Author: Money Mechanics

KEY TAKEAWAYS The OECD on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for the U.S. economy in 2025 on the back of AI investments, but noted that tariffs and lower net immigration are taking a toll and would lead to slowing growth next year.The OECD said it expects the U.S.’s annual real GDP growth rate to come in at 1.8% in 2025, up from from its previous projection of 1.6%.However, U.S. GDP is projected to grow by just 1.5% next year, the OECD said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for the U.S. economy in…

Key Takeaways Nvidia shares lost ground in early trading Tuesday after logging their largest one-day percentage gain since July on news the AI Favorite plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. The price broke out from a symmetrical triangle on Monday, indicating a continuation of the stock’s broader move higher.The measured move technique forecasts a price target of $207.64, while bars pattern analysis projects a target of around $255.Investors should monitor key support levels on Nvidia’s chart near $165 and $150. Nvidia (NVDA) shares lost ground in early trading Tuesday after logging their largest one-day percentage gain since July…

Key Takeaways Firefly’s stock plunged Tuesday after the aerospace company’s first earnings report since going public last month revealed widening losses.The stock had popped on its first day of trading, but enthusiasm has waned since, with recent losses dragging the shares below their IPO price. Firefly Aerospace (FLY) shares tumbled Tuesday, a day after the aerospace firm posted widening losses, as a mishap that grounded its Alpha rocket weighed on its results. The stock was down nearly 12% in recent trading around $43. Monday’s quarterly report was the company’s first since it went public last month, with Tuesday’s drop dragging…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Nigeria’s central bank has lowered its benchmark lending rate for the first time in five years, delivering a half-point cut amid cooling inflation and continued stability of the local naira currency.Tuesday’s decision lowered the bank’s key interest rate to 27 per cent and was in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg poll of economists.Central bank governor Olayemi Cardoso said at a press conference in the capital Abuja that the decision of the 12-member Monetary Policy Committee was based on disinflation…

Fans of late-night talk shows and Jimmy Kimmel are no doubt happy with the announced return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC. Some consumers, however, won’t be able to watch Kimmel’s return because one of the largest regional television operators in the country is refusing to air his show.Jimmy Kimmel ReturnsABC owner The Walt Disney Company DIS announced Monday that it would bring back “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after a suspension that lasted less than a week.”Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our…

Current-Account Balance (Table 1)The U.S. current-account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, narrowed by $188.5 billion, or 42.9 percent, to $251.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The revised first-quarter deficit was $439.8 billion.The second-quarter deficit was 3.3 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, down from 5.9 percent in the first quarter.The $188.5 billion narrowing of the current-account deficit in the second quarter primarily reflected a reduced deficit on goods.Current-Account…

In-brief analysis August 7, 2025 Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis based on Global Trade Tracker, Argus, and VortexaNote: Data for 2025 are preliminary. 1H25=first half of 2025. figure data From 2020 to 2024, crude oil and condensate exports from Russia averaged 5.0 million barrels per day (b/d). Exports from Russia in the first half of 2025 (1H25) were 4.3 million b/d (compared with 4.8 million b/d in 2024). Even as crude oil export volumes from Russia have remained relatively high, the destination of these exports has shifted, mainly due to…

For the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market to expand beyond its current size, investors must be willing to partner more closely with cedents and provide solutions that address the full spectrum of their needs, rather than focusing narrowly on a single line of business, Shiv Kumar, President of GC Securities told us in an interview.Kumar leads the capital markets and ILS specialist unit of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter and during an interview with Artemis around the time of this year’s Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous event, he outlined what he sees as the biggest challenges currently facing the ILS market. Starting with catastrophe…

Container backlog occurs at Longtan Port Container Terminal in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, on September 21, 2025. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Costfoto| Nurphoto | Getty ImagesThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development upgraded its global economic growth forecast on Tuesday, with many economies appearing more resilient than expected so far this year.The OECD now expects global growth of 3.2% this year, compared to the 2.9% expansion it had forecast in June. Expectations for 2026 were unchanged at 2.9%. This would mark a slowdown from the 3.3% growth seen in 2024.Growth expectations for the U.S. were also lifted, to 1.8%…

Every month, the Social Security Administration mails more than 74 million checks to people who receive retirement, spousal, survivor, or disability benefits. That’s a lot of checks, so they aren’t all mailed at once. Here’s the breakdown of how they’re distributed. Most beneficiaries are paid according to their birth date. There are some exceptions, such as separate payment dates for individuals who started receiving benefits, whether retirement, spousal, or survivor, prior to May 1997, or people who also qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is a federal program that provides additional income for people with disabilities and adults 65…