The S&P 500 earnings recession is now set to end, as bottom-line results for the fourth quarter have swung to growth for the first time in a year as more companies are beating expectations, by bigger margins, than usual. The fourth-quarter earnings reporting season is not yet half over,Read More →
We often look to the past to make decisions for the future. Yet the coronavirus pandemic presents a unique dilemma: How can we navigate circumstances that none of us has ever experienced? The implications of this pandemic — and the steps taken by public health officials, political leaders and corporateRead More →
Investing lore has it that bond investors are the “smart money” since they know their way around financial statements. I’m not sure this is true. But if it is, bond guru Mark Vaselkik may qualify as one of the smarter investors around. He’s the chief investment officer for fixed incomeRead More →
By Stephanie Nebehay and Ryan Woo GENEVA/BEIJING (Reuters) – Hopes the coronavirus would be contained to China vanished on Friday as infections spread rapidly around the world, countries started stockpiling medical equipment and investors took flight in expectation of a global recession. Share prices were on track for the worstRead More →
Festering worries about the spread of COVID-19 is a potential peril for the U.S. economy, but ailing manufacturers and tepid investment are already muzzling growth. Wall Street has been hoping for fresh signs of a rebound in business spending, but the first batch of reports for February is unlikely toRead More →
By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) – British car output dropped last year at the fastest rate since the 2008-9 recession, hit by slumping exports and diesel demand, as an industry body called for an ambitious post-Brexit trade deal to protect the sector. Investment, however, nearly doubled to 1.1 billion poundsRead More →
Strong consumer demand and a bustling job market have been two key reasons why Wall Street thinks U.S. stocks will rise and the American economy can grow this year. But low unemployment also can be a “defining characteristic” of a late-cycle economy where “recession looms in the near future,” warnedRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke to the American Economic Association annual meeting. SAN DIEGO — The Federal Reserve has all the tools it needs to fight the next recession, its former chairman Ben Bernanke said Saturday. A former economics professor at Princeton University, BernankeRead More →
U.S. stock indexes again set records Friday, after encouraging U.S. economic data and optimism about international trade deals helped end the decade’s last full week of trading on a high note. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose for seven of the last eight days and has now risen for fourRead More →
Getty Images Internet stores such as Amazon have reeled in lot of sales, but consumers aren’t spending as much as they were earlier in the year. Here an Amazon employee packages goods for Black Friday. American consumers have kept the U.S. economy barreling toward a record 11th year of expansion,Read More →
It’s as bad a time for the global economy as any since the end of the last recession, according to two separate surveys released on Monday. The IHS Markit global business outlook—which surveys 12,000 companies three times a year—fell to the worst level since 2009, when data was first collected.Read More →
Getty Images U.S. factories are still making lots of goods, including autos. Reports of the demise of U.S. manufacturing have been exaggerated, and that may be one reason why fears of an economy-wide recession got out of hand earlier this year. This week’s reports on jobs and gross domestic productRead More →
Getty Images Helicopter money may be coming, even if it’s not the best remedy. NEW YORK (Project Syndicate) — A cloud of gloom hovered over the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting this month. With the global economy experiencing a synchronized slowdown, any number of tail risks could bring on anRead More →
LONDON (Reuters) – Europe’s corporate recession is expected to deepen, according to the latest forecasts, as companies struggle with uncertainties from Brexit and the protracted U.S.-China trade spat and Germany’s manufacturing recession. Companies listed on the STOXX 600 () regional index are now expected to report a drop of asRead More →
Amid the first earnings recession in two years, a new round of financial results are about to flood in and determine if the downturn will continue. Earnings for the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.14% have declined year-over-year in each of the first two quarters of the year, creating the firstRead More →
Getty Images Service-oriented companies such as hotels are still doing decent business, but things are not as brisk as they were a year earlier. The numbers: Service-oriented companies that employ the vast majority of Americans registered the weakest growth in September in three years, adding to a cacaphony of reportsRead More →
Bloomberg News/Landov Employees prepare jet engine components using liquid nitrogen at the General Electric Co. assembly plant. American manufacturers face tougher times owing to a U.S. trade war with China and a slowing global economy. The numbers: American manufacturers posted the biggest contraction in September since the end of theRead More →
© Reuters. China Reform 2.0, No-Deal Brexit Recession, Fed Split: Eco Day (Bloomberg) — Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to take you through to the weekend: China’s unprecedented growth is giving way to a grinding slowdown. What worked to raise prosperity yesterdayRead More →
Economists had harbored some faint hope that if the U.S. economy started to rapidly slow Congress might come to the rescue with some form of fiscal stimulus. Such hopes are now dashed in the wake of the decision by House Democrats to launch a formal impeachment inquiry into President DonaldRead More →
Don’t miss these top money and investing features: Money and investing features popular with MarketWatch readers this past week include a report on how retirees should prepare their investments for a recession — and the simplicity of the strategy may surprise you. Plus, check out other timely stories on navigatingRead More →
Worried about oil prices after the weekend’s raids on Saudi Arabia? You may want to wait until prices rise more before really getting scared about the risks to your job, your budget, or the economy. A lot more. Since 1980, personal incomes have risen eight times as much as oil.Read More →
Investors are keeping a wary eye on oil after weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia crude facilities triggered the largest one-day gain for the commodity since 2008, and plenty of risk-off action all over. The cautious tone looks here to stay as attention turns to the two-day Federal Reserve meeting startingRead More →
The share of people with health insurance fell last year for the first time since the Great Recession, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Approximately 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5% of the population, were without health coverage at some time last year, the data showed. That’sRead More →
The Federal Reserve has never been more famous than it is today. It drew praise, and ire, for its handling of the financial crisis a decade ago, and the extraordinary measures it took subsequently to stimulate the U.S. economy have made it an important driver of financial markets. Meanwhile, PresidentRead More →
(Reuters) – European stocks were slightly lower in early trading on Thursday, as fears of a global recession and the impact of a disorderly Brexit kept investors away from risky assets. Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to suspend Britain’s parliament for more than a month before Brexit, a move thatRead More →
