Fed Chair Powell says interest rates are ‘likely to be higher’ than previously anticipated. If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes. Powell said the current trend shows that the Fed’s inflation-fighting job is not over. In their December estimate, officials pegged the terminal rate at 5.1%. Current market pricing moved higher following Powell’s remarks, to a range of 5.5%-5.75%, according to CME Group data.

BlackRock says European companies are showing ‘surprise resilience’ — and better value than the U.S. The Wall Street giant highlighted in a note Tuesday that European fourth-quarter earnings showed corporate health extended beyond the region’s bedrock sectors of banking and energy. Regional stock markets have been on a good run year-to-date but remain at a discount both on a historical basis and versus U.S. peers.

The global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950, adding 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. Population in the world is, as of 2022, growing at a rate of around 0.84% per year (down from 1.05% in 2020, 1.08% in 2019, 1.10% in 2018, and 1.12% in 2017). The current population increase is estimated at 67 million people per year. By 2100 we can expect that population growths will cap at around 10+ Billion people living on the planet.