These three potential ‘naked swimmers’ threaten stocks and financial markets

Following a hat trick for all three major indexes last week, both optimism and trepidation are in the air as a new trading stretch begins. But some, like the Kobeissi Letter’s editor in chief and foun...

Inflation May Have Slowed in August. That May Not Be Good News.

Text size Markets have been waiting for a clearer indication that inflation is coming down from its highest point in four decades. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Inflation is expected to have slowed...

Opinion: Americans are feeling poorer for good reason: Household wealth was shredded by inflation and Fed tightening

U.S. households’ real wealth plunged at a record 20.9% annual rate to $143 trillion in the second quarter of the year, with modest gains in home values offset by high inflation and a big selloff in th...

These are the 10 major housing markets that just saw the biggest declines in home equity

Plus, what to know if you’re thinking about taking out a HELOC. Getty Images/iStockphoto As home prices soared in recent years, homeowners enjoyed record levels of tappable home equity, which is the a...

Chinese Banks Lose a Mortgage Safety Net as Developers Slide Into Distress

Listen to article (2 minutes) China is increasingly counting on its banks to step up mortgage lending and help boost a sinking housing market. But there is a problem: Lenders are stuck with many mortg...

Market Volatility Spells Opportunity for Options-Savvy Investors

Text size American Express stock offers a way to monetize the view that the wealthy won’t be terribly affected by an economic downturn. Nora Tarvus/Dreamstime.com Once again, the stock market is confr...

Inflation Could Be Harder to Tame Than the Fed Anticipates

Text size Another 75-basis-point hike in the federal-funds target is looking very, very likely. Ting Shen/Bloomberg Market participants returned from their summer holidays apparently undaunted by the ...

With inflation, many retirees will pay more federal income taxes

The federal income tax is generally indexed for inflation. Most particularly, the income brackets to which the marginal tax rates apply are increased in line with the “Chained CPI-U.” While the chaine...

Inflation expectations are ‘collapsing’ — here’s why that could spur a rebound in stocks

A closely watched U.S. bond-market gauge of near-term inflation expectations has fallen below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for the first time in two years in a sign that stocks could find some near...

‘No sign of a rebound’: Mortgage applications hit 22-year lows, as home buyers pull back

The numbers: As mortgage rates head towards 6%, would-be home buyers continue to stay on the sidelines, putting off purchases and refinances. Weak demand from buyers is reflected in the Market Composi...

‘Vulnerable time for the housing market’: Mortgage rates are now double what they were a year ago, and will weigh on house prices

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.66% as of Sept. 1, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. That’s up 11 basis points from the previous week — one basis point is equal to one hun...

British Pound Falls to Lowest Level Since 1985 as U.K. Economic Pain Mounts

Updated Sept. 4, 2022 5:41 pm ET Listen to article (2 minutes) The British pound slid to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985, a reflection of the U.K. economy’s dire economic situation...

Rising Pressure on Profits Darkens Outlook for Tech Shares

Micron Technology is among the companies that have warned about softening PC demand. Courtesy Micron Text size In early summer, I wrote a Tech Trader column previewing the June quarter earnings season...

2-year Treasury yield sees biggest one-day drop since July after U.S. jobs report

U.S. Treasury yields moved lower Friday, handing the 2-year rate its biggest one-day drop in more than a month, after the August nonfarm payrolls report had traders paring expectations for an aggressi...

5 tips for retiring in a volatile market

Retiring is usually accompanied by celebrations and relaxation, but recent market volatility is adding a measure of doubt for those nearing or at the start of their retirement. That volatility, couple...

Chinese E-Commerce Companies Suffer as Economy Sours

Chinese consumers are cutting back on discretionary purchases and becoming more thrifty as the country’s economic slowdown drags on, impeding the once-inexorable growth of the country’s e-commerce com...

The Stock Market Looked Ready to Recover Before Falling Apart. What Went Wrong.

Text size Jonathan Alpeyrie/Bloomberg August’s payrolls data was greeted with chants of “Goldilocks” for being not too hot and not too cold. Investors, however, forgot that “Goldilocks and the Three B...

What does Friday’s jobs report mean for the market? ‘Too hot’ and stocks could tumble, says market pro

With Federal Reserve Chair Powell last week reaffirming plans to keep raising interest rates to bring down inflation despite the risk of recession, Friday’s monthly U.S. jobs report may once again car...

Bank of America draws mixed reviews for zero-down-payment mortgages aimed at boosting Black and Hispanic home ownership

Bank of America Corp. is drawing a mixed reaction in social media to a zero-down-payment mortgage program aimed at bringing first-time home ownership within closer reach of more African American and H...

China’s Property Market Has Slid Into Severe Depression, Real-Estate Giant Says

Listen to article (1 minute) One of China’s largest developers said the country’s property market has tumbled into a severe depression, using some of the strongest language yet to describe the yearlon...

The Dollar Will Get Even Stronger. Why That Could Slam the Global Economy.

Even for mighty Microsoft , $595 million is a lot of money. That’s how much the software giant’s sales were reduced in the most recent quarter by the ever-stronger U.S. dollar. Indeed, a broad range o...

Economist predicts a ‘whopper’ of recession in 2023 — and that’s not necessarily due to higher interest rates

Financial markets investors worry the U.S. is on the brink of an economic downturn as central bankers in Jackson Hole reaffirmed their determination to raise interest rates to bring inflation under co...

This asset class is poised to rise 38% because markets overestimate risk of global recession, Goldman says

Still reeling from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s higher-for-longer remarks last week, riskier asset like equities look set for another battering, on Monday. “You can’t have the stock market collapse ov...

Shorting Zillow Is Your Best Bet in Housing This Year

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Novartis Looks Appealing, Based on Drug Pipeline and Planned Spinoff

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...

The Federal Reserve Can’t Back Down on Inflation in the Face of Recession

Text size The prospect of recession is raising alarm among households, firms, and investors alike. Spencer Platt/Getty Images About the author: Carl Tannenbaum is the executive vice president and chie...

‘It’s a remarkably uncertain time’: Redfin CEO warns of rapidly cooling housing market — says deals under contract are being cancelled

After a stellar two-year run, the housing market is sputtering as buyers pull back sharply. One real-estate chief said the market is indeed course-correcting, and it’s getting hard to make a deal as m...

Stocks in September Have Often Struggled. The Good News: The Selloff May Have Already Begun.

Illustration by Elias Stein Text size The stock market’s worst month—September—will soon be upon us. The S&P 500 index has averaged a 1% loss in September dating back to 1928, says Dow Jones Marke...

Dow closes down 1000 points, Nasdaq falls 3.9% after Powell warns of pain to households in inflation battle

U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down more than 1000 points for its worst daily percentage drop since May, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the c...

Inflation falls for first time in more than two years, key U.S. gauge shows, due to sinking gas prices

The numbers: A key gauge of U.S. inflation fell 0.1% in July thanks to tumbling gasoline prices, marking the first decline in more than two years and giving Americans some relief from a rapidly rising...

Opinion: The Federal Reserve’s Powell has a lot of explaining to do

The Federal Reserve runs a symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, every year. It’s a rite of passage for many in central banking, in monetary economics and for Fed-watching. Sometimes there is a key Fed ...

Disappointing U.S. data has traders considering possibility of a half-point Fed rate hike in September

In the blink of an eye on Tuesday, the U.S. bond market’s focus shifted back toward fears of an unexpectedly sharp economic slowdown and away from persistently high inflation over the bulk of the trad...