Policy

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In the closing months of 2020 as the horrid lockdowns related to the coronavirus began to ease, the American people started to live again. With restaurants in some cities re-opened for – gasp – actual dining, husbands and wives even started going out to dinner again. Amid this substantial exhale, the cost of babyitting services soared. Not only could babysitters charge more per hour, they could demand more perks while on the job. Was this indicative of “inflation”? Not remotely. If parents are paying more for babysitters, then logic dictates they have fewer dollars for nights out at dinner. Economics is about trade-offs, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the newspapers. A recent Wall Street Journal headline went like this: “Pay Gains Shrink In New Sign Of Easing Inflation.” The assumption made in the headline and in the front-page article’s body was that more money in people’s pockets as it were had been … [Read more...] about Opposite What Economists Believe, Rising Wages Signal Easing Inflation

US stock bulls are taking heart from a range of market signals pointing to an upbeat year for Wall Street, as equities sit on impressive gains despite worries that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening may plunge the economy into a recession. Among these are equities’ positive January performance, a "golden cross" chart pattern on the S&P 500 and more stocks making new highs rather than new lows. Such signals are far from the only indicators market participants use to make investment decisions, and they are not foolproof. Weak outlooks for corporate heavyweights such as Amazon and Microsoft and a blowout employment number that heightened expectations for Fed hawkishness injected a fresh note of uncertainty into markets on Friday, though the S&P 500 remains up 7.7 percent year-to-date. However, steady improvements in gauges of momentum and sentiment in recent weeks reinforced the view among some investors that asset prices may be heading for a more benign … [Read more...] about Wall Street Week Ahead | Signals of market regaining momentum attract investors

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to determine the direction of U.S. monetary policy. What will the Fed do? Since March 2022, it has already raised the fed funds rate by 4.25 percentage points, the largest one-year increase in four decades. When it comes to speculation over the direction of the fed funds rate, the financial press is filled with musings from Fed watchers and assorted wags. That is just background “noise.” (RELATED: EJ ANTONI: Wokeness Is Slowly Hollowing Out The Fed) There is only one objective measure of where the fed funds rate is heading — in other words, the “signal,” rather than the “noise.” It’s the Chicago Mercantile Exchange FedWatch Tool , which translates the prices of trades on fed funds futures contracts (read: market prices) to put a probability on where the fed funds rate will go. As Friedrich Hayek taught us long ago in his classic 1945 article, “ The Use of Knowledge in Society ,” an article that landed him … [Read more...] about STEVE HANKE And CALEB HOFMANN: The Fed Is Asleep At The Wheel And Americans Are Feeling The Consequences

Supreme Court justices used personal email accounts to send sensitive information, making the Court’s investigation into the leak of the Dobbs decision more difficult, CNN reports Saturday. The Supreme Court issued a statement on January 19 saying they cannot identify the individual who leaked the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center decision. Politico published a version of the decision that was leaked to them in May, causing many pro-abortion protesters to begin demonstrating in front of the justices private homes. Employees at the Supreme Court were able to print sensitive documents off-site without tracking them, and “burn bags” which were meant to be destroyed to prevent the compromise of sensitive documents were left open and unattended in hallways, according to CNN’s report . (RELATED: The March For Life Has Never Had To Struggle For Relevance, Until Now) “This has been going on for years,” a former employee said. Justices did not adapt to improved … [Read more...] about REPORT: Loose Security Protocols Made SCOTUS Leak Investigation Difficult

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Do your customers trust you? Are you sure? According to PwC’s 2022 Consumer Intelligence Series Survey on Trust , 87% of executives think customers highly trust their companies, but only about 30% of customers do. That’s a 57% gap! The PwC survey also found 71% of consumers say they’re unlikely to buy if a company loses their trust, and 71% of employees say they’re likely to leave if they lose trust. The lack of trust can result in huge problems. Deloitte reports that of more than 260 C-suite executives surveyed, 61% claimed their organizations would work to improve trust with customers and employees. However, just 19% have a leader in the C-suite to oversee the effort, and less than 14% have a way to track trust. Ashley Reichheld, principal and trust leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP, says, “Building trust is among the most powerful ways brands can earn loyalty, drive differentiation and create competitive … [Read more...] about Is There A Chief Trust Officer In Your Company’s Future?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Key takeaways Options allow you to make money in the stock market regardless of whether it’s up, down or stagnant The two varieties of options, calls and puts, can be combined in several different ways to anticipate the increases or decreases in the market, decrease the cost basis of a trade or mitigate the risk options trading poses Trading options can be risky, so it’s best to practice trading on paper before you use real money Most people know that you can make money in the stock market when the prices of equities are rising and the economy is doing well. But what about when economic times are uncertain? Rather than sitting on the sidelines, you can use alternative approaches to make money during a down market. One of these strategies is trading options. Options come with more risk than buying and holding stocks, but this can be minimized with proper planning. Better yet, your returns could be much more … [Read more...] about Options Trading 101: Understanding Calls And Puts

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Graduating high school students left almost $3.6 billion in Pell Grant funds unclaimed last year because they did not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). That is the finding of a new report from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) out this week. The FAFSA is the federal form you must complete to be considered for any financial aid from the federal government, your state, or one of the colleges you hope to attend. FAFSA completion rates are used as an indicator of whether students intend to enroll in college and often provide an early indication of what proportion of recent high school graduates plan on heading to college. FAFSA completion is also strongly associated with college enrollment, so increasing the number of students who complete their aid application may increase the number of students entering higher education. NCAN calculated that 44 percent of the class of 2022 did not … [Read more...] about Students Left $3.6 Billion In Pell Grants Unclaimed Last Year