Author: Money Mechanics

“There’s no one issue that contributed to defects,” Nick Volpe, executive vice president of ACES Quality Management, said in an interview with HousingWire. “We got a little bit of a rate blip in the fourth quarter. They went back up in January. And it wasn’t a refi boom that happened in the fourth quarter by any stretch of the imagination, but after such a prolonged period of elevated rates, any little bit helps. “The rates did change a little bit in the first quarter. Historically, what we’ve seen is when rates do tick up from quarter to quarter, you get…

KEY TAKEAWAYS Estée Lauder shares are down in premarket trading Wednesday after the cosmetics company posted a wider-than-forecast quarterly loss and a disappointing outlook for the upcoming year. The New York-based company, whose brands include MAC, La Mer, and Jo Malone, said Chinese consumer demand remained “subdued.”The company’s shares are falling 6% in premarket trading but have gained 19% so far this year entering Wednesday. Estée Lauder (EL) shares are down 6% in premarket trading Wednesday after the cosmetics company posted a wider-than-forecast quarterly loss and a disappointing outlook for the upcoming year. The New York-based company, whose brands include MAC,…

The portability of the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption amount between spouses was introduced in the 2010 tax law. But details of portability aren’t well-known, and misunderstandings can cost an estate a lot of money. Each individual has a lifetime exemption from the estate and gift tax, which is $13.99 million in 2025 and will rise to $15 million in 2026. After that, it will be indexed for inflation. When one spouse dies and his or her estate doesn’t use the entire lifetime exemption, the unused exemption amount can be passed to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse then…

Key Takeaways Target announced it was replacing CEO Brian Cornell with 20-year company veteran Michael Fiddelke, and shares plunged.Fiddelke was instrumental in the struggling retailer’s efforts to reshape how it operates.Target reported better-than-expected revenue and comparable store sales. Target (TGT) shares sank 11% in premarket trading Wednesday as the struggling retailer replaced its CEO with a company veteran even as its business showed signs of improvement in the second quarter. Target announced that long-time employee Michael Fiddelke would be taking over for Brian Cornell on Feb. 1, 2026. Cornell, who has held the post for 11 years, will become executive…

The global mining sector extracts and refines a wide range of materials, used in everything from construction to automotive output to electricity generation and electronics production.Each of these produces significant carbon dioxide emissions and has contributed to environmental degradation such as deforestation. These can have negative implications for a range of local stakeholders.In addition, control of the supply of so-called critical minerals and metals is at the forefront of rising geopolitical tensions across the globe. Trade policy tools such as export restrictions and import tariffs are increasingly being used in the current geopolitical backdrop. Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be…

Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars on video games and virtual worlds. A large portion of those expenses are purchases of gaming currency that is stored on a player’s account and used for in-game transactions, like buying goods and services or initiating person-to-person (“P2P”) transfers. As detailed in our report on the financial risks of video games and virtual worlds, the ways in which these gaming currencies and accounts work are evolving rapidly, including to function more and more like banking and payment systems.As these evolutions have occurred, gamers—or in some cases their parents and guardians—have reported issues such…

Americans have a good chance of living well into old age these days, which is something to cheer about.But it also raises serious concerns for those who haven’t planned for the possibility of long-term care needs.And the demand for those needs has never been greater. Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Save up to 74% Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. July 09, 2025 Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, June 17–18, 2025 For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that was held on June 17–18, 2025. The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee are generally published three weeks after the day of the policy decision. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these…

(Oil Price)– U.S. Devon Energy Corporation has signed a 10-year natural gas agreement to supply LNG to UK’s Centrica, the owner of British Gas. Under the deal announced on Friday, Devon Energy will supply 50,000?(MMBtu) per day of natural gas over a 10?year term starting in 2028. This is equivalent to five LNG cargoes per year. The LNG volumes will be indexed to the European gas hub price, TTF. The agreement supports Centrica’s objective of managing market price risk in its LNG portfolio by aligning feed gas pricing with European gas prices whilst providing Devon Energy with international price exposure, the UK…

KEY TAKEAWAYS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is “very happy” with the current tariff situation with China, indicating there likely won’t be any immediate changes to the trade truce between the two countries.Earlier this month, President Donald Trump extended the trade truce for another 90 days, hours before tariffs imposed on China were due to spike.Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that “China is now the biggest revenue line in the tariff income.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is “very happy” with the current tariff situation with China, indicating there likely won’t…