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Yield curve, schmield curve – After 20 months of inversion with no recession, an inverted yield curve (when short-term bonds yield more than long-term bonds) is no longer considered a reliable sign of an impending recession, according to a majority of market strategists. Until now, an inverted curve accurately predicted a recession in all but one case since 1955. (Source: Reuters) |
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Not great, but we’ll still take it – Despite February's inflation report showing a slight uptick to 3.2% from last year, the S&P 500 Index closed at a new high on March 12, the day the inflation report was released, because investors still believe that the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates later this year. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) |
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All that glitters is ... boring and expensive? – Gold recently reached a record-high price of $2,200 an ounce despite headwinds from higher interest rates and a firm dollar. But investors aren't buying it: Assets in a popular gold ETF have dropped from $76 billion in August 2011 (when it had more assets than a popular S&P 500 Index ETF) to $56 billion. Competition from Bitcoin ETFs has also reduced gold's appeal to some investors. (Source: Barron's) |
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Less is much, much more – The market cap of Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk surpassed Tesla after it announced highly successful trial results for a new weight-loss drug. The company became Europe’s most valuable publicly traded company in 2023, and share prices have more than tripled since it launched its blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy in the US in 2021. (Source: Reuters) |
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Wait, did they just agree on something? – With bipartisan support, the House passed a bill intended to force China's ByteDance to divest its popular social-media app TikTok due to concerns of national security risks. If the parent company doesn't sell TikTok, it would face a US ban on the app. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, however. (Source: The New York Times) |
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Raiding the piggy bank – More Americans are using their 401(k) retirement accounts as a source of emergency funds. In 2023, 3.6% of Vanguard plan participants took early withdrawals from their accounts for financial emergencies, up from 2.8% in 2022. Nearly 40% of participants who took so-called hardship distributions in 2023 did so to avoid foreclosure on their property. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) |
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Bananademic: The Sequel – Tropical Race 4, a fungus that attacks bananas, has spread to 20 countries and is now threatening shortages of the popular fruit around the globe. In the 1950s, the same fungus nearly wiped out bananas since mass-produced banana trees are clones of each other spread by their roots, so there's no genetic diversity among the crops. (Source: BBC) |
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Put me down as “interested” – Starbucks is betting on the unusual combination of pork and coffee with a new drink released in China to mark the Lunar New Year. Dubbed the “Abundant Year Savory Latte,” the brand describes it as having an “interesting” flavor. The drink combines Dongpo Braised Pork Flavor Sauce with espresso and steamed milk, garnished with extra pork sauce and pork meat. (Source: CNN) |
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Maybe we should have sleepy-time savings, not daylight savings – Most Americans are chronically sleep-deprived (frequently report getting less than eight hours of shut-eye per night): One-third of them, to be exact. Half of those with insufficent sleep also report suffering from symptoms of depression. (Source: The New York Times) |
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Only a few millennia overdue – For the first time, women’s elite sports are expected to generate revenue beyond $1 billion in 2024—a 300% increase from 2021. They’re also getting more airtime this year: The new Professional Women’s Hockey League kicked off in January, and this year’s Olympic games will feature an equal number of male and female athletes for the first time in the Games’ history. (Source: CNBC) |
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S&P 500 Index is a market capitalization-weighted price index composed of 500 widely held common stocks.
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