Author: starbpo

“The U.S. economy is continuing to expand,” and “consumer spending is booming.” Despite slowing economic growth and trade wars, Americans haven’t reduced their spending much. According to a Wall Street adage, don’t wager against the American customer. The point might be demonstrated by the most recent rise in retail spending. For the third consecutive month, retail sales increased significantly in August, indicating that people are spending at solid levels in spite of concerns about persistent inflation and a deteriorating labor market. The government said on Tuesday that retail cash register receipts rose by 0.6% last month, and that July expenditures…

A week before the Federal Reserve is anticipated to announce a rate cut, in early September, the 30-year mortgage rate dropped to its lowest level in a year. According to analysts, mortgage rates are unlikely to decrease following the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, when the central bank is anticipated to lower interest rates. Do you have inquiries concerning the real estate market? Aarthi Swaminathan, a real estate correspondent for MarketWatch, may respond to your questions during a live Q&A session today from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time if you post them here. Instead, homeowners and those wishing to purchase…

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve could start a run of interest rate cuts with either a 25- or 50-basis-point cut. This has Wall Street excited. It’s possible that the S&P 500 index will start the week just a little below its all-time high. This is because 2-year Treasury yields are at their lowest level since September 2022. Researchers at Jefferies, on the other hand, say they are “ambivalent to the size of the first cut…as the implications for the economy appear to depend more on the direction of travel for interest rates than the precision of the delivery mechanism over…

David Flores Wilson, a financial planner, had a hard time getting his clients to put their money in places that would earn them money, like high-yield savings accounts, CDs, money-market funds, and T-bills TMUBMUSD06M 4.597% when the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in 2022. In this case, the reverse is true. Wilson says it’s hard to get some of them to lower their money in those roles. About a year ago, these very safe investments were giving owners 4% to 5% on their money. That gain is likely to go down, though, when the Fed starts cutting rates. Wilson’s…

If you buy an annuity right before interest rates go down, you’ll get a better deal. However, they might still not be a good idea if you think that inflation will rise a lot. There have been a lot of stories lately telling us to buy annuities right away because interest rates are likely to drop a lot. This is important to note. One recent piece on the Advisor Perspectives website said that “now is the best time to act and secure elevated rates for annuities” because rates are going down. Brett Arends, a writer for MarketWatch, said the same…

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — The FBI said there “appears to have been an attempted assassination” of Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. This happened just nine weeks after another attempt was made on Trump’s life. The ex-president said he was safe and sound, and police had a man in arrest. A few holes up from where Trump was playing, U.S. Secret Service agents saw the barrel of an AK-style gun sticking out of the bushes that surround the course, which is about 400 yards away. After being shot at by a police…

Target Corp. revealed hundreds of bargains and savings for bargain-hunting customers on Monday along with its holiday employment plans. The first of these is Target Circle Week, which will take place from October 6 to 12. In order to support pickup, drive-up, and home delivery services, the company TGT 1.97% intends to hire roughly 100,000 more seasonal workers, who will be spread across its stores and supply-chain facilities. In prepared remarks, executive vice president and chief commercial officer Rick Gomez stated, “Consumers are getting ready for one of the most exciting times of the year, which is why we’re leaning…

It should have been solved by now. It’s almost certain that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates when its policy meeting ends on Wednesday, but it’s still not clear how much it will lower rates. Futures traders in Fed funds have put in a very close call between a normal cut of 25 basis points and a huge move of 50 basis points. People aren’t sure if a big rate cut would make investors nervous or calm them down. They are worried that an economy that is already slowing down could suddenly go into recession, which would ruin corporate…

At a time when the labor market is deteriorating, Thursday’s consumer-price index report for August could confirm that the service side of inflation is still problematic. The Federal Reserve’s anticipation for interest-rate decreases beyond September may be dampened by an August consumer-price index data that investors are anticipating on Thursday. A rate cut by the Fed next Wednesday is currently viewed as having a 100% chance, especially in light of the unexpected drop in August producer prices and the worsening of U.S. job growth. Now, the only issues are how much this rate drop will be and what policymakers would…

Nebius showed how quickly the market can re-price earnings expectations in the AI age on Thursday by pricing a stock-market offering at a 44% premium to where it stood prior to signing a huge cloud deal with Microsoft. In addition to an enlarged $2.75 billion convertible bond, Nebius (NBIS) reported that it priced its $1 billion stock-market offering at $92.50. After a 49% increase on Tuesday, Nebius’s shares finished Wednesday at $93.39. Nebius stated that the funds would be used to “finance the continuing growth of its business, including the acquisition of additional compute power and hardware, securing strategic high-quality…