Individuals investing on their own in stocks poured cash into the U.S. stock market throughout the COVID era, but have now slowed the flow to a trickle, the Financial Times reported. Retail investors sent $17 billion into the markets in March, $11 billion in April, but only $2.4 billion during May’s first 10 days. In...
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT
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GLOBAL STOCKS POST LONGEST LOSING STREAK IN 14 YEARS
The world’s major stock indexes lost ground last week, the sixth consecutive week of losses and the longest such streak since the Panic of ’08, when the Great Recession hit America and much of the world. Investors are beset by rampant worldwide inflation, rising interest rates, the Ukraine war and Western sanctions, and now the...
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ECONOMIC AND MARKET OVERVIEW
In the U.S. today, the “good” news is that retail sales rose 0.9 percent in April. The guess on The Street was that they would go up 1 percent. But since the numbers are not adjusted for inflation, which rose 8.3 percent in April and is hovering near a 40-year high . . . did...
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U.S. TRADE DEFICIT SETS ANOTHER RECORD
The U.S. trade gap grew to $109.8 billion in March, a 22.8-percent jump from February, as Americans grabbed more cars, clothing, and computers and industry bought more supplies, the U.S. commerce department reported. Before the COVID virus arrived, the monthly deficit typically ranged between $40 billion and $50 billion, The Wall Street Journal noted. Imports...
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VALUE OF CORPORATE BONDS RANKED AS “JUNK” DOUBLES IN 2022
The value of U.S. corporate junk bonds, those trading for 70 cents on the dollar or less, has almost doubled this year, reaching $27 billion at the end of April, compared to $14 billion at the end of last year. Another closely-watched signal of trouble is if yields on a company’s bonds rise 10 points...
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RECESSION COMING? FORMER FED VICE-CHAIR SAYS YES
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s attempts to quell inflation will not be adequate to spare the economy from a recession, Randal Quarles, the Fed’s former vice chair for supervision, said. “Given the intensity of inflation, the degree to which unemployment has been driven down—to bring that back into an equilibrium, it’s unlikely the Fed is going...
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OIL MAJORS USE CASH TO BUY BACK STOCK, INCREASE DIVIDENDS
ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp. together will plow $50.3 billion into stock buybacks and shareholder dividends this year, compared to $37.5 in capital expenditures, including oil and gas drilling, Bloomberg reported. The gap between the two figures is the greatest since 2008, when the Great Recession struck, Bloomberg noted. Exxon tripled its budget for buying back...
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MORTGAGE RATES KEEP CLIMBING
During the week ending 5 May, U.S. mortgage interest rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 5.27 percent, moving up from 5.10 percent the week before, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). The rate was the highest since 2009. A year ago, rates averaged 2.97 percent and rose to 3.22 percent...
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QUITS, JOB OPENINGS SET RECORDS IN MARCH
The number of open jobs in the U.S. averaged 11.5 million in March, up slightly from 11.3 million in February, the U.S. labor department reported, and exceeded the record of 11.4 million set last December. In March, there were two open jobs for every unemployed person in the country, according to department figures. Jobs in...
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INFLATION BEATS OUT WAGES
U.S. wages rose 5.5 percent in April, year over year, while inflation sped at an annual rate of 8.5 percent during the 12 months ending 31 March, the U.S. labor department reported. In contrast, wages grew by an average of 3.4 percent in the six months preceding the COVID onset in February 2020. Rising wages...