According to CNN, the Fed is “fed up” with economic revisions. Questions Source, E. Buchwald. (2024) The Fed is fed up with data revisions. CNN.com, Jan. 31 (Retrievable online at https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/economy/data-revisions-fed-rate-changes/index.html)
Posts Tagged: interest rates
Mega Worries for the U.S. Post Office
According to Bloomberg News, about $24.8 billion of US office buildings were in distress at the end of the second quarter, resulting in a higher amount of real estate worries than the leading commercial real estate laggards — hotels and retail properties. Questions: Source: Gittelsohn, J. (2023). Distressed US Offices Jump to $24.8 Billion, More… Read more »
The Ups and Downs of the Interest Rate
According to the Washington Post, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would not raise interest rates this month. Questions: Source: Siegel, R. and A. Bhattarai. (2023). Fed leaves rates unchanged for first time since March 2022. The Washington Post, June 14 (Retrievable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/14/fed-expected-leave-rates-unchanged-first-time-since-march-2022/)
Stocks extend Losses
There has been a lot of market movement since Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech last Friday. Questions: What did Powell say about interest rates? 2. What did the article say that Powell’s speech is trying to remind people about? 3. How high do you think interest rates will be raised? 4. What do the… Read more »
Shaky Pension Times Ahead
According to the Washington Post, while the Federal Reserve has done a lot to help keep our economy afloat, they have set the stage for problems ahead for pension funds and potential pension recipients, particularly those with bond-heavy portfolios. Questions How are near-zero interest rates are worsening the financial problems of Social Security? How are… Read more »
Pension Advances to be Scrutinized by Congress and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
This New York Times article discusses the allure of borrowing against pensions, which underscores an abrupt reversal in the financial fortunes of many retirees in recent years. The offers, known as pension advances, are having devastating financial consequences for a growing number of older Americans, both threatening their retirement savings and exacerbating mounting debt within… Read more »
The Loophole
About 12 million borrowers turn to payday lenders each year. According to a new study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, only about 14 percent of borrowers can afford to take enough out of their monthly budget to repay the average payday loan. While 15 states that have banned the predatory, high-interest loans that payday lenders… Read more »
LIBOR Scandal Widens
Bank of America, the second largest U.S. bank, has received subpoenas from the U.S.Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and U.K. Financial Services Authority requesting information about the company’s possible role in the rigging of a key international lending benchmark, LIBOR. Regulators have queried at least a dozen banks worldwide about their roles in… Read more »
The Barclays Scandal (AKA LIBOR LIAR)
Questions about the close links between banking regulators and the financial institutions they oversee will come into focus on Monday, when a top official at Britain’s central bank appears before a parliamentary committee here looking into the manipulation of global interest rates. Questions: 1. Explain the Libor rate. 2. As a result of this scandal,… Read more »
Look into Auto Refinancing
In the past few years, millions of homeowners have realized huge savings by refinancing their mortgages. Now, the refinancing craze is catching on in the car loans industry. According to this article refinancing could same your car might save you big time bucks. Questions: 1. According to the article, by how much have auto refinancing… Read more »