U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, a healthy turnaround after a morning marked by broad losses across sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 460 points in the morning before rallying in the afternoon and ending the day more than 100 points higher. Stock trading has been bumpy lately as investors have grappled with […]
The investment giant said five employers have signed up for a new retirement product that will allow workers to receive a stream of payments for the rest of their lives. A small number of 401(k) plans currently incorporate annuities. Employers who offer retirement plans worry about annuities’ complexity and their cost—and about being sued if […]
So much for the services slowdown, perhaps. The Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday said its index of U.S. service-sector activity edged up to 61.9 in September from August’s 61.7. Anything over 50 represents expansion. September’s number would have been higher if it hadn’t been for a slowdown in employment growth—a reflection of how hard […]
Banks rushed to work with the Apple Pay mobile wallet when it debuted in 2014. They have some regrets. Some banks are pushing back, nudging card network Visa Inc. V 0.99% to change the way it processes certain Apple Pay transactions, according to some of the people. The change would trim the fees that banks […]
With oil and natural gas prices reaching multiyear highs ahead of winter, the world was counting on OPEC and its Russia-led allies to ride to the rescue. The group opted not to, but the industrialized world need not panic. On Monday, the group decided to continue with its original plan to gradually release 400,000 additional […]
A $25 billion valuation would be a coup for Volvo Cars and a wake-up call for larger peers—particularly Volkswagen. The Swedish manufacturer gave details of its long-awaited initial public offering Monday, following a Wall Street Journal report that it was ready to press the button. The company’s confidence seems to be growing that investors will […]
Fears of rising prices have ignited interest in Treasury inflation-protected securities as a way to hedge against inflation. A popular approach to investing in TIPS has been through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. This year through Aug. 31, about $47 billion poured into ETFs and open-ended bond funds with inflation protection as their themes, Morningstar […]
There are few certainties in the post-pandemic world, whether talking about the virus itself or the kind of business models that will benefit from the transformations it has triggered. But in the investing realm, the one certainty has been smaller stocks. They have dominated the stock market’s returns in the past year, as a category. […]
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies jumped suddenly Friday, a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. didn’t have plans to ban cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose 10.8% from its 5 p.m. ET value on Thursday to $48,109.69, its highest level in almost a month. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, also gained 10.8% to […]
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is considering ways to impose bank-like regulation on the cryptocurrency companies that issue stablecoins, according to people familiar with the matter, including prodding the firms to register as banks. The administration is also expected to urge Congress to consider legislation to create a special-purpose charter for such firms that would be tailored […]
