Author: Press Room

The stress in the U.S banking system will likely result in lower consumer spending, said New York Fed President John Williams on Friday. In a speech at Housatonic Community College, Williams said the problems in the banking sector will cause banks to tighten credit. This, in turn will cause households and businesses to reduce spending. “The magnitude and duration of these effects, however, is still uncertain,” Williams said. Williams said he will be “particularly focused” on assessing the evolution of credit conditions on the outlook for economic growth, employment and inflation. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said Thursday that tighter…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A320neo ‘quiet jet’ comes in to land at the ILA Berlin Air Show in Schoenefeld, south of Berlin, Germany, June 4, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo By Tim Hepher and Sophie Yu PARIS/BEIJING (Reuters) – China and France will study the need for cargo planes and long-haul jets “in due course,” a joint statement said on Friday, following a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. The comments suggest a more muted stance on the prospect for significant orders of large Airbus jets compared with the planemaker’s best-selling A320neo medium-haul model, for which it is…

By Ahmed Rasheed and Maha El Dahan BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq said on Tuesday it has agreed to a smaller 30% stake in TotalEnergies long-delayed $27 billion project, reviving a deal that Baghdad hopes could lure back foreign investment into the battered country which craves stability. The deal was signed in 2021 for TotalEnergies to build four oil, gas and renewables projects with an initial investment of $10 billion in southern Iraq over 25 years. But it has experienced several setbacks amid disputes between Iraqi politicians over terms. Iraq’s cabinet said in a late Tuesday statement that it had approved…

By Peter Nurse Investing.com – The U.S. dollar edged higher in early European trade Friday, but looks set to record a second consecutive quarterly loss ahead of key U.S. inflation data. At 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher at 101.860, not far off its lowest level since early February. The index is down 1.3% year to date, extending a 7.7% fall in the fourth quarter of 2022. The turmoil in the U.S. banking sector, primarily, has resulted in traders reassessing their view of future moves, and…

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s new central bank chief will take baby steps in any shift away from the radical monetary experiment of his predecessor, if recent comments are any guide, but a deeper history of his thinking shows a taste for bolder action. Markets are rife with speculation that Kazuo Ueda, who becomes Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor on Sunday, will dismantle incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda’s massive stimulus programme that has drawn criticism for distorting market pricing and crushing bank profits. In a sign he will be in no rush to shift policy, Ueda told a parliamentary confirmation hearing…

Key takeaways Richard Branson’s private space company has come crashing back down to Earth after filing for bankruptcy The move comes after it laid off 85% of its workforce last week Shares have plummeted to just $0.19, with sister company Virgin Galactic shares also dropping 4.2% in a day Things aren’t looking good for British billionaire Richard Branson’s commercial space dreams. Virgin Orbit, Virgin’s satellite transport business, has filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale. It’s been a rough time for the Virgin Galactic spin-off, which also laid off 85% of its workforce last week. The company failed…

If you’re like me, it drives me nuts when I get a letter from the IRS stating there was something wrong on my tax return. I use a professional preparer, so I don’t have trouble most years, but there are things to know to avoid trouble, according to the IRS; Wait to file until you receive all of your proper tax documents, or you risk making a mistake that could cause delays. Review your income documents carefully. If any of the information is inaccurate or missing, taxpayers should contact the payer right away for a correction or to ensure the…

With President Biden’s veto of the Congress’s bipartisan joint resolution, ESG has been one of the hottest news stories in the financial world. Beyond the politics of it, proponents and opponents of the ESG push have their own reasons for staking out their positions. Would it surprise you to learn that self-interest plays a role? What is ESG and how does it work? At its most basic core, ESG is merely an extension of placing portfolio restrictions based on subjective, rather than accounting, factors. “Explained in simplest terms, ‘ESG’ stands for environmental, social and governance which is an investing strategy…

Hush money sounds dirty or illegal, but many businesses pay it on occasion. There are important tax rules at play, and everyone in business should know the key rules. Let’s start with the fact that just about every kind of payment has tax consequences, to both the recipient and to the one who paid the money. 1. Hush Money is Income. If you get paid hush money, is it income you have to report on your taxes? Yes, the IRS says almost everything is income, and that certainly applies to hush money, whatever the circumstances. In fact, almost all legal…

The first-quarter earnings season will be challenging with the economy laboring under still elevated inflation and the recent banking crisis. Earnings are slated to decline by -6.6% year-over-year, but if analysts are to be believed, this quarter should mark the nadir of the pace of earnings contraction. The items weighing on earnings include slowing economic growth, rising costs, and a strong dollar. The ability of companies to pass on higher prices to protect profit margins will remain a critical variable. With the rising risks of a recession in 2023 and the possible contraction in credit emanating from the banking crisis,…