Market Resilience

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What's Happening Today

Happy Friday! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

After the U.S. ordered a new round of sanctions targeting Russian banks yesterday, Kremlin representatives indicated Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering talks with Ukraine following an invasion by Russian forces.

The U.S. stock market has been incredibly volatile on geopolitical uncertainty the last few days, but is showing signs of resilience: The S&P 500 and Dow are gaining this morning after a wild trading day yesterday that saw the Dow drop over 800 points, before making a stunning comeback to swing into the positive.

Oil prices are also declining after they rose to over $100 per barrel yesterday, suggesting that if there is any pain at the pump because of spiking oil prices, they could be short-lived. Rising oil prices are also tied to inflation, as the cost of manufacturing goods becomes more expensive, which could hurt your wallet even more.

In a sign that inflation isn't slowing down, the cost of consumer goods and services rose, as the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index climbed 0.6% in the month of January, and accelerated 6.1% from last year, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The annual jump was the greatest since 1982. Excluding food and energy prices, the index rose 5.2% from a year ago, also the largest rise in nearly 40 years.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Consumer Spending Rises Despite Inflation, End of Aid (The Balance)

White House Weighs Release of More Oil From Strategic Reserve (The New York Times)

Next Threat to Prices: A Surge in Costs To Ship Products (The Wall Street Journal)

Loan Servicers Warned About Public Servant Forgiveness (The Balance)

Off the Charts

In recent years, Black-owned banks have enjoyed rising support from the general public, major corporations, and even other banks. Since 2020, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase have all publicly committed millions of dollars in financial support and investment to Black-owned financial institutions, as have Netflix, PayPal, and Microsoft.

To help you #BankBlack, we've compiled a list of Black-owned banks and credit unions, including the states they serve and their number of branches.

Number of the Day

$140 - That's how high the price of a barrel of oil could go if Russia's oil exports are choked off because of its invasion of Ukraine, according to one estimate.

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