The latest mortgage rates Getty Images/iStockphoto For most of 2022, the trend of mortgage rates was generally up and then up some more. But in mid-November something big happened: Thanks to better-th...
Tag: Banking/Credit
Fed’s shrinking of balance sheet via quantitative tightening is ‘a complete mistake,’ says Mizuho
The Federal Reserve’s attempt at shrinking its balance sheet through so-called quantitative tightening, or QT, is “a complete mistake,” according to Mizuho’s chief economist for the U.S. “There is a ...
‘We see major stock markets plunging 25%,’ says Deutsche Bank
A U.S. recession induced by central-bank efforts to curb inflation is likely to arrive by mid-2023 and trigger a sharp and “temporarily painful” decline in equities, according to Deutsche Bank researc...
Shinhan Financial’s U.S. Unit Ordered to Beef Up Money Laundering Oversight
A U.S. unit of South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group has agreed to bolster the oversight of its anti-money-laundering program as part of a settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Shinhan B...
Binance launched a proof-of-reserves system for bitcoin holdings. What are proof of reserves?
Crypto exchange Binance launched a new website that explains its proof of reserves system. But why did the company do it and what does it mean? Here’s a breakdown of why the term has been making its r...
More people use ‘buy now, pay later’ for holiday shopping, but experts say that’s a double-edged sword
Online purchases using the BNPL rose by 13% year-on-year in November, according to Adobe Analytics. That figure does not take into account Thanksgiving or Black Friday spending. “In an uncertain econo...
Where to Get Yields of 10% and Up, if You Can Stomach a Little Risk
The $280 billion convertibles sector is replete with 10%-plus yields on many issues. There is a risk in these high-yielders, but they can offer nice appreciation potential and a good alternative to th...
Investors Have Lost Faith in Crypto Exchanges. JPMorgan Sees an Opportunity.
A string of crypto business failures has stranded millions of dollars in customer funds this year, underscoring the level of trust needed for groups that are custodians of digital assets. JPMorgan Cha...
Binance U.S. Arm to Bid for Bankrupt Voyager Digital’s Assets After FTX Collapse
The U.S. arm of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, will make a bid for bankrupt lender Voyager Digital following the collapse of FTX, which in September won an auction for the comp...
Can You Buy Bitcoin Without an Exchange Like FTX? We Tried.
Bitcoin is supposed to be a “trustless” token, but you’ll still need to place your trust in someone or something. Illustration by Barron’s Staff FTX’s bankruptcy got us wondering: Can you buy Bitcoin ...
How to Put Together an All-Cash Home Purchase
As home-financing costs have skyrocketed, cash is king once again. Nearly one in 10 new homes in the third quarter were purchased with cash, according to Census Bureau data—the largest share since 201...
Genesis meltdown: Why investors are worried about bigger problems for crypto
Investors are worried that liquidity problems for crypto financial-services firm Genesis could spill over to its parent company, Digital Currency Group, and damage the already battered crypto market e...
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao: ‘No amount of other people’s tweets would cause problems’ if an exchange holds customer assets
Perhaps it’s one last dagger, but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhou just could not resist a little dig at the fallen FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried. That’s a reference to the role the cryptocurrency t...
Wall Street Is Saying ‘No’ to a Bitcoin Rebound. Bearish Bets Are Piling Up.
Bitcoin has been licking its wounds from two-year lows in the wake of crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy this month. Sentiment may be cautiously improving in the digital-asset world, but investors on Wa...
$740 million in crypto assets recovered so far in FTX bankruptcy
NEW YORK — The company tasked with locking down the assets of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX says it has managed to recover and secure $740 million in assets so far, a fraction of the potentia...
Opinion: Fidelity sticks with bitcoin 401(k) offerings despite crypto turmoil — but why?
I have to hand it to Fidelity. For their nerves of steel, at least. The company that runs America’s biggest 401(k) platform is sticking with its plans to offer bitcoin in retirement plans. This is des...
Is the stock market open on Black Friday? Thanksgiving week trading hours for major assets.
It’s going to be a short week on Wall Street. U.S. stock exchanges will be closed for Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, Nov. 24, and will reopen the next day only for an abbreviated session on Black Frida...
Bitcoin tumbles to fresh lows as Genesis denies imminent bankruptcy
Bitcoin briefly tumbled to its lowest level in two years on Monday after Bloomberg News reported that Genesis, the digital-asset brokerage and lender, has told investors it could be forced to file for...
Retail Discounter TJX Is Thriving as Inflation Pressures Consumers
Text size These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron’s, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts’ thinking; they should not be considered the vi...
FTX Sends Crypto Reeling. The Whales Move in to Profit.
Cryptocurrency markets have been slammed by the sudden bankruptcy of FTX. But amid the carnage, some big traders—whales—were buying. Bitcoin the largest crypto, was plumbing two-year lows at $16,600 o...
Fed Tightening Is Having More Impact Than You Might Think
We’ve learned a lot about the transmission of disease in the past few years. Ideas, good and bad, are spread similarly. Robert Shiller, the Yale University Nobel laureate, wrote in Irrational Exuberan...
Oil futures fall 10% for week as China’s COVID worries darken demand picture
Oil futures logged their second straight weekly declines, pressured as a resurgence of COVID-19 worries clouded the energy demand picture, and broader markets kept eyes on a hawkish Federal Reserve. U...
Why Bitcoin Has Weathered FTX’s Collapse and Why It Isn’t Time to Buy
The bomb that went off this month in the crypto industry has only given Bitcoin a flesh wound. There are good reasons why the largest crypto token has held up despite the disorder that surrounds it, b...
Schwab’s Liz Ann Sonders Sees Trouble Still Ahead. Where to Invest Now.
Though the U.S. stock market looks healthier than it did during its rough patch over the summer, Charles Schwab Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders sees potential trouble still ahead, especial...
They Lived Together, Worked Together and Lost Billions Together: Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s Doomed FTX Empire
NASSAU, Bahamas—Sam Bankman-Fried’s $32 billion crypto-trading empire collapsed in an incandescent bankruptcy last week, prompting irate customers, crypto acolytes and Silicon Valley bigwigs to ask ho...
Fed must keep raising rates until it is certain inflation has stopped climbing, Kashkari says
The Federal Reserve needs to keep raising interest rates until it is sure inflation has hit a ceiling, said Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Thursday. The central bank can’t be overly persua...
The latest rally in stocks may be almost over, Bank of America warns
Investors hoping to squeeze some more gains out of the stock market’s latest bear-market bounce might be too late, according to a team of strategists at Bank of America. According to a Friday note sen...
Scaramucci says he did buy FTX token after getting investment from Sam Bankman-Fried
Anthony Scaramucci’s investment fund SkyBridge Capital bought $10 million worth of FTT tokens after receiving an investment from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The Financial Times reported on Thursday...
Veteran manager offers 5 ‘cheap, quality, dividend’ stocks that will let you play one of tech’s biggest themes.
2022 may be remembered as the year investors fell out of love with tech stocks. While the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -3.91% is up about 5.3% this quarter, that’s after three dismal ones, and a 28% loss fo...
I got laid off by a big tech company. What’s my next career move?
Being let go from a job is hard, especially at a moment when the cost of living is rising and a recession is looming. This Thanksgiving, tens of thousands of recently laid-off tech workers will be ask...