iStockphoto Mortgage rates are freefalling, helping shore up demand. Rates for home loans tumbled, as investors snatched up safe assets in the wake of a Federal Reserve policy announcement that took markets by surprise. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.06% in the March 28 week, mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac saidRead More →
Bitcoin prices rose on Friday, trading to their highest level in five weeks and on track to log a second successive winning month. On Friday, one bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.05% fetched $4,122.09, up 1.8% since Thursday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time, its highest level since Feb. 24, according to KrakenRead More →
An endorsement from one of the greatest value investors of our generation, and a big owner of shares in Wells Fargo, usually is worth its weight in gold. However, despite a ringing endorsement from Warren Buffett, Tim Sloan — a longtime Wells Fargo executive who replaced beleaguered CEO John StumpfRead More →
European markets struggled for direction on Wednesday, as investors reacted to another Brexit defeat for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May. How did markets perform? The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.31% added 0.2% to 374.12, after finishing flat on Tuesday evening. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, +0.13% was also flat atRead More →
Getty Images Homes in a suburban neighborhood of Pittsburgh Rates for home loans rose slightly, squelching borrower enthusiasm even as the long-term outlook for rates remained upbeat for buyers. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.41% in the March 7 week, mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac said Thursday. That was up sixRead More →
Bitcoin traded higher on Friday, looking to register its fourth-consecutive winning session, which would be just the second such streak of 2019. In Friday trade, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.70% changed hands at $3,890.20, up 0.5% since Thursday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time of the Kraken exchange. The cryptocurrencyRead More →
Bitcoin prices moved higher on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session, moving the digital currency toward $3,900 and nearing $4,000 — a level viewed by technical analysts as a point of resistance. In Wednesday morning trade, one bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.02% was fetching $3,846.30, up 0.3% since Tuesday at 5Read More →
The size of the average fixed-rate mortgage last week nationally was $280,900. The size of the average adjustable-rate mortgage was $688,400 – two and a half times as big. That data point, courtesy of the Mortgage Bankers Association, is a reminder – perhaps an uncomfortable one – that the mortgageRead More →
Bitcoin prices moved higher on Friday, putting the digital currency on track to book a second straight week of gains. A single bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.12% was fetching $3,851.58, up 0.4% since Thursday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time on the Kraken exchange. The cryptocurrency has yet to log back-to-back winningRead More →
Europe’s markets were down on Wednesday, as escalating geopolitical tensions between Pakistan and India heightened investor fears. Markets were also waiting for the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kick off in Vietnam’s capital. Metro Bank PLC tumbled by 20%. How areRead More →
Bitcoin prices rose Friday afternoon, clawing back losses from the previous session and putting the cryptocurrency on track for its best week in two months. Most recently, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.12% was fetching $3,944.10, up 1.2% since Thursday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time on the Kraken exchange. TheRead More →
Americans are swiping their way deeper into debt. The number of consumers who have access to a credit card — meaning those who either have a card themselves or are authorized users on a card — hit a record high of 178.6 million at the close of 2018. That meansRead More →
Economist Burton Malkeil has called the index fund “the most important financial innovation that has been created for the individual investor.” And one look at index-fund pioneer Vanguard’s performance over the past decade shows that many individual investors agree. For the past 12 years, Vanguard has taken in more moneyRead More →
European stocks were down on Tuesday, as investors responded poorly to earnings from HSBC and BHP Group while trade negotiations between the U.S. and China continue in Washington. HSBC Holdings PLC lost 3% after a disappointing set of annual results. How are markets performing? The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.45%Read More →
Levi Strauss & Co. began as a dry goods business in San Francisco in 1853, invented blue jeans 20 years after that, and now, nearly 150 years later, has filed for its second initial public offering. Levi Strauss has applied to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under theRead More →
“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” That is how Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, describes the stock-market vibe these days as a rebound that is been in place since the start of 2019 keeps on keeping on. For Tuesday, that worked out to aRead More →
Bloomberg Never one to shy away from a big bet, crytpo evangelist Patrick Byrne has some bold plans for his company in the distributed-ledger field. The founder and CEO of Overstock.com OVER, +5.31% and the chairman of tZero, a subsidiary of Medici Ventures, is going all-in on blockchain technology, havingRead More →
‘We rightfully fault investors for jumping blindly at anything labeled crypto, but at times we seem to be equally impulsive in running away from anything labeled crypto.’ Hester M. Peirce, SEC Commissioner That is the latest from the SEC’s Hester M. Peirce, who is suggesting that the financial industry shouldn’tRead More →
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed gutting a rule that aimed to regulate the payday loan industry. The agency released two proposals Wednesday for rolling back the regulations on payday, vehicle title and other balloon-payment installment loans that were finalized in 2017 and were set to go into effectRead More →
Bitcoin prices were mostly unchanged on Tuesday, stuck in a tight trading range below $3,500. In afternoon trading, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.21% was fetching $3,453.77, up 0.2% since Monday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange. The cryptocurrency has spent the past 48 hours tradingRead More →
On Friday, IEX ratcheted up a simmering dispute over the fees that some of the biggest stock exchanges charge customers. The upstart exchange takes issue with a claim from the New York Stock Exchange that “all-in” costs to trade on the Big Board and other exchanges are lower than thoseRead More →
Gold futures prices tipped higher early Friday ahead of a jobs report that most analysts think will reinforce the picture of a solid labor market but won’t likely sway the Federal Reserve from its newfound ‘patient’ policy stance. April gold GCJ9, +0.02% added 80 cents, or 0.1%, at $1,325.90 anRead More →
Investors looking out for signs of a recession have nervously eyed the decline in the U.S.’s manufacturing purchasing manager index as it gives one of the most up-to-date assessments of industrial hubbub. Ahead of the latest release on Friday, Morgan Stanley’s cross-asset analysts say the current regime of slowing butRead More →
Getty Images Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants Wells Fargo to dismiss its chief executive. The Wall Street Journal ran a story on Monday about big banks bracing for a “browbeating” by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who’s exploring running for president. She didn’t disappoint. On Monday morning, Warren outlined theRead More →
Looking to buy a home? You might want to relocate to Virginia Beach, Va. The metropolitan area ranked as the No. 1 home buyer market in the country, according to a study from online real-estate brokerage Owners.com ASPS, +1.66% The report analyzed the housing markets in metropolitan areas with moreRead More →
