Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Egg Prices Forecast: Sunny (Side Up)

Episode Date: February 8, 2023

Sorry for the pun, we had to. Nicole breaks down the biggest headlines on Wall Street this week— from egg prices, to the latest job numbers and beyond— and tells you how the latest news in the financial world will affect your wallet.

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Let's start off with some good news. Egg prices are going down. Right now, wholesale egg prices are down by about 58 cents,

and retail prices are expected to follow. Unfortunately, avian flu isn't over. The market is just starting to stabilize despite the disruption to the egg supply. So your egg-based memes will stay fresh for a little while longer. In more good news, the economy added 517,000 jobs in January. The good news is all those tech industry layoffs we've been hearing so much about don't seem to mean anything for the larger jobs picture. Now, the Fed has been very worried about the job market getting too hot and wages getting too high. But wages have only risen slightly. The Fed was so encouraged by this news that last week they only raised interest rates by a quarter of a point, and they continued to discuss tapering the rate increases.

Inflation is slowing, and it's looking like this could be the path to a soft landing that Jay Powell and his crew have been after. However, he doesn't want you to get too excited as he told reporters, quote, we're going to be cautious about declaring victory and sending signals that we think the game is won because we've got a long way to go. Thanks, Jay Powell. There is a bit of a disconnect right now between what the market is claiming to have heard and what the Fed chairman is actually saying. And that disconnect is getting a lot of credit for the bump in the market in the last few weeks. Investors seem to believe that the Fed will be lowering interest rates soon, but that's not what

Jay Powell is saying. In a speech yesterday, he made it clear that he does not expect rate hikes to go away quickly or easily. In another case of investors not being able to tell the red flags from anything else through their rose-colored glasses, Meta added $100 million in value last week after their earnings were announced. If you're wondering if they made money, that is a totally reasonable question. And the answer is, they sure didn't. Costs are up 22%, revenue is down 4%, and net income dropped 55%. None of these are great numbers, but they're less bad numbers than anyone expected. And they also announced they'll be doing a stock buyback.

So the market basically squinted through its aforementioned rose-colored glasses at the buyback and went, meh, good enough for me. Right now, with all these good vibes going on in the market, I'm really looking forward to the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Report on Friday. It tracks how people are feeling about the economy. If the numbers are good, then the general public is more in line with the investors. But if they remain cautious, then it could be that the stock market is out of sync with the Fed and with the general public is more in line with the investors. But if they remain cautious, then it could be that the stock market is out of sync with the Fed and with the general public. I'm also keeping my eye on what's going on with Binance, the crypto trading company. They were instrumental in the downfall of FTX, have survived the sort of bank run that caused lesser companies to collapse, and have been under investigation by the Department of Justice for a couple of years now. Today, Binance will be temporarily suspending US dollar bank transfers.

This impacts just a tiny percentage of customers, but it will be interesting to see how this story evolves and to add to the ongoing saga of what the F is going on over at Binance. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. With egg prices climbing, some people resorted to buying chickens to save money. That is a pretty dubious return on investment, I will say, but there are still ways to save money on groceries. Like sign up for your grocery store's loyalty program and actually use it. Before you go shopping, you can often look through the app to see what's on sale and meal plan around that.

With careful shopping, you can easily save more than enough money to cover those rising cost of eggs. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Levoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the

show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.