inflation

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Faltering Banks Push Stocks Down
 Faltering Banks 
 Push Stocks Down 
MARKETS

Faltering Banks Push Stocks Down

Financials tumble despite solid report from Goldman Sachs

(Newser) - The markets fell today, led by plunging financials and bank stocks, despite a solid second-quarter report from Goldman Sachs. "There is a lack of clarity at every level of the financial system right now, from regulators to companies," a floor trader told the Wall Street Journal. The Dow...

Blip or Deeper Trouble? More Economists Grow Gloomy

Analysts speculate if gloomy figures have sparked fundamental change

(Newser) - Optimists can easily chalk up Friday's disastrous day on Wall Street to a skittish market overreacting to lousy news about oil prices and unemployment. The problem, writes Ben Steverman in BusinessWeek, is that many analysts are lining up in the pessimists' camp, which holds that something more "fundamental" is...

Mixed Day Yields Mixed Results
 Mixed Day Yields Mixed Results 
MARKETS

Mixed Day Yields Mixed Results

Dell performance rallies tech; Commerce Department gives bad news

(Newser) - Stocks ended mixed after a seesaw session today, with strong performance by tech and energy shares contrasting with bad news on consumer spending and incomes, MarketWatch reports. The Dow closed down 7.90 at 12,638.32. The Nasdaq gained 14.34 to 2,522.66, while the S&P...

Oil, Inflation Wallop Stocks
 Oil, Inflation Wallop Stocks 
MARKETS

Oil, Inflation Wallop Stocks

Researcher: 'All the long-term indicators we look at are sending a bearish message'

(Newser) - The Dow plunged nearly 200 points today as markets were swamped by soaring oil prices and inflation fears. "All the long-term indicators we look at are sending a bearish message," an investment researcher told the Wall Street Journal. The Dow ended down 199.48 to 12,828.68,...

Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots
 Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots 

Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots

Thousands protest over inflation and soaring prices

(Newser) - Soldiers shot and killed at least two people in Somalia as thousands rioted over inflation and soaring food prices. A recent rash of counterfeiting has led some merchants to only accept US dollars, instead of local shillings, the BBC reports. In response, angry Somalis threw rocks and burned tires, shouting,...

Euro About to Mark 10 Years
 Euro About to Mark 10 Years 
ANALYSIS

Euro About to Mark 10 Years

Common currency has its share of winners and losers

(Newser) - Like many 10-year-olds, the euro has had its ups and downs, but its current ascendancy is worrying, and not just to fans of the weakening dollar; some European states are chafing at the strength of their common currency, the New York Times reports. The German economic engine is causing high...

Rate-Cut News Sweeps Away Rally
 Rate-Cut News 
 Sweeps Away Rally 
MARKETS

Rate-Cut News Sweeps Away Rally

Stocks end down thanks to nervous investors

(Newser) - News of today's Fed interest-rate cut swept away a market rally, and stocks ended down. Language in the Fed statement indicating that further trims were unlikely spooked investors, the Wall Street Journal reports, though that news was expected. The Dow ended down 11.81 to 12,820.13; the Nasdaq...

Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low
Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low
Economy

Consumer Confidence Hits 26-year Low

Inflation, housing put people in a funk; most call it a recession

(Newser) - Consumer confidence fell to a 26-year low in April, as the public fretted over inflation and housing, Reuters reports. The index fell to 62.6, surpassing the 63.2 analysts had predicted. Nearly 90% said the economy is in recession. Respondents also said they were unlikely to spend their stimulus...

Fed Ponders Pause in Rate Cuts—After 1 More

Experts expect a last cut to 2% before the central bank stops and waits

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve may be ready to cool its torrid rate-cutting after a likely .25% percentage point cut at its meeting next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Futures markets are betting Chairman Ben Bernanke is unlikely to rest just yet, with little change in the month-to-month economic picture, but...

Surging Energy Prices Drive Global Inflation

Food costs, up 83% in 3 years, also slap worldwide economies

(Newser) - Inflation in Europe and the US is projected to reach its highest point since 1995, the Wall Street Journal reports, with food prices up 83% in three years and rising energy and transportation costs. The International Monetary Fund predicts the US and Europe will see inflation of 2.6% this...

Bank of England Cuts Interest Rate

Bank votes quarter-point cut to 5% as downward pressure mounts

(Newser) - The Bank of England today cut its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 5%, reports Bloomberg, hoping to keep the nation’s economy out of recession. Despite the third cut since December, BoE’s rate remains the highest among the Group of Seven industrialized nations; policymakers have drawn fire...

Asian Inflation Zapping US Pocketbooks

Fuel costs and weak buck promise to send US prices spiraling

(Newser) - Cheap Asian imports have helped keep American inflation down for decades—but those days appear to be over, the New York Times warns. Rapidly rising costs of fuel, food and labor in countries like China, Vietnam, and Taiwan are beginning to be passed on to their export markets, just as...

Personal Spending Slows to a Crawl in February

Inflation cooling, but consumer confidence is down

(Newser) - Personal spending—a major force in the health of the economy— rose just 0.1% in February, its smallest increase in 16 months, the Wall Street Journal reports. The increase, which actually beat analysts' estimate of a 0.1% decrease, came despite a bump in personal income and signs that...

Japan's Inflation Surges
 Japan's Inflation Surges 

Japan's Inflation Surges

Unemployment also rises in world's second-largest economy

(Newser) - A double whammy of rising inflation and unemployment has experts worried that Japan’s economy—the world’s second largest—is fast losing steam, reports the Wall Street Journal. Inflation in February rose 1%, its fastest spike in a decade, and household spending stalled in the face of rising food...

Could the Credit Crunch Sink a Whole Country?

Iceland frets about collapse as interest rates spike to 15%

(Newser) - The global credit crisis has spelled disaster for banks and hedge funds, but now worry is mounting that an entire country could go under. Yesterday the central bank of Iceland was forced to raise its interest rate 1.25 percentage points to 15% at an emergency meeting, reports the Financial ...

Oil Hovers Near $102 a Barrel
Oil Hovers
Near $102
a Barrel

Oil Hovers Near $102 a Barrel

Iraq fighting, low gas supplies and weak dollar boost price

(Newser) - Concern about potential supply disruptions in Iraq and American gasoline reserves pushed oil prices up for the second day in a row, despite expected news from the Energy Department that crude supplies in the US had rebounded, reports the Associated Press. The US dollar’s continued depreciation against a slew...

Rising Cost of Essentials Slams Poor Families

Prices of "core" items are rising twice as fast as wages

(Newser) - The rising price of essentials and sluggish growth in wages mean that inflation is hitting low- to middle-income families hardest, the Washington Post reports. Americans are paying 9.2% more for staples—groceries, gas, health care, etc.— than they did in 2006, nearly twice the pace of the growth...

Wall Street Sneezes; Heartland Catches Cold

Worries about a recession are hitting home with Americans

(Newser) - The high-profile economic woes plaguing Wall Street and previously hot housing markets are spreading, raising the possibility of the worst recession Americans have faced in years. The New York Times crisscrosses the country, assembling anecdotal evidence—suddenly thrifty brides, unsold construction equipment, sinking earnings at FedEx—that suggests the slowdown...

Fed Cut Raises Inflation Fears
 Fed Cut Raises Inflation Fears 

Fed Cut Raises Inflation Fears

Borrowers, exporters stand to gain, but critics find move 'self-defeating'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve's latest rate cut might boost the economy with cheaper credit, but economists worry a freed inflation genie could be behind any magic, the Washington Post reports. Commodity prices rose to record levels in expectation that the rate cut would keep demand high, and the price hikes are...

Housing Starts Down; Producer Prices Up

Housing will hurt '08 growth

(Newser) - Housing starts fell yet again in February, and building permits hit a 16-year low, Bloomberg reports. The annual housing start rate fell to 1.065 million homes, a 0.6% drop from January, while permits sank 7.8%, indicating still bigger declines to come. “We don’t see it...

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