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Businesses—especially retailers and car dealers—spent less on inventories, homebuilding declined, and state and federal government spending decreased. However, important parts of the economy such as consumer spending and exports actually grew, suggesting that the economy is under pressure from overheating inflation, but not yet in a recession. The slowdown fell short of the median forecast of economists, who had expected 0.3% growth instead of a decrease. Many analysts use a simplified recession definition that says two quarters of negative growth qualifies—and since the economy shrunk at a 1....

In a well-known story often told to explain the concept, a finance professor and a student are walking to class when they come across a $100 bill lying on the ground. As the student stops to pick it up, the professor says, “Don’t bother. If it were really a $100 bill, it wouldn’t be there.” In other words, people who agree with the theory don’t think that free cash is just lying around for the taking, whether for the highly savvy trader or for a brand-new trader....

If an adverse life event wreaks havoc on your employee’s finances and their current income barely covers the cost (or not at all), what will they do? Workers often quit and seek higher-paying employment elsewhere or take on additional debt to make up the difference when something like this happens. There is another option, however—one that helps your company and its people: employee loans. Instead of risking them going back out into the job market to find a higher-paying job, you can offer to loan them the funds they need at a significantly lower interest rate....

You will likely be asked to write an employee reference letter when a valued member (or former member) of your team is making a job change. If you feel that you can write a glowing recommendation, you should accept the opportunity to support your colleague. How to Provide a Reference for an Employee An employee reference letter can be an important asset to a candidate during the hiring process. You can attest to the hiring manager that the candidate was successful in their previous position under your management and that, as their supervisor, you are willing to endorse them....

What Are Business Assets? Every business has assets, which in their simplest terms are “things of value.” Like the actor’s smile is her asset, a business needs assets to produce its products or sell its services. Assets can be tangible, like a piece of equipment or a vehicle, or they can be intangible, like a patent or trademark or copyright. Business assets are listed on the balance sheet of the business, on the left side....

The plaintiffs, the National Fair Housing Alliance and 20 other fair housing groups, will use over $35 million of the funds to promote homeownership, access to credit, and other initiatives in Dallas, Chicago, San Diego, and more than 30 other metropolitan areas identified in the suit, the groups announced Monday. These will include grants for down-payment assistance and home renovations. The 2016 lawsuit accused Fannie Mae of maintaining and marketing properties it owned after foreclosure differently depending on the predominant race of the neighborhood those homes were in....

The jump in business activity was driven by strong demand in the service sector, which accelerated at its fastest pace in almost six years, rising to 58.9 this month from 58.3 in January. Service companies also saw the steepest increase in costs and passed them onto customers at the sharpest rate on record, both since 2009. In contrast, manufacturing activity slipped to a four-month low of 57.7 from 60.5 in January as a result of extreme weather and widespread supply shortages....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. ADP Private Sector Employment Report The private sector continued to recover from the pandemic, adding 475,000 jobs in February, more than economists had expected. Encouragingly, every sector tracked in the report added jobs, with leisure and hospitality leading the way with a gain of 170,000, according to payroll company ADP.ADP also totally reversed itself on data from January, revising its original report of a loss of 301,000 jobs to gain of 509,000 jobs....

How It Works The Fed offers three types of discount window lending programs to financial institutions: primary credit, secondary credit, and seasonal credit. If an institution doesn’t meet the eligibility requirements for primary credit, it can try for secondary credit, which has a slightly higher interest rate. The Fed also offers seasonal credit to smaller institutions to help them make loans to farmers, students, resorts, and other seasonal borrowers. The borrowing banks must post collateral to the Fed in return for the loan....

Learning about the common closing costs associated with FHA mortgages can help you better prepare for them. Closing costs vary by lender and by state, but understanding average costs with closing on FHA loans is a good first step toward creating a budget to buy your new home. What Are FHA Loan Closing Costs? The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) insures loans so that lenders can offer consumers better deals through several types of mortgage programs....

Why Invest in High Dividend Stocks? Investors like high-dividend stocks because they want to earn passive income that can provide a good standard of living, particularly during their retirement years. When this type of investing is done with enough discipline and over an extended period of time, it’s even possible to get rich from dividend stocks. Successful dividend investors strive to build a collection of the highest-dividend-paying stocks they can find, because the richer the dividend, the more money that they’ll find automatically deposited in their accounts each year or reinvested—or, in the case of some old-fashioned investors, they’ll find some nice paper dividend checks stuffed in their mailboxes....

ProShares, which specializes in exchange traded funds, said ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (ticker symbol BITO) invests in Bitcoin futures, not actual Bitcoin, meaning it will attempt to mimic the price movements of Bitcoin without having to own it. Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset on a specific date or during a specific month. Bitcoin futures are traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Bitcoin Strategy ETF was up nearly 5% in its first day of trading....

The Alliance helps taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) of $73,000 or less file their annual tax return for free if they’re otherwise qualified by age and earned income tax credit (EITC). The AGI threshold adjusts yearly. The $73,000 limit applies to your 2021 income which you’ll report on your 2022 Form 1040 tax return. And some Alliance members have more stringent requirements. FreeTaxUSA Eligibility Your 2021 AGI must be less than $41,000 to use FreeTaxUSA, or less than $73,000 if you were in the military on active duty....

At S&P 500 companies, female C-suite executives earned an average $0.75 for every $1 their male counterparts earned, which is the lowest since 2012 and down from $0.88 in 2018, according to a survey by Morningstar released this week. (C-suite executives are those holding named executive officer roles, or CEO, CFO, and the next three highest-paying roles.) Although there were slightly more women in the top jobs in 2020—14% vs....

Our rankings can help simplify the process. We meticulously researched national and regional health insurance companies using a wide range of data from trustworthy sources and the insurers themselves to find the best health insurance companies of 2023. Below, we detail the data we sourced, criteria we used, and methodology we implemented. Which Articles Use Our Methodology All of our individual reviews of health insurers as well as this article use the following methodology....

A new website at getinternet.gov lets visitors sign up for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a federal initiative launched late last year giving low-income households a $30 discount on their monthly internet bill, or $75 if they live in a tribal area, the White House said Monday. On top of that, a group of 20 internet providers has agreed to either lower their prices or raise their internet speeds so that ACP participants can access high-speed internet plans with price tags of $30 a month or less, the White House announced, meaning that many will be able to get internet service for free....

Members might share resumes and cover letters, conduct mock interviews, recommend job leads, and offer general encouragement and advice about the job search. What Are the Benefits of a Job Club? The most obvious benefit of a job club is that it provides you a space to get advice on your job search. Members can give you feedback on resumes and cover letters, help prepare you for interviews, and more....

Learn what a put option is and how it can be used in commodity futures trading. What Is a Put Option? Not all traders have the ability or desire to store and resell physical commodities. To benefit from commodities markets, they trade futures options—securities derived from the physical commodities traded on a commodities exchange. When futures contracts are made, traders can purchase or sell options on them, betting that the commodity’s price will move in their favor....

Many people mistakenly think when a debt has been charged-off that, it’s been canceled by the creditor. Unfortunately, you’re still responsible for paying off the balance. However, you will not be able to use your credit card to make purchases, and you won’t have the option of making minimum monthly payments on your balance. How Credit Charge-Offs Happen Your credit card agreement requires you to make the minimum payment by the due date each month....

You probably take your mobile device everywhere you go, and that might include short trips when you leave home without a debit card. Learn how cardless ATMs work so you can decide how to make your next withdrawal. What Is a Cardless ATM? Cardless ATMs are machines where you can withdraw cash without inserting a traditional ATM card into the machine. With this technology, your experience at the ATM may be safer and faster....