Briefcase

Wonder Building festival returns

The Wonder Building’s family-friendly festival is returning for a second year.

The festival will feature live music, party games, balloon artists, face painters, a tractor bounce house and pumpkin carving at 835 N. Post St.

Wonder Building vendors Victory Burger, Koselig Kitchen, Evans Brothers Coffee and Uno Mas Tacos will be offering food and drink specials at the event, which will be 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct 23.

A portion of festival sales will go toward the Wishing Star Foundation, which also is holding a charity raffle at the event. Raffle prizes include gift baskets, gift cards, special dinners at Tavolata Spokane and Anthony’s, and tickets for Arbor Crest Wine Cellars.

Powell calls for better crypto regulation

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell called for better regulation of cryptocurrencies and said the fact that the industry’s shakeout failed to cause broader financial turmoil may not be the case in the future.

Global increases in interest rates exposed “significant structural issues in the DeFi ecosystem,” Powell said Tuesday during a panel discussion on digital finance hosted by the Banque de France, referring to decentralized finance. “The good news, I suppose, is that the interaction – from a financial stability standpoint – the interaction between the DeFi ecosystem and the traditional banking system and traditional financial system is not that large at this point.”

“That situation will not persist indefinitely,” he said via video. “There’s a real need for more appropriate regulation, so that as DeFi expands and starts to touch more retail customers and that sort of thing, so that appropriate regulation is in place.”

Consumers see improved gas prices

U.S. consumer confidence rose for a second month in September to the highest since April, indicating a strong job market and lower gas prices are contributing to more optimistic views of the economy.

The Conference Board’s index increased to 108 from a 103.6 reading in August, data Tuesday showed. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 104.6.

A measure of expectations – which reflects consumers’ six-month outlook – climbed to 80.3, the highest since February, while the group’s gauge of current conditions advanced to a five-month high of 149.6.

Consumer confidence has picked up on the heels of relief at the gas pump and a robust job market. However, it’s still depressed compared to pre-COVID levels as inflation remains stubbornly high and the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, both of which may threaten Americans’ propensity to spend.

Business equipment orders rose

Orders for business equipment at U.S. factories rose in August by the most since the start of the year, reflecting broad advances across categories, including machinery and computers, even as interest rates rise.

The value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, increased 1.3% last month – the most since January – after an upwardly revised 0.7% July advance, Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday. The data aren’t adjusted for inflation.

Bookings for durable goods – items meant to last at least three years – fell 0.2% in August, dragged down by a decline in commercial aircraft. Excluding transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose 0.2% for a second month.

The jump in the core figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

From staff and wire reports