Economy
-
Turkish lira sinks to fresh low after report state lenders stop defending currency
[]The Turkish lira sank to new lows against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as concerns mounted over challenges facing the country’s new finance minister, and after a report that state lenders have stopped selling dollars to defend the currency. []The dollar USDTRY, +0.26% climbed to 23.133 against the lira, a drop of 6.3%. That’s as…
-
U.S. trade deficit jumps 23% to six-month high as imports rebound
The U.S. trade deficit jumped 23% in April to a six-month high of $74.6 billion, reflecting an increase in imports such as cell phones and foreign autos. Exports fell. The trade gap rose $14 billion from $60.6 billion in March. Larger deficits subtract from gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the U.S. economy. The…
-
80% of Gen Xers think they’ll never fully retire — and that may be good news for this group
Members of Generation X may be getting close to retirement age, but they’re apparently not giving it too much thought. Only 19% of those in that cohort, who are now about 43 to 58 years old, think they will ever fully retire in the old-fashioned way that involves leaving their jobs and enjoying their golden…
-
U.S. stocks open higher as S&P 500 attempts exit from bear market
U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday, attempting to extend Tuesday’s rally and push the S&P 500 index to a fresh high, after closing at the highest level since last August, with investors weighing the economic outlook, after data shows U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in April. How are stock-index futures trading? The Dow Jones Industrial Average…
-
Medicare Trustees Report for 2023 contained no bad news
This year, with my sidekick Michael Wicklein, I took a more-careful-than-usual look at the Trustees Report for the Medicare program. After all, Medicare–like Social Security — relies on payroll tax revenues, so it’s useful to understand the competing needs. Traditional Medicare is composed of two programs. The first — Part A, Hospital Insurance (HI)–covers inpatient…
-
How can community banks compete with industry giants for deposits? Here’s what to know.
If you want to understand how community banking works in the U.S., it is important to know something about the Federal Home Loan Bank system. The FHLBs have gotten more publicity than usual this year because of the roles two of them played in providing short-term financing to four troubled banks. Those include Silvergate Bank…
-
Americans may have to start working younger and retire older. That might be a good thing.
“The demographic clock is ticking for the West.” China announced earlier this year that for the first time since the 1960s, deaths outnumbered births and its population slipped in 2022 by 850,000 to 1.41 billion. COVID-19 brought this event forward a few years. More fundamentally, the legacy of China’s now-abandoned one-child policy and the high cost of raising…
-
Here’s the pain trade Citi sees in U.S. stocks as S&P 500 exceeds its 2023 target
[]The artificial-intelligence craze hasn’t moved Citigroup’s year-end target for the S&P 500, but the bank’s equity analysts are keeping an eye out for what they’ve labeled the “p-AI-n trade.” []That would be the pain trade inflicted by AI enthusiasm or a potential pause or pivot in the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hiking cycle, according to a…
-
Gold edges higher, on track for back-to-back gains
Gold futures rose Tuesday as investors assessed the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week’s meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers. Price action Gold for August delivery GC00, +0.02% GCQ23, +0.02% rose $5, or 0.3%, to $1,979.30 an ounce on Comex. July silver SIN23, -0.63% gained 10, or 0.4%, to trade at $23.735 an…
-
Dow falls 200 points as S&P 500 pulls back from 2023 high
[]U.S. stocks ended slightly lower Monday afternoon, after the S&P 500 failed to hold a gain that would have seen it meet the threshold for exiting bear-market territory. []Meanwhile, shares of Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.76% ended the day with a loss, pulling back from a record high scored ahead of a WWDC developer event at…