Happy New Year 2025

Tag: uncertainty

  • Reporter’s Notebook: Crunch time for hostages amid ceasefire uncertainty

    Reporter’s Notebook: Crunch time for hostages amid ceasefire uncertainty

    It’s crunch time for the nervous families of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Under the rules of phase one of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal, another nine living hostages will be released by the end of the month. Including the three on Saturday. Along with more of the already dead. Remaining living hostages would be released in a phase two, which has not yet been agreed to.

    The last few batches of hostages put on display in propaganda moves by Hamas have looked worse and worse. Malnutrition is a common malady. Plus untended wounds. And mental degradation. As information emerges. Spending months in dark damp tunnels, bodies chained to walls, humans forced to grovel like animals.  

    TRUMP SAYS CEASEFIRE SHOULD BE CANCELED IF HOSTAGES AREN’T RELEASED BY SATURDAY: ‘LET HELL BREAK OUT’ 

    The feared, but now confirmed, horrible state of the hostages is raising pressure on the Israeli government to try and speed up the release of the prisoners. If not quite the all-or-nothing approach of President Donald Trump’s proposal earlier this week, then at least an accelerated phase one release program and an extended release beyond the deadline for the start of phase two.

    We recently had the chance to meet with the relatives of some of the hostages who have been freed under the current plan. Elan Tiv Siegel, daughter of 65-year-old North Carolina native Israeli-American Keith Siegel, freed earlier this month, told us that while his father suffered from real malnutrition and lost 65 pounds, he kept his spirit and mind alive.

    ISRAELI CABINET BACKS TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR HAMAS TO RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES BY SATURDAY DEADLINE

    Likewise, 24 year-old Romi Gonen, who gained freedom late last month, on the surface at least seems like any bubbly young woman. But in fact, her sister Yarden told us she had suffered a bad arm injury, which will need months of surgery and rehab to try and get back into shape. She also made the common complaint of a horrendous diet.

    Everyone we spoke with sees the role of President Trump as a positive that pushed what had been a months-long stalled hostage deal across the line. While they like the sound of a mass release of the long-held captives, they are a little worried about rocking the ceasefire “boat” too much, by going for too much too soon, acknowledging the fact that Hamas are terrorists.

     Still, a light at the end of this very horrible long tunnel might be a bit more visible at this time.

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    Greg Palkot currently serves as a London-based senior foreign affairs correspondent for Fox News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in 1998 as a correspondent. Follow him on Twitter@GregPalkot.

  • Uncertainty grows among still-optimistic small business owners, survey finds

    Uncertainty grows among still-optimistic small business owners, survey finds

    Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., weighs in on President Donald Trump’s economic agenda and its anticipated effect on ‘The Big Money Show.’

    Uncertainty grew among American small business owners in January while optimism remained high, according to a new survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). 

    The group’s uncertainty index rose 14 points to 100 last month, the third-highest recorded reading.

    The Small Business Optimism Index also took a slight dip. It stood at 102.8 as of January, according to the NFIB survey. 

    People with face masks walk past restaurants on Main Street in Patchogue, N.Y., July 11, 2020. (Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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    While that represented a 2.3-point decline in optimism on a monthly basis, it was still higher than the 51-year average of 98. The Small Business Optimism Index hit a six-year high in December. 

    In January, a seasonally adjusted net 47% of small business owners harbored expectations for the economy improving, according to the survey. That dropped five points. 

    Meanwhile, 17% indicated they were bullish about expansion, saying now was a “good time” to do so “substantially,” according to the NFIB. 

    “Overall, small business owners remain optimistic regarding future business conditions, but uncertainty is on the rise,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement. “Hiring challenges continue to frustrate Main Street owners as they struggle to find qualified workers to fill their many open positions. Meanwhile, fewer plan capital investments as they prepare for the months ahead.” 

    Over one-third of small business owners said they were experiencing difficulties filling openings at their companies in January, the survey showed. 

    TRUMPONOMICS WILL TAME INFLATION – NOT MAKE IT WORSE

    More than half of owners surveyed were looking to bring new workers on board at their small businesses in January. Many of those – 90% – were finding “few or no qualified applicants,” the NFIB said. 

    'NOW HIRING' sign

    A “Now Hiring” sign posted on the window of a business looking to hire workers May 5, 2023, in Miami, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

    Labor quality and inflation were tied in January as the “single most important problem for business,” according to the NFIB. Eighteen percent of small business owners cited either of those as their main issue, with the share pointing to labor quality posting a one-point drop from the prior month. 

    Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% month over month and 2.9% year over year in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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    When it came to capital outlays, a seasonally adjusted 22% of small business owners are looking to make investments in the coming six months, the NFIB also found. That share fell seven points. 

    About 58% reported capital outlays over the past half year, according to the survey.

  • Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady amid inflation uncertainty

    Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady amid inflation uncertainty

    Kudlow panelists John Carney and Brian Brenberg discuss job growth and the Feds moves.

    The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will leave interest rates unchanged amid uncertainty about inflation and economic conditions.

    The Fed’s decision leaves the benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% and follows three consecutive interest rate cuts at the central bank’s most recent meetings – including a 50-basis-point cut in September as well as a pair of 25-basis-point reductions in November and December.

    “Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” wrote members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for guiding the Fed’s monetary policy. “The unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated.”

    The FOMC statement said that the Fed continues to pursue its dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and inflation at 2% over the longer run. It added that the “economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to risks to both sides of its dual mandate.”

    FOMC members were unanimous in the decision to leave rates unchanged at this time. The committee’s statement added that policymakers “would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals” and that it will consider a range of information including labor market data, inflation pressures and expectations, as well as financial and international developments as it considers its next move.

    Fed Chair Jerome Powell will outline the central bank’s decision at a press conference where he will likely face questions about how policymakers view the impact of President Donald Trump’s economic agenda. He may also face questions about whether they considered his call for lower interest rates in their decision.

    This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.