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Mortgage rates dropped again this week, marking the third consecutive week of decreases, according to Freddie Mac. "Potential homebuyers remain sensitive to changes in mortgage rates, but ample demand remains, fueled by first-time homebuyers." See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage calculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's mortgage rates would impact your monthly payments. 30-year fixed mortgage ratesThe current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.13%, according to Freddie Mac. 15-year fixed mortgage ratesThe average 15-year fixed mortgage rate is 5.17%, a decrease from the prior week, according to Freddie Mac data.

☆ Why do people buy crackpot conspiracy theories?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

When it comes to the spread of cockamamie conspiracy theories, Twitter was a maximum viable product long before Elon Musk paid $44 billion for the keys. The more you think you're right all the time, a new study suggests, the more likely you are to buy conspiracy theories, regardless of the evidence. It'd be better, or at least more reassuring, if conspiracy theories were fueled by dumb yahoos rather than self-centered monsters. Still, most scientists thought conspiracy theories weren't worth their time, the province of weirdos connecting JFK's death to lizard aliens. Pennycook's findings also suggest an explanation for why conspiracy theories have become so widely accepted.

☆ Stock futures tick down after the Dow posts a five-day win streak
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures slipped Thursday evening as investors look ahead to earnings and economic reports due Friday. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.31% and 0.56%, respectively. The S&P 500 rose 1.10% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.76%. The Dow and the S&P 500 have gained 1.7% and 2.2% this week, respectively. Investors may be watching Chevron's report closely after the company announced a $75 billion stock buyback and dividend boost on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is embracing the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you pay for it. The original breach was one revelation in what makes Wall Street tick; Morgan Stanley’s response, or the idea that it’s an outlier, is another. What’s good for the pottery store sounds good for Wall Street too. Morgan Stanley was one of 11 banks fined by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in September 2022. At the time, the SEC noted that Morgan Stanley had financially penalized and terminated some staff for violating its policies.

☆ Mortgage rates tick down ahead of Fed meeting next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington, DC CNN —Mortgage rates fell slightly this week, staying almost flat ahead of the Federal Reserve’s closely watched interest rate-setting meeting next week. The average mortgage rate is based on mortgage applications that Freddie Mac receives from thousands of lenders across the country. When Treasury yields go up, so do mortgage rates; when they go down, mortgage rates tend to follow. Mortgage applications riseThe downward trend for mortgage rates since November has had a positive impact on home affordability for mortgage borrowers. “Borrower demand, thanks to lower mortgage rates, continues to rise in early 2023,” said Bob Broeksmit, MBA president and CEO.

☆ I'm the former VP of HR at Microsoft. It's super common to not like your manager — here's what to do about it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Chris Williams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft and a podcaster, consultant, and TikTok creator. He says it's very common to not like your manager and that he's been on both sides of the situation. I'm a former VP of HR for Microsoft and I can assure you that if you're feeling this way, you're not alone. Because you don't have to like your manager to work well with them — you just have to share common ground. Chris Williams is the former VP of HR at Microsoft and a leadership advisor, podcaster, TikTok creator, and author.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Disney, Target, AMD, Tesla, Coinbase, Amazon & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by it's overweight rating on Apple shares heading into earnings on Feb. 2. Bernstein reiterates Apple as market perform Bernstein said it's "ambivalent" about Apple shares heading into earnings next month. Bernstein downgrades Advanced Micro to market perform from outperform Bernstein said it's concerned about a deteriorating PC market. Morgan Stanley upgrades Marathon Oil to overweight from neutral Morgan Stanley said Marathon Oil has "peer-leading FCF and shareholder returns." Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees opportunity for Ford to "to exercise its self-help muscle."

☆ Bank earnings become a post-Covid parlor game
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Chief among the mysteries is how much interest banks will harvest in 2023 and beyond. Even then, the link between benchmark interest rates and the rate banks actually charge is getting harder to forecast. Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan said that depositors who used to have roughly $3,500 with the bank now have almost four times more. Goldman just laid off 6% of its workforce, but it remains bigger than it was in 2019; Bank of America says it’s still hiring. To that end, the fog is arguably less troublesome for Goldman and Morgan Stanley than it is for JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup (C.N).

☆ Musk says higher priced Twitter subscription won't carry ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that a higher priced subscription of the social media platform will not carry advertisements. loadingThe billionaire also said that ads are "too frequent on Twitter and too big," and that steps will be taken to address those issues in coming weeks. Twitter earns nearly 90% of its revenue from selling digital ads and Musk recently attributed a "massive drop in revenue" to rights organizations that have pressured brands to pause their Twitter ads. Earlier in December, Musk announced that Twitter's Basic blue tick will have half the number of advertisements and that it will offer a higher tier with no advertisements by 2023. Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Investors underpricing ECB rate hikes, Knot says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It will not stop after a single 50 basis point hike, that’s for sure," Knot told CNBC, adding that investors should take more seriously its policy guidance. "Most of the ground that we have to cover, we will cover at a constant pace of multiple 50 basis points hikes." "The sort of market developments that I've seen over the last two weeks or so, are not entirely welcome," Knot said after investors priced out some rate hikes. While a 50 basis point hike for February is fully priced in, markets are oscillating between 25 and 50 for March. Part of the change is related to more benign rate hike expectations from the U.S. Federal Reserve and an anticipation that the ECB would follow its U.S. counterpart if its slowed or stopped with rate hikes.

☆ Stock futures tick up after Dow goes negative for the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures ticked higher on Thursday as investors tried to hang onto the January rally amid worries about monetary policy and slowing earnings. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.09% and 0.27%, respectively. The S&P 500 shed 0.76% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.96%, but both indexes are positive for the year. The Dow is down 3.67%, on track for its worst week since September. The S&P 500 is down more than 2.5% and could notch its worst weekly performance since December.

Musk, who is expected to be called as a witness in San Francisco federal court this week, has built a cult-like following for his irreverent humor, marketing skills and vision. Legal experts said a jury trial can turn on a key witness and the attorney who questions Musk needs to establish control, minimizing Musk's ability to use his charisma. In the current case, Musk sat for a daylong deposition in 2021 with lead shareholder attorney Nicholas Porritt. The jury is likely to see the "greatest hits" from that interview, according to trial attorney Renato Mariotti, who is not involved in the case. Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Del., and Jody Godoy in San Francisco; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter offers new annual plan for subscription service
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it was offering an annual plan for its subscription service called Twitter Blue, which includes its sought-after "verified" badge, at a discount to its monthly price. Users can subscribe to the service for an annual price of $84, instead of a monthly subscription price of $8 on the web and $11 on Apple devices. The discount would be available in countries including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, Twitter said. Since billionaire Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter for $44 billion last year, he has brought changes to the company including new subscription plans for Twitter Blue. But a subscription option, open to anyone prepared to pay, was rolled out last year to help Twitter grow revenue as Musk fights to retain advertisers.

☆ The Taliban bought Twitter's $8 a month blue ticks. They appear to have been removed after outrage.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Twitter accounts of at least two Taliban officials were sporting blue ticks on Monday, per the BBC. That sparked an outrage and by Tuesday, the ticks appear to have been removed. The BBC reported Monday that the Twitter accounts of at least two Taliban officials and four well-known supporters of the regime were sporting the checkmarks. It's unclear if Twitter removed the blue badges from the Taliban-linked accounts, or if the account owners unsubscribed from the Twitter Blue service. Twitter Blue is a paid subscription service that charges users for a blue checkmark next to their account names and offers early access to certain features.

The question now is whether 2023 will see China reassert its dominance as the main driver of commodity markets. There were differences in China's 2022 commodities imports, and the trends established may persist for a while yet. However, the trend for crude oil imports and product exports shifted in the last quarter of 2022. Crude oil imports rose 4% in December from the same month a year earlier, reaching 11.3 million bpd. It's likely that they will want to ramp up purchases in 2023 to meet rising domestic demand from the re-opening economy and ongoing fuel export quotas.

☆ Stock futures tick lower as investors look to corporate earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures were down slightly Monday night as investors attempted to keep building on early 2023 momentum and looked ahead to more corporate earnings. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 14 points, or just under the flatline. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slid 0.2%. "The question now is whether earnings season will enhance that new sense of hope or spoil the party before it really gets going." Investors will also be closely watching for news out of the World Economic Forum's summit in Davos taking place this week.

Government bond yields are expected to tick up as investors shift focus to the upcoming budget. The rupee climbed 1.7% to 81.3250 per dollar last week, tracking a broad decline in the dollar index . There are a lot of positives for the rupee, including the Fed view, the broadly stable oil prices and the fall in Treasury yields, said Anil Bhansali, head of treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors. Till then, bond yields should not fall much, as most people are expecting a heavy borrowing calendar," said Ajay Manglunia, managing director and head of investment grade group at JM Financial. Meanwhile, as a bulk of the fresh supply for the next financial year would hit the longer end, market participants expect yields to rise, while shorter-tenor yields may see some fall.

☆ How eliminating noncompete agreements could make it easier for workers to change jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Marguerite Ward | Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some 30 million workers are subject to noncompete agreements, according to the FTC. The FTC estimated that some 30 million workers are subject to noncompete agreements. In theory, noncompete agreements protect companies from having high-level executives with inside info jump to competitors or start rival shops. Thousands of workers could soon switch jobsMany low-wage workers are subject to noncompete agreements, which the FTC said stifles wages and innovation. andresr/Getty ImagesEnforceable or not, noncompete agreements scare many workers into staying in their current roles, recruiters said.

Bella Ramsey, the star of the highly anticipated HBO television series “The Last of Us,” recently shared that her gender has always been very fluid. However, she added, “Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.”Bella Ramsey in season eight of "Game of Thrones." Helen Sloan / HBORamsey, 19, joins a growing number of young adults who identify as neither exclusively male nor female. The British actor also joins a growing number of celebrities who identify as nonbinary or gender fluid. The dystopian series centers on Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler, who is tasked with escorting lesbian teen Ellie (Ramsey) across a post-pandemic United States.

☆ December inflation data: Here's how it could move markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Like we saw following November's CPI report, markets rallied and then pulled back," Conzo explained. The central bank remains "worried about the overheating labor market," and the CPI report is "unlikely to quell those concerns." If the inflation data shows further cooling today, how does that impact your economic outlook for the year? Along with CPI data, investors are also bracing for the release of the number of US jobless claims. Coinbase stock price on Jan. 12, 2023 Markets Insider10.

China, the world's second largest economy, is expected to register a second consecutive month of month-on-month consumer price declines in December, something not recorded since the first half of 2021. Economists are forecasting a drop of 0.1% following a 0.2% fall in November, while the annual rate of inflation is expected to tick up to 1.8% from an eight-month low of 1.6%. Economists expect annual inflation of 5.9% in December, almost identical to November's 5.88%, which was the lowest since January and almost two percentage points down from the April peak. But the main event of the day is the U.S. inflation report for December that lands at 8:30 a.m. Eastern (1330 GMT). The monthly rate of inflation is expected to be 0%.

☆ Falling Car Prices Will Slow Detroit’s Profit Machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the fortunate few that can pay in cash, conditions are gradually getting better for buying a car. By the same token they are getting worse for companies on the other side of the trade. The closely watched Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks wholesale auction values in the U.S., finished 2022 down 14.9%, its worst ever annual result and far worse than the 3% decline forecast at the start of the year by Cox Automotive, the data provider that crunches the numbers. Adjusted for mix, mileage and seasonality, the index did tick up in December, breaking a 12-month downward trend, but Cox said Monday that it doesn’t expect that to mark the bottom. It is forecasting a further 4.3% decline this year as interest-rate increases reduce buyers’ purchasing power, with the market reaching a more normal equilibrium in the second half.

☆ World Bank: Global economy could see second recession of the decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —The global economy is just one more knock away from a second recession in the same decade, something that hasn’t happened in more than 80 years. That’s the latest warning from the World Bank, which on Tuesday sharply lowered its forecast for global economic growth. “The crisis facing development is intensifying as the global growth outlook deteriorates,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement. As a result, “further negative shocks” — from higher inflation and even tighter monetary policy to an uptick in geopolitical tensions — could be enough to trigger recessionary conditions, according to the World Bank. The global economy shrank by 3.2% during the pandemic recession of 2020, before bouncing back strongly in 2021.

☆ Share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 hits record high
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Amid rising interest rates and elevated auto prices, the share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 jumped to a record high, according to Edmunds. At the same time, the interest rate on new car loans reached 6.5%, up from 4.1% a year earlier, Edmunds data shows. As the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to combat persisting inflation, auto loan rates could tick even higher, although consumers with higher credit scores may be able to secure better loan terms. Now, more consumers face monthly payments that they likely cannot afford, according to Ivan Drury, Edmunds' director of insights. Car buyers are hit with "shock and awe" as high prices and rising rates cause monthly payments to balloon, he said.

☆ Get ready for a ‘slowcession’ in 2023, Moody’s says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

But Moody’s Analytics says the more likely scenario is a “slowcession,” where growth grinds to a near halt but a full economic downturn is narrowly avoided. “Under almost any scenario, the economy is set to have a difficult 2023,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi wrote in a report on Tuesday. Why Moody’s is predicting no recessionIn addition to cooling inflation, Moody’s expressed optimism about the ability of consumers to weather the storm in 2023. “Shoppers are the firewall between an economy in recession and an economy that skirts a downturn,” Zandi wrote. “It is important not to be Pollyannish, but it also important not to convince ourselves that a recession is inevitable,” Zandi wrote.

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