Off the charts

Restaurants, other services still in grip of high inflation even as overall rate slows

While prices for most goods have been falling throughout the year, inflation for a wide range of services remains high. That’s straining consumers eating out, servicing their cars and paying for various kinds of insurance.

Summer pullback in mortgage rates helped pave way for lower down payments for many homebuyers

Switching jobs? There’s more to do with your 401(k) than just rolling it over

Home listings climb in nation’s priciest markets as locked-up inventory starts to shift

Rally over? Homebuilder stocks’ big gains may have already priced in Fed rate cut

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Freshly squeezed: Savers already feeling the pain ahead of likely start to Fed rate cuts

This week the Federal Reserve is likely to cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years. It’s a momentous move, but savers have been feeling the squeeze for months.

Funeral business’ slow but inevitable march attracts investors to these stocks

Death and taxes, the saying goes, are the only certainties in life. If so, funeral companies like Houston’s Service Corporation International might look like a sure bet to investors.

Wall Street rally helped boost gains for 401(k) plan savers in the first half of 2024

Strong growth for stocks on Wall Street this year have helped juice gains for savers with retirement accounts.

Wall Street’s next big test is looming with Nvidia’s profit report

Nvidia’s upcoming profit report on Wednesday carries big potential repercussions for the market. As one of the biggest companies in the stock market, its movements carry extra weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes.

Buckle up: Wall Street’s shaky July could be a preview for more sharp swings

For more than a year, the U.S. stock market went in mostly one direction, up, and in mostly one manner, quietly.

Insurers hike rates as extreme storms like Beryl proliferate, bringing forecasts for fatter profits

Wave of summer travel expected over July Fourth holiday as hot inflation loosens grip

Travel activity is expected to heat up to record levels around the Independence Day holiday as consumers take advantage of cooler prices for airfares, gasoline and hotels.

Market for newly built homes slows as elevated mortgage rates put off many home shoppers

Homebuilders who bucked the worst of last year’s housing slump may be seeing their luck run out. Signs of strength earlier in the year have been replaced by falling sales of new U.S. homes in April and May.

Stock markets buckle from Paris to Mumbai under stress of election results: Will the US be next?

Investors have been getting bitter reminders recently that elections have consequences for financial markets. From Mexico to France to India, surprising results at the polls have jolted financial markets.

States bet on boosting taxes for online sports betting companies like DraftKings, FanDuel

States are looking to increase their take from the $16 billion online sports gambling industry as it expands across the country with big partnerships.

Apartment stocks topping most other REITs sectors as tough housing market spurs demand for rentals

Stocks in companies that own apartment buildings are holding up better than most other real estate investment trusts, as a tough U.S. housing market keeps demand for rental housing healthy and tenant turnover low.

More homes are on the market than a year ago, but rising mortgage rates remain a hurdle for many

Mortgage rates have been mostly ticking higher lately, but it’s not all bad news for home shoppers. Homebuyers have a wider selection of homes to choose from now than they had at this time last year, a trend that could help lead to more sales in a market still constrained by a thin inventory of prop

Companies shift profits into record dividends, but show more caution on stock buybacks

Companies continued rewarding investors with healthy dividends in 2023 even as they tread more cautiously with returning profits through stock buybacks.

That’s rich: Rise in all-cash transactions helping drive price gains for most expensive US homes

Well-heeled home shoppers are increasingly paying cash, helping turbo-charge price gains for the most expensive U.S. homes.

U.S. stocks soar above global markets, giving investors solid path for growth

U.S. markets are far outpacing their global counterparts in 2024, continuing a decade-long trend of strong growth compared with the rest of the world. The S&P 500 is up 10% for the year and has gained 48% since 2019.

Investors pushing for fatter yields on mortgage-backed securities may undercut easing mortgage rates

Mortgage rates are expected to come down later this year, but any benefit to homebuyers could be muted by developments in the market for financial instruments tied to mortgages.

Home sellers are cutting list prices as spring buying season starts with higher mortgage rates

More homeowners eager to sell their home are lowering their initial asking price in a bid to entice prospective buyers as the spring homebuying season gets going.

Wall Street’s Magnificent 7 shrinks to a Fab 4

The small group of stocks that’s been driving Wall Street to records is getting even smaller. Last year just a handful of companies were responsible for most of the U.S. stock market’s total return.

Wall Street sees a solid year ahead for homebuilders, though mortgage rates remain a wildcard

Housing market trends are shaping up in favor of a solid 2024 for U.S. homebuilders — as long as mortgage rates don’t jump back to the highs they hit late last year.

Shoppers helped keep the economy out of a recession. Now investors hope for even more

How much spending power do U.S. shoppers have left? That’s the key question as big U.S. retailers report their latest quarterly results.

Google, Facebook take bigger share of ad spending, but economic slowdown could hurt growth

Weak results from Google, Snap and other big sellers of online ads are raising concerns that Wall Street’s optimistic growth forecasts are setting investors up for rude surprise this year.

Not all bitcoin ETFs are the same. Here are some questions to consider before buying any

The first question an investor needs to ask before buying one of the new bitcoin ETFs is if they actually want to own bitcoin.

Lower mortgage rates prompt home owners to list properties, but housing supply remains constrained

The recent pullback in mortgage rates is spurring more homeowners to put their homes up for sale. The number of active listings, a tally of U.S. homes on the market that excludes those pending a finalized sale, climbed 4.9% in December from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase since June, acc

Wall Street’s hopes for rate cuts may be too optimistic, like they’ve been so many times before

Even when everyone agrees the interest-rate cuts that Wall Street craves so much are coming, there’s still room for potential disappointment.

Companies grew more confident about initial public offerings in 2023, raising recovery hopes

The IPO market limped ahead in 2023 and analysts expect a steadier recovery ahead. Overall, 108 initial public offerings raised proceeds of about $19.4 billion in 2023, according to Renaissance Capital.

Homebuilders step up construction of single-family homes as 30-year mortgage rate eases below 7%

Homebuilders are stepping up construction of single-family homes following a steady decline in mortgage rates and broad expectation among economists that home loan borrowing costs will ease further next year.

Lower mortgage rates next year unlikely to entice ‘rate-locked’ homeowners to sell, economists say

Even if mortgage rates ease moderately next year, as some forecasters predict, the average rate on a 30-year home loan could remain above 6%.

Big Pharma scrambles to feed demand for weight-loss treatments amid rising US obesity rates

Obesity rates in the U.S. have been rising steadily for well over a decade and some of the world’s biggest drug developers are tapping into the growing treatment market.

Bypassing mortgage rates: Share of US homes bought with cash hits highest level in nearly a decade

Homebuyers who can afford to bypass the highest mortgage rates in two decades are increasingly forgoing financing and paying all cash. Homes purchased entirely with cash accounted for 34.1% of all sales in September, up from 29.5% a year earlier.

Airlines expect heavier drag on profit growth from rising fuel costs

Major airlines expect fuel costs to keep rising through the end of the year, putting a dent in profits for an industry that has seen earnings growth in 2023.