DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Mortgage rates fall for the third straight week, dipping below 7%
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington CNN —Mortgage rates declined for the third consecutive week in a shred of good news for Americans dealing with a still-tough housing market. Mortgage rates track the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield, which moves in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s decisions on interest rates. Stubbornly high inflation this year has dashed hopes that the Fed could cut interest rates in the spring or in the summer. Some Fed officials said earlier this week that they likely won’t raise interest rates again and a few have said they expect to cut rates this year. With mortgage rates still elevated, some homeowners are deciding to stay put.

Persons: Freddie Mac, inflation’s cooldown, there’s, homebuyers, ” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s, That’s, ” Lawrence Yun, ”, Yun, Joe Biden Organizations: Washington CNN —, Treasury, National Association of Realtors, Fed, Housing Locations: San Diego, Chicago, Detroit

☆ Fed officials are now considering fewer rate cuts this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s because some Federal Reserve officials are reconsidering forecasts they made three months ago that called for three rate cuts this year. The stakes are high because there are consequences if the Fed cuts rates soon or if it leaves rates where they’ve been for the past eight months. First rate cut hinges on inflation dataIn February, Bostic told CNN that the first rate cut could come “sometime in the summertime.” That’s also Wall Street’s current expectation. He hasn’t specified — and is unlikely to signal — the number of rate cuts he believes are appropriate for this year. He has cheered inflation’s descent and said further improvement could open the door to rate cuts — if that actually bears out.

Persons: they’ve, Raphael Bostic, ” Bostic, Bostic, That’s, Powell hasn’t, Price, Nam, ” David Page, Powell, Rather, Jerome Powell, Chip Somodevilla, Lisa Cook, Austan Goolsbee, ”, we’ve, we’re, Goolsbee, Christopher Waller Organizations: CNN, Federal Reserve, Atlanta Fed, Index, AXA, Federal, ”, Harvard University, Chicago, Yahoo Finance, Fed, San Francisco Fed Locations: New York

☆ Inflation’s Cooldown Gives the Fed Leeway
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Justin Lahart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The personal-consumption expenditures price index is one of the Fed’s most closely watched gauges of inflation. Markets are betting the new data puts the Fed on pace to cut rates in 2024. That was its slimmest year-over-year gain since March 2021. Core prices, which exclude food and energy items in an effort to better track inflation’s underlying trend, rose 0.2% from September. That put them 3.5% above their year-earlier level for the smallest gain since April 2021.

Persons: Dion Rabouin, Rucosky Sit Organizations: The Commerce Department

☆ What to expect from the Fed’s decision on rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks during an annual gathering of central bankers and economists in Wyoming next month could shed more light on what to expect for the September decision. There are three possibilities for what the Fed might do moving forward, according to economists: a second consecutive rate hike in September, one in November, or no more rate hikes after July. The Commerce Department releases the June reading of the Fed’s favorite inflation measure Friday. The Fed held rates steady for nine straight meetings over the span of a year the last time it paused a rate-hiking campaign in 2006. Nearly all of the Fed’s decisions have been unanimous since the central bank began lifting rates in March 2022, with the exception of two meetings early in the Fed’s current inflation battle.

Persons: it’s, Jerome Powell’s, It’s, haven’t, inflation’s, Ben Bernanke, Raphael Bostic, there’s, hawkish, “ Powell, ” Seema Shah, Powell, Christopher Waller, you’re, ”, José Torres, ” Powell, Jerome Powell Organizations: DC CNN, Federal, Fed, Commerce Department, Market Committee, Atlanta Fed, Asset Management, CNN, ”, The Labor Department, Interactive Locations: Washington, Wyoming, —

☆ What to expect from this week’s Fed meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

After the Fed’s July monetary policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday, investors will be looking for more details around that potential hike. That’s why the Fed is trying to retain the option of another rate increase in case inflation proves to be more resilient than expected. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks during an annual gathering of central bankers and economists in Wyoming next month could shed more light on what to expect for the September decision. There are three possibilities for what the Fed might do moving forward, according to economists: a second consecutive rate hike in September, one in November, or no more rate hikes after July. Whatever the Fed decides to do won’t come without a vigorous debate, and perhaps even a dissent, though the Fed has a tradition of collegiality.

Persons: —, it’s, Jerome Powell’s, It’s, haven’t, inflation’s, Ben Bernanke, Raphael Bostic, there’s, hawkish, “ Powell, ” Seema Shah, Powell, Christopher Waller, you’re, ”, José Torres, ” Powell, Jerome Powell Organizations: DC CNN, Federal, Fed, Commerce Department, Market Committee, Atlanta Fed, Asset Management, CNN, ”, The Labor Department, Interactive Locations: Washington, Wyoming, —

☆ Business conditions are expected to improve as inflation slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —American businesses are expected to fare better in the coming months, according to a survey of economists and analysts released Monday. A survey from the National Association for Business Economics released Monday showed that businesses have rejoiced in better economic conditions. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents reported that wages at their firms were unchanged — the first time more economists reported no wage gains than rising wages since 2021. The Fed doesn’t necessarily need a recession to do that, but some research suggests the labor market must cool further. The labor market is closely watched by Fed officials since higher labor costs feed into inflation.

Persons: haven’t, ”, Julia Coronado, Austan Goolsbee, cooldown, Brian Moynihan, bode Organizations: DC CNN, Federal Reserve, University of Michigan’s, Consumers, National Association for Business, Employers, Chicago Fed, Bank of America, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Federation of Independent, Fed Locations: Washington

Search resuls for: "inflation’s cooldown"

6 mentions found