A looming government shutdown is causing concern among investors with the shutdown scheduled for midnight Saturday. It will have an impact on various sectors of the economy including airline and transportation services, goA looming government shutdownvernment services including publishing the social security increase for 2024, economic statistics from the labor and commerce department, and more. Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget How a government shutdown could impact...
The Fed keeps interest rates unchanged but states one more rate increase in 2023 and two rate reductions in 2024. Market reaction so far is muted but mostly declining. The bottom line is the Fed is saying interest rates will remain higher for longer as markets expected 3 rate reductions in 2024. Again, the Fed wants to position itself as aggressive in fighting inflation as inflation expectations are a major factor in actual inflation rates...
The House has two weeks to pass 12 spending bills. This could be a problem. So far, markets are sanguine as are interest rates. Despite the slightly higher inflation numbers for August rates have been stable at high levels. Gasoline prices seem to be the problem. Recession fears have abated, and economists do not expect the Fed to lower rates until the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2024. Economists expect GDP growth for the rest...
September begins as August began for markets. There are various concerns cited as markets sell off only after markets sell off. Predictions about market movements over the short term before they happen over the short term are pretty useless. They are right in direction 50% of the time and only because of the natural odds. It is true that historically September and October are months when the stock market declines. Of course, that is true...
It feels like we have been in the process of transition for a while now, but the time has come we will fully be over to Schwab as of September 5th. Starting at the end of today TD Ameritrade will be accessible for reading only. Here are some reminders of what to expect as we become part of Charles Schwab & co. Today, Sept 1st, is the last day to initiate and Move Money, deposit...
If you write checks and mail them, be careful of the latest check scam. Criminals steal mail from street boxes looking for envelopes with checks. They then use nail polish remover to clear all lines except the signature line. Next step is to fill in the criminal name and place some number in the amount line and deposit the check. Another risk of using checks! Mail Fraud - Check Washing . One way around this...
As rates on the 10-year Treasuries climb, stocks are no longer moving higher. This week, the Fed Open Market meeting minutes indicate that the Fed is not convinced inflation is under control. The stock market expectation that the Fed will pause rate hike and perhaps begin to lower helped stocks move higher. Today, 30-year mortgage rates moved higher than 7% for the first time in many years making a home purchase for Americans out of...
Let's talk about Wills! August is Make-a-Will Month. It's a great time to share information about estate planning basics including creating a Will, assigning beneficiaries, TOD, and POD, property titling, Advanced Medical Directive, and Trusts, along with helpful links on what you can do to prepare. This week we will cover estate planning basics and making a will. What is Estate Planning? The preparation of tasks to serve as a way to manage a person's...
US sovereign debt was downgraded by one credit rating agency, Fitch, a smaller agency. S & P downgraded US debt in 2011 during the last debt limit crisis between the Obama administration and a Republican Congress. That previous downgrade had a much larger impact on the stock market causing a decline of over 15% in a week. Warren Buffett continues to purchase $10Billion of T-Bills each week. Clearly, he is not bothered by the downgrade...
Another Fed meeting, another rate increase raising the Fed Funds rate to the highest in 22 years. A ¼ point as anticipated. Also, this week was the first report by the Labor Department on 2nd quarter GDP growth. The report was higher than expected at 2.4% demonstrating the resilience of the economy again! The economy speaks of two voices. One is inflation persistence and the other is economic growth. Of course, they are related. The...
Nothing is more important than health. You can have all the money in the world but what does that mean if your health is suffering. Some health conditions are genetic and hard to control but a healthy lifestyle is under your control. Even if you live a healthy lifestyle often health issues arise. Just like personal finances, it is important to take responsibility for the conditions you can control. I have been borderline diabetic for...
The big news this week is that inflation has cooled noticeably toward the 2% Federal Reserve goal. These reports are always mixed in nature and some commentators point out that inflation numbers stripped from food and gas are meaningless considering so much of our cash flow is used for those two products. Markets continue to respond positively to inflation numbers because markets are looking forward to the Fed declaring an end to interest rate increases...
