The Importance of IDC’s RanksAs of the fourth quarter of 2024, IDC Financial Publishing (IDCFP) ranked 485 institutions below investment grade (see Table I). While the number of banks ranked less than 125 did not change, most categories of CAMEL increased, indicating some risk. The exception is the number of banks with…
For years, American financial companies have fought the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — the chief U.S. consumer finance watchdog — portraying the agency as illegitimate and as unfairly targeting the banking industry. 1Now, following orders by the Trump administration, the CFPB has been gutted and its headquarters shuttered, and…
Stubborn inflation and uncertainly around economic policy have the Fed putting rate cuts on hold. Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting at the end of January, released Wednesday, showed that participants indicated they want to see more progress on inflation, given that employment remains near its maximum,…
At the Federal Reserve’s final gathering of 2024, Chair Jerome H. Powell announced that the U.S. central bank was embarking on a “new phase” in how it would set interest rates. 1The Fed said they planned to “move cautiously” with cuts going forward, saying they could afford to be patient…
The first half of 2024 showed sluggish spending, but in the second half, consumers were in the mood to spend, with trends accelerating particularly in the last four months of the year. Population growth, more jobs, and greater investment returns were all contributors.Seasonally adjusted retail sales rose by 0.45% in…
