Some of the nation’s biggest banks, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, are warning that trading revenue in the second quarter will be down at least 10 percent compared to a year ago. Goldman Sachs also flagged a drop in trading revenue. One of the reasons they’re pointing to? A lack of market volatility. That may […]

Illinois’ credit rating is now just short of junk. That’s the news after a downgrade from S&P Global Ratings. The agency cited Illinois’ budget stalemate and its $14.5 billion in unpaid bills. It will take more revenue and more cuts to make any progress, but the state’s regular legislative session just ended — with no […]

There’s a tug of war in the Trump administration over the debt ceiling — specifically, whether Congress should attach spending limits to legislation raising or suspending the ceiling. It limits how much the Treasury Department can borrow to pay its bills. Now, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is urging Congress to raise the debt ceiling with […]

There were protestors in front of Goldman Sachs’ offices in Manhattan yesterday who were angry with the bank for a purchase it made. Goldman bought $2.8 billion worth of Venezuelan bonds from the state-owned oil company through a broker. It struck a real bargain, too, getting them for 31 cents on the dollar. That means […]

Americans’ credit scores are averaging way higher, around 700 according to a new report from FICO. Credit agencies are also cleaning up their rolls and getting old or bad data off people’s reports. Plus, many people who went into bankruptcy during the financial crisis are now returning to credit-worthiness as the statute of limitations comes […]

President Trump’s tweet Tuesday about the U.S.’s “massive” trade deficit with Germany got us wondering about just how big that deficit is, and why we’re buying all those German goods. First, the size of the deficit: The U.S. buys about $65 billion more from Germany than Germany buys from the U.S. One thing that tells […]

Seventy and a half. That is the magic age that starts mandatory withdrawals from 401(k)s and other tax-deferred retirement accounts. The oldest members of the baby boom generation start hitting that age this year, and the milestone is expected to have significant implications for the financial services industry. Click the audio player above to hear […]

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin faced his second day of grilling on Capitol Hill today, this time appearing before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss his boss’s proposed budget for next year. Baked into that budget is the assumption that the U.S. economy will start growing at 3 percent or higher by the year 2021, which […]

The New York Federal Reserve says Americans are borrowing again — everything from student loans to auto loans to mortgages. According to the New York Fed, household debt has reached a record high, even higher than the previous peak, during the credit bubble in 2008. The report’s findings don’t mean Americans have learned to be […]