How to prepare your finances for another recession: ‘We think a hard landing will ultimately be unavoidable’

Two years after the short, sharp pandemic-related recession, Wall Street is once again warning of a new recession on the horizon. That’s not a lot to go on, but financial-planning experts say it ought...

Here’s how to craft student-loan forgiveness in a way that cuts out those who don’t need help

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Thursday released new analyses on student loans, with one blog post focused on who would benefit from various approaches to canceling such debt — as well as eac...

Fed chief Powell backs moving more quickly on interest-rate hikes

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday joined the chorus of U.S. central bankers who want to move faster on raising interest rates. “It is appropriate in my view to be moving a little more...

‘I’m already feeling guilty’: My uncle is leaving me a large inheritance, but excluding my siblings. Should I gift them money every year, or set up a trust?

Dear Quentin, I am soon to inherit a sizable sum of money from an uncle with whom no one in my family still speaks; I’m the only one who has stayed in contact with him. While it seems a bit grotesque ...

‘Life is measurably better without the burden of this debt’: As Biden reviews student-debt cancellation, young people with debt delay buying a house and even having kids

Young Americans are buckling under the weight of their student debt. A large majority (74%) of Generation Z (ages 18 to 25) and 68% of millennials (ages 26 to 41) who took on student debt delayed a ma...

Nvidia Stock Could Be in for Trouble. Evidence Is Piling Up.

Text size Nvidia is now the most valuable semiconductor company in the U.S. Dreamstime Nvidia ’s incredible winning streak may soon be coming to an end. The red-hot maker of graphics chips is facing h...

‘The Fed always screws up.’ This forecaster sees inflation peaking and U.S. stocks in a bear market by summer

Keith McCullough, founder and CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management, has been bullish on gold, silver and utilities since the start of the year, when his investment-research firm’s economic models turned bea...

Fed may need to be even more aggressive fighting inflation as U.S. household cash exceeds debt for first time in three decades, warns Deutsche Bank

With U.S. households looking in good financial shape, the Federal Reserve may need to be even more aggressive raising interest rates to cool the economy and bring down high inflation, according to a r...

Dividend Aristocrat stocks can help you keep ahead of inflation. These 15 take top prizes for raising payouts.

Some investors are interested in stocks that pay high dividend yields for a source of income. Others believe it is better to focus on total returns over long periods. The Dividend Aristocrats are a gr...

‘My degree has not led to greater income.’ Can I get rid of old student loans?

How to get out of student loan debt Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I have a degree, and I’ve been paying the student loan for about 25 years. I switched to income-driven repayment in 2011. The loa...

Here are 30 stocks that Goldman Sachs likes when the economy stutters and markets gyrate

Wall Street is finding some traction for Tuesday, as investors wade through big earnings and ample, gloomy distractions. Fighting has ramped up again in Ukraine as the battle begins for the country’s ...

Coinbase’s stock selloff is ‘way overblown’ for these reasons, analyst says

Shares of Coinbase Global Inc. sank toward another record low Monday, even as bullish analyst Owen Lau of Oppenheimer attempted to debunk the bears’ reasons to sell the crypto-trading platform. The st...

Oil Service Stocks Are Gaining Steam. These Are the Ones to Watch.

Text size Prices and margins are improving for companies like Haliburton. Dreamstime Oil services and equipment companies slimmed down after the last oil bust, and that’s left them looking lean as oil...

My ex-husband encouraged me to drop out of college after a year, and now I’m struggling to repay my student loans. Is there anything I can do?

It’s also important to make sure you don’t neglect the emotional impact of this situation. Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I took out a student loan in 2006, but my ex-husband was very controlling,...

Twitter Is the S&P 500’s Top Performer in April. Nvidia Is the Worst.

Text size Target store shopping carts in Miami. Joe Raedle/Getty Images It’s been a volatile month for stocks as investors have navigated a complex macroeconomic minefield — from rising interest rates...

‘The graveyard shift is the most understaffed:’ I work as a waiter on the Las Vegas Strip. We are overworked, underpaid, and our drunk customers often don’t tip

Dear Quentin,  I currently work at a fast-casual restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. I have worked at the company for three years. I work at the busiest outlet of this restaurant in the world. During t...

Financial Face-Off: Should you use your tax refund to buy I bonds or crypto? One of these options could get a 9.6% return. Let us explain.

Hello and welcome to Financial Face-off, a MarketWatch column where we help you weigh financial decisions. Our columnist will give her verdict. Tell us whether you think she’s right in the comments. A...

Is the Stock Market Open Today? Here Are Hours for Easter Monday 2022.

Text size Dreamstime U.S. investors eager to trade after the holiday weekend will have plenty of news to digest, thanks to corporate earnings. More than 100 companies are slated to report this week—an...

Tesla, AT&T, Netflix, Bank of America, IBM, and Other Stocks to Watch This Week

Text size First-quarter earnings season picks up next week, with 67 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report.  Bank of America will be Monday’s highlight, followed by Netflix , Johnson & Johnson ...

Big Investor Sold AMC and Apple Stock. It Bought PayPal and Pfizer.

Text size An AMC theater Dreamstime A large European asset manager slashed its investment in the volatile shares of a movie-theater chain, and made other changes in its U.S.-traded stock portfolio. DN...

A retired nurse lost $43,000 to bitcoin — watch out for red flags online

A New York retired nurse lost $43,000 of her life savings to bitcoin scammers, after transferring the money to them through a malicious computer pop-up – an unfortunate reminder to be vigilant when it...

Inflation is raging, but these 16 companies have pricing power

Decades of deflationary forces that helped feed booming prices for U.S. stocks are over, at least for now. But some companies are countering the trend, by a combination of holding down expenses and ra...

Nvidia Stock Gains on Upgrade. Ethereum Won’t Crash It the Way Bitcoin Did.

Text size Gamers compete at the ‘Nvidia’ booth during the Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 in Los Angeles. Christian Petersen/Getty Images Nvidia stock was rising Wednesday after it receiv...

Mortgage rates soar to highest level in over a decade — even wealthy home buyers are feeling the pain

Mortgage rates are soaring, and no one is being spared. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5% as of the week ending April 14, representing an increase of 28 basis points from the pr...

PayPal Stock Is Falling. It’s Not Because Its CFO Is Leaving for Walmart.

Text size PayPal’s has a new interim CFO. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Walmart said late Tuesday that it had named John Rainey as its chief financial officer. Rainey currently holds the same pos...

As mortgage rates climb, one big thing homebuyers should consider doing now

Is a mortgage rate lock right for you? Getty Images Mortgage rates will likely rise throughout 2022, many experts predict. Indeed, both Holden Lewis, home and mortgage expert at Nerdwallet, and Jeff O...

‘The weight of this debt is crushing’: I’m 74, and a retired speech-language pathologist with a student-loan debt of $200K. Am I obliged to pay it off?

Dear Quentin, I have not seen anyone address student-loan debt for people over 70 years of age. I am a 74-year-old retired  speech-language pathologist with a student-loan debt of $200,000.  I’m on a ...

As inflation hits a new 40-year high, 5 financial advisers on what they’re doing with their own money amid high inflation

Getty Images/iStockphoto The annual rate of inflation in the U.S. rose to 8.5%, which is a four-decade high, new consumer price index data revealed. Inflation hasn’t been this high since the early 198...

Citi upgrades Wells Fargo, cuts view on five other banks as inflation woes mount

Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz upgraded Wells Fargo to a buy, reiterated a bullish view on M&T Bancorp and cut ratings on five other banks on Monday. While banks looked poised for outperformance...

I’ve been paying my student loan for 37 years, but now I’m earning $11K a year

How to get out of student loan debt Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I have a student loan from 1984 that I defaulted on. I am 72 years old and have been paying through a deduction in my Supplementa...

‘It put everyone in a weird position’: Our waitress said a 20% service fee was added to cover benefits and health insurance, but that it was not a tip. Is this normal?

I went to brunch last weekend and, when the server handed us the bill, she said a 20% service fee was added to cover her benefits and health insurance, but that it was not a tip.  I am absolutely supp...