Author: Press Room

FedEx said it plans to boost its quarterly dividend by 10% in an otherwise quiet week for such announcements. FedEx (ticker: FDX) declared a quarterly disbursement to $1.26 a share from $1.15 earlier this week. The increase brings the annualized dividend to $5.04 a share. The dividend is payable on July 3 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 12. The global shipper’s stock, which yields 2.2%, has a one-year return of 16% through April 6, including dividends, compared with minus 7% for the S&P 500. Elsewhere, Constellation Brands (STZ) said it will increase its quarterly…

April is National Financial Literacy Month. To mark the occasion, MarketWatch will publish a series of “Financial Fitness” articles to help readers improve their fiscal health, and offer advice on how to save, invest and spend their money wisely. Read more here.After renting for nearly a decade, New Yorker Malcolm J. Merriweather decided to look for a home to buy. Merriweather, a director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, and an associate professor at Brooklyn College, had been on the market to buy a home since 2018. But since he had many income streams from performing with groups all over the…

The numbers: Banks reduced overall borrowing from the Federal Reserve for the second straight week in the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. They drew $153 billion in credit in the week ended March 29, based on the Fed’s weekly H.4.1. survey. Banks borrowed $164 billion in the prior week and an initial $165 billion in the first week after the failure of SVB. The decline in borrowing suggests stress on the U.S. financial system might be easing after a spasm following the failure of several regional banks. Key details: Banks borrowed $88.2 billion from the Fed using…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Capital One banking center in New York’s financial district January 17, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Nupur Anand and Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK (Reuters) -For months, consumers have clamored for banks to pay out more for deposits as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Now analysts say after the banking crisis shook markets last month, lenders appear to be rejigging offers in an effort to keep customers’ cash parked in their accounts for longer. U.S. banks are trying to woo depositors by offering signing bonuses to open new accounts or deposit money…

By Barani Krishnan  Investing.com — Recession worries have started dominating markets of all shapes and sizes outside of oil, a day after OPEC+ announced a second production cut in four months. But longs in crude refused to settle for a negative close on Tuesday, pushing for a small gain that built on the mammoth 5% rally from the previous session. New York-traded , or WTI, crude settled at $80.71, up 29 cents, or 0.4%, after a session high of $81.78. On Monday, WTI jumped 6.3%. Since hitting 15-month lows of $64.12 on March 20, the U.S. crude benchmark has gained…

By Anushka Trivedi MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian foreign exchange traders are betting on a rise in dollar/rupee forward premiums as U.S. interest rates are expected to ease later this year, bankers and analysts said. The 1-year implied yield is forecast to rise to 3% levels within fiscal 2024 from around 2.40% currently, according to market participants. The 1-year implied yield is down about 140 basis points (bps) over the last 12 months. Forward premiums, a function of U.S. and India interest rate differentials, are expected to widen as the Federal Reserve is likely to ease rates gradually this year, while the Reserve Bank…

By Davide Barbuscia NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Federal Reserve’s preferred bond market signal of an upcoming recession has plunged to fresh lows, bolstering the case for those who believe the central bank will soon need to cut rates in order to revive economic activity. Research from the Fed has argued that the “near-term forward spread” comparing the forward rate on Treasury bills 18 months from now with the current yield on a three-month Treasury bill was the most reliable bond market signal of an imminent economic contraction. That spread, which has been in negative territory since November, plunged to new…

Key News Asian equities were largely higher/mixed on lower volume while Taiwan and India were off on holiday. There are many market holidays this week which explains the light volumes in the region which can lead to more volatility. It was interesting that Mainland China was mixed/higher but on very high volumes, reaching 146% of the 1-year average. Both the Shanghai and Shenzhen appear to be in intermediate uptrends with the Shanghai outperforming the Shenzhen. Shanghai’s mega/large cap State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are outperforming Shenzhen’s large/mid/small cap private companies. SOE reforms are a factor but also sector composition. Another factor…

We’re all about the dividends here at Contrarian Outlook. Often we take it for granted that we’re not looking to lose 17% in just just a few weeks while we collect income! The share-price chart for Bank of America BAC (BAC) may appeal to dividend dumpster divers. And heck, it may work, as BAC stands to gain as more people pull their savings from regional banks and plunk them into “too big to fail.” Why deal with this nonsense? This is exactly why we’re fading “cardiac” price charts like BAC’s and shifting toward the smooth and steady growth of dividends…

Since the Roth IRA was created in 1997, a portion of the financial services community warned the Roth IRA was a trap. Congress would wait until Roth accounts held trillions of dollars, then repeal all or some of the tax benefits. From the start, I’ve been skeptical of the arguments that Roth IRAs are a trap and encouraged taxpayers to use them. I think there’s even less reason today to fear that there’s a Roth IRA trap. Life insurance and annuities have maintained their tax advantages for many decades despite academic and political arguments against them. That’s because insurance companies…