Economy
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Millions of Americans didn’t refinance their mortgage when rates were low. Now they’re paying the price.
It’s certainly a bad time to refinance your mortgage. Rates for 30-year-mortgages are the highest they’ve been in decades. But not too long ago, during the 2020 pandemic, rates dropped to below 3%, and it was a good time to refinance. About $14 trillion of outstanding mortgages were refinanced then. Lenders did well and built…
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Advice for the Fed: Inflation and jobs picture is too unclear to hike rates now
Having watched innumerable meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard participants complain that uncertainties about the economy were “unusually elevated.” But when Fed officials say this at their policy meeting this week, they’ll be unusually on point. Considering how much the Fed has…
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‘Greedflation’ is replacing inflation as companies raise prices for bigger profits, report finds
That’s the practice by many S&P 500 food and consumer companies of raising prices to protect what a new report calls their “cushioned corporate profits,” and it has enabled them to boost margins through the current inflationary period. Companies including Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB, -0.15%, PepsiCo Inc. PEP, -0.20%, General Mills Inc. GIS, -1.04% and Tyson…
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Investors increasingly expect U.S. stock-market rally to continue as bears finally surrender
Amateur and professional investors alike are finally warming to the idea that U.S. stocks can continue to climb higher during the months ahead. All it took, it seems, was a rise of more than 20% off the S&P 500’s SPX, +0.93% October lows, the threshold need to end its longest stint in bear-market territory since…
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Food-delivery workers in New York set to earn $18 minimum wage next month and ore drivers under 30 are falling behind on car payments
Hi, MarketWatchers. Don’t miss these top stories. ‘This is something huge for us’: Food-delivery workers in New York set to earn $18 minimum wage next month Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub are not pleased with the outcome, which they call “extreme” — while some worker advocates say the city fell short. ‘Remote work doesn’t work’: David…
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Here’s the main driver of the S&P 500’s bull-market rally, according to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee
The S&P 500 index exited a bear market on Thursday, while a closely watched gauge of stock-market volatility dropped to a more-than-three-year low. Those two things are related, says Fundstrat Global Advisors founder Tom Lee. The Cboe Volatility Index VIX, +8.53%, an options-derived measure of expected volatility in the S&P 500 over the coming 30…
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The Fed’s crystal ball on inflation appears off the mark again. Here comes another fix.
The U.S. economy hasn’t slowed all that much. High inflation has proven to be quite sticky. And the rip-roaring labor market is still producing lots of new jobs. No matter. The Federal Reserve is poised to make no change in a key U.S. interest rate next week after raising it in 10 straight meetings since…
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How a hawkish Fed could kill a baby bull-market rally in U.S. stocks
It is the notion that the Federal Reserve could deliver a hawkish jolt to markets even if it refrains from raising rates when its two-day policy meeting ends on Wednesday. There are concerns that such an outcome could spark a turnaround in U.S. stocks, especially if an uncomfortably strong reading on May inflation — due…
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As the Equal Pay Act turns 60, ‘an uneven playing field’ remains. Here’s where pay equity stands.
A female manager who was paid less than a male worker she supervised. Female managers fired for complaining about not being paid the same as their male counterparts for performing the same duties. Female professors who weren’t paid as much as male professors. African-American women discriminated against in pay and promotions. Those are among the…
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Want to live in these 11 cities? You’ll need to make at least $100,000 to avoid being ‘rent burdened,’ researchers say.
To avoid spending more than a third of their income on rent, tenants paying average prices in 11 major U.S. markets would need to earn six figures, according to a recent analysis from university researchers. In fact, the average renter in the U.S. overall would have to make almost $81,000 — about $10,000 more than the…