Busy week on Wall Street as inflation soars and fuels recession fears

NEW YORK -- It's what many financial experts are calling the busiest and most important week of the summer for the business world, and it could affect your finances at home. 

The Federal Reserve could raise interest rates once again, and we'll learn more about the state of the economy from a slew of government and tech company reports. 

As CBS2's John Dias reports, from Wall Street to Main Street, there's no doubt about it: Inflation is hurting the pockets of most Americans. It's the hottest in four decades. 

"It's way too expensive. Things have to change," said Selden resident Lori Flanagan. 

"I was just looking the other day, and a dozen eggs was $8 in the grocery store," said Chelsea resident Tyson Corner. 

To curb the climb, the Federal Reserve plans to meet Tuesday and Wednesday. Wall Street is bracing for the possibility of interest rates rising even higher than previously expected, many saying by at least another three quarter point, after last month's increase of the same rate. 

Sunday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spoke about it on "Face the Nation." 

"Has inflation peaked?" Margaret Brennan asked. 

"I think probably," Raimondo said. ""If I had said that a year ago -- assuming another war doesn't break out, assuming we don't have another COVID -- there's so much out of our control. Inflation is a global problem." 

Big tech companies like Amazon, Google and Meta plan on announcing their second quarter reports in the coming days, giving an insight on whether our economy is improving. 

"There are a lot of concerns about how these big tech companies are going to come through with earnings to keep it up," said personal finance expert Jordan Goodman. 

While Goodman is optimistic about these earnings, he thinks a recession will hit by the end of the year, coupled with the loss of many jobs, pointing to a rapid cooldown in the previously hot housing market. 

"Tons of people are canceling their home purchases because they can't put the down payment together," Goodman said. "When housing market goes down, that drags a lot of other things with it." 

The country's GDP report also comes out this week. In the first quarter, we saw a 1.6% decline. Experts say if we see a similar decline in the second quarter, then it's a sign of a recession. 

"There's a very high likelihood of recession. When we've been in this kind of situation before, recession has essentially always followed when inflation has been high and our employment has been low," former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told CNN.

"The economy is clearly slowing," Goodman said. 

Last week, the White House said even if the GDP is negative, it's still unlikely to indicate the country is in a recession. 

Last month, when the Fed raised the interest rate by three quarters of a point, it was the sharpest rise since 1994.