In a year when the U.S. issued the smallest number of patents since 2018, Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics nosed past IBM with the most new patents, the first time in 29 years that IBM fai...
Tag: Economy & Policy
Yellen Says U.S. Expected to Hit Debt Limit Next Thursday
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told U.S. lawmakers the federal government was projected to reach its debt limit next Thursday, marking a starting point for what is likely to be a long and tense battl...
Inflation Isn’t the Stock Market’s Biggest Problem Now. Deflation Is.
Generationally high inflation was the story of 2022. That’s not going to be the story of 2023. The boogeyman of disinflation—and even some deflation—is about to become the biggest risk to stocks, and ...
The Stock Market Is on a Tear. Don’t Ignore the Debt Ceiling.
It’s always fun until the bill comes due—and the bill always comes due. In fact, it’s coming due right about now. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the U.S. would hit its...
China Is Opening Fast. Don’t Miss the Rebound for Stocks.
Chinese authorities’ abrupt pivot away from zero-Covid policies has been matched by the quick shift in investor sentiment about Chinese stocks from the bearishness of the past year. As the world’s sec...
The Stock Market Had a Great Start to 2023. Earnings Season Could Be a Problem.
Text size This coming Friday marks the start of fourth-quarter earnings season, with Jamie Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase helping to kick off the festivities. Ting Shen/Bloomberg Investors got their Goldilock...
Brazil’s New President Sends Stocks Tumbling. Bonds Could Be a Buy.
Investors brimmed with optimism when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected Brazil’s president on Oct. 30, returning to power after two prior terms in 2003 to 2011. It didn’t last. The iShares MSCI Bra...
Alibaba Stock Is Soaring. What’s Driving Its Big Move.
Alibaba stock was on a tear Wednesday amid signs that the tough regulatory landscape for Chinese tech stocks—one of two key headwinds facing the sector—is improving. Progress has put investors on a bu...
Fund a Roth 401(k) if You’re in a Low Tax Bracket. Here’s Why.
If you’re not earning big bucks this year, consider saving money in a Roth 401(k) instead of a traditional 401(k). Roth contributions make sense when your current tax rate is less than your rate in re...
ChatGPT Likes Our Robot Story
To the Editor:I was going to write you a letter about your cover story (“Robots Are Replacing Workers Lost in the Pandemic. They’re Here to Stay.”, Dec. 23) when I thought I would just let ChatGPT wri...
The Bulls’ Worst Recession Fear: There Won’t Be One
“There ain’t gonna be no recession,” Pierre Rinfret, an economist who once advised the Nixon administration, confidently declared in December 1969. Better at attracting publicity than forecasting, he ...
An Oil ETF Outpaced Crude by 5 Times Last Year. The Downside: Volatility.
Shares of the U.S. Oil exchange-traded fund surged 5.2% in the week before Christmas, and ended up 27% for the year. Oil prices did rise last year by nearly 5%, but how did an ETF that tracks them out...
Is the Stock Market Open Today? Here Are the Hours for the New Year’s Weekend.
From a macro perspective, 2022 didn’t offer investors much to clink champagne glasses over. The past several months have served up inflation and layoffs—plus a recession seems to be on the horizon for...
If You Own Bonds, Consider Tax-Loss Harvesting This Year
In a year where nothing seemed to work on Wall Street, investors still have a rare opportunity to make the best of a bad situation by tax-loss harvesting their bond portfolio. Bond holders don’t do m...
Christmas Stock Market Closing, Housing and Labor Data, and More for Investors to Watch This Week
Stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday. It will be a quiet holiday week once Wall Street reopens. It’s the stretch between Christmas and New Years, and the corporate...
Bed Bath & Beyond Ponders Bankruptcy, Exciting the Meme Crowd
What were shareholders thinking? Shares of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond zoomed 179%, to $3.49 this past week, despite the retailer warning of a possible bankruptcy. One explanation: Meme stock mania...