tuesday could cause a pretty big problem for the economy, which could have big effects on the election. Lokay wrote in a Friday client note, “A work stoppage by dockworkers threatens to knot up supply chains just weeks before Election Day. This could cause prices to go…

The numbers: Americans had a little more faith in the economy after the first interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in four years and inflation slowed down, but they were still worried about the outcome of the election. Friday, the University of Michigan said that the consumer confidence index rose to a five-month high of 70.1 in September. It had been 69.0 in August and 67.9 in September. Despite this, consumer confidence is still very low. The last time it was this high was after the pandemic, in 2021, when it was 88.3. “Consumers are fully aware that inflation…

The U.S. trade deficit in goods fell 8.3% to $94.3 billion in August, according to the Commerce Department’s advance estimate announced Friday. In July, it reached its highest level in more than two years. There hasn’t been such a small trade gap since March. According to a study by Econoday, economists thought the deficit would go down from $102.7 billion last month to $100 billion this month. Important facts: The imbalance got smaller because exports went up and imports went down. It went up by $4.1 billion, or 2.4%, to $177 billion in August. Goods brought in dropped by $4.5…

That night, Nov. 5, the winner of the close White House race won’t be known, a UBS strategist said Thursday. But markets can get ready for that. “This is going to be a close election, so I’m not going to pick a winner on election night.” Kurt Reiman, head of fixed income for the Swiss bank’s top investment office for the Americas, said, “It would make sense to expect something that lasts longer.” “There may be times when the courts need to recount ballots,” Reiman said at a UBS-hosted roundtable for the media. The Associated Press and major networks didn’t…

Washington, D.C. On Thursday, under seal, special counsel Jack Smith filed a court brief that prosecutors said would include sensitive and never-before-seen evidence in the case against former President Donald Trump for planning to overturn the 2020 election he lost. The brief, which was sent even though the Trump team didn’t want it, is meant to defend a revised and narrowed charge that prosecutors filed last month in response to a Supreme Court decision that gave former presidents broad immunity. Earlier this month, prosecutors said they were going to give U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan a “detailed factual proffer” that…

DOVER, Del. — A settlement was reached Thursday in a defamation lawsuit brought by Smartmatic, a company that makes electronic voting machines, against Newsmax, a conservative news source, for reporting claims made by Trump supporters about vote fraud in the 2020 election. The settlement was made public just a few hours after the jury selection process began in the case that Smartmatic, based in Florida, had filed against Newsmax. In November and December 2020, Smartmatic said that hosts and guests on the Newsmax show said things that were not true and were meant to hurt their reputation. These statements suggested…

Washington, D.C. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to fire his country’s representative to the U.S. This comes as Republicans call Zelensky’s trip to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania, a swing state, a political stunt. Zelensky spoke to the UN in New York on the eve of his trip to Washington, D.C., where he plans to tell lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the war effort before meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. This is when the Republican speaker made his demand. “The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event meant to help…

NEW YORK — Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, met with Donald Trump in person on Friday. Tensions between the two were rising because of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s attack and the U.S. presidential election. Trump told Fox News, “We both want this to end and we both want a fair deal to be made.” He was talking about the fighting between Russia and Ukraine while standing next to Zelensky after they had met for 40 minutes. “The president wants it to end as soon as possible.” It’s important to him that the deal is fair. Zelensky said that the…

The value of the world’s stock markets is about to go over their best level in three years. This is because the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates and China started to boost its economy this month. Bank of America said that the world’s stock market will be worth more than the record $123 trillion it hit in October 2021, citing data from GFD Finaeon. The Vanguard Total World Stock ETF VT -0.30%, which tries to track both U.S. and foreign stocks, has already surpassed its peak from 2021 and set a new record high on Thursday. A group of strategists…

According to experts, the upcoming strike at ports on the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico could be very bad for many types of businesses. The current agreement between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance is set to end on September 30. This is making people more worried that U.S. ports from Maine to Texas will soon be locked down. According to Margaret Kidd, an associate professor of supply chain and operations at the University of Houston, having half of the country’s ports close down would have a huge effect on the economy. Kidd…