“Inflation is much too high and we understand the hardship it is causing,” said Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in what he called a direct message to the American public. “We are moving expeditiously to br...
Tag: inflation figures
Powell wants to get rates closer to neutral. But what’s neutral? Think between 5% and 6%, former top Fed staffer says
With U.S. inflation surging higher than anyone expected, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, has laid out a policy path where the Fed is going to move quickly to get its benchmark interest rate up to “to a mo...
‘It is costing more to survive now.’ I owe $109K in student loans, and the balance keeps going up as the loan servicer ‘continuously tacks on more money.’ With high inflation, how can I even cope with my student loans now?
Unfortunately, it is possible for a loan balance to increase, even as you are making payments. iStock Question: I have student loans in excess of $109k. I am on an income-driven plan but my biggest p...
Gas prices are up roughly 40% from just a year ago. So you may want to try this method to get ‘basically free money’ for gas — but there’s a catch
Is a gas credit card right for you? Getty Images Amid high inflation, rising prices of crude oil and the war in Ukraine, gas prices have jumped from an average of about $2.88 per gallon a year ago, to...
I-bonds are all the rage — what’s the best way to use them?
With the release of March’s Consumer Price Index, we now know that a risk-free investment yielding 9.6% will be available as of May 2. I’m speaking, of course, about Series I savings bonds from the U....
The 10-Year Treasury Yield Is Nearing 3%. That’s a Bad Omen for the Stock Market.
Interest rates may finally be getting real. To investors with a sense of history, the near-zero and even negative interest rates of recent years might have seemed unreal, and indeed were unprecedented...
The Fed Wants to Raise Rates Quickly, but May Not Know Where to Stop
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is shifting monetary tightening into a higher gear. His goal sounds straightforward—lift interest rates to “neutral,” a setting that neither spurs nor slows grow...
A Key Bond Yield Nears 3%. It’s a Bad Omen for Stocks.
Interest rates may finally be getting real. To investors with a sense of history, the near-zero and even negative interest rates of recent years might have seemed unreal, and indeed were unprecedented...
‘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...
Opinion: Have semiconductor companies’ performance decoupled from the economy? Taiwan Semi earnings say yes, but we’ll get a clearer picture soon
Sentiment around technology and growth has sunk as rising interest rates, persistent inflation and a less accommodative Federal Reserve have sent investors running for safer bets. Although the fourth ...
Cut Your Retirement Spending Now, Says Creator of the 4% Rule
For decades, retirees have relied on the 4% rule to determine how much was safe to spend in retirement. Now, the rule’s inventor says current market conditions may require an even more conservative ap...
Quest for Pricing Power Drives Stock Gains
Investors are on the hunt for companies with the magic words during any spell of inflation: pricing power. With consumer prices rising at their fastest pace in 40 years and stocks wobbly over the Fede...
Inflation Isn’t Close to Peaking. Why Prices Will Keep Rising.
The producer price index showed surging prices for meat and fish categories, costs that tend to crop up in the grocery store. Here, a market in Monterey Park, Calif., on a recent day. Frederic J. BROW...
Selling Your Stocks in May and Go Away Could Be the Best Strategy This Year
Text size A trader at the New York Stock Exchange. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images This could be the year to follow the adage: Sell in May and go away. It was a pretty lousy holiday-shortened week. T...
Municipal Bonds Are Down So Much That They’re Buys Again
Text size Al Drago/Bloomberg A funny thing happened in the past week, as news emerged of inflation hitting a four-decade high. A few strategists started looking a bit more positively on bonds, or at l...
Recession is `the most likely’ outcome for U.S. economy, says Larry Summers
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, whose out-of-consensus views about the risks of persistent inflation have come true, is reiterating his concerns about a potential U.S. downturn: He now says a...
Three value stocks that can provide safety as interest rates rise
Stocks have been on a rocky road this year, as investors have tried to anticipate every possible move by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation. Value strategies have held up better than growth strat...
The silver lining of surging inflation: I-bond yields should climb above 9%
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –Want to lock in a greater-than-8% return with U.S. Treasurys over the next 12 months? Of course you would, especially given the higher-than-expected inflation numbers reported this ...
‘Calamity’ may be coming, stock-market setup similar to 1999: Jeffrey Gundlach
A “calamity” may be coming for markets, potentially in 2023, Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of DoubleLine, warned Tuesday on stage at the Exchange ETF conferen...
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...
The Safe Investment That Will Soon Yield Almost 10%
There’s no such thing as a free lunch in finance. Except maybe this: The interest rate on inflation-adjusted U.S. savings bonds will approach 10% beginning in May. U.S. Treasury Series I Bonds, or I B...
Inflation Is Here to Stay. How to Adjust Your Portfolio.
Inflation is rampant and ubiquitous today, from the gas pump to the grocery store. The U.S. consumer price index has quadrupled in the past year, from a 1.7% annual rate in February 2021 to 7.9% this ...
Fed primed to jack up interest rates in 1/2-point steps if inflation stays high
The Federal Reserve signaled its plans to increase a key U.S. interest rate by 1/2 percentage point steps at upcoming meetings if inflation remains high or gets even worse, according to minutes of the...
Fed must ‘inflict more losses’ on stock-market investors to tame inflation, says former central banker
So much for the Fed put. “‘It’s hard to know how much the U.S. Federal Reserve will need to do to get inflation under control. But one thing is certain: To be effective, it’ll have to inflict more los...
U.S. economy will fall into a recession this summer, as inflation eats into consumer spending, former Fed official warns
Higher inflation will force consumers to limit their spending by so much that the economy will slump into a recession by the July-September quarter, former Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey sa...
Opinion: There’s a big hole in the Fed’s theory of inflation—incomes are falling at a record 10.9% rate
The most concerning thing about Thursday’s report on U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter wasn’t that the first line of the first table showed that real GDP fell at a 1.4% annual rate. It...