월스트리트저널 읽기 - Economy, S&P 500, Higher Rates etc.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

 

◈ Immigration Rebound Aids Economy(이민 반등이 경제에 도움이 되다)

 

The U.S. economy’s prospects of a soft landing are getting a boost from an unexpected source: a historic rise in immigration.

 

The inflow of foreign-born workers, which had slowed to a trickle in the years up to and including the pandemic, is now rising briskly as the U.S. catches up on a backlog of visa applications and the Biden administration accelerates work permits.

 

This past week, it said it would offer work permits to 470,000 Venezuelan migrants. The effect of that action won’t be immediate. Still, it is one of a series of executive actions that has had the effect of boosting the inflow of foreign-born workers.

 

That’s helping ease labor shortages and wage and price pressure. While that alone doesn’t remove the risk of recession, it makes it a bit easier for the Federal Reserve to bring inflation down without a significant rise in unemployment— a so-called soft landing.

 

◈ Biden's Plan B for Student-Debt Relief Would Also Face Challenges(학생 부채 탕감을 위한 바이든의 플랜 B도 도전에 직면할 것이다)

 

President Biden says he hasn’t given up on large-scale student-loan forgiveness. But the administration’s latest debt cancellation plan is far from a sure thing.

 

The Education Department this summer began an arcane regulatory process that officials hope eventually will offer millions of Americans a chance to erase part or all of their federal student-loan debt. The administration was forced to start from scratch after the Supreme Court ruled in June that the executive branch had exceeded its authority when it put in place a $430 billion plan to wipe away as much as $20,000 in student debt for Americans making less than $125,000 a year.

 

The new debt forgiveness plan, which relies on a different legal authority, is likely to face similar legal challenges. Unknown is exactly how many borrowers would be eligible for the program and what kind of relief they might receive.

 

◈ Central Bank's Rate Message Hits Fintech(중앙은행의 금리 메시지가 핀테크를 강타하다)

 

 

The Federal Reserve’s message this past week that higher rates are here to stay doesn’t sit well with fintech companies.

 

The Global X Fintech ETF fell about 6% this past week. It closed Friday at its lowest since May, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

 

Shares of the buy-now-pay-later company Affirm dropped 17% this past week. Block, which owns a buy-now-pay-later company called Afterpay, dropped 15%. PayPal fell 10% this week while popular trading app Robinhood lost 9%. Open-door, an online house-flipper, dropped 20%.

 

High rates are a threat to fintechs for two main reasons. The rate increases are meant to slow down the economy, which is putting pressure on consumers— especially those at the margins who are often more likely to seek out a fintech lender. What’s more, the companies’ own borrowing costs are rising, squeezing their margins and threatening to put smaller players out of business.

 

◈ S&P 500 Posts Its Worst Week Since March(S&P 500, 3월 이후 최악의 한 주 기록)

 

 

U.S. stock indexes edged lower Friday to end an ugly week after the Federal Reserve signaled it may not be done hiking rates. The S& P 500 fell 0.2% Friday and closed down 2.9% for the week, its worst performance since March and third straight weekly loss. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.1% Friday, and logged its third consecutive week of losses, with tech shares bearing the brunt of the recent selloff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3% lower Friday.

 

Treasury yields edged lower after closing at a 15year high on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year bond fell to 4.438%, from 4.479% Thursday.

 

Yields have pushed higher since the Fed’s Wednesday meeting, where chair Jerome Powell left the door open for another interest rate increase this year and said the central bank expects to keep rates higher for longer than it previously forecast to ensure inflation is under control.

 

◈ Higher Rates Boost Japan's Biggest Banks(금리 인상으로 일본 최대 은행들이 활기를 띠다)

 

 

Stodgy Japanese banks have morphed into some of the globe’s best investments in 2023, and a shifting monetary regime will keep them raking in the cash.

 

Over the past year, the share prices of the country’s three megabanks have gained an average of 73%, driven mainly by hope that the central bank will finally exit its ultralow-interest-rate policy. Since December the Bank of Japan has made a couple of important tweaks to its yield-curve-control policy— effectively allowing long-term bond yields to rise—and an end to the negative-rate policy implemented in 2016 could be on the horizon. That is, BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda said this month, if inflation sustainably hits the BOJ’s 2% target.

 

2023.09.22 - [경제신문 읽기] - 월스트리트저널 읽기 - Treasury Yields, Cisco, Higher Rates etc.

월스트리트저널 읽기 - Treasury Yields, Cisco, Higher Rates etc.

 

오늘도 경제신문으로 세상을 봅니다.