The CEO of Wells Fargo, Charlie Scharf said on May 17 that there was “no question” that the United States is heading for an economic downturn, in an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival. “It’s going to be hard to avoid some kind of recession,” said Scharf, who happened to be in…

American consumer spending did better than expected in March, increasing by 1.1 percent amid strong demand for services, according to the Commerce Department on April 29. Economists are hopeful that the signs of positive consumer spending heading into the second quarter will offset fears of a recession, after the economy contracted in the first quarter. Consumers…

An inflation measure closely tracked by the Federal Reserve hit a 40-year-high. The Commerce Department’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 6.6 percent in the 12 months from March last year, the highest annual gain since January 1982, outpacing February’s year over year gain of 6.3 percent. The PCE price index shot up 0.9…

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the primary inflation gauge used by the Federal Reserve, increased 5.4 percent from a year ago, the largest increase since April 1983, excluding volatile food and energy prices. The PCE index, when including gas and groceries prices, jumped 6.4 percent, the fastest pace since January 1982. On…

U.S. Treasury 10-year yield rates hit above the 2 percent benchmark on Feb. 10, after key inflation data showed larger than expected price pressures, causing the Dow to crater, losing over 500 points. The yield on 10-year Treasury note jumped 12 basis points to about 2.05 percent, the first time since August 2019 when it last…

The U.S. economic forecast for the first quarter of 2022 looks dim, as high inflation, supply chain and labor disruptions, and Omicron slow down growth, according to the results from a survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, of 69 business, academic, and financial forecasters. Annual growth rate predictions for the first quarter have slid to…

The U.S. economic forecast for the first quarter of 2022 looks dim, as high inflation, supply chain and labor disruptions, and Omicron slow down growth, according to results from a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal of 69 business, academic, and financial forecasters. Annual growth rate predictions for the first quarter have slid to 3…

Christmas trees will be facing shortages this year, and the ones available will be priced higher as Americans go through an inflation-hit holiday season, along with supply chain shortages and the looming threat of Omicron CCP virus variant. Industry experts recommend customers start buying their trees—real or artificial—earlier this season, and expect to pay 10…

Commentary While Beijing pretends that China’s debt problems are manageable, Washington pretends that the country’s building inflation problem will simply go away. The leadership of each country is kidding itself. This column has already described the dangers in China’s debt problems. America’s inflation presents dangers of a different kind. The data make it painfully clear…