Standard Chartered’s first-quarter profit beat expectations, as the bank placed a greater focus on wealth management in the face of lower interest rates and rising bad debt provisions. Net profit rose 13 per cent in the first three months of 2025 to US$1.59 billion, or 62.7 US cents per share, from US$1.4 billion last year,…
After weeks of pain, the stock market is eyeing some relief from tariffs and fears about Donald Trump’s encroachment on the Federal Reserve. US stocks soared Wednesday after comments from Trump helped ease two major headwinds for the stock market: steep tariffs on China and the early termination of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Here’s…
President Trump is openly mulling the termination of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who won’t give Trump the interest rate cuts he wants. If Trump really wants lower rates, however, the best person to fire would be himself, not Powell. If Trump had not enacted a vast set of reckless tariffs during the past two months,…
US Dollar Photo credit: Getty Images I’m an optimist, and I invest accordingly—for the long term. But I’ve learned that staying optimistic doesn’t mean ignoring macroeconomic headwinds. One to note in particular is the weakening of the U.S. dollar. Not just as a matter of technical FX movement, but as a signal of political ambition,…
President Donald Trump has amped up his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in recent days. On Thursday, Trump said he was “not happy” with Powell. On Friday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Trump’s team would “study” whether the president could remove Powell. Later that day, Trump criticized Powell for not lowering…
Oil slid around 3% on Monday to its weakest since 2021, while most commodity markets including metals tumbled as an intensifying trade war between the United States and China triggered worries over demand for raw materials. Gold, which climbed to a record peak last week, also fell amid a wider markets sell-off. Major stock indexes…
Wall Street’s “Barbarians at the Gate” are slowing down after nearly 25 years of beating the stock market. Earlier this month, investment firm Hamilton Lane issued a report showing that the MSCI World Index, a leading stock market indicator, beat out private equity returns for the first time since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000….
Today’s mortgage rates have increased. According to Zillow, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is up four basis points to 6.51%, and the 15-year fixed interest rate has risen by three basis points to 5.89%. No one has a crystal ball to see what mortgage rates will do for the rest of 2025 — but it…
For Fed rate watchers, it’s halftime. Nothing’s happening; we might as well get some popcorn. Another pause in interest rate moves was announced on March 19. The low end of the target federal funds rate has been at 4.25% since before Christmas. Washington and the world are waiting to see what happens next to the…
The Federal Reserve isn’t expected to announce any changes to its key interest rate Wednesday, a sign of caution amid significant economic uncertainty.These borrowing costs have wide ripple effects across the economy, influencing mortgages, car loans and credit cards. The Fed previously raised its benchmark rate in a rapid series of hikes to fight pandemic-era…