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paraphenalia a collection of objects, esp. equipment needed for or connected with a particular activity: photography paraphernalia.
He was arrested for possessing syringes and other drug paraphernalia. They were kept busy sorting out a house and furniture and the paraphernalia of married life.
The selected text refers to a recent legislative change in Chile that is causing concern in the renewable energy market. The government is proposing to alter a pricing mechanism for small electricity generators, which has been a significant incentive for investment in renewable energy projects. This change is seen as a “dangerous precedent” because it could undermine investor confidence and potentially disrupt the market1.
By Lewis Krauskopf
(Reuters) - With interest rate cuts virtually locked in, investors are ramping up their focus on economic data over the next few months as they game out whether the “soft landing” narrative that has helped drive U.S. stocks in 2024 can continue.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said the “time has come” to begin lowering interest rates - a more dovish message than many investors had believed they would hear at the central bank’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That process will likely begin next month, with a 25 basis-point cut at the Fed’s monetary policy meeting on Sept. 17-18.
The comments are far from an all-clear signal. With the S&P 500 up 18% on the year and equities richly valued, market participants will need to see continued evidence that the economy is gliding to a soft landing, where growth remains resilient while inflation cools.
"What the market wanted was to hear that the rate-cutting cycle is starting," said Alessio de Longis, senior portfolio manager and head of investments at Invesco Solutions.
However, “is the Fed telling us that they're actually worried about the economy now? And if that is the case, maybe the excitement about the cutting cycle should take a different perspective."
History shows that stocks tend to perform far better when rate cuts come against a background of resilient growth instead of during a sharp economic slowdown. Since 1970, the S&P 500 has climbed an average of 18% one year after the first rate cut in non-recessionary periods, according to Evercore ISI strategists. In recession periods, the index climbed an average of just 2% a year following the first cut.
In his speech, Powell said the Fed “did not seek or welcome” any further cooling in the labor market and wanted to prevent further erosion. Jobs will be in the spotlight when the U.S. publishes a closely watched employment report on Sept. 6, after weaker-than-expected labor market data at the beginning of August.
Other important upcoming data includes two monthly inflation reports: the personal consumption expenditures price index on Aug. 30 and the consumer price index on Sept. 11.
More signs of economic weakness could once again rattle stocks and shift expectations toward a 50 basis-point cut next month. Expectations for such a move were priced at around 35% on Friday afternoon, compared with about 29% before the speech, with the remaining expectations for a 25-bp cut, futures data showed.
“The Fed is easing with the economy not particularly weak (and inflation still above target), and it has the potential to ease substantially in response to any acute weakness,” wrote Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, in a note on Friday.
Powell's signal of coming rate cuts completed a Fed shift that began in January when it acknowledged emerging job market risks, and now it has made countering those its top job.
The open question: Are a weakening job market and rising unemployment rate evidence of an economy settling into a healthy place of steady growth with little upside risk to the jobless rate or part of a slide that will gather speed?
The answer will appear in upcoming employment reports and shape how far and fast the Fed will have to cut rates to prevent what Powell called an "unwelcome further weakening in labor market conditions."
"We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions," Powell said, remarks that seemed to set the current 4.3% unemployment rate as a level he would like to defend as he made the sour admission that "conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic."
The jobless rate was 4.1% and falling when Powell became chair in 2018, falling as low as 3.5% in 2019 without raising inflation concerns - conditions Powell said he hoped he could recreate after COVID-19 threw the economy into a tailspin.
Today's Fed rate of 5.25%-5.50% is seen as restricting the economy and putting jobs at risk and is well above officials' median estimate of 2.8% for the longer-term "neutral" rate. Assuming inflation continues ebbing towards the Fed's 2% target, job market changes will determine how fast officials head toward that neutral level and whether they need to go even lower to restore full employment.
Powell's signal of coming rate cuts completed a Fed shift that began in January when it acknowledged emerging job market risks, and now it has made countering those its top job.
The open question: Are a weakening job market and rising unemployment rate evidence of an economy settling into a healthy place of steady growth with little upside risk to the jobless rate or part of a slide that will gather speed?
The answer will appear in upcoming employment reports and shape how far and fast the Fed will have to cut rates to prevent what Powell called an "unwelcome further weakening in labor market conditions."
"We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions," Powell said, remarks that seemed to set the current 4.3% unemployment rate as a level he would like to defend as he made the sour admission that "conditions are now less tight than those that prevailed before the pandemic."
The jobless rate was 4.1% and falling when Powell became chair in 2018, falling as low as 3.5% in 2019 without raising inflation concerns - conditions Powell said he hoped he could recreate after COVID-19 threw the economy into a tailspin.
Today's Fed rate of 5.25%-5.50% is seen as restricting the economy and putting jobs at risk and is well above officials' median estimate of 2.8% for the longer-term "neutral" rate. Assuming inflation continues ebbing towards the Fed's 2% target, job market changes will determine how fast officials head toward that neutral level and whether they need to go even lower to restore full employment.
A president without a vice president is like a captain without a first mate, but some U.S. presidents — four, to be precise — have nevertheless had to serve without one. They were John Tyler (1841-1845), Millard Fillmore (1850-1853), Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), and Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885), all of whom ascended to the presidency when their predecessors died in office. Because the 25th Amendment didn’t lay out an official process for naming a new VP in such an event until 1967, those four commanders in chief simply went without one. All four failed to win reelection; some even failed to secure their party’s nomination and therefore never had the chance to select a running mate.
Whether you’re just dropping the kids off at school or you have a 2-hour daily commute, you’ll find tips that apply to your driving situation. Read on to learn everything from car seat safety guidelines to defensive driving techniques to critical vehicle maintenance safety tips that can save you money and perhaps even save your life!
Child Car Seat Safety Tips
1. A 2017 study found 325 children under the age of 5 were saved by car seats. Always use a car seat to keep young children safe. Check out the NHTSA’s recommendations to find the right car seat for your young passenger.
ChatGPT 5.0” you mean the original GPT-5, OpenAI removed it from the ChatGPT model picker because it was retired as newer GPT-5 generations...
