One In Four Americans Has No Emergency Savings by ASMA GHRIBI | WALL STREET JOURNAL | JUNE 23, 2014
Financial analyst: “People are not making progress." Twenty-six percent of Americans have no emergency savings, according to a report by Bankrate.com. Over the past four years, there has been little to no progress when it comes to Americans’ saving capacity. Even those who manage to save aren’t putting away enough. As many as two-thirds of people in the U.S. don’t have the recommended six months of expenses saved. The percentage of people with savings enough to cover at least three months shrank to 40 % in 2014, compared with 45%, a year earlier. Despite Americans being more secure in their jobs and more comfortable with their debt since the recession ended, their savings capacity remains weak even among those with highest-income household. Only 46% of those with annual income of $75,000 or above have enough savings to cover six months of expenses. “People are not making progress. Incomes are stagnating and expenses are high,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst. He said that many people are still struggling with payments from the past years and high household costs. The report also indicates that the segment of the population aged between 30 and 49 are the most likely to have no emergency fund compared with younger people. “That is alarming because those are the people with a house, two cars and a dog but still with no emergency savings. You need emergency savings,” he added. Although, people between 18 and 30 years old are more likely to have up to five months savings. Mr. McBride commented that the recession might have had a positive takeaway: younger people learned the lesson and are now saving more. Mr. McBride doesn’t see any improvement in Americans’ saving capacity as long as there is no substantial income growth.
AAA: Iraq Civil War Pushing Up Gas Prices In U.S. by CBS DC | JUNE 23, 2014
In Maryland, AAA says gas prices are up 4 cents this week.. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the civil war in Iraq is pushing up gasoline prices in the United States. Drivers in the District of Columbia are paying $3.89 per gallon. That’s up 5 cents from a week ago and is far above the national average of $3.68 per gallon. In Maryland, AAA says gas prices are up 4 cents this week to an average of $3.67 per gallon. Prices are highest in the Washington suburbs and western Maryland. In Delaware, AAA says gas prices have risen 7 cents over the past week to about $3.68 per gallon. AAA says national gas prices have increased for nine consecutive days amid turmoil in Iraq. The auto club projects drivers will pay relatively high gas prices this summer from $3.55 to $3.70 per gallon.
Islamists Seize Iraq Oil Refinery by WILLIAM L. WATTS AND BARBARA KOLLMEYER | THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | JUNE 18, 2014 Militants may have 75% control of the oil facility The price gap between the Brent and WTI oil futures widened further Wednesday as traders weighed bearish U.S. supply data and a hint of quicker Federal Reserve rate hikes against continued strife in Iraq. Nymex WTI crude oil for July delivery , the U.S.
benchmark, fell 39 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $105.97 a barrel, adding to a 54-cent loss on Tuesday. Oil extended losses after the Fed said it expects interest rates to rise at a slightly faster pace in 2015 and 2016. On the ICE exchange, Brent oil for August delivery UK:LCOQ4 -0.31% , which is the most sensitive to developments in Iraq, rose 85 cents, or 0.7%, at $114.30 a barrel, hitting its highest level in nine months as Sunni militants and Iraqi government forces battled for control of the nation’s largest refinery. Two fuel-storage tanks were in flames after hours of fighting that began before dawn Wednesday as ISIS militants attacked the facility with mortars and machine guns, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a state oil official. Meanwhile, government gunships bombarded the militants’ positions, the report said. The attack “shows that the situation in Iraq is not getting better,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “Oil companies are pulling out nonessential personnel even in the south of the country…Oil companies are trying to export while the exporting is good yet the possibility of an oil shock is rising [if] the south of Iraq starts to fall.” See: Why traders may be overconfident about Iraq’s oil exports
U.S. forces capture key Benghazi suspect The U.S. has captured Ahmed Abu Khattala, a senior suspect in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. President Barack Obama was set to meet with congressional leaders on Wednesday, but has ruled out immediate airstrikes for now. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday it now expects Iraq’s oil output to grow by only 1.3 million barrels a day to 4.5 million barrels a day by 2019. Read: The real reason oil traders worry about Iraq. In other action in the energy complex, natural-gas futures for July NGN14 -0.25% fell 5 cents to $4.66 per million British thermal units. July gasoline RBN4 -0.20% rose by around a penny to $3.10 a gallon and heating oil HON4 -0.13% gained 2 cents at $3.04 a gallon.
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