Finance

Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a modest pace. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated.

The U.S. banking system is sound and resilient. Tighter credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation. The extent of these effects remains uncertain. The Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks.

The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5 to 5-1/4 percent. Holding the target range steady at this meeting allows the Committee to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy. In determining the extent of additional policy firming that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2 percent over time, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments. In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in its previously announced plans. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.

In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook. The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals. The Committee's assessments will take into account a wide range of information, including readings on labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments.

Voting for the monetary policy action were Jerome H. Powell, Chair; John C. Williams, Vice Chair; Michael S. Barr; Michelle W. Bowman; Lisa D. Cook; Austan D. Goolsbee; Patrick Harker; Philip N. Jefferson; Neel Kashkari; Lorie K. Logan; and Christopher J. Waller.

Implementation Note issued June 14, 2023

PPI for final demand declines 0.3% in May; goods fall 1.6%, services increase 0.2%

The Producer Price Index for final demand declined 0.3 percent in May. Prices for final demand goods fell 1.6 percent, and the index for final demand services increased 0.2 percent. Prices for final demand moved up 1.1 percent for the 12 months ended in May.

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www.bls.gov

My brother and I are speculating on a start-up in which we have almost all the bases covered.

However, the wall that we've run into is accounting. To explain, e-commerce transactions and dealing with all the complex tax laws is outside of our expertise.

One option that we've spit-balled is hiring an e-commerce accountant from Fiverr.

Do you have any other recommendations or ideas?

Honestly, the whole market feels grossly overbought right now. 🤔

This is a podcast episode with a lengthy transcript, but it covers a part of the financial industry, private equity firms, that does a good job of appearing so boring as to hide its outsized influence in plain sight.

It's worth the read, but a TL;DR might be along the lines of, some private equity firms are taking advantage of their poorly regulated space to profit from running businesses into the ground and/or consolidating them & raising prices all while distancing themselves from taking any responsibility for the consequences of their actions.

PDF

https://www.bls.gov

"Bogleheads® emphasize regular saving, broad diversification, and sticking to one's investment plan regardless of market conditions. We follow a small number of simple investment principles that have been shown over time to produce risk-adjusted returns far greater than those achieved by the average investor. They have been further distilled and explained in thousands of posts on the forum.

The power of the wiki is its ability to link content. If a topic has a link, there's more material available. This is not a structured course. Use those links to explore anything you want, and consider bookmarking this page in case you get lost. The start-up kits below are designed to help you begin or improve your investing journey."

We’re naturalized Americans with no family in the US, so we don’t have anyone to ask what they’re doing. Also, advice about it online is remarkably inconsistent, ranging from like $20 a month to $2000 a month. I understand that it’s because it is strongly dependent on personal finance and priorities, and nobody’s going to have a straight answer for me, but still, I am interested, what is everyone else doing, and what is the thinking that landed you on that number?

Obviously, I have no idea what my kids will want to be, so I can’t use that as signal. Doctor? Painting artist? Woodworker? Nobel-prize-winning physicist? Beats me!

Some details about my personal situation: I don’t really have any major financial goals except for this and my retirement (I own my house and it’s paid for). So, I can put some decent money in there, but this is competing with my retirement funds, and it’s important to me that I don’t depend on my own kids during my old age, so I don’t want to overdo it.

A thought I had, but I don’t know if it’s relevant: with the recent ability for kids to convert to a Roth IRA up to $35k with no penalties if they don’t use the funds, has that become the new golden number?

To whom it may concern.