"Online payment systems like Venmo and Paypal are benchmarks of the digital era of banking that we're living in. There's also Zelle, a new peer-to-peer payment app launched by big banks like J.P. Morgan and Bank of America. So you might expect paper checks to be disappearing, but Americans just won't let their checkbooks go. In the U.S., people wrote about 38 checks on average in 2015, compared to 18 in Canada, 8 in the U.K., and almost none in Germany. Katie Robertson wrote a piece about Americans’ attachment to checks for Bloomberg. Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal spoke to her about why Americans are refusing to get with the economic times. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation. "
"Yet it’s the decline of industries like coal and manufacturing that get the big attention, especially from politicians. That’s surprising, since the closings mean that retail, which employs about 10 percent of all working Americans, is shedding jobs at a rate that dwarfs either of those. The retail sector shed 6,100 positions in June this year alone, according to the Labor Department. Since 2001, employment at department stores like Sears and JCPenney has declined 46 percent. An estimated 89,000 employees in “general merchandise” stores were laid off between October 2016 and April 2017 – more than the entire workforce of the US coal industry."
"The S&P 500 measures the value of stocks of the 500 largest corporations by market capitalization listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Composite. Standard & Poor's intention is to have a price that provides a quick look at the stock market and economy. Indeed, the S&P 500 index is the most popular measure used by financial media and professionals, while the mainstream media and general public are more familiar with the Dow Jones Industrial Average."
"The S&P 500 index is calculated by taking the sum of the adjusted market capitalization of all S&P 500 stocks and then dividing it with an index divisor, which is a proprietary figure developed by Standard & Poor's. However, most sources peg this number at 8.9 billion. The divisor is adjusted when there are stock splits, special dividends or spinoffs that could affect the value of the index. The divisor ensures that these non-economic factors do not affect the index."
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) is the second-oldest active market indicator, as well as the most widely covered. At any given time, only 30 stocks make up the index, and they comprise a diverse basket of companies from all sectors of the market. All 30 companies are considered blue chip industry stalwarts, household names with long track records of success and stability. Currently, nine of the 30 components are Dividend Aristocrats, meaning they've paid increasing dividends for at least 25 consecutive years."
"Thanks to the DJIA's unique share-price weighting system, certain components have a disproportionate influence on the index. Take pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, for example. These companies are within striking distance of each other with market caps between $200 billion and $300 billion. However, because Johnson & Johnson's share price is currently around $103, it has about three times the impact on the DJIA as Pfizer, whose shares currently trade for $34."
"For a little while Wednesday afternoon, customers at an ATM in Texas got a curious extra with their cash. Along with a receipt detailing their transaction, they got a little slip of scribbled-on white paper."
"It was a plea for help from the man trapped inside."
Today in 1969, large denomination bills of US Currency, e.g. $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills were officially withdrawn from circulation. While you could use these large bills after July 14, 1969, banks no longer distributed them, in an effort to reduce corruption and illicit uses of large denomination bills.