Tag: finance business

In theory, the dollar store seems like it might be a one-way ticket to paradise. A store full of all of the items you need and, yes, some of the items you want — all for the price of a dollar. What could be better?

But at the end of 2021, popular chain Dollar Tree announced that it would be raising the price on most of its products from $1.00 to $1.25. The traditional dollar store was becoming a dollar store in name only.

Other businesses like Dollar General and Family Dollar might sound comparable, but they just sell their items for less. Dollar Tree was the last of the behemoths to inhabit the true ethos of a dollar store. And this year, even that last shred of vintage Americana died.

Still, we’ll leave you with a silver lining here: Dollar stores remain an inexpensive alternative to the big box stores where you’ll typically find your essentials, like laundry detergent, trash bags and body wash. In fact, you might be surprised by what you can find for a discount at the dollar store, items like socks, vases, greeting cards and even party supplies.

But is it really cheaper — and worth the potential inconvenience — than simply going to your local grocery store, Walmart or Amazon? We crunched the numbers to find out how each dollar store compares on the variety of products you need — and how they compare to the big box stores themselves.

BOGOTA, July 28 (Reuters) – Interest rate hikes have a limited capacity to rein in accelerating inflation because supply issues are one of the key drivers of consumer price increases, Colombia’s next finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, said on Thursday.

The government of Colombia’s next president, the leftist Gustavo Petro, who takes power on Aug. 7, will look to raise subsidies for poor people, Ocampo added.

Colombia’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate by 575 basis points to 7.5% since the beginning of an upward cycle that started in September in a bid to control inflation. Cumulative 12-month price growth hit 9.67% in June, the highest level in two decades and more than triple the bank’s 3% target.

The market majority expects the bank board to raise the rate by 150 basis points to 9% on Friday. read more

“As the problem is with supply, not demand, supply of high fuel prices, international food prices, of fertilizers, the interest rate’s capacity to cut inflation is very low,” Ocampo said at a conference in Bogota.

Interest rate rises merely lead to expectations of lower inflation later on, Ocampo said.

“The downside is that (lower inflation) comes from an economic slowdown,” he said.

Ocampo, who as finance minister will hold one of the central bank’s seven board seats and will vote on rate movements, raised his concern about further increases.

“I don’t believe that we yet have a contractionary monetary policy

Stocks rallied Wednesday afternoon, hitting the highs of the session after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75% and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the central bank may slow the pace of its hiking cycle. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 4% during the session, posting its best gain in more than two years.

Here are the top five trending tickers on Yahoo Finance:

Metas (META): The company reported second-quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday, missing Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines. Meta posted sales of $28.82 billion, its first ever year-over-year revenue decline. EPS of $2.46 was short of street’s expectations of $2.52. Facebook daily active users increased by 8 million to 1.97 billion, but Facebook monthly active users fell to 2.93 billion. Jefferies’ Brent Thill told Yahoo Finance that it is a ‘tough environment for ad-driven names’ and that it’s ‘impossible to forecast what Facebook is doing right now.’ The stock is down nearly 50% since the start of the year.

Qualcomm (QCOM): Qualcomm reported third-quarter earnings of adjusted EPS of $2.96 on revenue of $10.93 billion, beating the street’s expectations. Revenue guidance for the current quarter missed expectations, weighing on shares in after-hours trading. Moor Insights and Strategy Founder and CEO Patrick Moorhead told Yahoo Finance there was “a lot of good news in this release but the very important guidance piece is spooking investors, and that’s all about the consumer market.” Qualcomm also announced a 7-year extension of its patent licensing agreement with