Good morning. It's Monday, March. 18 and we're covering altering consumer habits, establishing financial security, the Fed's déjà vu, and much more. | First time reading? Sign up here. | Stock Market Update | | | | | Market Performance: March 15, 2024. | The S&P 500 fell on Friday and notched its second-straight weekly loss, with technology stocks under pressure as inflation concerns remain front and center ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.
The broad market index lost 0.65% to close at 5,117.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 190.89 points, or 0.49%, to finish the session at 38,714.77, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.96% to 15,973.17. The S&P 500 shed 0.13% this week. The 30-stock Dow inched lower by 0.02% on the week, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.7%.
Tech shares were broadly lower, with Amazon and Microsoft down more than 2% each. Shares of Apple and Google-parent Alphabet also fell. Chip giant Nvidia has whipsawed this week as traders worry about the stock's valuation and book profits in the high-flying name; it ended the day slightly lower but was up about 0.4% for the week. |
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| | Financial Maverick Insights | | | | | Grocery Sticker Shock May Alter Consumer Habits, Forcing Companies To Cut Prices | The economy is pretty healthy by many measures, but the view from the checkout aisle at the grocery store hasn't been so rosy.
If you get a sense that you're paying more to get the same food lately, economic data bears that out. Grocery prices rose 0.4% in January, the most in a year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. 1 And spending at grocery stores rose 0.6% in January from December, even as people pulled back their spending in other areas, the Census Bureau said Thursday in its monthly report on retail sales.
"Consumers are feeling that prices for everyday purchases are too high," Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council at the White House said Thursday at a conference of the National Association for Business Economics in Washington.
She went on to highlight food company profit margins, repeating Biden's recent attacks against corporate profits as a source of the high inflation that has battered household budgets since 2021. She noted that grocery prices rose after the pandemic disrupted supply chains, but that they've been slow to come back down after those supply chains were restored.
"Certainly people are fed up with high prices," Brainard told reporters at the conference. "The prices of the things that they buy on a weekly basis, groceries in particular, are not back to normal. And I think they're choosing to shop in different ways … that should help to pressure some margins and grocery prices to come down." |
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| | | | | | Experts offer tips on establishing financial security | We're all looking for financial security and one of the best ways to establish that is to try and get control of your debt. With interest rates continuing to rise—it's more important than ever in the coming months to improve your financial health in 2024. If you're the government, you can just print up more money when you need it.
For the rest of us, when we run out of money—that's it, and these days a lot of us are getting into deep debt. "We've got total household debt now, over $17.3 trillion as of the end of Q3, which is up four and a half percent from that from the last year," said financial coach and CEO of Credit and Debt Jeff Mandel. That translates into an average of $102,000 of debt per household, with the average personal debt about $1,800 per person.
Much of that debt stems from credit cards and experts say that debt is rising due to the cost of repayments. "Interest rates are still at record highs for a lot of people," said Mandel. Lending Tree says the average credit card interest rate is over 24%. If you don't pay off your credit card balances in full, the interest you're paying next month is almost interest on interest—it's compounded. Although you can't control previously accrued debt, you can find ways to control your current spending by creating financial goals.
"It starts with a budget," said Mandel. "Look at what you make each month and what you need to spend on and then layer in what you want to spend on."
When it comes to spending, there's a big difference between needs and wants. |
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| Real Estate News |  | Is the spring housing market ready for the Fed's déjà vu? - HousingWire | This week all the balls are in the Federal Reserve's court. I believe it is in the Fed's interest to keep existing home sales depressed. |
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|  | Ryan Serhant Says "Shouting It From the Mountains" Is Key to Success in Any Business | The founder of real estate brokerage Serhant and former 'Million Dollar Listing' star releases his third book, 'Brand It Like Serhant', a step-by-step guide to launching and growing any company. |
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|  | As spring homebuying season kicks off, a NAR legal settlement could shrink realtor commissions | NAR has agreed to a legal settlement that could dramatically reduce the fees paid to brokers when you buy or sell a home. |
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| | Personal Finance Tips |  | 25 timeless personal finance tips from MoneySense - MoneySense | For 25 years, MoneySense has helped Canadians make better financial decisions. Here's a sampling of our work: a roundup of the best advice from our experts. |
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|  | 6 Financial Hurdles You Will Face in the First 5 Years of Retirement | Retirement is a big adjustment. Aside from figuring out what to do with all your newfound free time, you also have to fine-tune your finances. Be Aware: 8 Ways Baby Boomers Become Poor in... |
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|  | The psychology of overspending and how to overcome it | What is causing the majority of people to live beyond their means? US News said it's not just a person's budgeting skills. |
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| | Alternative Investing |  | SpaceX investor says Starship will open up 'entirely new markets' | Space Capital managing partner Chad Anderson told TheStreet that the third Starship test flight was "super exciting" to watch. |
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|  | The Ultimate Cryptocurrency to Buy With $1,000 Today | There are thousands of cryptocurrencies in circulation today. And while they all appear alluring and parade the possibility of creating life-changing wealth, the reality is that an investment in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) remains the most simple and straightforward strategy to gain exposure to the burgeoning asset class. |
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|  | AI reskilling must be a continuous investment for businesses | At the Society for Human Resources Management's AI+HI Project conference — which stands for Artificial Intelligence + Human Intelligence — experts explored themes of integrating AI into businesses and the workforce. |
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| | Is AI reskilling a continuous investment for businesses? | | | Reach Over 100,000 Financial Mavericks | Advertise with Financial Maverick to get your brand in front of the Financial Gurus in the world. The Mavericks are high-income and highly knowledge people who are always looking for an interesting product or tool. | | | Share Financial Maverick | Calling all Financial Mavericks! To help out a family and friend in need by sharing this newsletter. Tell you what if you ever wanted to be a Hero, Financial Guru, or a Nice Person this is your time! | | | DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. | |
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