Author: Press Room

The Republican party platform, orchestrated by former President Trump, is filled with promises for those it calls “our Great Seniors.” But there is little or no real policy behind most of those campaign pledges. And the document is filled with many irreconcilable contradictions. The platform will be the GOP’s election-year policy framework coming out of its upcoming July 15-18 nominating convention. And it recognizes some critical needs of seniors and sets goals that would improve their quality of life and that of their families. But it rarely describes how Trump and the GOP would achieve those goals. Social Security The…

Prospective homebuyers didn’t get much relief on mortgage rates this week, as the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgages barely budged from 6.87 to 6.86%, Freddie Mac reported. Last year, interest rates weren’t wildly different and averaged 6.71% for 30-year mortgages and 6.06% for 15-year mortgages.”The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to trend down, hitting the lowest level in almost three months,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist said. “By historical standards, the economy is in good shape, and we expect rates to continue to come down over the summer months, bringing additional homebuyers back into the market,” said Khater. Interest rates for…

We finally got the consumer price index we were looking for, with both the June headline and core readings coming in slightly lower than expectations. The CPI bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates. It also gave investors the green light to rotate out of this year’s tech winners and into rate-sensitive stocks. Headline CPI dipped 0.1% from May, the first monthly decline since May 2020. On a year-over-year basis, it rose 3%, which was the lowest level in more than three years. The core rate, which excludes food and energy prices and tends to…

Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market rotation: The S & P 500 was having a rough day — falling roughly 1%. The Nasdaq was even worse — sinking 2%. However, most stocks were up with about 6 to 1 advancers to decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. For weeks the criticism about the record rally has been its narrow leadership, with the mega – cap tech stocks and growth/momentum stocks carrying the major stock measures higher.…

Value is the new buzzword at fast-food chains nationwide. After rising prices turned customers off, the restaurants recently responded by unveiling value menus. For instance, McDonald’s has a $5 value meal, which includes a McDouble cheeseburger or a McChicken sandwich, plus small french fries, 4-piece chicken nuggets and a small soft drink. At Taco Bell, you can now get two different kinds of tacos, a five-layer burrito, chips with nacho cheese sauces and a medium drink for $7. That’s 55% cheaper than ordering the items individually. Like McDonald’s, Burger King is offering a $5 meal bundle where customers can select one…

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Introduction Catching the artificial intelligence wave felt impossible after missing the initial surge. Stock prices surged almost too much, and valuations seemed high. However, quality stocks with decent AI exposure kept going up and investors kept investing without caring for the price. A well-known example is NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) which is up 161% year-to-date at the time of this article’s writing, after the 236% increase in 2023. The stock seemed untouchable in January and still seems so now. However, this is not a good way of evaluating stocks. As long as companies are not priced accurately based on their projected…

Democratic donors have warned that funding for the November election effort is “drying up” because of Joe Biden’s refusal to step aside, threatening to undermine the party’s effort to defeat Donald Trump.Donors have become a crucial constituency in the fight over Biden’s future, with some pushing aggressively for him to withdraw even as the party’s lawmakers on Capitol Hill waver over his candidacy.Their increasing willingness to walk away from the campaign, mentioned in interviews with donors from Wall Street to Hollywood, poses a new existential risk to Biden’s re-election if he stays in a White House race expected to be…

Democratic lawmakers continue to question President Joe Biden’s place as their presidential nominee two days after he asserted he was “firmly committed” to staying in the race in a letter aimed at consolidating their support behind him, with many politely suggesting he still might change his mind if polls continue show him lagging. “I think the President and his team have to really evaluate the evidence that’s out there with a cold, analytic eye and answer the question themselves: What’s the best course to achieve the goal of saving our democracy from a catastrophic Trump presidency?” Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from…