The numbers: Initial jobless claims rose in the week ended July 18 for the first time since late March. New applications for unemployment benefits, a rough gauge of layoffs, rose by 109,000 to 1.42 million, the Labor Department said Thursday. The figures are seasonally adjusted. Economists polled by MarketWatchRead More →
Less than a week after the Government Accountability Office said the Internal Revenue Service had reduced stimulus checks to 1.1 million dead, a report released Monday by Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, said the federal tax collector also sent about 74,000 checks to people who were locked upRead More →
“ ‘If you don’t have a tail hedge, I suggest not being in the market we’re facing a huge amount of uncertainty.’ ” That’s “Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb offering his view on the risks swirling in the market and a growing lack of clarityRead More →
The Federal Reserve on Thursday voted to require large banks to preserve capital by suspending share repurchases and cap dividend payments in the third quarter. In a 4-to-1 vote, the Fed will tie the distribution of dividends to a formula based on recent income. The formula sets third-quarter dividends atRead More →
Hi, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for five years to a 4-year-old and 2-year-old. I’m 32 and I don’t see a clear deadline for when I can return to work. My husband makes 150k a year and is contributing to his 401(k) at 3% with a 3% match. My questionRead More →
Warren Buffett famously said: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” So it has been with the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the rigor with which companies have engaged with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) concerns. Whether it takes the form of companies workingRead More →
The dual plagues of the pandemic and racial inequities are shining a powerful light on the cracks and gaps in our systems and revealing the horrific toll of unchecked racism that affect communities of color. I have been flooded with calls from friends, clients, allies, and partners who are notRead More →
I am in a tough moral situation and I don’t know what to do. My older sister and brother-in-law have been fighting about money for the past year or so. He is a big spender, not just for himself, but for the whole family, friends, and community. While they makeRead More →
Congress just found more than $100 billion in extra cash in its Paycheck Protection Program and one Republican senator already has an idea how to spend it: fix up businesses damaged by the riots sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican,Read More →
Reykjavík — Life in Iceland is almost back to normal again. The curfews on gatherings and the social distancing mandates have been lifted; gyms, swimming pools and restaurants are reopening. Icelanders are traveling around the island again. Iceland will open its airports to tourism on June 15, and the peopleRead More →
Dear Moneyist, I have an estranged husband, and we have been living separately for years. He has been filing taxes jointly without my knowledge AND now he has received my stimulus money AND my kids’ stimulus money. I can’t hire an attorney because I’m poor, and I live in aRead More →
Dear Moneyist, I received three direct deposits yesterday for $1,200 each for my kids, all of whom are under 17. They are aged 10, 10 and 15. We already received our $2,400 stimulus check. My wife is on permanent disability and she receives a Social Security payment monthly for them.Read More →
As if getting divorced isn’t stressful enough, trying to do so during a pandemic may seem overwhelming. With normal routines disrupted, jobs and income lost, stock markets fluctuating, and real estate markets uncertain, it may seem nearly impossible to move forward once a decision to divorce has been reached. SoRead More →
European stocks rose Monday on hopes that central banks across the world will deliver interest-rate cuts. The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.02% climbed 0.3% to 376.64, gains that were well off early highs of the day. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.64% added 179 points, following aRead More →
Retailers will reveal more about the holiday-shopping season in the coming week, with the end of the earnings recession in sight. Home Depot Inc. HD, -0.68% is the lone Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.78% component on the docket, and will be joined by plenty of other retailers that willRead More →
Unemployment hasn’t been this low for 50 years, but a record one-quarter of student loans from a popular federal program qualified for easier repayment plans to help borrowers avoid default, according to DBRS Morningstar. Income-based repayment plans were being used on 24.7% of $452 billion worth of student loans withRead More →
Dear Catey, I am a 40-year-old law-enforcement officer and hope to retire in 13 or 14 years. At that time, I will have 30-plus years on the job with a pension giving me 70% of my current income with a cost-of-living annual percentage increase around 2% or 3%. Additionally IRead More →
Automobile-loan delinquencies are at a record high, but experts say this may not impact your ability to get a loan for your car purchase. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the outstanding balance on automobile loans and leases hit a record high of $1.33 trillion, according to data from theRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My spouse hides his money and all of his investments are hidden. I have lived in Boston since 2006. I moved from New York and gave up my job of 16 years because we got married and I relocated, leaving my two adult children, who were 21 andRead More →
Fair Isaac, FICO, +1.55% the giant credit score company, recently announced the biggest change since 2014 in how it determines its FICO credit scores. This new FICO 10 system — expected to go into effect by year’s end — could affect your retirement in big ways, possibly for theRead More →
The biggest U.S. dairy farming cooperative struck a $425 million deal to buy dozens of plants from bankrupt milk processor Dean Foods Co., in a deal executives said would preserve jobs and markets for farmers’ milk. The deal, which was proposed by Dairy Farmers of America, requires approval of theRead More →
The human mind often works in fascinating ways that can help or hurt investors. If someone has to deliberately take action in order to participate in something, they are far less likely to do so than if they were signed up automatically with the option of not participating. This opt-in/opt-outRead More →
U.S. Treasury yields traded higher on Tuesday as reports that the spread of COVID-19 may be slowing down helped to cheapen prices for government paper, drawing investors to the Treasury Department debt auction in the afternoon. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee,Read More →
Mortgage rates are resting near record lows — and that’s spurring a wave of refinancing activity as Americans look to take advantage of the savings a cheaper interest rate could bring. Refinance loan volume jumped to the highest level since 2013 last week, especially among jumbo mortgage borrowers, on theRead More →
The U.S. central bank should keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the time being, as growth is in a good place and inflation should hit the central bank’s 2% annual target, two Federal Reserve officials said Monday. “My own view right now is that we should hold steady forRead More →
