Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT

Of the 954 leveraged loans sold to investors in 2021 through November, 33 percent of the loans were made to companies whose debts exceeded earnings by at least six times, the Financial Times reported. The loans exceed a 2013 guideline adopted by the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit...

After shepherding cash through much of the COVID War, corporations bought a record $234.5 billion worth of their own stock in this year’s third quarter, surpassing the previous quarterly high mark of $233 billion notched in 2018’s final three months. The wave of stock buybacks through this year has helped propel the Standard & Poor’s...

On 15 December, the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it probably will raise interest rates at least three times next year (see related story in this issue). The next day, the Bank of England raised its key interest from 0.1 percent to 0.25 and it was believed that Eurozone stock markets notched new record highs because...

At last week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee, a majority of committee members signaled their expectation that the Fed would raise its key interest rates by one-quarter percentage point at least three times in 2022, beginning this spring. All 18 committee members agreed that rates will need to rise next year....

The dramatic jump in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant has forced companies to rethink their approach to bringing employees back into the office, with several large companies announcing a shift in strategies. The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how the COVID-19 has forever changed what it means to work from home and...

The Wall Street Journal, in its edition of 18-19 December, reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission has fined the brokerage arm of JPMorgan Chase $125 million, the largest fine ever for violating SEC rules requiring brokerages to document communications and make such records available to regulators. Having access to such records is essential to...

All three major U.S. stock indices trended down last week, digesting news that the U.S. Federal Reserve will end its multi-trillion dollar bond-market scheme in about three months, start raising interest rates next year and the fear of possible economic damage from the Omicron virus. Last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 1.5...

Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, the second-largest U.S. poultry processor with 122,000 employees, will spend $1.3 billion through 2024 to automate labor-intensive tasks, including deboning, on its processing lines, The Wall Street Journal said. The move ultimately will bring the company $450 million annually in benefits, including reduced labor costs and higher productivity, CEO Donnie King said...

Four of the biggest U.S. meat processing companies have used their market power to underpay farmers, push up meat prices, and triple their net operating margins during the COVID crisis, White House economic advisors allege. They claimed that higher labor and transport costs have driven price increases. However, after analyzing the companies’ financial statements, such...

Roughly 16 percent of Americans—about one in six—have given rides, delivered groceries, walked dogs, or done other gig jobs for money, a new survey of 10,348 adults by the Pew Research Center has found. The proportion rises for younger, poorer, and non-white adults, the data shows. Among other findings: 30 percent of people ages 18...