Author: News Room

Wall Street wrapped up the short but volatile week on a modestly upbeat note ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report. Stocks had been wobbly earlier in the week in response to signs of a slowing economy, including weak data on private payrolls and job openings. That marked a change from previous sentiment when investors cheered weak economic numbers in the hope that the Federal Reserve might ease up on its campaign of interest rate hikes. Now the market seems to be struggling to decide whether recession worries or rate hike worries are more meaningful to stock prices. With the exception…

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Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, failed to prolong its upward rally and dropped below $28,000 on Friday. Bitcoin had been on a positive trend, reaching a high of $29,000 earlier in the week. Although, it was short-term gains as it dropped below $28,000 today, signaling a bearish sentiment in the market.However, Bitcoin continues to struggle to break through the $28,250 resistance level, while Ethereum is showing signs of consolidation.Crypto Market Fundamentals The reason for its upward rally could be attributed to the bullish US dollar, which rose lately after the release of strong US job growth data, increasing the probability…

A surprise production cut announcement this week from Saudi Arabia and several other OPEC+ oil producers complicates the Federal Reserve’s mission to cool the economy and could worsen inflation in the United States, economists say. Energy prices across the globe surged last year when Russia invaded Ukraine, fueling global inflation just as the world’s major economies were beginning to rebalance after the pandemic. Since then, a drop in energy prices has helped cool US inflation, which has fallen from a 40-year peak of 9.1% in June to 6% in February, year over year, according to the Consumer Price Index. Energy…

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday plans to announce a commitment between South Korean solar cell manufacturer Qcells and Virginia-based Summit Ridge Energy to deploy 1.2 gigawatts of community solar power, the largest community solar order in U.S. history.Harris will make the announcement during a trip to the Qcells facility in Dalton, Georgia as part of the White House’s “Invest in America” tour. The deal will require the manufacturing of 2.5 million solar panels, Biden administration officials said, generating enough clean electricity to power 140,000 homes and businesses.Community solar generally refers to local solar facilities shared by community subscribers who receive credit on their energy…

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Thursday’s key moments. Rotation into defensives Stick with Costco Constellation reports solid Q4 1. Rotation into defensives Stocks were mixed Thursday in late-morning trading after initial jobless claims for the week ended April 1 came in higher than expected, according to the U.S. Labor Department, in the latest sign that hiring is cooling. Wall Street will be closely watching the agency’s monthly jobs report for March on Friday for clearer signs on the state of the labor market.…

Inflation and rising costs are why 33% of Americans said they were struggling to get by or were in trouble financially, according to Lincoln Financial Group’s most recent Consumer Sentiment Tracker. Survey respondents also said they didn’t expect much relief from these economic hardships, with 76% saying they anticipated that inflation, market volatility and debt will worsen this year.However, 88% of respondents said they saw room to improve their finances and 45% said they believed their financial situation would get better this year.  Moreover, 53% said they planned to set financial goals for themselves this year despite the dire outlook on…

A growing number of Americans, still reeling from the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, are no longer benefiting from government relief efforts and are increasingly choosing bankruptcy to deal with unmanageable debt, according to a recent American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) report. An end to federal pandemic aid coupled with continued economic challenges has increased bankruptcy filings, ABI reported. Total individual bankruptcy filings in February rose to 30,193, up 18% from a year ago and up 2% from January, the report said.  Pandemic-era stimulus checks, unemployment benefits and reduced spending because of nationwide lockdown measures helped Americans collectively save roughly $2.3 trillion…

Consumers using buy now, pay later (BNPL) are likelier to use other credit products and high-interest financial services than non-users of BNPL, a recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said. For example, 62% of BNPL borrowers said they used retail credit cards compared to 44% of non-BNPL consumers. Additionally, 32% of BNPL users relied on personal loans compared to 13% of non-BNPL consumers. Thirty-three percent of BNPL borrowers said they had student loans compared to 17% of non-BNPL consumers. BNPL users were more likely to suffer financial distress than non-borrowers and were more likely to use high-interest financial products like…