The Commerce Department has revised down its growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 2.7 percent. Its previous estimate was 2.9 percent, which was still down from the 3.2 percent growth rate from July through September, suggesting that economic growth is slowing but remains steady.
FED MINUTES UPDATE
The minutes from the latest Federal Reserve FOMC meeting shows officials acknowledging that inflation is coming down but not enough to reverse course on more interest rate hikes.
SHRINKING MORTGAGE FEES
The Biden administration is lowering insurance premiums for borrowers who take out loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The move will save an estimated 850,000 homeowners an average of $800 on home financing costs. The annual premium will drop from 0.85 percent to 0.55 percent.
BILL GATES BUYS HEINEKEN STAKE
Bill Gates has purchased a $902 million stake in Heineken, according to the Netherlands Financial Markets Authority. He bought the shares, which represent 3.8 percent share of the company's value, from Mexico's FEMSA. Gates bought 6.65 million shares in an individual capacity, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust bought 4.18 million shares.
TESLA STAYING IN CALIFORNIA
Elon Musk says Tesla is staying in California for the foreseeable future. The electric vehicle maker will make the Golden State its global engineering home, while its corporate headquarters will remain in Texas. Tesla's plant in Fremont, California, will increase production this year to more than 600,000 vehicles.
MERCEDES BENZ-GOOGLE PARTNERSHIP
Mercedes-Benz and Google have announced a long-term partnership to bring supercomputers into automobiles. The automaker will use Google technology to develop a branded navigation experience based on in-car data and Google's Maps platform. The deal essentially gives Mercedes-Benz access to the latest Google geospatial technology.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
It’s an annual tradition: the Fed’s banking ‘stress test.’ A year after the regional banking crisis, there are good reasons to make sure they’re prepped.
Summer is upon us, which means weddings, trips overseas, and trips to see Taylor Swift. Avoid a “Cruel Summer” with these budget-friendly tips and tricks.
While Nvidia's meteoric rise led it to briefly dethrone Microsoft as the world's biggest public company, there's a lot more going on in this market than A.I.
