CoffeeAddict

CoffeeAddict, 1 hour ago

It’s the Wall Street Journal, so it has a paywall. Their news (which is what this is) is generally pretty good, though I still maintain their opinion articles are usually garbage.

The content is below:

U.S. inflation slowed in May, extending an easing in price increases after a hot start to the year.

The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and service costs across the economy, rose 3.3% annually last month, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Core prices that exclude volatile food and energy items climbed 3.4% from a year earlier.

Stock futures jumped after the report, while Treasury yields fell.
Wednesday’s inflation report, which came hours before a Federal Reserve meeting is set to conclude, was better than many investors’ expectations.

In April, prices rose 3.4% from a year earlier.
Economists and investors have eagerly awaited the report for a fresh glimpse into when the Federal Reserve might begin easing monetary policy that shapes mortgage rates, credit-card interest and other borrowing costs across the economy.

Few on Wall Street or in Washington believe the central bank will cut rates at the meeting that concludes Wednesday or a subsequent meeting in July.

But a well-behaved May inflation report is a likely prerequisite for the Fed to consider lowering interest rates after that, as officials have said they want to see a series of readings that rebuilds their confidence inflation will head lower. A hot reading, on the other hand, would complicate efforts to cut rates without evidence of economic weakness.

Investors are betting that less restrictive policy will provide more fuel to an artificial-intelligence-focused stock market that has already powered through the highest rates in more than two decades. It might also release a pressure valve for consumers who have faced higher costs to take out loans as well as persistent price hikes.

After inflation held stubbornly high to start 2024, a string of data in recent weeks suggested that the world’s largest economy has resumed its gradual slowdown without painful ruptures to the labor market. Many domestic companies are muscling ahead of foreign counterparts. The U.S. unemployment rate has been 4% or lower for 30 consecutive months. Wage gains continue.

Even so, many Americans are gloomy about the state of the economy, thanks largely to the cumulative toll of yearslong price pressures.

Americans’ short-term inflation expectations ticked lower in May, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, while more households grew optimistic about their financial situations. Small businesses’ optimism also rose to its highest level of the year, according to a National Federation of Independent Business index.

Write to David Uberti at david.uberti@wsj.com

CoffeeAddict, 1 hour ago

The good news is that prices, on average, have risen 3.3% relative to this time last year. Still not ideal, but it’s better than April.

However, that is still below the Feds target of 2%, and I do not think they will be cutting interest rates any time soon.

CoffeeAddict, 1 hour ago

GOP reaction to Trump’s guilty verdict for 34 Felony crimes: ThE sYsTeM iS rIgGeD! pOlItIcAl PeRsEcUtIoN!

GOP reaction to Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict for being a drug addict who bought a gun to kill himself: NoT hArSh EnOuGh! BiDeN cRiMe FaMiLy!

Never mind the fact that these are supposed to be the same people who think there should be no gun laws whatsoever.

CoffeeAddict, 2 hours ago

I really hope it’s fixed soon. Kbin has so much potential relative to other fediverse platforms, and it’d be a shame if it just ends up being associated with spam. It also feels like Kbin has lost a lot of its early momentum, and I worry that getting defederated could really damage future growth.

I wonder will Ernest continue to code kbin after he turns the instance over? Of course, he needs to take care of himself first - his condition sounds like it may have been worse than we originally thought.