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In The Know: Week of March 22, 2024
Stronger Growth with Higher Inflation
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Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” - Matthew 21:9
The word “hosanna” means “Lord, save us now.” It was these words that the citizens of Jerusalem joyfully shouted when the Lord Jesus rode into the city, one week before his crucifixion.
Of course, we cannot read this Palm Sunday verse without pondering what would happen five days later. On Good Friday, many of the same people who welcomed Jesus with open arms in Jerusalem were among the throng shouting “Crucify Him!” Indeed, Jesus would be crucified, crushed for the sin of the world. His purpose was twofold - to glorify and obey His Father, and to save His people from their sins. Praise God for our conquering King and our perfect Substitute, Jesus Christ.
If you want to study the scriptures and learn more about the truth of the gospel, join our weekly Bible Study every Friday morning at 6:30 Eastern time, 5:30 Central time. Click here to learn how to join.
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FOR THE WEEK: US Equity Indexes Were Mixed but Still Made Weekly Gains
The DJIA gained 761.13 points, or 2%, to close at 39.475.90.
The Nasdaq rose 455.65 points, or 2.9%, ending at 16,428.82.
The S&P added 117.01, or 2.3%, closing at 5,234.18.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 305.47 points, or 0.77%, to close at 39,475.90; the Nasdaq Composite added 26.98 points, or 0.16%, ending at 16,428.82; the S&P 500 dropped 7.35 points, or 0.14%, closing at 5,234.18.
Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Friday but still on track for strong weekly gains, as investors cheered the Federal Reserve sticking to its rate-easing stance.
Health care stocks were edging down late Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) both down 0.1%.
Tech stocks were advancing Friday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 0.3% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) fractionally higher. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 0.9%.
Financial stocks were decreasing in Friday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) each shedding 0.8%.
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Consumer stocks were retreating late Friday afternoon, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) shedding 0.4% and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) down 0.8%.
Energy stocks fell late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) both shedding 0.3%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index fell 0.8%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index eased 0.1%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.4% to $80.72 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent declined 0.3% to $85.49 a barrel. Henry Hub natural-gas futures fell 1.9% to $1.651 per 1 million BTU.
Gold for June delivery closed down $24.90 to settle at $2,181.60 per ounce, a day after closing above the $2,200 mark for the first time. Platinum futures were down at $897.40, Palladium was down at $995.00 and Silver down at $24.82.
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U.S. equity funds witnessed robust demand in the seven days to March 20, buoyed by Wall Street's continued rally and expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year.
Housing Starts rose 10.7% to 1.521 million in February, compared with 1.449 million expected and 1.374 million in January (revised from 1.331 million).
Congressional leaders unveiled their $1.2 trillion spending bill on Thursday (vote takes place today, 3/22) for six spending bills to fund the government through September.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, while sales of previously owned homes increased by the most in a year in February, signs the economy remained on solid footing in the first quarter.
U.S. companies' purchases of domestic equities through more stock buybacks and corporate acquisitions will hit a six-year high of $625 billion this year, about as much as mutual funds and pension houses will offload, Goldman Sachs said.
Nvidia unveiled a new software and hardware platform on Monday that can be used to build human-like robots powered by AI.
The American Conservative Values ETF will divest its stake in Tyson Foods over the company's plans to hire illegal immigrants in a move to protect its shareholders.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recommended Thursday that policymakers look further into profits at grocery store operators that remain elevated since the pandemic and promotions that consumer products makers offer retailers.
The Biden admin. will reportedly award as much as $6.3 billion in grants to help industries cut carbon emissions, possibly as soon as Monday 3/25, per sources.
It turns out that increasing the cost of borrowing increases the cost of living, and if that isn't measured as part of inflation (it used to be), then the statistics simply miss out on vital data and mislead.
Gas prices at the pump are on the rise and could lead to a higher national average next month, exacerbating inflation concerns and lowering the prospect of interest rate cuts during the first half of 2024.
The Texas Board of Education terminated the state’s Permanent School Fund’s $8.5 billion investment with BlackRock, saying that the decision followed the state’s determination that BlackRock is engaged in a boycott of the oil and gas sector.
Manufacturing activity in the region continued to expand overall, according to the firms responding to the March Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey.
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased by 0.1 percent in February 2024 to 102.8 (2016=100), following a 0.4 percent decline in January.
The S&P Global US Services PMI fell to a three-month low of 51.7 in March from 52.3 in February, slightly below forecasts of 52.
Existing-home sales surged 9.5% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million, which is the biggest monthly increase since February 2023.
The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is canceling about $6 billion in student loan debt for 78,000 public service workers.
The Congressional Budget Office projected that publicly-held federal debt will balloon to 107% of the country’s GDP by 2029 in its economic update out on Wednesday.
Americans paid nearly 50% more in credit card expenses last year compared to the year before President Joe Biden took office — adding fuel to cries by Republican over the cost of living crisis facing voters ahead of November’s election.
Former President Trump said this week that he is “leaning” toward a 15-week abortion ban and supports exceptions for rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother.
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JUST THE NEWS, GROUNDED IN TRUTH. | |
FISM NEWS is a conservative news source that approaches each story from a biblical worldview. Watch FISM News weekdays at 5pm ET 4pm CT on fism.tv/watch. | | |
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Conservatives Refresh Nation’s Memory on Biden’s Afghanistan Debacle
The average American’s taste for news is a fickle thing. The new quickly becomes old and memories are soon wiped with replacement stories.
From a political standpoint, harping far too long on any topic, even when one has the moral and pragmatic upper hand, can quickly exhaust an audience. Laser focus on any one topic, if it drags on for years, becomes noise and weakens the effect.
With this in mind, it’s not entirely surprising that Republicans have not fixated on the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 since 2022. Certainly, the occasional senator or congressman on the right has raised the issue, but there has been no all-out press … until now.
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Google's Digital Information Monopoly: The Real Threat to Democracy
New revelations about Google’s influence in squelching conservative thought make the “Twitter files” seem like mere child’s play. A report out this week underscores the world’s most-used search engine’s monopoly on digital information, the scope of which breathtaking.
A new Media Research study out this week revealed that Google “interfered” with U.S. elections 41 times over the past 16 years. The conservative-leaning watchdog group said that from 2008 through the end of last month, the Alphabet, Inc-owned search engine “utilized its power to help push to electoral victory the most liberal candidates…while targeting their opponents for censorship."
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Manhattan School District Considers Banning Males from Female Sports
New York City is weighing the consequences of men participating in women’s sports.
On Wednesday, Manhattan’s largest school board district passed a resolution that could lead to the exclusion of trans women from female sports, though not without backlash.
The Department of Education has already replaced biological sex with gender identity in all NYC public schools, including sports in public school leagues, according to Resolution 248.
Nevertheless, the city’s move to even consider the review of trans women in female sports, while involving parents in the matter, has caused quite a controversy at the meeting.
Read More
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HHS Admits to Not Knowing Whereabouts of 400k Children Released into US
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra made a shocking admission last week – saying the HHS has released over 400,000 unaccompanied immigrant children into the US over the last three years. Furthermore, when asked by Senator John Cornyn of the whereabouts of these children, the Secretary could not confirm them.
Becerra consistently referred to the agency’s vetting process for the children’s sponsors. But Senator Martha Blackburn quoted an internal HHS report, revealing the dangerous gaps in that process.
This comes a little less than a year after the New York Times reported that HHS were unable to reach 85,000 sponsors.
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The FISM (Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries) is the home of the program Financial Issues which focuses on financial headlines, investing, politics and encourages people to be thoughtful stewards of the money God has entrusted to them. Financial Issues is a live call-in radio and TV program heard and watched internationally. | |
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