Author: Money Mechanics

In-brief analysis August 11, 2025 Five countries account for more than two-thirds of the world’s total nuclear electricity generation capacity. The United States has the most capacity, followed by France, China, Russia, and South Korea, based on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) data as of June 2025. Globally, 416 nuclear power reactors are operating in 31 countries, with a total installed net generating capacity of 376 gigawatts (GW). The development of nuclear power plants for commercial electricity generation began in the United States in the late 1950s with the commissioning of the Shippingport Atomic Power…

The Federal Reserve announced a long-awaited rate cut on Wednesday.The move could bring some consumer rates down, which may be good news for borrowers hoping to refinance into lower-cost loans.”While the broader impact of a rate reduction on consumers’ financial health remains to be fully seen, it could offer some relief from the persistent budgetary pressures driven by inflation,” said Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion.But that relief may take a while to arrive.Borrowing costs tend to rise quickly when the Fed raises its benchmark interest rate — but fall slowly when it cuts. And…

Kerry Wan/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.I got to wear the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses at Meta Connect 2025 on Wednesday. And while they are a long way from replacing your smartphone, they are good enough to make it clear that smart glasses are a lot better when they include a heads-up display. From what I experienced on Wednesday, we’re definitely taking a step toward a world where we spend less time with our heads buried in our smartphones.Also: Meta Connect 2025 live updates: Ray-Ban Display, Oakley Vanguard smart glasses, moreIn the Meta Connect keynote on Wednesday evening…

“I had a million dollars by the time I was 24 years old. A year before that, I was making $12,000 a year working at a record store, and I was broke.”So starts a two-minute video that a friend implored me to watch—twice—this week, and by the end of the second time, the truth hit me so hard that my eyes welled up. I knew I had to share it with you, if only to ensure that it sunk more deeply into my consciousness, but I believe there’s something here for you, too.Some of the best career advice comes from…

The U.S. could trigger the next global surge in cryptocurrency adoption as regulators move toward clearer rules for banks and financial institutions, according to Alessio Quaglini, CEO & Co-founder, of Hong Kong-based digital asset custodian Hex Trust.”Give it a few months, every single bank in the U.S. will provide custody services for Bitcoin BTC/USD,” Alessio said in an interview with Benzinga. “That’s when we’ll have real adoption—when banks start offering Bitcoin deposits, trading, and even structured products.”His comments come as Washington signals greater openness to crypto integration. Alessio said banks globally have run pilots with digital assets but avoided going…

futures continue to navigate a critical juncture around the VC PMI daily and weekly pivot zone near $3,680, reflecting an equilibrium between buyers and sellers as we close out another volatile trading week. The market has tested both extremes—printing a high at $3,744, close to the Daily Sell 2 level ($3,728), and a low at $3,660.5, just above the Daily Buy 1 level ($3,657). This oscillation underscores the effectiveness of the mean reversion principle, where price gravitates toward the average before re-testing the extremes.From a weekly perspective, Sell 1 Weekly ($3,727) and Sell 2 Weekly ($3,767) form a resistance cluster…

Housing inventory The best story about housing in 2025 has been the inventory growth, which has brought us closer to what a normal housing market looks like. After the extreme seller’s market that followed COVID-19, we experienced unhealthy housing market conditions in late 2020. By early 2021 I was talking about the need for higher mortgage rates to cool things off but that didn’t happen. By early 2022 the housing market was savagely unhealthy. So far, 2025 has been the healthiest year for the housing market since the pandemic! That said, the inventory channels have changed recently. The housing market…

Travelers at major European airports including Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin faced significant delays this weekend following what Collins Aerospace described as a “cyber-related incident.” Collins Aerospace makes technology for airline check-in desks, so after the apparent cyberattack, airlines were forced to revert to manual check-ins, according to the Guardian. According to data from Flightradar24, more than 130 Heathrow flights had been delayed by 20 minutes or more as of 11am on Sunday morning, with 13 flights canceled on Saturday. A post on the Heathrow social media account said, “Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins…

(Investing.com)– Jobs in solar, wind and other clean energy industries grew three times faster than in the rest of the U.S. workforce last year, according to a study published on Friday, warning that many of them could go due to Trump administration efforts to block renewables. The clean energy industry added 100,000 jobs in 2024, growing 2.8% to employ more than 3.5 million people, according to environmental advocacy group E2, which has published an annual study of clean energy jobs for the last decade. The states with the highest growth in clean energy jobs overall last year were Idaho, Oklahoma,…

Key takeaways Albuquerque offers affordable living with tax-friendly perks.Over 1,500 healthcare facilities give retirees peace of mind.Rich culture and outdoor recreation create a balanced retirement lifestyle.Strong social networks and retiree-friendly communities thrive here. Retirees today are prioritizing one thing above all else: access to high-quality healthcare. In a recent analysis of top retirement destinations, Albuquerque, New Mexico, stands out with more than 1,500 healthcare facilities—22 of those being hospitals in the county. Additionally, Albuquerque is an affordable place to live, offers much in the way of entertainment and arts, and is located in proximity to an international airport, making it…