With the strong labor market and a hawkish Fed, traders recalibrated their bets around rate cuts with June becoming the highest probability for the first cut. Meanwhile, some market investors have begun considering the possibility that we may not see rate cuts this year.
Global banking giant HSBC wrote down its 19% stake in Bank of Communications, a large Chinese bank, by $3 billion leading to a $153 million loss for the last quarter.
The U.S. government is expected to pay an additional $1.1 trillion in interest over the coming decade. Interest costs are on pace to surpass defense this year as one of the largest government expenses in the budget. Only Social Security and Medicare are forecast to be bigger burdens in the coming years.
Lyft shares soared over 60% in after-hours trading Tuesday after its earnings release accidentally added an extra zero to a key profitability metric. Lyft’s release said one of its profit margins was expected to expand by 500 basis points—or 5 percentage points—in 2024. That margin was only expected to expand by 50 basis points, the company’s chief financial officer later clarified on a call with analysts.
Silicon Valley investors, executives and CEOs are banding together to host fundraising events for local candidates, pouring money into city ballot initiatives and using their influence to try to sway public opinion.
The central bank held its benchmark federal-funds rate steady last week in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest level in more than two decades.
Americans quit 6.1 million fewer jobs last year than in 2022—a decline of 12%. In December alone, quits fell to the lowest monthly level in nearly three years.
In the Fortune 500, 82% of employers offer at least some remote-work opportunities and Americans spent about 30% of their paid days working from home in January 2024, largely the same from a year earlier.
