The Fed has spoken. Chairman Jay Powell clearly declared victory over inflation at his annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming press conference. The next direction for interest rates is down. The Fed appears to have done the impossible: reduced inflationary expectations without causing a steep recession and loss of jobs. While inflation is not yet down to […]
More than half of Americans – 56% to be exact – believe the United States is in a recession, according to a new Harris Poll. And all of those people are wrong. The classic definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth – measured by GDP – gross domestic product. We haven’t […]
Remember when you rushed to buy Series I bonds a year ago, before November 1, 2022, to get that astounding 9.62% rate? You did earn that rate – for the next 6 months. And then, as inflation dropped, rates for subsequent 6-month periods also declined. And if you purchased an I-bond a year ago at […]
While all eyes are focused on the rising stock market, the bond market is staging a quiet rebellion. Interest rates are rising inexorably, despite pronouncements from Fed Chairman Powell that there is no inflation in sight, at least for the next three years. Still, bond buyers are demanding slightly higher interest rates, especially when it […]
PATIENCE IS REQUIRED! The first round of payments went primarily to taxpayers who had included direct deposit information on their 2019 (or 2018) returns. Yet, quite a few of you received paper checks in the mail. Now the IRS is making a second large sweep in coming days, which is expected to send benefits to […]
Shhh … don’t tell anyone: We can’t repay our debt! Also, the emperor has no clothes. It’s the same story: Everyone knows it, and no one is willing to say it. But the United States is awash in debt that can’t possibly be repaid. Perhaps a spurt of economic growth could put a dent in […]
