As measured by the Consumer Price Index for food at home, grocery prices increased 3.4% in 2020, a faster rate than the 20-year historical average of 2.4%.1 More recently, food inflation accelerated by 6.5% during the 12 months ending in December 2021, while prices for the category that includes meat, poultry, fish, and eggs spiked 12.5%.2 […]
The unrelenting move higher in U.S. Treasury yields continued last week making it the 15th week (out of the past 16 weeks) that the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury security ended the week higher. Moreover, 10-year Treasury yields have increased by 130 basis points (1.3%) this year with a 110 basis points (1.1%) increase in […]
Inflation continues to soar, dominating conversation and stretching consumer wallets. Last week’s inflation data saw consumer prices up 8.5% year over year, the most since the early 1980s, while producer prices were up 11.2%, the most ever. What can the Federal Reserve (Fed) do? Will it ever stop? Is this the 1970s all over again? […]
One of the most prominent economic stories of the past year has been the supply shortage of semiconductors. As COVID-19 shut down chip making facilities across the globe, and consumers shifted their consumption from services to goods, the resulting combination created an unprecedented shortage of semiconductors that has affected everything from the automobile market to […]
In legal terms, a fiduciary is an individual or organization that has taken on the responsibility of acting on behalf of another person or entity with honesty and integrity. For example, bankers, attorneys and officers of public companies are all fiduciaries, meaning they must act in the best interest of their customers, clients or shareholders. […]
If you shop online, you might have noticed a growing number of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services that offer the option to spread out the payments on your purchases. Buyers who make one partial payment upfront and agree to several additional interest-free installments can receive their orders right away. This is a key difference […]
Green bonds are debt instruments that corporations and governments can use exclusively to finance major climate-related or environmentally friendly initiatives. Global issuance of green bonds reached a record $523 billion in 2021, and is expected to exceed $775 billion in 2022.1 The growth in green bonds is closely tied to a broader investment trend that […]
A 2021 Gallup poll found that only 46% of U.S. adults have a will — similar to the results of other Gallup polls over the last 30 years. It’s not surprising that older people are more likely to have a will, as are people with higher incomes.1 Regardless of age or income, having a will […]
An estimated 102.5 million investors — representing almost 46% of U.S. households — owned mutual funds at the end of 2020 (most recent data). These individual retail investors held about 89% of the $23.9 trillion in assets invested in U.S. mutual fund companies.1 Mutual funds offer a convenient way to participate in a broad range […]
