Stocks aren’t the only thing sizzling this summer. U.S. corporate bonds with speculative, or “junk,” credit ratings also have staged a breakneck rally in recent weeks, picking up momentum seen lately in major stock indexes as investors bet on a softish landing for the economy. Junk bond spreads last week posted their quickest retreat on …
Social Security and Medicare are two of the government’s mandatory spending programs — and popular ones at that — but one senator has suggested changing that label, making them vulnerable to annual budget cuts every year. Under the current structure, Social Security and Medicare budgets are automatically approved and paid out, but under Wisconsin Republican …
WASHINGTON—Amazon.com is accusing the Federal Trade Commission of making excessive and unreasonable demands on founder Jeff Bezos and company executives as the agency probes Amazon’s Prime membership program. In a petition to the FTC filed earlier this month and recently made public, Amazon says the agency’s demands on the company have been “overly broad and …
Aug. 16, 2022 12:46 pm ET Listen to article (2 minutes) Natural-gas prices in Europe headed toward their highest closing level on record as hot summer weather boosts fuel demand and Russia throttles back supplies. Europe has contended since June with drastically lower imports of gas from Russia, until recently by far its biggest supplier. …
Zoom Video Communications Inc. has struggled to maintain its momentum from early in the pandemic, and now Citi sees additional obstacles in the company’s way. Citi Research analyst Tyler Radke downgraded Zoom’s stock ZM, -4.34% to sell from neutral Tuesday, warning of stiff competition from Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -0.13% as well as possible spending constraints …
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. blasted off Tuesday, again, as the retail crowd defied, with renewed vigor, another Wall Street analyst’s warning that investors sell because of “unrealistic” valuations. The stock BBBY, +67.31% was down as much as 4% about a minute after the open, before doing an abrupt about-face. The meme stock …
Walmart “everyday low prices” motto is paying off with a widening set of customers, though at a cost to its margins. The retail giant said on Tuesday that its Walmart-branded U.S. chain’s same-store sales grew 6.5% from a year earlier in the quarter ended July 29, better than the 6% growth it forecast in last …
Life in America has been getting back to “normal,” except when it comes to the office. Travel and dining have come roaring back, providing a vital shot in the arm to restaurants, hotels and businesses more than two years after the pandemic gripped the nation. The comeback has New York City expecting a 70% surge …
First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID but is experiencing only mild symptoms as she prepares to isolate for at least five days. The first lady began to feel cold-like symptoms coming on late Monday, and tested negative on a rapid antigen test, before testing positive on a PCR test, according to a …
Fund managers are no longer “apocalyptically bearish,” Bank of America strategists said after their latest poll. The latest global fund manager survey found a net percent who expect a stronger economy has climbed to negative 67% in August from negative 79% in July. That comes after declines in the percentage that expect higher global CPI …