"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again
with a yoke of bondage."
Galatians 5:1
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For the week, the S&P 500 was basically flat at 4,181.17, the Dow lost 0.5% to close at 33,874.85, and the Nasdaq shed 0.4% to end at 13,962.68.
U.S. economic growth accelerated in the first quarter as the government gave money to mostly lower-income households, fueling consumer spending and setting the course for what is expected to be the strongest performance this year in nearly four decades.
GDP increased at a 6.4% annualized rate last quarter, the government said in its advance estimate for the first three months of the year, the biggest first-quarter increase in growth since 1984.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday took a more positive view of the U.S. economic recovery., The list of what will get Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to start thinking about cutting back on the central bank's support for the U.S. economy is a short one: jobs, jobs and more jobs.
Government and industry officials push bitcoin regulation while confronting an epidemic of ransomware, where hackers freeze the computers of a target and demand a payoff.
The U.S. trade deficit in goods jumped to a record high in March as economic activity in the United States has rebounded more quickly compared to its global rivals. The pent-up demand is drawing in imports, eclipsing a recovery in exports and keeping the overall trade deficit elevated.
U.S. auto retail sales for April are expected to be the highest ever recorded for the month, helped by strong consumer demand and tighter inventories at dealerships.
Manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region was unexpectedly flat in April, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
The Consumer Confidence Index rose to 121.7 in April from 109 in the prior month, the highest since a reading of 132.6 in February 2020, just prior to the start of the pandemic. Both the present situation and future expectations readings improved.
Amazon.com on Thursday reported its biggest profit ever as consumers turned to the online retailer for their shopping needs and businesses paid it more to warehouse and advertise their products.
The level of initial jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 553,000 in the week ended April 24, pulling down the four-week moving average by 44,000, a third straight decline.
Ford Motor was the third-worst performer on S&P 500 Thursday, down 9.4%, after it said it expects to lose about 50% of planned Q2 production "largely because of the additional effect of the supplier fire."
U.S. President Joe Biden's plans to raise taxes on corporate America could put an end to a four-decade global drop in corporate taxation levels. To finance a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure investment plan, Biden wants to lift the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and scale back loopholes that companies can use to cut their tax bills.
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Friday Recap: Wall Street Ends Lower Weighed Down by Tech
US stocks closed lower Friday as a profusion of upbeat economic reports and corporate earnings windfalls failed to stir incremental buying interest in a market growing accustomed to good news.
Personal income rose by 21% in March. At the same time, wages and salaries rose by 1.1%, with 916,000 new payrolls in the month and a longer average workweek. There were also additions to personal income from proprietors' income, rental income, and return on assets. The savings rate jumped to 28% from 14% as many consumers partially held onto their stimulus payments rather than spending them.
The dollar rose on Friday, extending gains after upbeat data on personal income, spending, and manufacturing in the U.S. Midwest, with market participants also taking profits on the currency's short dollar positions this month.
Labor costs jumped by the most in 14 years in the first quarter, driven by a pick-up in wage growth as companies competed for workers to boost production. The White House's massive $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus and rapidly improving public health are unleashing pent-up demand.
U.S. Treasury yields slipped one basis point to 1.65% on Friday as investors bought bonds for month-end portfolio rebalancing, countering expectations of higher inflation as businesses reopen from COVID-related shutdowns.
Gold edged lower on Friday as a higher dollar offset a drop in bond yields. Copper for May delivery gained 47.60 cents per pound, or 11.89% to $4.4790 this month up 11 of the past 13 months.
Health care stocks were narrowly lower this afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index falling 0.3% while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF also was down 0.3%.
Consumer sentiment increased in April due to federal stimulus spending and growing vaccination rate, according to the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers, jumping to 88.3 this month from 84.9 in March.
Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday topped Wall Street quarterly earnings estimates with its first profit in five quarters, boosted by higher oil prices and strong chemicals margins.
Boeing Co fired 65 employees over the last year for engaging in or being part of racist, discriminatory or hateful conduct. American companies have come under pressure from investors to publicly disclose information about diversity among employees in the wake of racial justice and movements such as Black Lives Matter.
Wall Street dropped on Friday, with Apple, Alphabet and other tech-related companies dipping despite recent strong quarterly earnings reports. A day after the S&P 500 closed at a record high, the big tech companies gave back gains following upbeat quarterly reports this week.
Most of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes fell, with technology, materials and energy among the deepest decliners. Despite Friday’s weakness, the Nasdaq completed its sixth consecutive month of gains. The Dow has now shown monthly gains for the past three months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.54% to end at 33,874.85 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.72% to 4,181.17. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.85%, to 13,962.68.
For the week, the S&P 500 was basically flat at 4,181.17, the Dow lost 0.5% to close at 33,874.85, and the Nasdaq shed 0.4% to end at 13,962.68.
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Will you consider making a secure, tax-deductible donation to support
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Donations may be made by clicking on the secure link above, or by mailing a check or money order to: Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries, or "FISM," PO Box 270, Exton, PA 19341.
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Texas Senate Passes Bill Designed to Protect Infrastructure from Foreign Takeovers |
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Campbell gave a real-life example of a Chinese billionaire purchasing a 200 square mile piece of land in Texas under the pretense of...
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As the United States recovers from the now infamous Solar Winds hack that compromised major companies and government officials weigh warnings from the intelligence community regarding cyber threats, the state of Texas is taking action to help secure the country from foreign interference.
On Monday, the Texas Senate passed the “Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act,” which prohibits “contracts or other agreements with certain foreign-owned companies in connection with critical infrastructure in this state.” The countries of concern in the legislation include…(READ MORE)
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Senator Donna Campbell on the ‘Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act’ |
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Texas Senator Donna Campbell, M.D. went on Financial Issues to speak with Dan Celia about the importance of such a bill…
Dan Celia, President & CEO of FISM Inc.
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As reported by Samuel Case yesterday, the Texas Senate passed a bill that aims to protect Texas infrastructure by denying contracts with foreign entities that have been deemed dangerous to the United States. This bill was inspired by a Chinese billionaire with ties to the Chinese Communist Government who recently purchased a massive plot of land, supposedly for a wind turbine farm. (WATCH HERE)
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Trump Rallies Reported to Start in May |
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... some think the former president will play the role of kingmaker instead of candidate in 2024.
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Apart from his speech at CPAC and the occasional appearance on right-leaning news networks, Donald Trump has been relatively quiet since leaving the presidency. That’s all about to change this summer, as the 45th President is looking to return to the public eye with a splash by bringing back his much loved (and hated) “Make America Great Again” rallies.
Sources close to Trump told CNN that he plans to resume the rallies as soon as May, but many details remain unknown. “It will definitely be different in terms of the setup, but we got really good at planning these events in 2020, so we will probably use a lot of those same vendors again,” said a person familiar with the matter. Trump confirmed on Dan Bongino’s podcast that he will be returning to the role of entertainer-in-chief, telling Dan…(READ MORE)
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New Census Data to Shift Electorate Power |
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Kristen Koslap, Census Bureau senior technical expert, revealed that Montana won the final electoral vote by a razor thin margin…
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The Census Bureau delivered the results of the 2020 Census to the President’s office on Monday, and the report will directly effect the political landscape for years to come.
The report shows that the population for the US as of April 1, 2020 was 331,449,281. This number is up 7.4% from 2010, and is the lowest population growth in America since the 1930s. The census is done once every decade as required by the Constitution in order to apportion the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and subsequently redistribute the electoral college votes for presidential elections.
The census confirms the recent trend of deurbanization. The data shows that Americans are moving away from the Democratic strongholds…(READ MORE)
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Executive Order Raises Federal Contractors’ Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour |
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This presidential action supersedes a previous executive order which also established a minimum wage for contractors...
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On April 27, President Joe Biden signed yet another executive order which increased the minimum wage of federal contractors. The new minimum wage is set to $15 per hour, up from $10.95 per hour, and must be established by January 30, 2022.
“Raising the minimum wage enhances worker productivity and generate higher-quality work by boosting workers’ health, morale, and effort; reducing absenteeism and turnover; and lowering supervisory and training cost. Accordingly, ensuring that federal contractors pay their workers…(READ MORE)
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President Biden Announces: Fully Inoculated Individuals Can Safely Go Outdoors Maskless |
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…the President gave the obligatory warning to the American people to continue wearing masks if in a crowd.
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President Joe Biden masqueraded as a health expert on Tuesday with one of the more obvious statements he’s made since entering the Oval Office. The President announced that, according to the CDC, fully vaccinated individuals can now safely go outdoors without wearing a mask. As if it was not already safe to go outside in the midst of a pandemic that has a 99% survival rate, the President reassured the American people that it is now safe to do something that was never actually dangerous in the first place.
The President made the announcement from the White House front lawn, outside and maskless…(READ MORE)
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Biden DOJ Gives Green Light to Sanctuary Cities |
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The Biden administration has been hard at work scrapping Trump policies related to immigration and law enforcement.
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In its ongoing quest to dismantle any and all remaining policy from the Trump administration, the Biden Department of Justice quietly ended Trump’s policy of withholding federal funding from “sanctuary cities.” These are urban areas that protect illegal immigrants from the law by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the changes to begin on April 14th.
In an internal department memo, acting head of the Office of Justice Programs, Maureen Henneberg, said…(READ MORE)
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Supreme Court Takes Up Case On ‘Proper Cause’ Law for Concealed Carry In New York |
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Gun rights will take the Supreme Court stage after ten years, as the justices will once again determine the scope that the government can play in regard to an individual’s second amendment rights. This will assuredly heat up tensions between the pro- and anti-gun right camps.
The New York based case that will be heard, known as New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett, is set to answer “whether the State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
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New Indiana Law Declares Churches To Be Essential |
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SB 263 represents an important win in the battle between First Amendment protection and government restriction under the guise of....
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In an encouraging victory in the struggle for the freedom of religion, Republican Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana codified a law last week defending the rights of churches in the Hoosier state to meet freely. The Senate Enrolled Act 263 (SB 263) declares churches to be “essential” and gives special protection for their operation. SB 263 states, “The state and political subdivision may not impose restrictions on… The operation of a religious organization; or… Religious services that are more restrictive than the restrictions imposed on other businesses…(READ MORE)
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Lockdowns Send Rental Car Prices Sky-High, Vacationers See U-Hauls as Alternative |
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Rental car companies are attempting to restock their fleets, but it may take some time before they’re back to pre-pandemic levels.
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If you plan on vacationing this summer be prepared to make Uber and Lyft or even a U-Haul your main mode of transportation, that is unless your ready to dole out some major cash for a rental car.
A surprising consequence of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns was a glut of rental cars. CNN Business reports that once the country went into full lockdown “rental companies parked their cars in unused lots at ballparks around the nation, and cars were rented for a fraction of their normal price — or sold as used cars. The industry sold off more than a half a million cars, about a third of their combined fleets…(READ MORE)
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President Biden Officially Recognizes Early 20th Century Armenian Genocide |
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…the leaders of Turkey, the Muslim successor to the Ottoman Empire in the regions surrounding Istanbul, were enraged
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In an historic political announcement on Saturday, President Biden publicly declared the 1915 mass killing of roughly 1 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks to be a genocide. Biden’s comments are a delight to Armenians worldwide, while the predominantly Muslim population in Turkey is infuriated. President Biden becomes the first U.S. president to formally name the mass killing a “genocide,” and the first since President Reagan to refer to them as a “genocide” publicly. Biden said…(READ MORE)
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Rasmussen: Americans Agree with Chauvin Verdict, But Say Politics Influenced Outcome |
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Among black Americans, 57% agreed that politics played some role in the outcome.
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Last week former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges in the death of George Floyd. Chauvin was charged with second and third degree murder, along with manslaughter.
While some may not agree with the 12-member jury’s decision, a new Rasmussen poll says 70% of American adults agree with the final verdict, with 46% saying they strongly agree with the outcome. But at the same time over half of Americans say the process was tainted by politics.
Of those polled, 58% said politics influenced the decision “a lot” or “somewhat.” Broken down by political affiliation…(READ MORE)
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President Biden Calls for Bigger Spending to Fix America in First Speech to Congress |
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He proposed other legislation to be sent to his desk, including a right to unionize, a sweeping $15 per hour minimum wage hike....
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President Joe Biden’s message in his first speech to Congress reflects the alliterative slogan he’s used off and on throughout his campaign and presidency – Build Back Better. Except, instead of “better” it may be more appropriate to substitute the word “bigger” since his message focused on the multiple projects and funding America “needs” in order to catch up with the rest of the world and address the multiple crises he says America currently faces.
He started with his goals for his first 100 days in office, namely the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and his vaccination drive. The Rescue Plan was passed quickly upon his entering office as a COVID-19 relief measure, yet…(READ MORE)
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Tim Scott Condemns Biden’s Partisanship, Calls for Common Ground |
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…three months in, the actions of the President and his party are pulling us further apart.
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In his response to President Joe Biden’s congressional speech, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina rebutted President Biden’s claim that he has been a unifying force in the nation since taking office while offering an authentic vision of hope and true unity for the United States.
Scott opened by complimenting Biden as a good man but contradicted the President’s character with his lackluster leadership. He said Biden’s pitch has always been one of unity, but the hyper partisan actions of the President and the Democrats have done nothing except…(READ MORE)
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Leftists Stoop To Horrid Levels of Hatred Against Republican Senator Tim Scott |
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Of course, Twitter did not block or remove the hateful tweets.
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The far left caucus in the United States has proven its wickedness and hypocrisy once again. Its latest target is Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina. During his GOP response message to President Joe Biden’s first speech to Congress, Scott pulled the curtain back on the reality of racial hatred in the United States. He said rightly that America is not a racist country. Even more profoundly, Scott explained that he has also experienced racial hatred as a black man, but not from conservatives. He said…(READ MORE)
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Recall Process Begins for CA Governor |
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Several Republican challengers have stepped forward to replace Newsom...
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With California facing one of the country’s strictest lockdowns, increasingly intense wildfires, rolling blackouts, and an ever-growing homeless population, the people of the state are considering a change in leadership. Though spurned on by the pandemic, the recall rally against governor Gavin Newsom began in February 2020 before COVID-19 had a significant presence in the United States.
On Monday, over 1.6 million signatures were validated to recall the sitting governor, surpassing the 1,495,709 required to trigger the process. The state has yet to officially approve…(READ MORE)
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Project Veritas Launches Lawsuits Against Twitter & CNN: Interview |
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Upon the announcement that their accounts were taken down for spam-like behavior, Veritas filed a lawsuit against the social media giant.
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FISM News had the opportunity to speak with Nick Givas, the Managing Editor of the newsroom at the undercover journalism organization Project Veritas, to dive deeper into the lawsuits that Veritas has brought against Twitter and CNN.
Crackdowns from Big Tech have led to many account cancellations, including those of Project Veritas and its CEO James O’Keefe on Twitter.…(WATCH HERE)
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Gay Pride Flag Authorized To Be Flown At Worldwide U.S. Embassies |
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…it is a mere attempt by a radically liberal administration to appear “inclusive” by severely disrespecting the American flag and the nation.
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The sexual revolution continues to invade the public sphere in the United States and throughout the world. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved the LGBTQ rainbow flag to be flown with the United States flag at U.S. embassies worldwide. The move comes as yet another effort by the Biden Administration to “roll back” the pro-American and pro-morality policies of the Trump Administration. President Trump was resolute during his time in office in preventing the gay pride flag from flying at American embassy flagpoles.
The State Department defended the announcement by saying…(READ MORE)
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Olive Branch, MS
Sunday, May 2, 2021
Speaking at Morning Service 10:15 a.m.
Following by Town Hall at 6:00-8:30pm
4993 HWY 302 East
Barton, MS 38654
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED
***
Jacksonville, FL
May 20, 2021
6:30-8:30pm
Sheraton Jacksonville
10605 Deerwood Park Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Deerwood Ballroom
***
America at the Crossroads Pastors Conference
June 13 @ 3:00 pm - June 16 @ 12:00 pm
“The Great Reset” from a Biblical Perspective
For only $199.00 per pastor & wife couple/per room,
you can enjoy 3 nights at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort,
6 meals & tuition for 20hrs of continuing education!
Please visit our website for a complete listing of all upcoming events with details.
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Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries, PO Box 270, Exton, PA 19341
www.financialissues.org / www.fism.tv
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The FISM (Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries) is the home of the program Financial Issues with Dan Celia. Celia 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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