If Congress and the White House can’t agree to raise the $31.4 trillion government-debt ceiling, the government will likely default on some of its obligations. And the outlook for an accord between th...
Tag: RATES AND BONDS
U.S. Debt Default ‘Likely’ in Second Half of 2023: Bank of America
Many investors are concerned that with the far-right wing of the Republican Party holding sway in the House of Representatives, a debt default is coming. If the view of Ralph Axel, rates strategist at...
Interest Hikes, Inflation, and Stagflation: Watch the Fed in 2023
Inflation has raged over the past year and a half, jumping 7.7% in the 12 months through October. The Federal Reserve responded by raising interest rates. The central bank started in March, though man...
Fed May Lift Interest Rates to 8%-9%, Economist Says
The big question raging through financial markets is how much more the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Since it began its rate-hike campaign in March, the Fed has lifted the federal funds r...
Don’t Beat Yourself Up if You Missed the 9.62% I Bond Yield
People are rushing into I bonds so fast that the only place you can buy them, the government’s TreasuryDirect web site, crashed. The reason why investors are flocking to the site is that Oct. 28 is th...
Elon Musk Reiterates His Worst Nightmare for The Economy
The markets are slumping as investors worry about the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hikes, designed to fight an inflation rate that’s the highest in 40 yea...
Cathie Wood Sees Deflation, Lays Blame on Powell
For months famed investor Cathie Wood has said that the Federal Reserve should cease raising interest rates, that the economy is seeing deflation rather than inflation and that it’s in recession...
Michael ‘Big Short’ Burry: The Worst Is Yet to Come
No one can accuse the famed investor Michael Burry of inconsistency. The man immortalized by Michael Lewis’s book-turned-into-movie “The Big Short” has been bearish on stocks and other risk assets for...
Stocks May Be Headed for a Major Skid
Stocks started slipping on Aug. 16, following a two-month rally, as investors began to grasp that the Federal Reserve likely wouldn’t soon pivot away from its interest-rate increases. After Fed Chairm...
Why Rebounding Stocks May Not Be a Good Thing
After dropping for the first 5 ½ months of the year, the S&P 500 has rebounded 8.5% since June 16 and 4.7% since July 26, the day before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Investors have t...
Economist Roubini: Why Stocks Poised for 50% Wipeout
The stock market is off to its worst start to a year since 1962, with the S&P 500 dropping 21% in the first half of 2022. Meanwhile, many experts are warning that a recession is likely within the ...
Mr. Big Short: Fed May do a 180 on Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve has raised its federal funds rate target by 150 basis points since March, and speculation now centers on how much further the Fed will go. Interest-rate futures traders see an 89% ...
Should You Be Looking at Bonds Rather Than Stocks?
With the S&P 500 index having dropped 18% this year, conventional wisdom has it that you should take advantage of the opportunity to buy stocks at bargain prices. But at least for investors over 6...
Larry Summers Says a Recession is Likely on the Way
With inflation roaring, bond yields jumping and the Federal Reserve seemingly poised to impose big interest rate increases, fear of recession is rising. Consumer prices surged 8.5% in the 12 months th...
Cathie Wood Urges Caution About Fed Raising Rates
The asset manager Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Wealth Management, has expressed opposition to much more in the way of interest-rate increases from the Federal Reserve. Her thoughts came in a we...
Goldman, BofA See Fed Going Big on Rate Hikes
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made clear in a talk this week that he’s open to 50-basis point increases in interest rates, if necessary. The Fed is reacting to rampant inflation, with consume...
Bill Gross, ‘King of Bonds’ and Prominent Crypto Critic, Invests in Bitcoin
Bitcoin prices are not in great shape. Many investors and observers are wondering whether the top cryptocurrency by market value will soon return to its highs posted last November or if has left for a...