Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Exxon CEO predicts every car sold will be electric by 2040 Darren Woods said during an interview last week that the bold prediction is not a threat to Exxon’s business. He stated that even with the change, oil demand would only drop down to 2013-2014 levels, which was still… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. After bad end to last week, stock futures see slight improvement The stock market showed hints of improvement on Monday. Emerging after last week’s freefall, investors questioned if last week’s selloff had gone far enough to price in concerns about rising rates and slowing growth. Gas prices ease a… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Jan. 6 hearing continues to dominate headlines Politico has provided a summary of the second hearing, which took place on Monday. It can be found here. Recession fears loom after Wall Street plunge The S&P 500 sunk more than 20% below its record low on Monday, falling firmly into… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Price of gas rises yet again The national average gas price is now $4.87, with 10 states sitting at over $5 a gallon. Many more states are just pennies away, and costs are expected to rise further over the summer. Elon Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal… Read more
US Weekly Digest – May 25, 2022 Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. President’s comments signal change from strategic ambiguity policy with China During a visit to Tokyo, President Biden said that the US would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan. Starbucks follows McDonald’s out of Russia for good The coffee chain announced… Read more
US Weekly Digest – May 18, 2022 Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Gas prices of $5/gallon could become the norm The price of gas hit a new record high on Monday, reaching $4.48/gallon. Prices have increased 40 cents in a month, and are now 27% higher than they were the day before Russia invaded… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Americans rapidly taking on debt Consumer debt levels climbed by $52.4 billion in March, according to Federal Reserve data released Friday. Pent-up spending after lockdown and consumers turning to credit cards to cover rising cost of living are likely factors, says credit analyst. Feds increase interest rates by 0.50%… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. US GDP falls The US GDP fell 1.4% in the first quarter, the first time the economy has shrunk since early in the pandemic. S&P 500 drops more than 13% The S&P 500 had its worst four-month start to a year since 1939, falling more than 13%… Read more
Virtually everyone can use a savings account to help build up their wealth, but with so many options available, how do you pick the best savings account for you? The number of options available might make it more difficult to select which savings account to choose, but it also means that with a little bit of knowledge, research and strategy, you can almost certainly find a savings account that fits… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Government Sees Strong GDP Growth in 2022 While the government sees more risks to the economy in the months ahead due to rising prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it still expects healthy GDP growth in 2022. This comes after the International Monetary Fund estimated that the US will… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. CDC Removes All Countries from COVID “Do Not Travel” List The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed all countries from its “Do Not Travel” recommendations. The highest Level 4 designation will now be reserved for “special circumstances” reflecting a dangerous spike in COVID-19 cases, a new… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Consumer Prices Rose 8.5% in March Headline CPI in March rose by 8.5% from a year ago, representing the fastest annual gain since December 1981 and one-tenth of a percentage point above the Dow Jones estimate of 8.4%. The increase in food, energy, and shelter costs contributed to the… Read more
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Fourth COVID-19 Booster Shot Experts and health officials are recommending a fourth shot of a COVID-19 vaccine to protect vulnerable groups such as older adults and immunocompromised individuals. This decision comes as BA.2, a highly transmissible version of the coronavirus, accounts for as much as 70% of US infections.… Read more
One of the most puzzling side effects of COVID-19 is a syndrome called “covid brain,” which is characterized by sluggish thinking and memory problems. Neuroscientists have begun identifying commonalities between covid brain, chemo brain, and Alzheimer’s disease. So far, the studies are small and do not indicate avenues for treatment. However, the studies confirm the seriousness of the brain effects of infections and provide hope that treatments may be developed… Read more
After two years of pandemic disruptions, many of us have developed unhealthy habits and may need a reboot. Data from Nielsen shows that sales of alcohol are higher now than before the pandemic, while fitness trackers show that people are on the average taking fewer steps. In another study, volunteer participants gained about 1.5 pounds per month. Rebooting your habits can begin with something as simple as setting up time… Read more
One of the odd tell-tale symptoms of COVID-19 is the abrupt loss of sense of smell reported by many patients. Researchers have recently uncovered the mechanism behind this loss. While the COVID-19 virus does not infect the nerve cells in the nose that detect and transmit information about odors to the brain, it does infect supporting cells in the nose. The subsequent inflammation wreaks havoc on the smell receptors and… Read more
One of the side effects of the pandemic has been the expansion of online grocery shopping and speedy delivery. But in large cities, many online grocery purchases are fulfilled by businesses that have taken over retail storefronts to become “ghost stores” or “dark stores.” These are small scale fulfillment centers that serve only ecommerce customers, with most orders being delivered by bike. These dark stores have the potential to reshape… Read more
Signs are emerging that the surge driven by highly transmissible Omicron variant is fading. Across the country, cases and hospitalizations are falling from record peaks. According to data from Johns Hopkins, the seven-day average for new cases was 129,000 on February 16, drastically down from 800,000 at the peak in mid-January. Data from the CDC shows a 9% drop in deaths over the last week. While mortality rates lag behind… Read more
If you think prices are increasing faster than the inflation index shows, you may be correct. Businesses are finding novel ways to pass on their cost increases to consumers. The Labor Department’s consumer-price index measures how much consumers pay for goods and services includes some of the price increases, such as smaller packages or additional fees for hotels or car rentals, but it doesn’t cover some of the hidden ways… Read more
More people in the world are now sick with the same illness than at any time since the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. By mid-January, about one in five Americans had contracted the Omicron variant, a number which could double by mid-February. While an estimated 80-90% of those infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant are asymptomatic, the widespread of the virus means that many millions of people have been sick. Businesses… Read more