Tag: may 4 2021

Once again, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee decided unanimously to leave its policies unchanged, although the Fed has acknowledged the economy is strengthening and prices are rising. For now, the Fed will continue to hold interest rates just above zero and buy about $120 billion a month in government and corporate bonds. “Amid...

The U.S. economy grew 6.4 percent in this year’s first quarter, led by the return of consumer spending, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. In mid-March, consumers’ outlays were 29 percentage points higher than in March 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. Consumers began the new year venting pent-up demand, spending particularly on goods and...

In March, U.S. household income shot up 21.1 percent from February, the U.S. Commerce Department reported, setting a record one-month jump and fueling first-quarter economic growth of 6.4 percent.  The windfall, which included $1,400 in federal payouts to most U.S. adults, sent consumer spending up 4.2 percent and personal consumption spending 10.7 percent higher in...

Bond prices have weakened as a growing number of investors expect higher yields, despite 28 April comments by U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that the Fed has no plans to throttle back its monthly rate of bond purchases. “It is not time yet,” he said in comments quoted by the Financial Times. “Economic activity...

With the economy opening up after over a year of lockdowns, the hi-tech stocks that boomed as the world went virtual are in retreat. Today, the markets reversed sharper losses with the Dow up 19.80 points, the NASDAQ down 1.88 percent, and the S&P 500 off 0.67 percent.  Have the markets peaked? In the week...