Yes, the markets are riding high again. Investors see the prospect of a U.S.-China trade deal and relatively strong earnings reports from major companies, as good omens that stock prices will continue to rise. Also, the percentage of stocks in the S&P 500 that are trading above their 200-day moving average – a key indicator...
Author: support
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FED MAY CAP BOND YIELDS
When the U.S. economy enters a recession, the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to spark a recovery. Over the last three downturns, the Fed has pruned rates by about 5 percent to juice recession-prone economies. With overnight rates now 1.50 to 1.75 percent, the rate-cutting tool’s impact to generate growth when the economy begins to...
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FED WITHDRAWAL WORRIES MARKETS
The Federal Reserve has opened more than $6.6 trillion in short-term loans to the repo market since September 2019 to keep interest rates low and the markets open. And although they refuse to call a spade a spade, the Fed also has been buying short-term Treasury bonds at a rate of $60 billion a month,...
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TWO PERCENT: THE NEW NORMAL
The Federal Reserve expects the U.S. economy to grow in the 2-percent range for years into the future and many economists agree. The labor force is shrinking as Baby Boomers age, curtailing the number of people available to fill jobs; older people living on savings or fixed incomes also tend to buy less. In addition,...
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U.S. ECONOMY SLOWS, MARKETS GLOW
The U.S. economy slowed in 2019 after two consecutive years of growth, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2018, the economy expanded by 2.9 percent; in 2019 overall, the rate is calculated at 2.3 percent. For the last half of 2019, the rate was 2.1 percent. Household purchases were responsible for 1.2 percent...
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AFGHANISTAN: BOMBS AWAY
On 27 January, a Taliban spokesperson reported that the group had shot down a U.S. military aircraft. Later that day, General David L. Goldfein, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, identified the plane as an E-11 military plane, one of the Pentagon’s most advanced communications aircrafts. The crash site, about 70 miles...
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IRAQ: MORE WAR, MORE CASUALITES
In response to the U.S. assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on 3 January, Iran responded with a missile attack at the Ayn al Asad Air Base in Iraq, which housed U.S troops. Following the 8 January missile strike, President Trump boasted that Iran appears “to be standing down… and the American people should be extremely...
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STUDY PREDICTS OCEAN-DRIVEN U.S. MIGRATIONS
A University of California study using artificial intelligence has predicted mass migration patterns away from U.S. coasts as ocean levels rise in the years ahead. If forecasts of sea-level rise, based on current rates, are accurate, 13 million people will need to evacuate U.S. coastal areas by 2100. The study combined those forecasts with population-change...
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2020 RETAIL TREND: FACIAL RECOGNITION
Retailers and shoppers believe that facial recognition will dominate retail innovations this year, according to a survey by CB Insights. Asia is the testbed. In Japan, the FamilyMart convenience store chain has opened a Yokohama store that uses cameras to log a customer’s purchases and then uses facial recognition software to identify the customer and...
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TURNING GARBAGE INTO GRAPHENE
Graphene – a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern – is a miracle material. It’s the best known conductor of heat and electricity; its strength for its size and thickness is unrivaled; and it has the potential to revolutionize everything from tennis racquets to medical devices. Adding a dash of graphene...