Author: Leslie Stewart

Construction of the Mariner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building on Monday, December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFor the first time in this economic cycle, the market believes the Fed’s next action will be to raise interest rates.After unexpectedly high inflation over the past week, traders in the federal funds futures market are pricing in inflation as early as December, giving them much more certainty into early 2027, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.The index, which uses the price of 30-day federal funds futures contracts to measure probability, puts the probability of a…

Beef fillets are displayed at Handy Market on May 14, 2026 in Burbank, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesThe recent spike in inflation is likely to worsen in the coming months, according to a Friday survey of the nation’s top economists.Consumer price inflation is expected to reach 6% in the first quarter, according to the Professional Forecaster Survey, a Blue Ribbon organization conducted quarterly by the Philadelphia Fed.In its latest forecast, three months ago, the committee pegged the expected increase in the consumer price index at just 2.7%. But that was just before the US and Israel launched an attack…

Elon Musk, whose Tesla company also makes humanoid robots, called Chinese robots “cool.” Musk was in Beijing this week as part of President Donald Trump’s state visit. President Trump said his meeting with President Xi Jinping went well and expressed hope for further U.S. cooperation with China.However, there is still a lot of room for improvement in what these robots can do physically and autonomously, that is, without remote instructions.”What the robot industry needs to improve is in the brains of these robots, in the software that allows these robots to actually do what we want them to do,” said…

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 29, 2026, in New York City, USA, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference after the Fed’s interest rate announcement is broadcast on a screen. Brendan McDiarmid | ReutersEd Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said bond market investors believe the Federal Reserve needs to keep up with inflation as new leadership takes over.Yardeni said Wall Street expects the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee to abandon its bias toward easing interest rates at next month’s policy meeting. Bond traders are hoping this will lead…

While the recent news on inflation has been generally bad, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects price pressures to ease soon, just in time for the new chairman of the Federal Reserve to take office.Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that the recent spike in energy supply inflation is likely to reverse as the U.S. “continues to deliver” crude oil to cushion the supply shock from the Iran war.”I’m confident there’s nothing more temporary than a supply shock, and we can, we can, look at that, because core inflation was coming down even before the Iran conflict started,” Bessent told CNBC’s Joe…

WASHINGTON — He is the biggest draw in American politics, a sitting president who has created a movement loyal to him for more than a decade.Subscribe to read this story without ads Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.He may be the most polarizing figure in American politics, now presiding over rising inflation and a war in the Middle East with no clear end in sight.Donald Trump’s ability to both attract and repel American voters creates a dilemma that Republicans are grappling with heading into November’s midterm elections. The question is: Should he campaign aggressively to maintain his…

American consumers have been pessimistic for so long that economists are now wondering when, or if, households will become financially wealthy.According to preliminary figures released last week, the University of Michigan Consumer Survey, which is closely watched as a leader, hit an all-time low in May. This is just one of several consumer polls showing that Americans have never regained confidence in the U.S. economy since the coronavirus pandemic began more than six years ago.Economists told CNBC that even though annual inflation rates have fallen, consumers are still feeling the scars of years of sharp price increases. On top of…

IE11 is not supported. For the best experience, please visit our site in a different browser.President Trump says the US and China have a ‘great relationship’ during summit meeting02:11Currently playing’We should be partners, not rivals’: Chinese President Xi Jinping begins bilateral talks01:20to the nextHonor guard and schoolchildren greet Trump and Xi at arrival ceremony in Beijing01:34President Trump shakes hands with President Xi at the beginning of historic US-China summit03:02President Trump arrives in China for high-stakes summit02:44President Trump arrives in China for high-stakes summit with Xi07:42Beijing residents express skepticism over President Trump’s arrival in China01:08President Trump heads for high-stakes summit in…

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction and life sentence and ordered a new trial for the murders of his wife and son.Subscribe to read this story without ads Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.In the latest development in a tortuous legal saga, the state Supreme Court ruled that Murdaugh was denied his right to a fair trial because of Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill’s “improper outside influence on the jury.””Mr. Hill has put his finger on the scales of justice,” the court wrote in a…

Wholesale prices in April recorded the highest annual rise in more than three years, suggesting inflation will worsen as pipeline costs soar.The producer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% for the month, well above the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 0.5% rise and an upwardly revised 0.7% rise in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. This was the largest monthly increase since March 2022.On an annual basis, the index rose 6%, the largest increase since December 2022.Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, accelerated by 1% compared to the expected 0.4%. PPI, which excludes food, energy…