DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ How to make high interest rates work for your hard-earned savings
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-20 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing. High-yield online savings accountsThe average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate. As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings account rates can change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it. But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments. Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC.

Persons: ”, Ted Rossman, ” Rossman, Ken Tumin, Schwab, you’d, Tumin, Doug Ornstein, Andy Smith, Ornstein, doesn’t, ” Smith Organizations: New York CNN, Bankrate, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Fidelity, TIAA Wealth Management, FDIC, Securities Investor Protection Corp, Edelman, AAA Locations: New York, Wells Fargo, United States

☆ After a summer of Barbenheimer and Beyoncé, can US consumers still afford the holiday season?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Minneapolis CNN —Ballpark attendance boomed this summer, Barbenheimer revived the box office and a Renaissance of live performances brought concerts into new Eras. However, it also could mean that holiday spending just might look a little different and skewed more toward experiences than it has done in past years. Respondents to KPMG’s 2023 holiday survey said they plan to spend 5% more this season, said Matt Kramer, KPMG’s consumer and retail national sector leader. “What stands out the most is this ‘leaning in’ to holiday travel and wanting to have those experiences with friends and family,” he said. A more comprehensive look at consumer spending will come at the tail end of the month when the Personal Consumption Expenditures data is released.

Persons: Barbenheimer, Everybody, ”, Keith Gentili, ” Taylor Swift, Allen J, “, Ted Rossman, that’s, ’ ”, aren’t, Matt Kramer, Tamara Charm, Elijah Nouvelage, Patrick T, Fallon, Gus Faucher, Nathan Howard, Nancy Vanden Houten, ’, ” Rossman, Matt Schulz Organizations: Minneapolis CNN —, New Hampshire, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Bankrate, McKinsey, Travelers, Hartsfield, Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Bloomberg, Commerce, Apple, PNC Financial Services, Shoppers, canaries, LendingTree Locations: Minneapolis, New, Inglewood , California, splurge, ’, Los Angeles, AFP, Georgetown, Washington, what’s, Oxford

☆ Americans’ debt surpasses $17 trillion for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

To this point, credit card debt has been rising at the sharpest pace of any debt covered in the report, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate. Last year, 39% carried debt month to month. Increases in credit card debt can be a either sign of confidence or struggle, he added. “For the foreseeable future, we’re stuck with high credit card rates, high balances, and more people carrying debt,” he said. “My advice would be to pay down credit card debt, as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

☆ Consumers keep spending. That might not be good news for them or the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And by November and December, those predictions appeared to be materializing, when data showed consumers had pulled back during the holiday shopping season. During a month chock full of suprisingly strong economic data, the Commerce Department’s retail sales and consumer spending reports far surpassed expectations. “It’s not sustainable to keep spending above their means.”Eyes on the FedHearty consumer spending at a time like this is a double-edged sword, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate and CreditCards.com. “The resilience of consumer spending is probably the biggest thing that’s pushed this recession timetable out,” Rossman said. The Home Depot (HD) warned of flat sales for 2023 as consumers continue shift spending from goods to services.

☆ Wells Fargo is retreating from the mortgage market it once led
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Wells Fargo, long one of the biggest players in the mortgage business, is taking a big step back. Wells Fargo said it will also exit its correspondent business, which buys loans made by other lenders, and reduce the size of its mortgage servicing portfolio. The retreat will likely cause Wells Fargo to lay off at least some employees, though the bank did not announce any specifics. The move comes as Wells Fargo continues to be in trouble with regulators. In late 2017, Quicken Loans toppled Wells Fargo as America’s largest mortgage lender.

☆ Premarket stocks: Bruised tech investors are hedging their bets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —There are two certainties in today’s market: The tech sector has been beaten down and interest rates are higher. What’s happening: Investors are purchasing put options, a bearish bet that a stock will fall during a set period of time, on certain tech stocks at historic rates. The losses also created a booming market for investors who hold put option contracts that allow investors to sell shares of these stocks at a price higher than their current levels. Rising interest rates also dried up the easy money tech companies relied on to fuel big bets on future innovations, and cut into their sky-high valuations. Beyond that, the growing number of layoffs may also give certain tech companies some cover to take more severe steps to trim costs now than they may have otherwise done.

☆ US consumers increased their borrowing by $28 billion in November
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Minneapolis CNN —US consumers’ credit-hungry approach to spending continued in November, with borrowing rising by nearly $28 billion, according to Federal Reserve data released Monday. Revolving credit, which includes mostly credit cards, grew by 16.9%. It’s the largest jump in revolving credit seen in three months and the fifth-largest monthly increase in Fed record-keeping that goes back nearly 55 years. “It’s really revolving credit, mostly credit card debt, that’s carrying the day right now,” Rossman said. That has filtered down to historically high, if not record, interest rates for car loans, credit cards and personal loans.

☆ Consumers kept the economy hot in 2022. Now they’re losing steam
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Consumers armed with plenty of pandemic-induced pent-up demand and bountiful financial buffers kept the economy churning throughout much of 2022. “But I think there are reasonable worries that may not last.”Consumer spending remained resilient throughout much of 2022. But the household savings rate now sits at 2.4%, the lowest level since 2005 and the second-lowest rate going back more than 60 years. As of September 30, credit card delinquencies remained near historic lows with a 2.07% rate, according to Federal Reserve data. Persistently high inflation has consumers leaning more on credit cards and other forms of financing.

☆ Costlier credit: Some retailers' cards now carry APRs of more than 30%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —There has long been a threshold that few issuers of store-branded credit cards have been willing to surpass: the 30% annual percentage rate. At least a half-dozen major retail credit cards — including those for Kroger, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Wayfair — recently bumped up their maximum APRs to more than 30%, according to Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst for LendingTree. And that credit is getting costlier as high inflation is forcing American consumers to rack up more debt. The increases come amid robust consumer demand and higher prices for everything from mortgages to food to fuel. “Credit cards are like power tools,” Rossman said.

☆ America’s dependence on credit cards is growing. The Fed’s rate hike will make it more painful
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Martha C. White | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —As prices continue to rise, Americans are becoming increasingly reliant on credit cards to make purchases. “The effect on existing credit card borrowers is probably actually worse,” he said, because of the rate hikes the Fed has undertaken already this year. Credit cards were a big cause of that: In the second quarter, 233 million new credit accounts were opened, the largest increase since 2008. Of the new debt that accumulated during that quarter, $46 billion was credit card debt. Credit bureau TransUnion found that there are more credit cards today, and there is more debt on those cards.

Search resuls for: "” Rossman"

10 mentions found