US stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday following the release of closelywatched inflation data, while Wall Street was headed for its worst first half of the year in more than 50 years. How are stock-index futures trading? The S&P 500 dropped 72 points, or 1.9%, to 3,746. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 509 points, or…
Read More “Dow down more than 500 points as brutal first half comes to close” »
A previous version of the story included an incorrect time reference regarding crude stocks in the US SPR. Stocks in the reserve are below 500 million barrels for the first time since 1986. Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, easing back after three consecutive session gains, even as a more than three million-barrel drop in…
A little more judging by stock futures reaction this morning. Thank China for some of that as the country announced the biggest easing in COVID travel requirements since about March 2020. China’s news may add to the sense that inflation has peaked, given the supply constraints that the lockdown there has produced. That brings us…
New week, same bounce. Stock futures point to fresh gains as investors grow optimistic that a bond rout is ending, and the Fed’s rate-hike plans will get pruned due to a global slowdown. Of course, that optimism comes as discontent grows around the world from high commodity prices that have driven up food prices, crimped…
Read More “This ‘underappreciated’ black swan could bring fresh chaos to the global economy” »
Historically bad. That’s how the mammoth $ 53 trillion US fixed-income market has performed this year as the Federal Reserve works to curtail high inflation threatening to wreck the economy. To turbo charge the effort, the Fed on Wednesday fired off its biggest benchmark interest rate increase in nearly thirty years. But what does that…
Read More “What the Fed’s biggest rate hike in decades means for the bear market in bonds” »
US stocks ended mixed Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing gains late in the session, as investors continued to weigh concerns over slowing economic growth and a more aggressive Federal Reserve. All three major stock benchmarks booked a third straight week of losses, with the S&P 500 seeing its worst weekly percentage drop…
Blink and you missed a post-Federal Reserve bounce, as stock futures signal a reboot for Wall Street selling on Thursday. “Whatever reaction we see today is likely to be a one-day thing (just like last FOMC). The Fed has no idea where inflation is going, and neither do we. The economic data is what matters,…
Last week’s shock US inflation number continues to tear through markets, with dip buyers seemingly hiding. Hardest hit Nasdaq-100 futures are down 3%. Investors are now focused squarely on Wednesday’s Fed outcome, with expectations the central bank may need to do something bold, driving even more anxiety out there. The aftermath of Wall Street’s Friday…
If you’re a serious real estate investor, you probably know about tax-deferred Section 1031 exchanges, AKA like-kind exchanges. They allow you to swap appreciated real property for other real property without paying any federal income tax. While real estate values are still surging in many areas, you may hold appreciated property that you think has…
Read More “How to do a tax-free Section 1031 exchange for appreciated real estate” »
That anxious hum among Wall Street exectutives is getting louder. US stock index futures are pointing south, led by technology on nonfarm payroll data day. After crushing remote-work hopes of Tesla workers, CEO Elon Musk now reportedly wants a 10% headcount cut due to a “super bad feeling” about the economy. It’s been a week….
Read More “Fink, Dimon and Musk have the blues. And one forecaster says they’re not gloomy enough” »
