After an amazing day for the stock market, yesterday struggled again. Today, the stock market continued to struggle upon opening, but is looking good as the week nears its end. Let’s take a look at all of the finance news out there and see how this impacts the markets.
Inflation Falls
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its consumer price index for March to great news showing that inflation dropped for the month at 0.1%. This is a great relief for Americans who are looking for some price relief. Major price drops in energy, specifically gasoline and oil, led to a strong report today. While food prices were up, we should see better results in April, as the prices of eggs were driving food prices in March.
Tariffs Battles Slowly Settle
President Trump paused tariffs for most countries around the world, citing their willingness to negotiate. However, China retaliated, and the President said he was keeping, and even increasing their tariffs. In further retaliation, China continued its onslaught of tariff increases against the U.S., raising the rate to 125% for U.S. imports into their country.
There was some indication that China will end the increased tariffs there, as the country seems to be hitting a breaking point. Overall, the market has reacted positively to the slowing of negotiations from President Trump, but there is still some uncertainty of the future direction of America’s trade policy.
American’s Still Uncertain
Americans continue to remain uncertain about the economic future of the country, as can be seen by the fear and greed index. On April 11th, the index has wavered between 12-16, in extreme fear of the economy. However, this is much better than last week, when it hit a low of 3, one of the lowest ratings ever. Until the stock market settles, consistent job reports are released, and prices continue to lower, many will remain in fear.
D.O.G.E. Has Work To Do
The Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) has reported savings of $150 billion as of as of April 8th.
While $150 billion is an extremely large amount of money, it still only makes a small indent into the country’s $35+ trillion debt. The savings is equivalent to around $930/taxpayer. This is a good start, but D.O.G.E. still has a lot of work to do if it wants to make a real impact on the economy.
Lower Gas/Oil Prices
Gases prices continue to drop, which is great for American consumers looking for some price relief. While some executives of oil producers fear lower profits for the next couple of quarters, American travelers find some needed relief as gas prices are nearing a 4-year low.
Check out our video review of the finance news below!
