Consumer confidence edged higher in May after two months of steep declines as businesses shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic gradually reopened, but the measure still hovers near six-year lows. The closely watched index of Americans’ outlook rose to 86.6 from...
Sometimes financial engineering gets you more than you bargained for. From the customer’s perspective, car rental is a straightforward business. The only uncertainty is whether the hiring company will charge you for the scratch they discover when you hand back...
As investors’ attention turns to recovery from reopening, some economists are warning that it may take up to three years for the global economy to get back to pre-pandemic levels—and that’s if everything goes right. In a report Monday, IHS...
Federal regulators have changed rules and cleared up some confusion about limits placed on the over 4 million borrowers in the mortgage relief program the government rolled out to contend with the coronavirus’ economic onslaught. Lending rules that were in...
The federal budget deficit widened to a record $738 billion in April, as the government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic led to massive levels of new spending and sharply lower tax collections, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday. In...
Prices are tumbling in America as the coronavirus lockdown drags on and people spend less. US consumer prices declined for the second-straight month in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday. Prices fell by 0.8% on a seasonally...
Before the coronavirus pandemic spooked the stock markets, shook the economy and turned the financial lives of millions of people upside down, household debt in the US had already hit a record high. The New York Federal Reserve reported Tuesday...
For small business owners, the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program has been a nightmare to navigate since the day it launched. These employers—who were supposed to be the program’s primary target—have faced rejected applications, system outages, and insufficient funding —...
The Historical Ride of the Market We have survived the first quarter. This is indeed one for the record books (both on the up and downside). From the market peak on February 20th, to the recent trough on March 23rd,...
Struggling borrowers typically must make the first move to receive help from their lenders if they’re suffering financial hardship from the coronavirus pandemic, but too few make that call. More than 90% of people who have asked their mortgage lender...
The financial world has been turned upside down by extraordinary events in recent years. First, there were negative interest rates, something that had never happened in 5,000 years of recorded history. Now it’s negative oil prices, a phenomenon that sparked...
In the third week of March, while most of our minds were fixed on surging coronavirus death rates and the apocalyptic scenes in hospital wards, global financial markets came as close to a collapse as they have since September 2008....
With nearly 10 million Americans filing for unemployment in March, April 1 was always going to be a difficult day for US renters. Now we have an idea of just how difficult: Nearly a third of 13.4 million US renters,...
Citi strategists have suggested that the rally is nothing more than an “aftershock” and is not underpinned by volume or any guarantees of an end to the outbreak. Jimmy Conway, head of EMEA equity trading strategy, told CNBC Tuesday that...
The economy is in free fall and businesses are desperate for cash. The good news is that, for the past few weeks, they have been getting at least some of what they need from the banks. Households have been less...
