Fluffy

Guidance in a Time of Trouble… What kind of “Trouble”? In order to know what kind of trouble, we must look at the “Time.” I’d like us to start with the Bible, The Old Testament, in the Book of Ecclesiastics (Chapter 3, verses 1-8) wherein the preacher Ecclesiastics states: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” There is a time for every purpose u...

Americans hoping for lower borrowing costs for  homes , credit cards and cars may be disappointed after this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed’s policymakers are likely to signal fewer interest rate cuts next year than were previously expected. The officials are set to reduce their benchmark rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, by a quarter-point to about 4.3% when their meeting ends Wednesday. At that level, the rate would be a full point below the four-decade high it reached in July 2023. The policymakers had kept their key rate at its peak for more than a year to try to quell inflation, until slashing the rate by a half-point in September and  a quarter-point last month . The problem is that while inflation has dropped far below its peak of 9.1% in mid-2022, it remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target. As a result, the Fed, led by Chair Jerome Powell, is expected Wednesday to signal a shift to a more gradual approach to rate cuts in 2025. Economis...