Mortgage rates zoom past 4.5% — here’s what home buyers need to know

Mortgages rates keep climbing, and that poses a major challenge for families looking to score a deal during the busy spring home-buying season. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.67%...

U.S. inflation jumps again and hits 6.4% rate, the Fed’s favorite price gauge shows

The numbers: The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation calculator rose a sharp 0.6% in February and kept the increase over the past year at a 40-year high, explaining why the central bank plans to move...

Russia Built Parallel Payments System That Escaped Western Sanctions

Western sanctions have disrupted nearly every part of Russia’s financial system, but there is one big exception. The domestic-payments system continued to work smoothly after Visa Inc. and Mastercard ...

A key part of the Treasury yield curve has finally inverted, setting off recession warning — here’s what investors need to know

A closely watched measure of the yield curve that serves as one of the bond market’s most reliable recession indicators inverted on Tuesday, underlining fears about the economic outlook as the Federal...

Defense Stocks Take a Hit on U.S. Defense Spending Request

Text size Defense stocks trade for about 18 times estimated 2022 earnings. Jose Luis Magana / AFP) Defense stocks are taking a small hit after details of the coming defense budget were released. On Mo...

This ‘potentially poisonous mix’ means forget about buying the dip in stocks, says Neuberger CIO

The threat of high inflation, climbing rates and sputtering growth could turn into a “potentially poisonous mix” for stocks, prompting a new underweight call for equities by Erik Knutzen, chief invest...

‘The dam finally broke’: 10-year Treasury yields spike to breach top of downward trend channel seen since mid-1980s, says Deutsche Bank

Yields on the 10-year Treasury note have spiked through the top line of a downward trend channel tracing back to the mid-1980s, with surging inflation and the Federal Reserve’s reaction to it sparking...

Opinion: Russia just made a case for owning gold—and nobody noticed

Here’s a strong argument for adding some gold bullion to your retirement portfolio right now, alongside those stocks and bonds. And it comes courtesy of Pavel Zavalny, the head of the Russian parliame...

How Russia’s Central Bank Engineered the Ruble’s Rebound

The ruble is in a central-bank-induced coma. While Russia’s currency can still see sharp swings in a day, it has trimmed its steep losses and begun to stabilize. It is now trading at around 99 rubles ...

Biden’s Budget to Include Billionaire Tax Proposal

The proposal to tax billionaire households aims to ensure the wealthiest Americans pay at least 20% on their income and unrealized asset gains. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Getty Images Text si...

M&T Bank Stock Looks Like a Buy

Text size Citigroup’s Keith Horowitz’s price target of $220 on M&T Bank shares suggests 20% upside from Friday’s close. Daniel Tepper/Bloomberg Like a child waiting for a birthday present only to ...

Opinion: The economy is in much better shape than the headlines would tell you

Inflation is through the roof. There’s an oil crisis. A looming food crisis. You name it. War is raging in Europe. Russia’s president is starting to sound unhinged. And headlines are now linking him w...

Stocks have gained 8% in three months on this signal in the past, Bank of America says

Get ready to buy stocks. That’s the advice a contrarian indicator from Bank of America is flagging, according to strategists in their Flow Show note released Friday. Uncredited The bank’s proprietary ...

Russia will likely default with April 4 payment due of $2.2 billion, experts say

Investors breathed a sigh of relief last week after the Russian government made a $117 million interest payment on its foreign debt. But a much bigger payment comes due April 4 — to the tune of $2.2 b...

Stock-market investors should watch this part of the yield curve for the ‘best leading indicator of trouble ahead’

Investors have been watching the U.S. Treasury yield curve for inversions, a reliable predictor of past economic downturns. They don’t always agree on which part of the curve is best to watch though. ...

Southeast Asia Is Surging Postpandemic. Where to Invest.

A floating market in Damnoen Saduak, Thailand. Southeast Asia is looking attractive to investors as countries move past the pandemic. Eduardo Leal/Bloomberg Text size Not all the world news is bad the...

Worried About Getting Audited? Here Are Red Flags for the IRS.

Even though the Internal Revenue Service is auditing fewer taxpayers these days, you still don’t want to put a target on your back. Among those more likely to get audited: Small-business owners with l...

Why the Postwar 1940s May Tell Us More About Our Inflation Than the ‘70s

Illustration by Elias Stein Text size As inflation stirs, economists have fixated on the 1970s. That’s a mistake, says Guggenheim’s chief investment officer, Scott Minerd, who believes the causes of t...

Larry Fink says globalization is over — Here’s what it means for the markets

BlackRock founder Larry Fink declared that the Russia-Ukraine war is bringing the era of globalization to an end, but investors should keep in mind that the global economy and the financial system can...

If the Fed Pulls This Off, It’s Party Time

Text size College students party at the beach during spring break on South Padre Island, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Party like it’s 1994? Rather than 1999, the year made famous by Prince’s purpl...

Opinion: Preparing for the great sunset: What you need to know if tax code provisions expire

The hot equities and housing markets have contributed to a surge in U.S. household wealth during the pandemic. According to the Federal Reserve, household wealth grew by $19 trillion to $137 trillion ...

Why Housing May Not Get as Hammered as Usual in This Rate Hike Cycle

Traditional home buyers are sure to be pinched by rising mortgage rates, but better-financed investors could keep prices rising. Here, a home for sale in Houston last summer. Brandon Bell/Getty Images...

Mortgage Rates Rose Even Higher. Here’s How Much More You’d Pay Now.

New-home sales fell in February due, in part, to the effects of rising mortgage rates on affordability. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Text size Mortgage rates climbed past 4% last week—and their rapid ...

Apple, Tesla, and 98 Other Growth Stocks That Are Getting Their Groove Back

Text size Apple stock fell 18% from Jan. 3 to March 14. Dale Del La Rey/AFP via Getty Images Growth stocks like Apple and Tesla have had quite the time these past four months–retreating, then roaring....

Weekend reads: the slowing housing market and inverted yield curve signal a coming recession

It is human nature to fear missing out as prices skyrocket, But all bubbles burst eventually. Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics predicts a 25% decline in U.S. home sales. What will that do to...

Texas Survey Shows Why Oil Producers Aren’t Drilling More

Text size The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas surveyed 141 oil and gas firms in the 11th Fed District, which includes Texas and parts of New Mexico and Louisiana. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Oil and gas...

PepsiCo and 4 Other ‘Low-Volatility’ Stocks That Can Beat the Market

Text size Pepsi products for sale Mario Tama/Getty Images Investors have been buying up low-volatility stocks to protect their portfolios against stock market declines. These stable stocks can probabl...

Investing legend Bill Miller says there are many good values in the market even after relief rally

It’s a good time to get the perspective of the recent market rally from legendary investor Bill Miller, who beat the S&P 500 SPX, +1.43% for 15 years in a row and has seen a cycle or two. “No one ...

‘Mortgage rates are likely to push toward 5% before the end of the year’: Rates soar to highest level in over 3 years, putting pressure on home buyers

Mortgage rates are racing toward 5% as the Federal Reserve’s expected trajectory for future rate hikes becomes clearer. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.42% as of the week endin...

It’s the beginning of the end of globalization, say BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Oaktree’s Howard Marks

“The magnitude of Russia’s actions will play out for decades to come and mark a turning point in the world order of geopolitics, macroeconomic trends, and capital markets.” That was Larry Fink, CEO of...

New home sales decline, surprising analysts, even though the inventory of properties for sale has hit the highest level since 2008

The numbers: U.S. new-home sales decreased 2% to an annual rate of 772,000 in February, the government said Wednesday. That figure represents the number of homes that would be sold over a yearlong per...

A Russian oil-sparked U.S. recession? This is how it could happen

A global recession “seems unavoidable” if sanctions on Russia keep most of its oil and natural gas off international markets for the rest of 2022. That’s what a pair of researchers at the Dallas Feder...