TheStreet’s J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Wednesday, March 6.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Investors are reacting to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell after he reiterated that the Fed is not yet ready to start cutting interest rates. He noted that cutting rates too quickly could risk losing the progress made on inflation, but waiting too long poses danger to economic growth.
Separately, investors are looking ahead to the all-important February jobs report out on Friday for a better idea of the health of the labor market.
In other news, the Biden administration has taken a big step in its push to eliminate junk fees. Regulators have approved an eight-dollar cap on credit card late fees, decreasing the amount consumers pay on average by about 75 percent.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, credit card users will save a collective $10 billion a year with the new cap. The director of the CFPB said, "Today's rule ends the era of big credit card companies hiding behind the excuse of inflation when they hike fees on borrowers to boost their own bottom lines."
However, the financial industry is pushing back on the new eight-dollar limit, claiming it will cause more people to make late payments, which will hurt their credit scores.
According to the CFPB, more than 45 million people are charged late fees every year, and in 2022, that brought in more than $14 billion for credit card companies. Americans currently hold more than $1 trillion in collective credit card debt.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
