With gas prices still going up consumers are beginning to trade in their SUV’s, trucks, and Hummers for something that is a bit more practical and does not require as much gas. This is great for many of the automakers who focus on selling the smaller consumer vehicles. Yet, bad when it comes to those who have always been known for producing the larger SUV’s.
Everyone will be happy to know that the Treasury Department will be sending off the tax rebate checks earlier than anyone expected. Originally they had stated that they would be depositing the checks starting May 2nd - but now they have accelerated things and will be starting April 28th.
Those of us who have already received our tax refund (those who got one) have probably already used it. Due to the increase in gas prices, every day bills, and unexpected bills it doesn’t leave much left over. The good thing is we all have something more to look forward to – the tax relief checks. President Bush is trying to keep us from going into a depression. To accomplish this he has passed a bill that will allow low-income and average-income citizens a check that will make things just a little bit easier.
Starting March 29th the IRS will be opening 320 offices in order to help the low income people get the checks that they are eligible for under the new economic stimulus act that passed through Congress in January. Including low income people they will also be helping out veterans and retirees.
The global economy is going through a period of uncertainty and doubt. The risks are growing and becoming much worse than they were at the beginning of the year the head of the International Monetary Fund said Monday. Spain’s Rodrigo de Rato said recent turbulence in credit markets, the worst in a decade, is a warning that the continually expanding global economy of recent years cannot be taken for granted. “We still do not know the full extent of the decline in the house market and the subprime problems of the U.S. economy,” he said, referring to risky mortgages made to borrowers in the U.S. with spotty credit or low income.
We are always looking for ways to make sure that we will always be financially stable. We do this for our family and we do this to save money for the future. The hardest thing to do is to get organized, which requires much patience. It will take about 35 days and 5 weeks.
Week 1: Get Psyched - When you organize your financial paperwork, you’re less likely to miss a bill payment and more likely to know exactly where your money is going, which could help you save.
After the Federal Reserve and banks added more cash than normal their banking systems Wall Street gave up a moderate gain in late trading and closed lower on Monday. The reason for the actions of the Federal Reserve and the banks was to help investors set aside some concerns about credit tightness.The New York Fed, which carries out the central bank’s market operation, minutes after the opening bell announced $2 billion in overnight repurchase agreements.
Stocks were wavering Monday, as signs of subdued inflation and another batch of strong earnings reports encouraged investors to nudge the Dow Jones industrial average to a new trading high. Wall Street initially retreated after the Commerce Department said personal spending increased 0.3 percent, less than the average forecast.
Wholesale prices shot up by 1 percent in March, making gasoline and food more expensive for consumers. However, when those volatile energy and food prices have been removed, all other prices were flat in March, suggesting that inflation is not spreading throughout a wider range of goods in the economy. The 1 percent increase in the Producer Price Index, which measures the costs of goods before they reach stores shelves, came after a 1.3 percent spike in February. The flat reading on “core” prices marked an improvement from a 0.4 percent rise in the previous month.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was posted slightly stronger-than expected results, but its shares fell 2.6 percent as investors worried about the investment bank’s subprime mortgage exposure. Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank by market value, stated that net income rose to $1.15 billion, or $1.96 a share, for the three months ended February 28, from $1.1 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year earlier. According to Reuters Estimates these results beat out the average analyst estimates by only a penny. However, the company’s shares fell more than 3 percent, to $69.76, in early trading, hurt by concerns about how Lehman’s securitization business, among others, will be affected by recent high defaults in subprime mortgages. “Goldman Sachs yesterday had good results, but the market didn’t care, and their shares fell. And in the case of Lehman, you have more subprime exposure,” said Adam Compton, head of research for U.S. financial equities at RCM Global Investors in San Francisco.