The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved its first interest rate increase in more than three years, an incremental salvo to address spiraling inflation without torpedoing economic growth.  That will bring the rate now into a range of 0.25%-0.5%. The move will correspond with a hike in the prime rate and immediately send financing costs higher for many forms of consumer borrowing and credit.  Along with the rate hikes, the committee also penciled in increases at each of the six remaining meetings this year, pointing to a rate of 1.9% by year’s end. That is a full percentage point higher than indicated in December. The committee sees three more hikes in 2023 then none the following year.
Warren Buffet’s coveted Berkshire Hathaway class A shares closed above half a million dollars apiece for the first time on Wednesday. The shares touched as high as $506,028.97 and closed at $504,036.00, up 1.2% for the day.  The company  holds a diverse collection of businesses from Dairy Queen fast-food restaurants to Geico auto insurance to Precision Castparts aerospace components now has a market cap of $736B.

Russia’s finance ministry said on Thursday it made $117mn in interest payments due on its dollar-denominated bonds to Citigroup in London, but it was not clear whether the payment would be able to reach investors and allow Russia to avoid defaulting on its $38.5bn of foreign debt.