Bank deposits have continued to surge this year. Between late March and May 26, they rose by $411 billion to $17.09 trillion. That is slower than the pace last spring, but still nearly four times the average of the past 20 years.
The Federal Reserve will begin selling off the corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds it amassed last year through an emergency-lending vehicle set up to contain the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic fallout. The Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility holds $5.21 billion of bonds and $8.56 billion of exchange-traded funds that hold corporate debt.
Corporate trips remain 70% or more below pre-pandemic levels, according to airlines.
One hundred twenty-five years ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made its debut. The index of 12 smokestack companies closed that first trading day, May 26, 1896, at 40.94.
The Federal Reserve’s collection of bonds, cash and other holdings could reach $9 trillion by 2023, as compared to the currently level of $7.9 trillion and just over $4 trillion at the end of February last year before the coronavirus pandemic.
Year-to-date, $312 billion of registered equity offerings through IPOs, SPACs and follow-on deals came to market in the U.S. That figure exceeds the total annual average of $290 billion that came to market in the U.S. over the last decade.
Credit-card spending in the U.S. totaled nearly $3.9 trillion on general-purpose and store cards last year, down 9% from 2019.
Jobless claims fell below 500,000 last week for the first time during the pandemic as layoffs decline and hiring accelerates.
The exchange operator CME Group Inc. said it would permanently close most of its open-outcry trading pits in Chicago, ending one of the world’s last vestiges of old-fashioned floor trading. Floor trading for agricultural commodities has existed in Chicago since the mid-19th century.
