U.S. banks lost money on mortgages as prospective homebuyers – tired of battling high mortgage rates and still-rising home prices – backed out of the housing market. Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks lost an average of $301 on each...
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates aggressively over the last year in a bid to slow inflation and the labor market. Its efforts are still not quite feeding through to the data. Friday's March jobs report is the latest...
The nation’s top financial regulator put the blame for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in the lap of the bank’s managers during a Senate hearing Tuesday aimed at understanding what happened. But both Democrats and Republicans also said federal...
Federal Reserve officials will convene this week for one of the central bank's most uncertain policy meetings in years. Forced to balance the consequences of a banking crisis and inflation that remains well above target, the Fed is expected to...
An acceleration in monthly core consumer prices seems likely to reinforce the Federal Reserve’ determination to raise interest rates to fight inflation, though the decision on next week’s move will be a tough call amid ongoing concern about financial turmoil....
In testimony before lawmakers on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress interest rates would likely continue rising amid a 'bumpy' process to bring down inflation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers on Tuesday interest rates are likely...
Homebuyers started the year on a positive note when declining mortgage rates signaled increasing affordability. Mortgage applications rose 28% in one week in the middle of January as rates dipped to 6.2%. But that frenzy of activity was short-lived as...
When China’s leaders gather in Beijing for the annual parliament next week, one of the biggest economic risks they’ll need to tackle is the mounting debt of provinces. A majority of regional governments — at least 17 out 31 —...
The retail giant forecasts weaker sales “Choiceful, discerning, thoughtful.” That is how Walmart’s boss, Doug McMillon, described consumers on the American retail giant’s quarterly earnings call on February 21st. That may be so. What they are not, at least in...
Ever-increasing housing costs are not only straining budgets – they also are the biggest contributor to the nation's bump in inflation, according to a report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The consumer-price index, a widely used measure...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that last week’s booming jobs report underscores why officials expect to approve additional interest rate hikes to tame inflation and similar data in the months ahead could require an even sharper rise in...
Vanguard investors are famous for staying invested — and accepting the market's and S&P 500's long-term returns. But if Vanguard's predictions are right, those future asset returns likely aren't what investors are hoping for. Just released 10-year forecasts from Vanguard...
During the pandemic, record numbers of people changed jobs. That heightens the risk that millions of people forgot to bring their retirement savings with them. The government and industry have plans to reunite those people with their lost funds. If...
The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed by President Biden in December 2022, includes dozens of changes to provisions related to tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Among the most important changes is a provision, which took effect Jan. 1 of this year, that delays...
A package of proposed changes to help Americans save more for retirement could soon be the law. The changes, part of the Secure Act 2.0, are included in the sweeping end-of-year spending bill that lawmakers probably will vote on in the...
