There Is A Possibility That Inflation Will Fall Again

According to several measures of US inflation, some of them moderated significantly in March, which gave Wall Street hope that rate hikes would end and support for Fed supporters who think the Fed's soft-landing plan is paying off. Consumer prices (excluding food and energy) rose 0.4% in April, just a tenth of a percentage less than they did the previous month. As a result of housing cost increases that were the smallest in about a year, grocery prices also declined. According to traders, the Fed is expected to raise its interest rates by 25 basis points at the meeting in May, however it might be just that. “May should still point towards an interest rate hike,” said Derek Tang, a LH Meyer/Monetary Policy Analytics economist. Nevertheless, it does take a bit of the wind out of the question of whether another hike will even be necessary in June.” Here is your market wrap for today.  

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Listed below are the top stories of the day

Now the bad news: It appears that the golden age of I bonds is over. Several months ago, they were offering a historic rate of 9.625% on the popular bond, but that number has dropped to 3.8%, making it much closer to the yields on certificates of deposit, high-yield savings and money-market funds. It is expected that the yield will drop to 3.8% by the end of the year.

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The yield on I bonds is expected to drop in the near future

Several of the world's biggest private equity firms are buying the debt of their portfolio companies' companies from banks at steep discounts. The goal is to take advantage of lulls in deal-making in order to grab some juicy returns.

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As part of the Biden administration's campaign to reduce tailpipe emissions, automakers are expected to make sure that two out of three cars and light trucks sold by 2032 are electric vehicles. In this announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its latest giant climate step by the White House following the passage of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which was the first climate step taken by the White House after passing the bill. I am optimistic that the rules will stand up to legal assault from polluting industries, their lobbies and allies on Capitol Hill if they can withstand what is expected to be an uphill battle. At the ceremony outside the agency's headquarters in Washington, EPA Administrator Michael Regan declared that the actions taken today will accelerate our ongoing transition to a clean vehicle future, address the climate crisis head on, and improve the air quality for communities throughout the country.

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There will be an increase in electric vehicle adoption

The Ukraine has erupted into anger over videos that purport to show Russian forces beheading a Ukrainian soldier. Previously, the Russian government was accused of mass executions, rapes, torture, intentional targeting of civilians, and deportation of thousands of people. In the last year, there have been numerous allegations and investigations concerning mass executions, rapes, torture, and forced deportations. As already reported by the International Criminal Court, the Ukrainian authorities are currently comparing Putin's military to the Islamic State, which is now accused of war crimes. 

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According to reports coming out of Ukraine, Kiev forces seem to be probing Russian weak points so that they can prepare for Ukraine's long-anticipated counteroffensive which has been long anticipated.

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In response to Elon Musk's incorrect labeling that the news organization was "state-affiliated media," National Public Radio announced it would leave Elon Musk's Twitter account. NPR's label was later modified to "government-funded media" by Twitter, but the public radio network—whose government funding amount is less than 1% of its overall budget—claimed that the revision was inaccurate and misleading. Musk responded by taking a shot at the BBC in a separate tweet. Despite the fact that NPR is a nonprofit corporation with editorial independence, Musk has decided to take a few shots at the company as well.

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It seems they are going for your WFH. JPMorgan may be the first company to cross over the Rubicon of the pandemic, requiring managing directors to be present every weekday. As a consequence of rethinking the hybrid work rules of Wall Street firms as well as companies across corporate America, some recent predictions of WFH becoming a permanent part of business may be premature.

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It is alleged that former and current employees of Mat Ishbia, the billionaire who purchased the Phoenix Suns in February, have been subjected to racial disparities, sexual harassment and bullying at his mortgage company. The locker room environment at Ishbia's United Wholesale Mortgage, where more than two dozen employees were employed in recent years, was described by two dozen employees as being different from White workers in terms of treatment, with leering and sexually offensive remarks being made regularly by sales staff members.