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Innes McFee, chief global economist at the independent economics advisory firm Oxford Economics created a computer model of past housing recessions to see what’s likely to happen to residential real estate prices, given today’s economic conditions. He published his findings in a research note. Home prices, which soared during the pandemic, have begun to fall as skyrocketing mortgage rates have turned the market on its head. The U.S. housing market has a little over a one in three chance of falling by more than 10% (which he defines as a crash), McFee’s model predicts....

An electronic funds transfer (EFT) pays your bill automatically by transferring money from your credit card, checking account, or savings account directly to your insurance company each month. Most insurance companies accept EFT payments, preferring it as a method of payment if you can’t pay in full. Pros of EFTs There are several advantages to using EFTs to take care of your insurance payments. One-Time Setup One benefit of using EFT is that you can set it up once and all future payments will be delivered on time....

Electronic trading offers much cheaper commissions for retail traders, and the transactions execute on a faster and more efficient basis than on the floor of an exchange. Once you trade an electronic futures contract, it is hard to imagine any better way. Pit Trading There was a time when you had to call a broker to place an order. The broker would then call down to the floor to an order clerk and the clerk would then relay the order to a floor broker....

Crafting an effective cover letter is tricky: in a limited amount of space, you need to catch the hiring manager’s attention, make a case for why you’re the best candidate for the job, and inspire them to contact you for more information. It’s a sales pitch, which means that you have to get in, get them interested, and then get out while they still want to know more. If you’re like most job seekers, you don’t write many letters these days, which makes cover letter writing even tougher....

Sometimes this will involve sending a physical letter. At other times, it will only require a quick email. Make sure you know the basic rules for sending polite and professional letters and emails. It’s always important to keep your correspondence focused on the topic you’re writing about. Carefully proofread and edit everything you send as well. Check out the letter and email examples below. Use these as templates for starting your own messages, being sure to tailor them to the circumstances you’re writing about....

Opening Lines of Credit The first step to building credit is to actually open one or more lines of credit. Getting credit for the first time can be tough since banks and credit card issuers will check your credit to approve your application, and a lack of credit history may lead to rejections. You can look for credit cards geared toward students or first-time borrowers, or you can consider other options for getting credit for the first time....

The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of adults either working or looking for work, has remained stubbornly low during the economic recovery, but was trending higher for both groups since September, as the delta wave subsided. But the groups diverged in early December, as data from Morning Consult shows, soon after the World Health Organization declared omicron a “variant of concern.” It may sound counterintuitive that vaccinated people would be less likely to go to work than the unvaccinated—vaccines should make people feel safer from COVID-19, after all, and give them the freedom to go out without worrying....

The agency’s collection at Publications Online provides an exhaustive list of IRS-produced forms and publications. Most of them are available as both PDFs and HTML web pages. Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR Taxpayers who are age 65 or older qualify to use the 1040-SR tax form. Younger individuals must use Form 1040. Form 1040 and 1040-SR Instructions (pdf) Instructions (web) Both forms come with numerous schedules to provide details about various forms of income and deductions....

Are you thinking about applying for an FHA loan? If so, here’s what you need to know. How Do You Get an FHA Loan? Getting approved for an FHA loan depends on a few factors. These include your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and how much of a down payment you can afford to pay. No single factor comes with a hard limit. Instead, the FHA will consider your situation in full based on a picture they can get from all the factors....

Increasing prices result in your money not going as far as it once did. Maybe you could buy four candy bars with a dollar in 1980, but today you could only buy half of one; that’s inflation. It affects interest rates, bank accounts, loans, and other financial activities. Find out what effect inflation may have on your bank accounts and what, if anything, you can do about it. Inflation vs....

Obama Outlines Budget Priorities In January, President Obama outlined his FY 2012 budget priorities in the 2011 State of the Union Address. Although he would keep spending at FY 2011 levels, House Republicans wanted to lower it to 2008 levels. The president submitted his FY 2012 budget to Congress on Feb. 14, 2011. But Congress had yet to approve the FY 2011 budget. It used stop-gap funding bills in March and April to keep the government funded....

Germany’s Economic Growth Statistics In 2017, Germany’s GDP growth rate was 2.4% better than it had been in the previous year. Germany’s GDP per capita was $46,749 in 2017, better than the 2016 average of $45,923. It’s lower than the $53,129 enjoyed in the United States and less than the European Union overall at $36,593. Before the 2008 financial crisis, Germany’s growth was less than 1% per year, for three reasons:...

Buyer feedback is essential. Without it, sellers won’t know what they’re doing right or what could be improved. It doesn’t matter what the seller thinks. Ultimately, the buyer’s opinion reigns. In most cases, sellers and buyers won’t have direct contact, and they only communicate through agents. However, you can give your agent questions to pass along to the buyer. Here are sample questions that may be helpful to ask a home buyer....

Annie Engel / Getty Images Learn more about green marketing to see its role in business and contributions to environmental sustainability. What Is Green Marketing? Green marketing involves companies promoting their products or services in a way that showcases their eco-friendliness. Alternate name: Eco-marketing, environmental marketing When a company showcases its eco-friendliness, that may include products: Manufactured in a sustainable fashionNot containing toxic materials or ozone-depleting substancesProduced from recycled materials or able to be recycledMade from renewable materialsNot making use of excessive packagingDesigned to be repairable and not thrown away...

If there’s a recession in 2023, as many economic forecasters now predict, it’s widely expected to be a “mild” one—that is, not lasting very long, and with relatively few people losing their jobs compared to past recessions. And U.S. households, many of which were able to save large amounts of money during the pandemic, should be able to ride it out pretty well. In other words, if a recession comes, it probably won’t be catastrophic for most people’s finances....

The average hourly wage in December was $31.31, 0.6% more than in November and 4.7% more than a year earlier—well above the pre-pandemic record of 3.7% set in 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. Indeed, every month with the exception of a three-month stretch earlier in 2021 has shown year-over-year wage growth topping that high, according to records going back to 2007. Unfortunately, these wage increases haven’t kept up with inflation, now at a decades-high 6....

Here’s a quick look at the most significant economic indicators of the day and what they tell us. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index Home prices were 19.8% higher this February than last February, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. This is the third-fastest growth for a 12-month period on record, just shy of the pace seen in July and August of last year. Home prices have soared during the pandemic, with growth decelerating only slightly late last year before accelerating again in January and February....

To build foundational knowledge, we’ll start off by explaining what the capital markets are and how they work. Then, we’ll dive into how stock prices are determined. You’ll learn about two essential theories: the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and Intrinsic Value Theory. Understanding Capital Markets A big part of understanding the rationale behind stock prices is understanding the capital markets in general. The capital markets, often simply referred to as “Wall Street,” serve three main purposes....

The 0% APR balance transfer is the best of all balance transfer promotions because it means you won’t pay any interest transferred amount until after the promotional period. Qualifying for a promotional balance transfer offer usually requires you to have good to excellent credit. With a 0% balance transfer, you’ll enjoy a 0% interest rate on the balance transfer for the entire promotional period, which must be at least six months....

According to Pew Research Center, fewer than one in four lower-income workers in the U.S. have enough extra funds to cover three months of expenses, let alone those that are unexpected. With that said, people who had emergency funds might’ve exhausted them by now to make ends meet during recent trying times. This lack of emergency funds can have an impact on people’s ability to take care of some of their most basic expenses....