Category: recession

‘Big Rally’ Before ‘Big Collapse’: BofA Strategist Does Not See a Bull Market

Michael Hartnett, a strategist at the Bank of America, is warning investors that the current market rally may not last long and could be followed by a large decline. The S&P 500 has risen by over 15 percent year-to-date as of June 16. Recently, the index rose 20 percent above its low hit on Oct….


Fed’s Barkin Says ‘Comfortable Doing More’ If Inflation Does Not Fall

WASHINGTON—Richmond Federal Reserve president Thomas Barkin said Friday he is comfortable with further interest rate increases if coming data does not show that weakening demand for goods and services is feeding through to slower inflation. “I am still looking to be convinced of the plausible story that slowing demand returns inflation relatively quickly” to the…


The Coming Mild Recession

Commentary Debate on recession prospects has three sides. One points to still strong jobs growth and contends that the economy will avoid recession altogether. A second side contends that the jobs numbers are misleading and that a recession is imminent. Yet a third splits the difference, arguing that a recession will wait until 2024. Forecasting…


American Citizens’ 401(k) Accounts Lost a Fifth of Their Value in 2022

The balances of 401(k) retirement accounts have declined in 2022, with the share of participants who are making “hardship withdrawals” hitting a “new high,” according to a recent report by investment firm Vanguard. “In 2022, the average account balance for Vanguard participants was $112,572; the median balance was $27,376. Vanguard participants’ average account balances decreased…


BOJ, ECB Rate Decisions Send Yen to Fresh 15-year Low Against Euro

LONDON/SINGAPORE—The yen fell to a new 15-year low against the euro on Friday after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept ultra-low interest rates and forecast that inflation will slow later this year in contrast with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) rate hike on Thursday. As widely expected, the BOJ maintained its -0.1 percent short-term interest…


World Shares Reach 14-month Highs as Investors Shrug Off the Fed

LONDON—Global shares rose to 14-month highs on Friday, as investors took the view that the Federal Reserve may not need to raise rates much more, while the dollar headed for its biggest weekly slide since January. The MSCI All-World index was up 0.2 percent, around its highest since mid-April 2022. This has been an intense…


New Zealand Slips Into Technical Recession

New Zealand is technically in a recession after the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) slid into the red for the second consecutive quarter. Figures released by Statz NZ on June 15 showed that New Zealand’s economy fell 0.1 percent in the March 2023 quarter, following a fall of 0.7 percent in GDP in the December…


New Zealand’s Economy Dips Into Recession as Higher Interest Rates Bite

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—New Zealand’s economy has dipped into recession as higher interest rates take their toll, new figures released Thursday show. Gross domestic product fell by 0.1 percent in the March quarter, following a revised 0.7 percent fall in the previous quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. That fulfils the nation’s definition of a recession, which…


Number of Americans Filing for Jobless Claims Is Elevated for 2nd Straight Week

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained elevated last week, a possible sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes over the past year may taking hold in what’s proved to be a resilient job market. U.S. applications for jobless claims were 262,000 for the week ending June 10, the Labor Department reported…


ECB Lifts Interest Rates to 22-year Highs

LONDON—The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the eighth successive time, as expected, on Thursday and signalled further policy tightening, as it battles high inflation. The central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro also said it expected inflation to stay above its 2 percent target through 2025 and hinted once again…