WASHINGTON (AP) — The New York Federal Reserve is stepping up its purchases of Treasurys to try to ease jitters in the financial markets over the coronavirus outbreak. The Fed is also injecting $500 billion into short-term lending markets to address disruptions in the Treasury market. The move caused the stock market to sharply pare […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sharply lower after resuming trading as traders fear that not enough is being done to contain the economic damange from the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow industrials are down 1,800 points, or 8%, following a 15-minute trading halt. The sell-off slamming global markets came after President Trump imposed a travel […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Buy and hold — and don’t sell when the stock market plunges. That’s the strategy many market pros use, and it has served me well through more than three decades as an investor — and as a financial journalist who needed to know daily what was happening in the markets. I’ve […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Analysts at Goldman Sachs predict the longest-ever bull market for stocks will soon end, citing expectations of weaker company profits this year. The analysts lowered their 2020 earnings forecast for S&P 500 companies Wednesday for the second time in less than two weeks. They now expect profits will be down 5% […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.8%, its steepest drop since the financial crisis of 2008, as a free-fall in oil prices and worsening fears of fallout from the spreading coronavirus outbreak seize markets. The sharp drops triggered the first automatic halts in trading in two decades. The price of oil […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Fear bludgeoned financial markets around the world Monday, and stocks, bond yields and oil plunged on metastasizing worries about the effects of the new coronavirus. The most violent drops came from the oil markets, where prices cratered more than 20%. But moves in stocks and bond yields were nearly as breathtaking. […]

CALIFORNIA (JTA) – Michael Steinmetz was uncertain about inviting his grandmother to visit his marijuana factory in Mendocino County. Masha Steinmetz is 89 and an observant Jew who cared for Holocaust victims as a nurse in Israel after the war. Originally from Romania, she lived most of her life in Venezuela, a predominantly Catholic country […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring jumped in February as employers added 273,000 jobs, evidence that the economy was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the U.S. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, matching a 50-year low, down from 3.6% in January. The job gain comes from […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Amazon will offer free shipping to Palestinians in the West Bank after it became public that Israelis living in West Bank settlements receive the promotion. The online retail giant began selling its international products in Israel late last year and offers free shipping on orders of $49 or more. But the address […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has hit a record low of 3.29%, driven down by investors shifting money into the safety of U.S. Treasurys as the viral outbreak deepens. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the benchmark 30-year loan this week tumbled from 3.45% last week. […]