US inflation has steadily cooled since mid-2022, thanks to large interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. However, a four-month drop in the dollar is threatening to derail that trend by raising the cost of imported goods. The dollar index has fallen by more than 11% from a peak reached in late September. US consumers are … Read more
Goldman Sachs is relatively optimistic in 2023, saying there’s only a 1/3 chance of a US recession. That’s high enough that the firm is telling investors to be prepared for ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ landings. US Stock Chief David Kostin and his team put together portfolios designed for either scenario. Goldman Sachs seems like a beacon … Read more
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed congressional leaders including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that her department had begun using extraordinary cash management measures that could stave off default until June 5. Republicans, with a newly won House majority, aim to use the time until the Treasury’s emergency maneuvers are exhausted to exact spending cuts from Biden … Read more
Malick Diop felt something shifting on Wall Street. He’d joined Morgan Stanley in the grim days of 2009, when big banks were trying to pay back taxpayer bailouts and deflect public fury. But four years later, the ire was fading and ambition was the order of the day. “It really felt like, for the first … Read more
US home sales are extending declines as Federal Reserve tightening boosts mortgage rates. That has helped tame inflation, which is now retreating from four-decade highs. But a housing market slowdown also increases the risk of a recession. Housing could be about to become a key policy puzzle for the Federal Reserve. Market activity has fallen … Read more
In the past few weeks, a number of high-profile US tech companies have announced layoffs. Meta is laying off 11,000 workers and Amazon 10,000. The ongoing purge at Twitter could see its employee base of 7,500 shrink by about 75%. About 42,000 workers in US tech companies lost their jobs in November alone, according to … Read more
The U.S. Senate narrowly passed President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday, aiming to cut government deficits and consumer medical bills while boosting climate-change spending, increasing corporate income taxes and creating a new 1% levy on stock buybacks. The measure passed on a party-line 51-50 vote, with all Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the … Read more
Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood seems to think the market is approaching a bottom and growth stocks would lead a recovery, the fund manager told CNBC’s Tech Trade Special Friday. “Typically growth stocks will outperform as we move towards the end of a bear market and of a recession because they are the new leadership,” … Read more
After finding out that the Chinese products are produced with forced labour, the US imposed a ban on Xinjiang imports, which hit China’s supply chain. In 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law, under which the US government assumes that anything made even partially, in the Chinese manufacturing hub of … Read more