Author: Money Mechanics

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. September 25, 2025 Federal Reserve Board issues enforcement action with former employee of Dacotah Bank For release at 3:00 p.m. EDT The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced the execution of the enforcement action listed below: Consent prohibition order against Nicholas Leroy Klug Former employee of Dacotah Bank, Aberdeen, South Dakota Embezzlement of bank funds Additional enforcement actions can be searched for here. For media inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 202-452-2955. Last…

The weekly average mortgage rate dropped for the ninth straight week, dipping to an 11-month low. But would-be buyers are hesitant because prices are high, the economy is uncertain and new listings are dwindling.  The weekly average mortgage rate has fallen to 6.26%, the lowest level in nearly a year and down from roughly 6.8% at the start of summer. The dip was in anticipation of the Fed’s first interest-rate cut of the year. But steadily falling mortgage rates–this marks the ninth straight week of declines–haven’t brought many homebuyers to the market. Pending U.S. home sales dipped roughly 1% from…

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Box CEO and co-founder Aaron Levie takes the Disrupt Stage for a candid conversation on what invention really looks like inside a public company, what AI is changing (and not changing) in enterprise software, and why staying sharp means questioning everything — even your own best ideas. The evolution of a cloud original Box launched before “the cloud” was a buzzword and outlasted a wave of competitors that couldn’t scale or adapt. Aaron Levie’s perspective — as both a visionary founder and a long-term public company CEO…

(Oil Price) – Petrobras moved a step closer to obtaining a license to drill in an environmentally sensitive offshore region in the Amazon basin after the Brazilian environmental agency approved test assessments made by Brazil’s state oil and gas giant in the area. Ibama, the environmental agency responsible for issuing licenses for drilling, has approved a pre-operational assessment, the so-called emergency response test, Reuters reports, citing documents it has seen. The agency, however, has requested that Petrobras make some adjustments to its plans for operations, before a final license can be issued, according to the documents Reuters has reviewed. Petrobras has been…

You might think stock markets’ biggest role in financing companies happens on the day of their initial public offering (IPO). Although IPO day is important to each company, data suggests that public markets see more company cash flows from secondary issues, buybacks and dividends. IPOs are smaller than secondariesThe annual SIFMA handbook always includes interesting data across asset classes and countries.One chart that is interesting to me, working at a listing exchange, is below. It shows that IPO proceeds are actually a fraction of all capital raised by the U.S. stock market each year — even in a “big” year for IPOs,…

Key Takeaways Amazon in a settlement with the FTC agreed to pay a $1 billion penalty and even more in refunds to settle government claims alleging deceptive practices related to enrollment in and cancellation of the Prime subscription service. Customers meeting certain requirements will get more than $50 as part of the settlement. Tech and retail giant Amazon agreed to pay billions of dollars in refunds and penalties to settle allegations of “deceptive” practices involving the Prime subscription service, the government said Thursday. The company, among the world’s most valuable, agreed to pay a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5…

KEY TAKEAWAYS President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to bring TikTok’s U.S. operations under American control, averting a ban on the popular Chinese-owned social media app.The American group set to control TikTok in the U.S. involves billionaire Rupert Murdoch, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.Vice President JD Vance said more information about the deal will be made public in the coming weeks. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to bring TikTok’s U.S. operations under American control, averting a ban on the popular Chinese-owned social media app. In a press conference, Trump…

The main U.S. equity indexes bounced off their intraday lows Thursday, but extended their respective losing streaks to three. The short-term trend continued despite incoming data showing both consumers and businesses remain resilient drivers of economic growth.The Bureau of Economic Analysis said before the opening bell that its final estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product showed the U.S. economy grew by 3.8% from April to June, faster than the 3.3% it saw in the second reading.”It only seems fitting that the most distrusted bull market of all time is accompanied by the most distrusted economy of our lifetime,” From just…

Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 115,500 vehicles in the U.S. due to a potentially dangerous steering column defect.The problem stems from the upper shaft of the steering column, which may not meet required safety standards. If the shaft separates, drivers could suddenly lose the ability to steer — one of the most serious hazards on the road.Although no crashes or injuries have been reported, Ford and federal safety regulators are urging owners of certain trucks to take the recall seriously. Here’s a closer look at which vehicles are affected, why the defect is so concerning and the steps…

Interest ratesPhoto: Getty ImagesThe corporate pension de-risking market has hit the brakes after a record-breaking run. More than $14 billion in pension risk transfers were executed YTD through Q3 2024—the highest level in over 16 years. Yet YTD Q2 2025, volume had dropped 64% year-over-year.What’s driving this sharp reversal? Increasingly, it appears that corporate plan sponsors are behaving like bond traders—actively timing their de-risking strategies around rate moves and market conditions.Pension liabilities are highly sensitive to long-term interest rates. When rates rise, the present value of those liabilities falls, making it less expensive for companies to transfer them off their…