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Consumers slowed their borrowing in June, according to data released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, in yet another sign of the toll elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty are taking on the engine of the U.S. economy.

Consumer credit increased by $8.9 billion in June, putting growth at an annual rate of 2.1%. Economists surveyed by the and had projected credit would increase by $9.7 billion.

Consumers are feeling the pressure from elevated price levels and slowing income growth,” said Jeffrey Roach, LPL Financial chief economist. 

However, the Fed also revised its data from prior months higher. Wednesday's report showed credit grew by $14 billion in May, nearly $3 billion more than was estimated in last month's report.

While consumers continued to add credit, there were some signs the public pulled back on spending. Revolving credit, primarily made up of credit card accounts, declined by $1.7 billion in June, the biggest drop since March 2021.

“Softer demand for credit will likely impact lower-income consumers the most, but overall, the data suggest a slowdown in consumer spending for the rest of this year,” Roach said. 

Consumer spending accounts for well over half of U.S. GDP, which is why investors and economists closely watch borrowing and spending as an economic indicator. Strong consumer spending helped support growth in 2023 and, despite some weakening, has so far remained resilient in 2024. 

There were other signs this week that consumers were feeling the strain of borrowing. A New York Federal Reserve report showed more borrowers were falling behind on payments for both credit cards and auto loans.

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Major U.S. equities indexes reversed early gains to close lower on Wednesday, as Tuesday's stock market rebound failed to maintain its momentum. The S&P 500 slipped 0.8%, while the Nasdaq dropped 1.1%, and the Dow lost 0.6%.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares plummeted 20.1%, suffering the steepest declines of any stock in the S&P 500, after the server and data storage provider reported lower-than-expected profits for its fiscal fourth quarter. An unexpected drop in adjusted gross margin weighed on Supermicro's performance. Supermicro also announced a 10-for-1 stock split.

Shares of Airbnb (ABNB) tumbled 13.4% following the company's second-quarter earnings report. Although the vacation rental platform edged out sales estimates, its profits came in below expectations, and Airbnb warned of a slowdown in U.S. travel demand. Despite decelerating growth in bookings, Airbnb highlighted gains in "nights and experiences" bookings.  

Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) reported slightly better-than-expected profits for the second quarter, but the health care diagnostics company said it now expects sales to decline rather than grow over the full fiscal year. The company forecast softer demand among its global biopharmaceutical clients over the second half of 2024. Charles River shares sank 12.6% on the day.

Fortinet (FTNT) shares skyrocketed 25.3%, marking Wednesday's best performance in the S&P 500, after the cybersecurity firm topped sales and profit estimates for the second quarter. Gains in services revenue and record operating margins contributed to the strong results. The company also provided upbeat guidance for the current quarter and touted its leadership in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) market.

Shares of Axon Enterprise (AXON) jumped 18.4% as the maker of the Taser and other law enforcement equipment released strong quarterly results. Revenue exceeded analysts' forecasts, and Axon reported an enthusiastic customer response to its Draft One AI product, which generates an initial version of a police report based on recordings from the company's body cameras.

Global Payments (GPN) shares added 6.9% after the financial technology provider posted better-than-expected sales and profits for the second quarter. The company also touted new technology partnerships to provide payment services for Minor League Baseball franchises as well as several football clubs in the U.K.

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Not so long ago, a friend texted me from a coffee shop. He said, "I can't believe it. I'm the only one here without a tattoo!" That might not seem surprising: a quick glance around practically anywhere people gather shows that tattoos are widely popular.

Nearly one-third of adults in the US have a tattoo, according to a Pew Research Center survey, including more than half of women ages 18 to 49. These numbers have increased dramatically over the last 20 years: around 21% of US adults in 2012 and 16% of adults in 2003 reported having at least one tattoo.

If you're among them, some recent headlines may have you worried:

              Study Finds That Tattoos Can Increase Your Risk of Lymphoma (OnlyMyHealth)

              Getting a Tattoo Puts You At Higher Risk of Cancer, Claims Study (NDTV)

              Inky waters: Tattoos increase risk of lymphoma by over 20%, study says (Local12.com)

              Shocking study reveals tattoos may increase risk of lymphoma by 20% (Fox News)

What study are they talking about? And how concerned should you be? Let's go through it together. One thing is clear: there's much more to this story than the headlines.

Why are researchers studying a possible link between tattoos and lymphoma?

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and lymph nodes that twines throughout the body. With about 90,000 newly diagnosed cases a year, lymphoma is one of the most common types of cancer.

Risk factors for it include:

Tattoos are not known to be a cause or risk factor for lymphoma. But there are several reasons to wonder if there might be a connection:

Is there a connection between tattoos and lymphoma?

Any potential connection between tattoos and lymphoma has not been well studied. I could find only two published studies exploring the possibility, and neither found evidence of a compelling link.

The first study compared 737 people with the most common type of lymphoma (called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) with otherwise similar people who did not have lymphoma. The researchers found no significant difference in the frequency of tattoos between the two groups.

A study published in May 2024 — the one that triggered the scary headlines above — was larger. It compared 1,398 people ages 20 to 60 who had lymphoma with 4,193 people who did not have lymphoma but who were otherwise similar. The study found that

There was no correlation between the size or number of tattoos and lymphoma risk.

What else should you know about the study?

Importantly, nearly all of the differences in rates of lymphoma between people with and without tattoos were not statistically significant. That means the reported link between lymphoma and tattoos is questionable — and quite possibly observed by chance. In fact, some of the other findings argue against a connection, such as the lack of a link between size or number of tattoos and lymphoma risk.

In addition, if tattoos significantly increase a person's risk of developing lymphoma, we might expect lymphoma rates in the US to be rising along with the popularity of tattoos. Yet that's not the case.

Finally, a study like this one (called an association study) cannot prove that a potential trigger of disease (in this case, tattoos) actually caused the disease (lymphoma). There may be other factors (called confounders) that are more common among people who have tattoos, and those factors might account for the higher lymphoma risk.

Do tattoos come with other health risks?

While complication rates from reputable and appropriately certified tattooists are low, there are health risks associated with tattoos:

The bottom line

Despite headlines suggesting a link between tattoos and the risk of lymphoma, there's no convincing evidence it's true. We'll need significantly more research to say much more than that. In the meantime, there are more important health concerns to worry about and much better ways for all of us to reduce cancer risk.

Source: Harvard Health Publishing

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has suspended an officer captured in a viral video soliciting a bribe from a tourist at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The incident, which has sparked public outrage, has prompted swift action from the NIS.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Comptroller General Kemi Nandap announced the indefinite suspension of Okpravero Ufuoma, an Assistant Superintendent of Immigration II (ASI 2). Nandap made it clear that Ufuoma’s conduct is not in line with the values and professionalism upheld by the NIS.

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