• Aug 12, 2024

Crypto Startups Raised More VC Money During Market Slowdown

(Bloomberg) -- Crypto startups raised more money but closed fewer deals in the most recent quarter, mirroring the broader slowdown seen in the digital-asset world. Most Read from BloombergHow a Tiny Midwestern Town Became a Mecca for Modern ArchitectureHow Chicago’s Gigantic Merchandise Mart Is Still Thriving as Office SpaceLos Angeles Sees Remote Work Helping ‘No Car’ 2028 Olympic GamesIn DNC, Chicago’s Embattled Transit System Faces a High-Profile TestNYC Subway Riders See ‘Exceptionally High’

  • Aug 12, 2024

Morning Bid: Markets pray inflation stays well behaved

Off-radar for much of the past week's market turbulence, U.S. inflation updates this week will reveal just how much latitude the Federal Reserve has to meet pumped-up expectations around its first interest rate cut next month. With the S&P500 ending last week basically unchanged despite days of outsize swings, the VIX volatility gauge has returned close to long-term means around 20.

  • Aug 12, 2024

Americans' refusal to keep paying higher prices may be dealing a final blow to US inflation spike

The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it. “While inflation is down, prices are still high, and I think consumers have gotten to the point where they’re just not accepting it,” Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said last week at a conference of business economists. A more price-sensitive consumer helps explain why inflation has appeared to be steadily falling toward the Federal Reserve's 2% target, ending a period of painfully high prices that strained many people's budgets and darkened their outlooks on the economy.