This article first appeared in the Morning Brief. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe Monday, August 16, 2021 Consumer sentiment falls off a cliff in August On Friday morning, our Morning Brief newsletter noted that research from Bank of America suggested a consumer slowdown is likely to be reflected in July’s retail sales report, due out Tuesday morning.  Just hours later, hard data on how consumers feel about their economic… Source link

Bitcoin Bitcoin, BTC to USD, rose by 7.40% in the week ending 15th August. Following a 9.83% gain from the previous week, Bitcoin ended the week at $47,022.0. A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin fall to a Monday intraweek low $42,790.0 before making a move. Steering clear of the 38.2% FIB of $41,592 and the first major support level at $38,991, Bitcoin rallied to a Saturday intraweek high $48,141.0. Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $46,923 to end the week at $47,000… Source link

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock-index futures fell and Treasuries climbed amid concern the economic recovery from the pandemic is faltering and investor nervousness in the run-up to the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium in late August. September contracts on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.3% after the underlying gauge notched up another record high on Friday. Ten-year U.S. yields slid three basis points and the dollar rose. Chinese stocks gave up gains as the country’s retail sales and… Source link

(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. announced their participation in a new subsea cable system for 2024 set to improve internet connectivity across the Asia-Pacific region. Dubbed Apricot, the infrastructure project will link Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Indonesia and help serve growing demand for broadband access and 5G wireless connectivity, Facebook said. In March, the company announced two new transpacific subsea cables connecting Singapore to… Source link

BEIJING, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Real estate investment in China rose 12.7% in January-July from a year earlier, cooling from a 15% gain seen in the first six months, official data showed on Monday. Property sales by floor area grew 21.5%, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, down from an on-year growth of a 27.7% in the first six months. New construction starts measured by floor area declined 0.9%from a year earlier, versus 3.8% growth in the first six months of the year. Funds… Source link

(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration plans to announce the biggest long-term increase in food stamp benefits in the program’s history, giving Americans more money to buy groceries and adding billions of dollars in costs to the government. Average benefits in October will go up by more than 25% from pre-pandemic levels for the 42 million people in the program, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before an announcement planned for Monday. The increase means that average… Source link

If you have amassed a large or even small fortune in your 401(k) retirement plan at work, an important decision eventually awaits: What should you do with the money when you retire or otherwise leave the company? One quandary is whether to keep the money in the company retirement plan (if that option is available) or roll it into an Individual Retirement Account to maintain your tax-sheltered status for a while longer. It’s obviously a key issue for those heading into retirement but it also… Source link

Which Google Pixel phone makes sense to buy now? Angela Lang/CNET Recently, I faced a dilemma. My

The U.S. consumer will be in focus this week, with the Commerce Department’s monthly retail sales report and earnings results from two of the country’s largest big box retailers all on deck. Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department is expected to show that retail sales dropped in July compared to June, with consumer spending pulling back as concerns over the Delta variant increased and the impacts of government-issued stimulus checks earlier this year waned.  Consensus economists expect… Source link

Mortgage rates take the biggest leap in 8 weeks as clock ticks on refinancing Despite yet another wave of COVID-19 putting stress on the economy, a long-running survey shows mortgage rates have posted their biggest rise in eight weeks. Analysts say rates jumped because of an encouraging report on hiring in the U.S. If one positive report in the midst of a major COVID flare-up is enough to push rates higher, further signs of economic stability could easily do the same. Experts warn that once the… Source link