Make sure nothing falls through the cracks so you have a seamless move.
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As mortgage rates continue their ascent toward 6%, more and more folks are talking housing market crash. But high interest rates arenât really a catalyst for a crash, especially if the high rates arenât really high. Emphasis on âreal,â as in inflation-adjusted. Everything has gone up in price, and wages should also be rising. This… Read More »Why You Might Not Want to Get Too Excited (or Nervous) About a Housing Crash
The post Why You Might Not Want to Get Too Excited (or Nervous) About a Housing Crash appeared first on The Truth About Mortgage.
Military life is not always career-friendly if youâre married to someone on active duty. Hereâs our guide to the best jobs for military spouses.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
As it becomes increasingly painful to fill up your gas tank, you might well be wondering: Will gas prices go down at some point?
Fuel prices feel like they’ve been on a never-ending ride higher of late. A year ago, the national average price of regular unleaded was $2.96 per gallon, according to travel website AAA. A month ago, it was $4.12. Today, it’s $4.33. And it’s probably heading higher still this spring.
We recently looked at the reasons why gas prices are so high: global oil demand rebounding from the pandemic faster than production. The war in Ukraine. Efforts in the U.S. to transition the economy away from reliance on fossil fuels. Energy companies’ reluctance to invest in more oil production.
Now, we’ll try to answer the question undoubtedly on many drivers’ minds: Will gas prices go down soon â and if so, what will do the pushing?
A few states have tried to ease the financial burden on their residents by suspending their state fuel taxes for a short period. But are gas prices doing down because of those moves?
Not really.
For instance, Connecticut suspended its 25-cent-per gallon state levy on fuel for April, May and June. But according to AAA, the average price of regular unleaded in the Nutmeg State today is $4.32, up from $4.13 a week ago. Increases in crude oil prices can swamp the effect of suspending a state’s gas tax. And when those state taxes are paused, the savings don’t all go in the driver’s pocket. Fuel sellers keep some portion of them.
Could the federal government give drivers nationwide a tax cut by suspending the 18.3-cent-per-gallon federal tax on gas? Unlikely, report my colleagues at The Kiplinger Letter, who regularly speak with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to assess which bills have a chance of passing.
In the case of a proposed suspension of the federal gas tax, Democrats, the majority party, can’t agree among themselves to do it.
Here’s a little good news: More crude oil should be reaching the global market later this year, which means more gasoline and other refined fuels. Eventually, that should help push gas prices down, or at least keep them from rising so fast.
In the U.S., energy companies are slowly putting more rigs to work drilling new wells, even as they prioritize returning cash to investors via share buybacks and dividends. Oilfield services company Baker Hughes reports on the number of working rigs in the U.S. each week, and most weeks lately, the tally has risen a bit. Meanwhile, OPEC announced last week that it will continue with its plan to gradually restore the oil exports it cut in 2020 when prices plunged, which means adding about 400,000 barrels of daily exports each month.
The bad news: Neither domestic oil output nor OPEC’s sales are rising fast enough to push oil prices down now. And that means gas prices are unlikely to take a breather soon, either.
So, when can we expect gas prices to go down?
A good bet for when gas prices will go down is the fall, if seasonal patterns hold up this year.
Before COVID-19 scrambled those patterns, gas prices would typically rise in spring, peak sometime around Memorial Day, ease a bit but stay high during the summer, then pull back sometime after Labor Day.
As post-pandemic life gets back to normal, that pattern could return this year. Heavy summer travel and the resulting heavy demand for gas are likely to ebb by late summer or early fall as kids go back to school. By then, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes will have had some time to slow the overall economy, which should weigh on oil demand, too. OPEC should be pumping more oil then, as will the U.S., continuing the slow rebound in production from the pandemic-induced slump.
That might not be much comfort to motorists as they pay for expensive fill-ups this spring and summer. But unless an economic recession comes along soon and crimps demand for fuel in painful fashion, high gas prices probably won’t go down anytime soon.
Not all wills are alike; there are actually four main kinds and one of them is right for you. Sure, writing a will can be an easy task to put off until âsomeday.â But what if the worst were to happen before âsomeday?â That could mean a complicated and emotionally draining legal process for your […]
The post 4 Types of Wills Explained: Which One Is Right for You? appeared first on SoFi.
The S&P 500 fell to its lowest point in more than a year Monday as last week’s selloff retained all of its momentum and bled into just about anything that trades.
Interest-rate fears continued be the selloff’s primary driver. The 10-year Treasury briefly touched 3.2% today and, even after pulling back to 3.06%, sits around levels last seen in 2018.
“Interest rates are a hammer, not a scalpel â they are blunt tools designed to move slowly and with great force, rather than precisely,” says Andy Kapyrin, co-chief investment officer at registered investment advisory firm RegentAtlantic. “The Fed is swinging the interest rate hammer, and the financial markets are responding to the aftershocks.”
Technology (-3.9%) and consumer discretionary (-4.3%) were among the usual suspects in a trading day that saw each of the 11 S&P 500 stock sectors finish in the red. But this was a wide selloff that went well beyond just stocks and bonds.
U.S. crude oil futures, for instance, cratered by 6.1% to $103.09 per barrel, amid ongoing worries that China’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns will cramp oil prices. Indeed, energy (-8.3%) was Monday’s worst-performing sector, with even blue chips such as Exxon Mobil (XOM, -7.9%) and Chevron (CVX, -6.7%) taking it on the chin.
Gold futures? A bad day, too, off 1.3% to $1,858.60 per ounce as investors piled into the U.S. dollar.Â
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Cryptocurrencies haven’t provided safety, either. Bitcoin, which fell as low as $30,375 and finished off 13.4% to $31,153, has now fallen by more than 50% from its November 2021 peak. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
Edward Moya, senior market strategist at currency data provider OANDA, notes that institutional buyers are starting to pay close attention to Bitcoin, given that many who got in during 2021 are now losing money on their investment. “If the $30,000 level breaks, that could trigger a flash crash environment if several whales unload,” he says.
The Nasdaq Composite (-4.3% to 11,623) has re-entered bear-market territory, off nearly 28% from its January highs. The S&P 500 (-3.2% to 3,991 â its lowest close since March 31, 2021) needs to lose another 4% or so before entering a bear market, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-2.0% to 32,245) would have to retreat another 9%.
YCharts
Other news in the stock market today:
Green ink was in shockingly short supply Monday â but relative success was found among the usual suspects.Â
“This collapse should continue the rotation into defensive dividend stocks,” says Jay Hatfield, chief investment officer of ETF manager Infrastructure Capital Management.Â
Consumer staples, which was only marginally lower Monday, and utilities, second-best at a 0.8% decline, are among such beneficiaries, Hatfield says.
Among their greatest qualities right now is what’s sure to be a common refrain in near-term investment advice: pricing power. In short, as inflation continues to march unimpeded, those companies that are best able to push most of those prices on to consumers should fare best â and while your average American might go a few extra months without taking a vacation or buying a new pair of Nikes, they’re unable to pull back much on basic necessities such as food and electricity.Â
Read on as we examine a number of stocks with exceptional pricing power â as well as highlight several names that, while good companies in their own right, will have an uphill battle as long as inflation remains white-hot.
Cut all ties with your old apartment.
The post How to Navigate an Apartment Lease Takeover Like a Pro appeared first on The Rent.com Blog : A Renterâs Guide for Tips & Advice.
Owning an RV is a dream for many people. Maybe you want to travel the country without having to worry about booking lodging. Or go camping without giving up all of the creature comforts of home. Perhaps youâre itching to downsize and adopt a more mobile lifestyle â one where youâre not tied down to [â¦]
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.