Economy

Markets are up and the economy is down. Some next moves for investors

hafiz cakep 2 days ago

The New York Stock Exchange.

Andrew Burton | Getty Images

The financial markets are rising and the economy is falling. What is with this disconnect between the two? Many investors may be asking themselves if this is all a cause for concern.

So, what’s an investor to do?

To begin with, the financial markets were doing quite well before the pandemic. In fact, the S&P 500 Index closed at a record high (3,386) on Feb. 19. But once Covid-19 cases started spreading in the U.S., the markets plunged. By March 23, the S&P 500 had fallen about 34%.

Fast forward a few months, however, and the numbers tell a different story. By the end of the first week in August, the S&P 500 had risen nearly 50% since March 23, regaining almost all the ground it had lost.

Meanwhile, at the same time of this market rally, the overall economy

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Planet Money’s Adam Davidson: ‘passion economy’ business is the future

hafiz cakep 4 days ago

  • In this new book “The Passion Economy,” podcast Planet Money host Adam Davidson explains the shifting terrain of the business world.
  • Thanks to automation and new technology, entrepreneurs need to employ a specific strategy if they want to succeed in a marketplace dominated by titanic corporations.
  • The passion economy rests on two pillars: create intimacy at scale and don’t be a commodity. Davidson’s book offers nearly a dozen real-world examples of his theory.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

 

According to Planet Money cofounder Adam Davidson, American business is undergoing a fundamental shift toward what he calls the “passion economy.” This new landscape is the result of two diffuse factors acting in concert: automation eliminating jobs and technology creating new opportunities. 

The result: a rising class of entrepreneurs who thrive by solving the hyper-specific needs of a niche, often disparate customer base. To Davidson, this new system is the

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Six Key Drivers of a Restarting Economy

hafiz cakep 5 days ago

As businesses begin to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic (hopefully sooner rather than later) and try to determine how they can maximize their chances for success, they will need to re-imagine and re-invent themselves. Rebuilding and trying to get “back” to the future will never get the job done.  There are plenty of internal considerations, but it’s going to be essential to also incorporate the major externalities and shifts, which have changed the playing field. Some of these drivers are technological and others are psychological, but they’re all unavoidable and they need to be part of your mental tool kit as you try to figure out how to succeed in the new world of work.

 The desires and expectations of consumers (whether they’re clients, patients, customers, students, or whatever) are constantly changing and always increasing. Up and to the right. We live in a “what have you done for me

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The stock market is NOT the economy

hafiz cakep 6 days ago

“How can the stock market go up, while the economy is still struggling to recover amid the pandemic?” The answer is that the stock market is not the economy and vice versa.

Let’s start with the economy. As expected, the second quarter of 2020 was the most debilitating for the U.S. economy since the government began keeping records in 1947 —

Jill Schlesinger 

and about four times worse than the weakest quarter of the Great Recession. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 31.7% percent in the second quarter of 2020. The good news is the recovery has begun and the third quarter should show a significant bounce.

Even with the improvement, it is likely to be a long slog. “Nearly two-thirds of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) members who participated in the August 2020 NABE Economic Policy

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US, China, India, Europe can’t save global economy from recession

hafiz cakep 7 days ago

  • During the financial crisis, two countries kept the global economy from cratering even further than it did — China and India. 
  • Unfortunately this time around — in the economic crisis caused by the corornavirus pandemic — no country is coming to save us.
  • India has been on lockdown for months, and China is still feeling the debt hangover from the credit binge it went on to skip the financial crisis.
  • This gives us all the more reason for Washington to pass another coronavirus aid bill as soon as possible.
  • This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The coronavirus depression will be much worse than the last worldwide recession, because this time no country is strong enough to rescue the global economy.

The story of the Great Recession goes like this: the US and Europe were crippled while 

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The numbers tell us the economy is better, but millions of Americans aren’t feeling it

hafiz cakep 1 week ago

ECONOMIC PREVIEW



a man standing in front of a sign: Over one thousand individuals wait in line at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a free food as New Yorkers struggle with unemployment and other financial stresses brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak.

© Getty Images
Over one thousand individuals wait in line at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a free food as New Yorkers struggle with unemployment and other financial stresses brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The U.S. economy has kept growing despite a summer spike in coronavirus cases and the end of massive federal aid, but millions of Americans are either being left out or in are danger of being left behind.

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With the fall approaching, the broader economy has performed better than expected. Hiring increased again in August, consumer spending has been steady, manufacturers are still on an upswing and demand for homes and new cars has been surprisingly strong.

See: MarketWatch Economic Calendar

The upcoming week’s data is likely to show another robust increase in retail sales in August as well as improved production among manufacturers in September, suggesting a U.S. recovery is

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The national debt is ready to eclipse the US economy: What you need to know

hafiz cakep 1 week ago

Even before the coronavirus pandemic pushed government spending off the charts, the national debt was snowballing at an alarming rate.

The national debt has ballooned to its highest levels since World War II amid the pandemic, and the federal debt held by the public is expected to eclipse the size of the entire U.S. economy, measured in GDP, by next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent outlook.

Government debt during so-called “war times” — or in a global health crisis — might not necessarily be a bad thing, economists say. But eventually, this debt will have to be serviced, putting a looming burden on future economic growth and the next generation.

PHOTO: Passengers wearing face masks wait for their bus in front of a national debt display on Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, May 18, 2020.

Passengers wearing face masks wait for their bus in front of a national debt display on Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, May 18, 2020.

Passengers wearing face masks wait for their bus in front of a

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Edinburg’s SPARC program ignites local economy, Census response rate

hafiz cakep 2 weeks ago

Anita’s Cafe on Tuesday, Sept., 01, 2020 in Edinburg. Photo by Delcia Lopez/The Monitor | dlopez@themonitor.com

EDINBURG — The city’s innovative business recovery program pumped $50,000 directly into local businesses on a daily basis for about two months and pushed the 2020 Census response rate to new heights, Edinburg City Manager Ron Garza said last week.

“We are right in the midst of one of the most innovative and one of the most productive business stimulus and economic recovery programs that I’ve ever seen a city do. And I’m not just saying that because I am part of the city, but it needs to be recognized as just completely successful,” Garza said about the city’s SPARC program.

Known by its acronym, the Stimulus Program Aimed at Recovery from COVID-19 was a two-tiered effort that involved businesses and residents alike.

“It’s an amazing, amazing program, and it really is transforming the

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CRUZ: Time to get past throwing money at pandemic, economy | Coronavirus / COVID-19

hafiz cakep 2 weeks ago

This summer, we face two simultaneous crises: a public health crisis caused by the coronavirus — a novel virus that has killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and more than 10,000 people in Texas — and an economic crisis that has resulted in millions of Americans losing their jobs.

That’s a lot to deal with. There’s not a person in this country who hasn’t been affected by what’s going on. While we’re slowly re-opening, which is good news, the reality is that we still have a long way to go in terms of recovery.

This is unprecedented in our lifetimes. You have to go back to the Great Depression to find a comparable economic catastrophe that has struck the American economy. We have millions of small businesses that have either gone out of business or are on the verge of bankruptcy. So the task going forward is enormous.

In

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Australia’s economy takes sharpest dive since the 1930s

hafiz cakep 2 weeks ago



A shopping center is sparsely attended in Sydney, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Australia's economy has suffered its sharpest quarterly drop since the Great Depression because of the pandemic, with data released on Wednesday confirming the country is experiencing its first recession in 28 years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

© Provided by Associated Press
A shopping center is sparsely attended in Sydney, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Australia’s economy has suffered its sharpest quarterly drop since the Great Depression because of the pandemic, with data released on Wednesday confirming the country is experiencing its first recession in 28 years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s economy suffered its sharpest economic contraction since the Great Depression due to the pandemic, with data released Wednesday confirming the country is in its first recession in 28 years.



Workers go about their duties at a construction site in Sydney, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Australia's economy has suffered its sharpest quarterly drop since the Great Depression because of the pandemic, with data released on Wednesday confirming the country is experiencing its first recession in 28 years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

© Provided by Associated Press
Workers go about their duties at a construction site in Sydney, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Australia’s economy has suffered its sharpest quarterly drop since the Great Depression because of the pandemic, with data released on Wednesday confirming the country is experiencing its first recession in 28 years. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

The economy shrank 7% in the June, the biggest

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