AI and fading recession fears are sparking big gains on Wall Street : NPR
Writing
Fed pauses rate hikes, sees two more ahead this year
After a two-day meeting, the Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rates unchanged. “Holding the target range steady at this meeting allows the Committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy,” the central bank’s post-meeting statement said. The surprising aspect of the decision came with the “dot plot” in which the individual members of the FOMC indicate their expectations for rates further out. The dots moved decidedly upward, pushing the median expectation to a funds rate of 5.6% by the end of 2023.
The 7 levels of financial freedom, according to a millionaire — 50% of U.S. workers are at Level 2
Don’t buy commodities these days 🛢
A lot of advertising is popping up these days urging folks to buy various commodities to fight inflation. Sounds like a dumb idea as commodities are likely already overpriced and at some point in the future will come crashing back down.
While I wish now that I had bought more energy stock years ago, I stayed away from adding more due to the high level of dividend payments. Paying taxes on dividends you reinvest sucks. It’s just money out of your pocket to the tax department every four months that your not seeing until you cash out. My original idea was to hedge against inflation but I feel like it just makes you more vulnerable to the ups and downs of one sector rather than cheaper index funds.
Inflation is a problem it kind of bites. The markets are down although nothing like what they’ve been up the past ten years. A slight dip today shouldn’t take away from long term thinking. It’s sucks to look at your portfolio and think your spinning wheels, with values only increasing slightly over the past year even though the total number of shares actually is getting a boost due to the down markets.
NPR
NPR
Hiring surged last month as U.S. employers added 339,000 jobs, far above expectations, according to a report from the Labor Department on Friday.
The job gains for March and April were also stronger than previously reported. The April jobs figure was revised up by 41,000, while the March number was revised up by 52,000. Senate sends debt ceiling legislation to President Biden's desk with days to spare Politics Senate sends debt ceiling legislation to President Biden's desk with days to spare
The strong jobs numbers indicate the U.S. jobs engine continues to chug along, with substantial hiring in business services, health care and hospitality.
Construction companies added 25,000 jobs last month even as high interest rates have weighed on the housing market.
The unemployment rate, which is compiled from a separate survey, paints a less rosy picture.
Unemployment, which been at a half century low, inched up in May to 3.7%. Meanwhile, the jobless rate among African Americans rose to 5.6%, after falling to a record low in April.