You might have been hacked if your social media account has posts you didn’t make, you can’t log into your email or social media account, your Sent folder has messages you didn’t send or has been emptied, friends and family are getting emails or messages you didn’t send, sometimes with random links or fake pleases […]
Brace yourself! The debt ceiling standoff continues. Consumers aren’t optimistic. The Consumer Sentiment Index fell to a six-month low in May, dropping 9.1 percent month-to-month. Participants in the University of Michigan survey were: Less concerned about current economic conditions (down 5.4 percent, month-to-month), and More concerned about future economic conditions (down 11.7 percent, month-to-month). They […]
Here’s how to enable security settings, diversify data backups and freeze your credit By Nicole Nguyen and Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal Since reporting on a rash of iPhone thefts that rob victims of their digital lives, we’ve heard from lots of readers with one big question: How do I protect my precious assets—from photos in the […]
The labor market just keeps growing…and growing… Last week, the April employment report for the United States arrived. It showed that unemployment dropped to the lowest level in more than 50 years – 3.4 percent. Other highlights included: The creation of 253,000 jobs in April. That was well above consensus estimates, according to Catarina Saraiva […]
Get real! Despite more than a year of aggressive Federal Reserve rate increases, the United States economy is still growing, albeit more slowly. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) – the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. economy – grew by 5.1 percent over the first quarter. You may have read or […]
Better than expected. It’s earnings season – the time when publicly traded companies report on how profitable they were during the first quarter of 2023. So far, reports suggest that companies listed on United States stock exchanges did better than many had anticipated. Almost 20 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index […]
Keep your eye on the big picture. Last week, there was nothing too surprising in economic and financial news. Inflation eased, as expected, although it remained above the Federal Reserve (Fed)’s target rate. The Treasury yield curve remained inverted with three-month Treasury bills yielding more than 10-year Treasury notes, as they have been since November […]
Ambiguous images. Some illustrations are optical illusions. When two people view the picture, they may see completely different images. A good example is Rubin’s Vase. One viewer may see a vase, while another sees two faces. Current economic conditions can be interpreted in different ways, too. Recent economic data and a possible credit crunch, resulting […]
Perhaps we should call this a pushmi-pullyu market. The first quarter of 2023 brought Dr. Dolittle’s pushmi-pullyu – the rarest animal of all – to mind. It is the offspring of goat-antelopes and unicorns, and has a head at each end of its body. The pushmi-pullyu’s unusual anatomy allows it to easily and rapidly change […]