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Instablog9ja
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A concerned Nigerian man has asked What is the Church doing about the mass s¥ffering of Nigerians?
He meant what the church has been doing in speaking out and condemning the bad that the government has being doing.
Investopedia
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Several pieces of economic data Thursday complicated the Federal Reserve's plans to gradually lower interest rates in the coming months and bring the economy in for a "soft landing."
Reports on consumer prices and jobless claims delivered some mixed news on how the Fed is doing to stave off inflation and unemployment. The Consumer Price Index fell to its lowest year-over-year rate since 2021 but ran higher than forecasters expected in September. Not only that, but the 12-month rate of "core" inflation, which leaves out volatile prices for food and energy, rose for the first time since March 2023 to 3.3%, still above the Fed's goal for a 2% annual rate.Meanwhile, the Department of Labor said 258,000 people filed for unemployment for the first time last week, up from 225,000 the week prior. This was well over the 230,000 jobless claims forecasters had expected, according to a survey of economists by andStubborn inflation and rising joblessness are the exact opposite of what the Fed wants as it attempts to bring the economy down from the feverish outburst of inflation that followed the pandemic in 2021.
In September, the Fed began trimming its benchmark interest rate, which influences borrowing costs on everything from credit cards to mortgages. At that time, officials said they expected to make further cuts in the coming months. Central bankers projected they'd make a 25 basis-point (bps) cut at each of the two remaining meetings.
But will Fed officials rethink their rate-cut plans with inflation running hotter than expected? Several economists think not.
“The larger-than-anticipated gain in the September consumer price index doesn’t signal a reacceleration in inflation, nor will it deter the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates by 25 bps at its November meeting," Ryan Sweet, Chief US Economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a commentary. "The Fed needs to continue to normalize interest rates to keep the economy on the path toward a soft landing."
Financial markets agreed. Traders were pricing in an 86.3% chance of a rate cut in September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.
Before the September meeting, the Fed had held rates high, pushing up borrowing costs to subdue inflation. However, with inflation subsiding closer to the Fed's goal of a 2% annual rate, the Fed is lowering borrowing costs to bolster the economy and prevent a sharp increase in unemployment.
Historically, when the Fed has hiked interest rates to subdue inflation, the economy has crashed afterward and gone into recession with widespread job losses. Fed officials have voiced hopes that this time will be different.
Both reports released Thursday contained details that suggested the economy could still be on the path to a soft landing. For one thing, the jump in unemployment claims likely had more to do with temporary disruptions from Hurricane Helene and strikes like those at Boeing and less to do with broader trends in the job market, economists said.The inflation report had a silver lining, too. Shelter costs only rose 4.9% over the year, the slowest increase since March 2022, reversing a sharp uptick in August. Housing has been a major factor preventing inflation from falling all the way back down to the Fed's 2% milestone."The report shows some stickiness on inflation, but we are not yet worried about reacceleration risks," Stephen Juneau, chief U.S. economist at Bank of America Securities, wrote in a commentary.
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Investopedia
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Big banks will kick off earnings season tomorrow with results that could set the tone for what some analysts are expecting to be a lackluster round of reports. But some experts say that might not be such a bad thing for investors.
The consensus on Wall Street is that the S&P 500 as a whole will report growth slowed to 4% from 11% in the prior quarter, according to analysts at Bank of America. That would be the most pronounced deceleration in two and a half years.
Analysts lowered their expectations throughout the quarter as economic data pointed to a softening labor market, a threat to consumer spending, the engine of the U.S. economy. From the start of the quarter to its end, analysts lowered their S&P 500 aggregate earnings estimate by nearly 4%. While it's normal for Wall Street to scale back earnings estimates, a 4% reduction is above the 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year averages. Tech is the only sector for which Wall Street has raised its expectations.
With the bar lowered, the stage could be set for stocks to pop on better-than-expected results.
“As long as companies have managed through macro headwinds and see early signs of improvement from lower rates, stocks should get rewarded,” wrote BofA analysts. They estimate that Wall Street has overestimated the impact disappointing macroeconomic data will have on corporate earnings, and expect S&P 500 earnings to top estimates by about 2 percentage points.
Thus far, S&P 500 companies are beating earnings estimates at an above-average rate, with more than three-quarters topping earnings per share estimates. And they're beating estimates by a wider margin than the previous quarter (3.5% vs. 1.7%). Though, with only 21 companies having reported at the time of BofA's note, that fact should be taken with a healthy grain of salt.
Investors will likely place as much if not more importance on a company’s outlook than its past results, and there’s reason to expect more optimism now that the Federal Reserve has begun easing policy.
Earnings in rate-sensitive industries like manufacturing and housing should recover in the coming quarters if rates continue to decline, says BofA. That recovery could have an outsized impact on the S&P 500’s earnings. BofA estimates goods-focused businesses account for half of the index’s profits but only 20% of U.S. GDP.
The outlook could also be brightened by forecasts of more robust capital expenditures (CapEx).
Artificial intelligence capex could also flow through to corporate earnings. Tech giants Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG; GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) are expected to spend more than $200 billion on infrastructure this year, with much of that spending dedicated to AI. That spending was a thorn in these companies' sides last quarter when investors balked at AI's hefty price tag. CapEx jitters could weigh on mega-cap tech stocks again this round, but it could also boost the revenue of relevant companies across the technology, utilities, and industrial sectors.
The remainder of the S&P 500 is on track to decrease its CapEx by 1% this year. Companies have been discouraged from making big investments by both elevated borrowing costs and the uncertainty surrounding November's presidential election. BofA notes that, historically, investment activity picks up significantly after elections when executives have a clearer picture of the outlook on taxes, trade, and regulations. That CapEx boost could be exacerbated this year by falling interest rates.
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Instablog9ja
2 hrs
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Actor Yul Edochie has revealed that he believe in President Tinubu, and he believed he will fix Nigeria.
He said this as he advised Nigerians to be patient and all will be well with our country.
Your Face, The Only Access – OPay Develops Large Transaction Shield To Ensure Security For You
Instablog9ja
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Investopedia
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The older a woman gets, the longer she expects to work.
A recent survey from Northwestern Mutual found that Boomer–and older–women anticipate retiring at age 71. That’s older than women in Gen Z and millennials, who expect to retire at age 62 and 64, respectively.
The changes reflect evolving visions and understanding of what women expect from life as they age. As they move closer to retirement age, according to Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Advisor Denise Beaulier, women may worry more about money, revising their expectations about when they'll retire.
"As people approach or enter retirement, some may lower their expectations for what they will realistically be able to afford based on what they currently have saved," Beaulier said in emailed comments.
The women Northwestern Mutual surveyed had an average savings goal of $1.5 million. (That, according to the guideline known as the 4% rule, would suit someone who expected to have annual expenses around $60,000 in retirement.) Younger women had higher targets for their retirement savings than did Boomers–and more optimism about their ability to reach them.
Roughly 60% of GenZ (those typically born between 1997 and 2012) women surveyed said they expect to be financially prepared for retirement, much higher than 40% of GenX women, who are between 44 and 59 years old.
Recent research from Fidelity indicated that Gen Z women are more likely to invest outside of retirement (38%) compared to women overall (28%).
"The youngest generation of women is setting ambitious financial goals, and with their rising incomes, side hustles and early investing, they may have the financial fuel they need to reach them," said Northwestern Mutual Chief Product Officer Kamilah Williams-Kemp.
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