Author: Press Room

By Herbert Lash and Harry Robertson NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar edged higher on Monday ahead of a slew of central bank meetings this week, with the Bank of Japan potentially set to end negative interest rates and the market waiting for the Federal Reserve’s latest projections for its rate cut plans. In addition to Japan and the United States, central banks in Britain, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil and Indonesia are all due to meet this week. The , which measures the U.S. currency against six other major currencies, rose 0.145% at 103.600. It has strengthened just over…

By Satoshi Sugiyama TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan will ditch its negative interest rate policy in April, according to just under two-thirds of economists polled by Reuters, although a growing minority now expect it to happen this month compared to only a few surveyed in February. Just in the last few days, some have leaned toward an imminent first step toward departing a decades-long stimulus programme, driven by news of strong pay hikes at big firms and hawkish comments from BOJ policymakers on the inflation target. The central bank has long contended robust wage growth was a prerequisite…

BlackRock BLK CEO Larry Fink issued his Annual Chairman’s Letter to Investors. Always a much-anticipated document, this year’s letter is titled “Time to rethink retirement.” Fink asks, “How do we afford longer lives?” and argues that we should at least start the conversation of when retirement should be in an era of increasing longevity and how we might encourage those who want to work longer to do so. Today, conversations about retirement and retirement age are most often framed around questions of math and money. Have individuals and families saved enough to afford retirement, and can current national retirement systems…

New construction homes are continuing to grow in popularity, largely due to a lack of older homes on the market. In the fourth quarter, 31.8% of single-family homes for sale were new construction, according to a Redfin report. That’s down just slightly from last year’s high of 31.9%.Prospective homebuyers are seeking new construction more often for several reasons. New home construction has grown significantly since 2009, now that the effects of the Great Recession have finally lessened. The pandemic also gave rise to a new build craze as mortgage rates hit all-time lows. “Newly built homes are selling quickly right…

President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan has lowered student loan payments for 153,000 borrowers. In July, the plan is set to drop payments even more for nearly every borrower enrolled. The plan uses a borrower’s income to determine payment amounts. Until July, the formula considers 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income when calculating these monthly payments. Starting on July 1, the repayment formula will start basing payments on 5% of borrowers’ income instead, lowering the payment of every person enrolled in the SAVE plan. This drop to 5% only applies to those paying down undergraduate student loans.…

Americans know that carrying a credit card balance is a bad idea, but 45% typically do so anyway, a recent survey said. Consumers of all ages and financial backgrounds are amassing credit card debt, and struggling to live within their means, and these behaviors are only getting worse, the Quicken survey said. Roughly 77% said they owned a credit card. Half (50%) of the consumers earning an annual income between $50,000-$99,000 said they relied on credit cards, rather than cash, for the bulk of their purchases.  Americans now owe $1.08 trillion on their credit cards after racking up a collective $48 billion in…

Interest payments for U.S. consumers are through the roof. Last quarter, consumers spent a record-high $1.1 trillion on interest payments alone, reported Quartz, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).  Over half of those interest payments were not related to mortgage debt. Mortgages often have some of the highest interest over the life of the loans. The “personal interest payments” line of BEA’s report shows that $563.2 billion of the $1.1 trillion was non-mortgage related interest. “The dominance of the 15-30-year fixed-rate mortgage has played a significant role in blunting the impact of higher rates on aggregate household…

After the wedding and honeymoon bliss wears off, it’s time to get back to reality. Money is a topic that requires discussion between you and your partner, hopefully before nuptials take place. Finances can be a huge point of contention between couples, so it’s important to establish a plan early on about how you both, as a married couple, are going to deal with money. Money is also often an awkward topic between partners, but it’s vital to be honest with each other through financial conversations. After all, 44% of couples argue at least occasionally about money, according to Bankrate. Below…

Hedge funds are dumping stocks at the fastest pace in three months as what’s often called ” the smart money ” stepped up bearish wagers against equities amid the recent pullback. The professionals sold global stocks on a net basis for a second straight week last week, driven almost entirely by short sales, according to Goldman Sachs’ prime brokerage data. It marked the biggest selling week for hedge funds since mid-January, the data showed. Separately, Bank of America’s client data showed a similar trend. Its hedge fund clients sold stocks for a fifth consecutive week last week, exiting shares across…

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. BlackBerry — BlackBerry shares popped more than 9% after the company announced a partnership with Advanced Micro Devices on robotics systems. Moderna — The vaccine maker gained 6%. Reuters reported that Moderna’s cancer drug it’s working on with Merck showed promising results in an early stage study in individuals with a certain form of neck and head cancer. Boeing — The airplane maker was down more than 2% after a New York Times report said regulators were investigating claims from a whistleblower about flaws in the company’s 787 Dreamliner. Alphabet —…