USA finance and payments summary news: 28 june
Headlines: 28 June 2022
- Bitcoin is on course for a historic low monthly close, below its 200-week moving average
- Stock market suffered losses on Monday: Dow Jones (-60 points), S&P 500 (-0.3%) and Nasdaq (-0.7%)
- EU considers total shutdown of Russian gas pipelines to Europe, which could affect global prices
- Average US gas price just under $4.90 on Tuesday- where in the country is it most expensive?
- Companies like Netflix, Meta, Apple and Nike to offer travel expenses for employees' abortion costs
- Gasoline prices remain high ahead of 4th July weekend of heavy travel
- White House urges Congress to pass a three-month federal gas tax holiday
- Energy expert warns of "apocalyptic" gas prices if hurricane season affects US oil refineries
- Biden administration agrees to cancel $6bn in studen loan debt for 200,000 borrowers
Helpful links & Information
- What is 'shrinkflation'?
- Strategies for investing in cryptocurrency
- When will mortgage interest rates go down again?
- How does the COLA affect my Social Security retirement benefits?
Check out some of AS USA's related news articles:
EU agrees on plan to stop selling combustion engine wehicles by 2035
European Union environmental ministers reached an agreement to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles by 2035. This is part of the trading bloc's plan to achieve stated climate objectives, in particular, carbon neutrality by 2050.
The European Parliament must now negotiate the measures laid out in the agreement.
Survey points to Americans tightening belts
A new survey from New Jersey-based financial institution Provident Bank suggests Americans are cutting back on nonessential purchases.
The survey of 600 adults found more than 10 percent of respondents have cut out all nonessential purchases, while more than 70 percent said they made at some changes to their travel plans.
California has become the latest state to take the action of dispensing checks. In a $17 million inflation relief package, more than 23 million Californians will receive checks in the fall.
“Millions of Californians will be receiving up to $1,050 as part of a NEW middle class tax rebate,” Gov. Newsom tweeted on Sunday.
What next for the price of Bitcoin?
After a tough few months, the cryptocurrency behemoth has fallen below its 200-day rolling average for the very first time. In the past a slump in value has normally rebounded with a healthy increase. However after nearly two years of near-constant growth during the pandemic the value is continuing to fall now, raising questions about where the price is heading next.
Some will say that this is an opportunity for investors to pick up more BTC on the cheap, but will the price ever reach 2021 heights again?
As a result of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, women in areas with new laws will likely have to travel to other states to get the procedure, something that will likely be very time-consuming and expensive. In response, a number of well-known companies have expanded their healthcare provisions to include abortion transport expenses.
We take a look at some of the companies offering abortion expenses as part of workers', and sometime even their dependents', healthcare coverage.
Price increases could cost the Democrats in the midterms
President Biden is trying to bring down soaring inflation without hampering the United States' economic recovery as most households around the country feel the consequences of the price rises. In recent weeks the Biden adminstration has started to make clear movement on the problem, the Federal Reserve has upped interest rates and the President has called on Congress to pass a gas tax holiday.
However his polling data is not good, as shared here by GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel. The Democrats currently have unified control in Washington but have only a slim majority in both the House and the Senate, and could lose either or both of those chambers.
How do COLA increases affect delayed Social Security benefits?
Each year the Social Security Adminstration (SSA) announces a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for benefits payments which is designed to keep them in line with inflation and price rises. However the process can be confusing, and some who decide to put off their Social Security benefits to up their monthly payments wonder if they are missing out on the increases during this time. Well, fear not!
Writing for Market Watch, Jim Blankenship explains: "Your retirement benefit will have the COLA factored into it once you apply for it, even if you wait until age 70 to apply. The COLA is applied to every year after your age 62 benefit calculation was made."
Last year the American Rescue Plan brought about a seismic shift in the way that the Child Tax Credit was administrated. For the first time the program was made available to all low-income families, and the support was distributed in the form of monthly payments rather than a single end-of-year tax rebate.
But this year things have returned to normal and the eligibility requirements have changed once again. We take a look at who is entitled to the Child Tax Credit support, and how much they could stand to receive...
Economists rate the risk of a US recession
"[A 2023 recession] seems more likely than not."
“[But] because we think the downturn will not be especially deep, we do not expect the labor market to fall completely apart.”
“Accelerating inflation has been a common precursor to recessions.”
“[Recession is] less likely than some analysts would have you believe.”
Pelosi points to Dems' action on inflation
Inflation has been a major cause for concern throughout much of 2022, pushing up prices way beyond the rate of wage increases. The bump has been seen in everything from groceries to gasoline but there could be relief on the horizon after Congressional Democrats took action against supply chain issues that were pushing up prices for consumers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi points to the falling inflation rate in the fortnight since the new bill was unveiled.
Last week the Supreme Court announced that it was overturning the 49-year precedent set down in Roe v Wade, essentially removing the constitutional right to abortion. Aside from the catastrophic effect this will have on women's liberty, there is an economic factor to consider too. The cost of travelling to another state to get an abortion will be prohibitively expensive for many women.
The procedure has already been outlawed in some areas and up to 26 states are expected to ban abortion, or impose tough new restrictions, in the coming months. Carolyn McClanahan, a Florida-based certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners, explains: “It sadly affects the most marginalized women — women of color and people who are economically unable to access abortion.”
Californians could soon face gasoline price rises
After a few days of slight dips in the national average price of gasoline, it looks like the state with the most expensive fuel could be getting even more costly. California has a scheduled tax increase for gasoline that is due to come into effect on 1 July which will add around 3 cents per gallon to the price of a gallon.
The money raised by the tax increase will go on ublic spending initiatives that help motorists (road repair, infrastructure, etc) but that will be of little relief to drivers filling up ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.
In recent weeks President Biden called on Congress last week to implement a federal gas tax holiday for the next three months, to help bring down gas prices.
However in the meantime Americans will have to patiently wait as the price of gas gradually decreases after going over $5 per gallon on average nationally. After steadily dipping over the past week the average price in the US dropped again for Tuesday, easing the pain for consumers.
Investors pushed up prices during pandemic housing boom
Looking over recent data published by Redfin, Freddie Mac, and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Fortune has concluded that investors, both large and small, flooding the US housing market played a major role in accelerating the housing pandemic boom and driving up US home prices.
Investors made up a record 28 percent of single-family home sales, according to a report published last week by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies in the first quarter of 2022. That was an almost 20 percent increase from the year before and far above the 16 percent between 2017 and 2019.
What is the current price of Bitcoin in USD?
The cryptocurrency markets enjoyed a period of almost unchecked growth during the first 18 months of the pandemic, reaching an all-time high of $68,000 in November 2021. However since that point the coin's prospects have changed dramatically and investors have been stung by extreme dips in value. Last week the price dropped to $18,000, the lowest figure since the start of the pandemic.
However there are now signs of a tentative resurgence that could bring investors flooding back into cryptocurrency markets.
Diesel costs could be fueling high inflation
The price of gasoline has caused major headaches for Americans in recent months, adding to the cost of day-to-day living and forcing some households to limit the number of essential journeys they are able to make. But while its less of an immediate pressure on consumers' pockets, experts are warning that rises to the price of diesel could have the biggest effect on the US economy.
“No one really notices diesel prices in the U.S. because it’s really only used by industries,” warned Damien Courvalin, head of energy research at Goldman Sachs. “But that diesel represents a piece of your plane ticket, a piece of that box of cereal… that price is folded into aggregate inflation.”
Poll points to economic frustrations
A new CBS News-YouGov poll suggests a large majority of Americans are concerned about the economy, and that number has grown for each of the last two months. The percentage of Americans who view the economy as fairly bad or worse has risen from 63 percent in April to 75 percent in the latest poll.
And it should be no surprise. Inflation has been persistently high all year, especially in terms of energy. With many of these prices controlled by the ongoing war in Ukraine, there is little the US government can do about it.
Markets benefit from falling commodities prices
Wall Street looks started Monday building on solid gains posted last week. Investors fears of the Federal Reserve jacking interest rates by another three-quarters of a percentage were calmed by dropping commodity prices. The lower prices for raw materials like copper and crude oil could signal that inflation will finally be coming down, thus reducing pressure on the central bank to aggressively tighten monetary policy.
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