Author: Press Room

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What a difference a quarter makes. Heading into Q2, the global stock market rally had been broadening nicely. Small caps were participating in the upside while non-US equities were actually beating their large-cap US counterparts. What’s more, relative strength was seen in areas away from just the Information Technology and Communication Services sectors. Niches like Financials, Industrials, and Energy were charging ahead even as odds for significant rate cuts from the Federal Reserve were erased from 2024’s monetary policy chalkboard one by one. That all changed starting around mid-April. Tax Day marked an inflection at which mega-cap tech reasserted its…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned that the Lebanese militant group would fight “without rules and without limits” if its conflict with Israel widens.In a televised address, Nasrallah also threatened neighbouring Cyprus for the first time, saying Hizbollah would consider the country “part of the war” if it allowed Israel to continue using Cypriot airports and bases for military exercises.The Iran-backed militant group and Israeli forces have been trading fire almost daily since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began…

Digital assets now are a major cause of problems settling and distributing estates. You need to carefully consider and incorporate your digital life in the estate plan. Almost all states enacted a form of the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives an estate executor the right to manage computer files, web domains, and virtual currencies unless the will or other document specifically prohibits the access. The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act, now making its way through state legislatures, would recognize electronic and digital signatures on wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents. Paper and ink signatures…

Mortgage interest rates fell this past week, but not by much. Rates for 30-year mortgages averaged just a hair under 7% at 6.99%, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly rates report. Last week’s average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was just over 7%. Both last week’s and this week’s rates are higher than they were this time last year when rates averaged 6.71%.”Mortgage rates retreated this week given incoming data showing slower growth,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said. “Rates are just shy of seven percent, and we expect them to modestly decline over the remainder of 2024. If a…

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One of the key headwinds for the oil market this year was the possibility of a coordinated Strategic Petroleum Reserve (“SPR”) release from the US and China. With this year being a presidential election year, the Biden administration will do whatever it takes to keep oil prices from moving higher. In our April 17 report for subscribers titled, “This Is How I See The Oil Market Playing Out For The Rest Of 2024.” we wrote in the section on US and China SPR releases the following: At the moment, US crude storage with SPR has been steadily building for 2024,…

Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for freeThe stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White HouseJoe Biden has offered up to 500,000 undocumented spouses of Americans an easier path to legal status and US citizenship, removing the threat of deportation and marking the country’s most significant reform to immigration policy in years.The US president announced the move on Tuesday, calling it a “common sense fix” to the fear and uncertainty experienced in mixed-status families that streamlines an existing immigration process.It would allow the spouses to apply for lawful permanent residency without having to leave…

Earlier this year, a family member had a screening colonoscopy. He’d seen the news stories about the Affordable Care Act mandating no out-of-pocket costs, such as co-pays or a deductible. So if this test is supposed to be “free,” why did he get a bill? This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of people receiving bills for this procedure. (Full disclosure: That even happened to me.) Medicare covers a colonoscopy with no Part B deductible, copayment, or coinsurance when the test is done for screening: Once every 2 years for those at high risk Once every 10 years for those…