A new report has shown that Australia’s economic growth will continue to slow down amid the recent turmoil in the global banking system. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index rose slightly from -1.04 percent in January to -0.94 percent in February. This is the seventh consecutive month that the growth rate has remained in negative territory….

Americans are becoming more pessimistic about their personal financial situation as well as the direction of the U.S. economy, with financial expectations at their lowest in over a decade. The share of respondents who expect their personal financial situation to “get better” over the next 12 months dropped to 31 percent in February from 33…

Walmart is concerned about the U.S. economic outlook this year after its latest earnings projections showed that consumers were under heavy pressure. Shares of the retail giant rose 0.4 percent after the big-box retailer gave its weaker-than-expected outlook for the year ahead. The world’s largest retailer saw its full-year earnings forecast (pdf) fall below estimates, as…

Michael Wilson, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, is warning that stocks are currently on the expensive side, with the risk-to-reward for equities “very poor” as he expects the S&P 500 index to tumble by 25 percent from current levels. Wilson equated the current stock market valuations to a “death zone” in a note…

A stagnant economy, rising unemployment, higher interest rates, and burgeoning federal debt add up to a problem that must be addressed, according to Phillip Swagel, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Swagel provided his assessment at the release of two reports, “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2023 to 2033” and “Federal Debt and the…

Clients from Swiss global investment bank Credit Suisse pulled out a record amount of funds in the fourth quarter as the company posted a worse-than-expected net loss for the period amid declining confidence in the bank. The bank reported net outflows of 110.5 billion Swiss francs ($120.36 billion) in the fourth quarter, up from 12.9…

COVID-19 restrictions, global supply chain disruptions, and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on energy, food, and metals prices have resulted in the shrinkage of the world’s top two economies—the United States and China. U.S. inflation remains at a 40-year high, with April’s consumer price index jumping 8.3 percent from 12 months earlier, according to…

Some of the biggest banks in the United States have remained optimistic about the economic outlook for the nation this earnings season, driven in part by healthy consumer spending. Bank of America, in its reported earnings on Wednesday, said its 67 million customers spent a record $3.8 trillion in 2021, which is a 24 percent increase from the…

Mortgage application rates in the United States fell by 1.1 percent last week driven by higher interest rate, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Composite Index. The previous week ending Sept. 10 saw applications increase by 0.3 percent in contrast to the week ending Sept. 24. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan…

Commentary Manufacturing executives in California are more excited about their growth prospects than they’ve been in nearly 20 years. That’s the takeaway from a recent Chapman University polling of purchasing managers at manufacturing companies. Professors at the university’s A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research surveyed buyers from throughout the Golden State about their expectations…