Author: Money Mechanics

The drumbeat from the White House to replace Powell as the head of the Fed is increasing, and we are seeing potential candidates for the replacement echoing President Trump’s line that the United States needs low interest rates now. (President Trump argued Monday that the policy rate should be 1% or lower – link to news article.) I have just written an article about the difficulties finding writing opportunities about economic theory debates, and I guess I needed to be more careful about what I wish for.The debate in question is: what is the effect of “low” interest rates on…

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Key Takeaways The S&P 500 declined 0.2% on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, as tech stocks slid and minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting highlighted policymakers’ concerns about tariffs and inflation.Intel stock gave back some of its recent gains as discussions about the U.S. government possibly acquiring an equity stake remained in focus.Analog Devices posted better-than-expected quarterly results, and shares of the chipmaker pushed higher. Major U.S. equities indexes were mixed on Wednesday as tech stocks slid and minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting highlighted policymakers’ concerns about tariffs and inflation. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% Wednesday, marking the…

UBS Gr UBS has outperformed the market over the past 5 years by 13.43% on an annualized basis producing an average annual return of 26.58%. Currently, UBS Gr has a market capitalization of $125.63 billion. Buying $1000 In UBS: If an investor had bought $1000 of UBS stock 5 years ago, it would be worth $3,238.79 today based on a price of $39.64 for UBS at the time of writing.UBS Gr’s Performance Over Last 5 YearsFinally — what’s the point of all this? The key insight to take from this article is to note how much of a difference compounded…

In-brief analysis July 21, 2025 In 2024, France increased its cross-border electricity deliveries by 48%, from 70 terawatthours (TWh) in 2023 to 103 TWh in 2024. France’s electricity exports to Belgium and Germany increased the most, but France also exported more electricity to Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Italy, according to data from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. Within France’s electricity generation mix, nuclear energy increased the most, followed by hydropower. Overall, electricity generation in France increased by 45 TWh in 2024, while consumption remained relatively steady. Nuclear energy generation…

Chen ZhaoChen Zhao is the head of economics research, where she produces research on the housing market for public and internal audiences. Previously, she was an executive director leading housing finance and financial markets research at the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Prior to joining JPMCI, Chen was an economics consultant at Analysis Group, Inc., where she worked on financial litigation cases and led teams conducting health economics and outcomes research on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. While in graduate school, Chen was with the Center for Economic Studies and the Social Economic and Housing Statistics Division at the US Census Bureau, where…

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysPreorders are open for Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses.The estimated arrival is as early as Tuesday, Aug. 26Pricing starts at $399.00If you want to be first in line to secure the new Oakley Meta smart glasses, your time has arrived.Preorders are now open for the Oakley Meta HSTN glasses, which start at $399.99, on both the Oakley and Meta websites — and you can have them in your hands in less than a week. When I clicked through the purchasing process on Oakley’s site, I was given a shipping estimate of Tuesday, Aug. 26. Meta’s site, however,…

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – OCTOBER 28, 2018: A couple visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico, (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)Getty Images The Social Security actuary projects the 2025 budget law Congress passed in July will accelerate insolvency of the program’s retirement trust fund from early 2033 to late 2032. That may seem like a modest change, but it has enormous political implications. It means the program will go insolvent during the term of the president who succeeds Donald Trump. That soon. And it means that, without congressional action, scheduled benefits would automatically be cut for all recipients by roughly one-fifth…

It takes one to know one, as they say. So explains Nick Leeson’s journey from single-handedly crashing one of the world’s oldest banks to investigating financial misconduct three decades later. After sinking the 233-year-old Barings Bank, Leeson, who was portrayed by Ewan McGregor in the film Rogue Trader, served time in prison and beat cancer. He has also built and maintained a lucrative speaking career on subjects like financial misconduct, risk, and regulatory failure, hosts a podcast, and teaches people how to trade. He’s also a member of the Red Mist Enforcement Unit, helping to sniff out the kind of…

Key Takeaways About half of U.S. employers check your credit history for at least some jobs and may turn you down because of what they find.The version employers see doesn’t include your credit score but does show current and past credit accounts along with other details.Employers must follow strict rules under the Fair Credit Reporting Act when using credit information in hiring decisions.Some states and cities limit or even ban the use of credit checks in the hiring process.If your credit isn’t great, review your reports early, fix any errors, pay down what you can, and be ready to explain…