2022 | September 12

UPCOMING FIRM EVENTS

THE MARKETS

Markets Rebound

The major U.S. stock indexes closed out a holiday-shortened week with solid gains, snapping a three-week losing streak that sent the S&P 500 down more than 8%. For the latest week, that index rose nearly 4%; the NASDAQ’s gain exceeded 4% and the Dow was up almost 3%. The S&P 500 closed on Friday at 4,067.4 for a gain of 3.7% on the week.

With further U.S. rate interest-rate hikes expected, the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond climbed for the sixth week in a row, reaching around 3.32% on Friday. The yield is up from 2.64% at the end of July.

The European Central Bank approved its biggest-ever interest-rate increase by lifting its key lending rate from 0.00% to 0.75%. The move came in response to the recent jump in eurozone inflation to an annual rate of 9.1%, exceeding the current U.S. rate of 8.5%.

After tumbling 6% in the previous week, the price of U.S. crude oil fell modestly, despite rallying on Friday to more than $86 per barrel. On Thursday, oil sank below $82—the lowest in eight months. As recently as August 30, oil climbed as high as $97.

The British pound on Wednesday dropped to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985. The pound fell to around $1.14 as the United Kingdom’s economy faces spiking inflation and other economic challenges.

In the wake of the recent U.S. economic downturn, a growing number of U.S. corporate executives are talking about a recession. The research firm FactSet searched conference call transcripts from the recently concluded quarterly earnings season and found that nearly half of the companies in the S&P 500 mentioned the term “recession.” The total—240 companies—was the highest that FactSet has tracked in records going back to 2010.

After falling below $19,000 earlier in the week, the price of Bitcoin jumped almost 9% on Friday to more than $21,000. Despite that rise, the cryptocurrency remains far below the record high of more than $65,000 that it set last November.

A Consumer Price Index report scheduled to be released on Tuesday will show whether the recent moderation in inflation extended into August. In July, inflation rose at an annual 8.5% rate, marking a slowdown from the previous month’s 9.1% figure, largely due to falling gasoline prices. 

Source: John Hancock Investment Management

Savings Account Interest Rates

Stay Safe When Making Peer-to-Peer Payments

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps let you quickly send money to other people from a bank account, credit card or another source. All you need is their phone number, email address or username. P2P apps are convenient ways for friends to split the bill for dinner, roommates to pay their share of utility, streaming, or other bills, and parents to send money to children, reported Ellen Sheng of CNBC.

Before getting too comfortable with the convenience of P2P apps, it's important to understand their risks and limitations. “No app provides fraud protection beyond tools to protect your account. If you authorize a payment and the transaction turns out to be a scam or fraud, there’s not much you can do. If your account is hacked, you can reach out to customer support for help. In any case, treat your electronic payments with the same care you apply to cash payments,” reported The New York Times’ Wirecutter.

According to Consumer Reports, there were more than 70,000 reports of fraud in mobile payment apps in 2021. Here are a few things to consider and some steps to take to protect your money when using P2P payment apps. 

• Download apps from a safe source. Only download apps from recognized app stores. Banks and businesses that offer payment apps often have links on their websites, according to Malwarebytes Labs. If you’re not sure whether the app source is legitimate, ask someone you trust for help.

• Enable security settings. Use the account settings to turn on additional security measures, such as two-factor authentication. Also, if you will be making payments via phone, make sure your phone is protected by a password, fingerprint identification or facial recognition.

• Don’t send money to strangers. Most apps recommend using P2P apps only with friends and family. That’s because, once you send the money, it’s gone. If a typo results in the transfer of $500 rather than $50, the mistake isn’t correctable unless the receiver sends the overpayment back.

• Check the information twice. Some banks limit the amount that can be sent through P2P apps because transactions cannot be cancelled. So, double-check the phone number, email address, or username before you choose “send”.

• Connect your P2P service to a credit card instead of a bank account. “Credit cards are subject to the Electronic Fund Transfers rule (Regulation E), which requires that users be held liable for no more than $50 in the event of fraud or a payment made in error,” reported Consumer Reports.

Digital transfers are handy. That may be one reason P2P payments and digital banking are becoming more common. To stay safe, make sure to protect your login information and know who is receiving the money.