In fiscal year 2021, the IRS paid $3.3 billion in interest to tax filers, more than triple what it paid in 2015. For the fiscal year that started in October, refund interest payments through March are down 11% but still well above 2019 levels.
Stocks skidded Friday, with the Dow falling more than 900 points. An April tech rout pushed the Nasdaq down 13% for the month, its worst since 2008.
Blackstone said it has reached a deal to buy PS Business for about $7.6 billion, including debt. PSB, a real-estate investment trust, owns and operates industrial and low-rise suburban offices and business parks, mostly in California, Miami, Texas and Northern Virginia. As of March 30, the company owned 96 properties with 4,900 tenants. The company’s portfolio also includes 800 residential units.
Blackstone’s assets under management rose to $915.5 billion, up from $880.9 billion in the prior quarter and $648.8 billion a year earlier. The firm raised nearly $50 billion during the quarter, pushing it closer to its goal of reaching $1 trillion in assets by 2026.
Interest on the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed from 4.72% a week ago to over 5%, its highest level since early 2011. Fifteen months ago, mortgage rates were at all-time lows.
U.S. inflation accelerated to 8.5% in March, a new four-decade high, as surging energy prices and higher food costs hit consumers.
Economists put the probability of the economy being in recession sometime in the next 12 months at 28%, up from 18% in January and just 13% a year ago.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels, hotel development costs have increased between 15% and 23%.
