U.S. stocks fell sharply, with two of the major indexes suffering their worst day since 2020, as the latest set of disappointing earnings from large retailers raised investors’ fears of a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday down 1164.52 points, or 3.6%, to 31490.07, its lowest closing level since March 2021. The S&P […]
Kitsap Update
The US could be on the verge of recession, warns former Goldman Sachs CEO: Should the world be worried?
Goldman Sachs Senior Chairman Lloyd Blankfein, in a recent interview, said that the US is at a “very, very high risk” of a recession. Many factors have led up to this but no one knows when the recession will arrive or how severe it could be. Will a recession in the world’s largest economy affect […]
Reasons why small businesses should use Text Messaging to reach clients.
Text messaging has overtaken the use of direct calling yet still provides a 2-way personal conversation. According to mobile squared, 90% of text messages are opened and read within 3 minutes. That kind of attention to marketing material is gold dust to businesses. As a marketing tool, SMS has really grown in stature. In recent years […]
US Fed warns of worsening market liquidity in stability report
The Federal Reserve warned of deteriorating liquidity conditions across key financial markets amid rising risks from the war in Ukraine, monetary tightening and high inflation in a semi-annual report published on Monday (May 9). “According to some measures, market liquidity has declined since late 2021 in the markets for recently issued US cash Treasury securities […]
What Are the Causes of Inflation?
Inflation has many causes, but they mainly break down into two camps: demand-pull and cost-push. Demand-pull happens when an increase in the demand for goods and services leads producers to raise prices to maximize profits. Cost-push occurs when producers raise prices because their costs have gone up. Over time, inflation can significantly impact your cost […]
US Fed raises rates by 50 bps, biggest hike in two decades
The US Federal Reserve on May 4 raised the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points, in what is being viewed as the sharpest increase in over two decades. The increase in the Fed’s key rate raised it to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent, the highest point since the pandemic struck two years ago. The half-point […]
Wall Street is predicting a 2023 recession. Here are the red flags you should know about
The U.S. economy added nearly half a million jobs in March. The Dow Jones industrial average is within 6% of its record high. And U.S. households accumulated roughly $2.5 trillion in excess savings throughout the pandemic. Still, despite all the good news, predictions of an impending recession are widespread on Wall Street. Billionaire investors, former Federal Reserve officials, and now even investment […]
81% of U.S. adults are worried about a recession hitting this year, a survey finds
After two years of the coronavirus pandemic, a recession and a rapid recovery, Americans are worried that the economy may swiftly decline once again. Some 81% of adults said they think the U.S. economy is likely to experience a recession in 2022, according to the CNBC + Acorns Invest in You survey, conducted by Momentive. The online […]
Feds raise rates of fair market rent in Kitsap.
Starting April 11, the fair market rent, or FMR, for Kitsap County will increase by nearly 20%. The increase — amid an ongoing affordable housing shortage in the county — comes after the Bremerton Housing Authority challenged a proposed increase of 2% for fiscal year 2022, which was less than the rate of inflation, according to BHA. Fair […]
Common Small Business Problems.
Want to know the biggest challenges facing small businesses? The National Federation of Independent Businesses may have at least a partial answer. The NFIB’s Index of Small Business Optimism has been an invaluable resource since 1975. They’ve done research on everything — from job openings to labor markets, from capital spending budgets and the cost of inflation; on a […]