Author: Money Mechanics

Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel laureate known as the “godfather of AI,” warned that autonomous weapons systems could make warfare more likely by removing human casualties that typically deter military conflicts.Rich Countries Gain Strategic AdvantageIn an interview published Wednesday on Katie Couric‘s YouTube channel, Hinton said lethal autonomous weapons give wealthy nations significant advantages when considering military action against poorer countries.“The thing that stops rich countries invading poor countries is their citizens coming back in body bags,” Hinton said. “If you have lethal autonomous weapons, instead of dead people coming back, you’ll get dead robots coming back.”See Also: Google Slashes Over…

Financial incentiveThe main reason a borrower could be motivated to claim a primary residence on a mortgage application is to get a lower interest rate for that home.Typically, mortgages for a primary residence have lower interest rates and homeowner’s insurance costs, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage website HSH.Mortgage interest rates are generally 0.5% to 1% higher for investment properties than for primary homes, according to Bankrate. Homeowners also typically pay about 25% more for insurance as a landlord compared with a standard homeowners policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute.Owner-occupied means “you’re going to live there the majority of…

Funding season is about to restart in Europe after the summer lull, and if all goes well, it will be counting new unicorns in dozens — plural. While mega-rounds are less common than they were in 2021, this hasn’t prevented 12 European startups from raising rounds at valuations of more than $1 billion during the first half of 2025. As the usual caveat goes, past performance is not indicative of future results, but this bodes well for the rest of the year. Either way, this is also a good indication of the sectors that are hot among investors, from biotech…

Medical debt may seem as though it’s a problem limited largely to people who lack adequate health insurance coverage. But even those who have a health plan may find themselves struggling to pay bills.According to a 2023 study from health care advocacy organization The Commonwealth Fund, 30% of adults with employer coverage were paying off debt from medical or dental care, as were 33% of those with Medicare, 33% of those with an individual or Affordable Care Act marketplace plan, and 21% with Medicaid. Cutbacks to Medicaid funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which became law over the…

Key Takeaways Stock and bond trading will halt on Monday in observance of Labor Day.Bond traders will get Columbus Day and Veterans Day off.The next scheduled break comes on Thanksgiving. Traders will get an extra day to prepare for fall this weekend. U.S. stock and bond trading will halt on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Both markets will resume with a normal schedule on Tuesday. Bond traders will next get a break on Columbus Day, which falls on Oct. 13, and then again on Nov. 11, for Veterans Day. Both markets will close on Thursday, Nov. 27 for Thanksgiving,…

Key Takeaways More than 80% women say they don’t feel confident managing an inheritance. Half believe it’s morbid to discuss estate planning with their parents, but knowing details early can be crucial. Experts recommend waiting three months to a year before making major decisions with inheritance money. A financial professional can provide guidance and support. Baby boomers are expected to pass down $124 trillion by 2048, and women are positioned to inherit much of that wealth. But many say they feel unprepared to manage an inheritance. What the Statistics Say The Citizens Great Wealth Transfer Survey, conducted from Jan. 22…

More than a century after its first punch‐card tabulators helped the U.S. Census count a growing nation, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is again surprising skeptics. Once written off as a lumbering mainframe relic, “Big Blue” has again captured Wall Street’s attention with a fresh strategy that combines hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence, and an ambitious, long-term play in quantum computing, which has given it a head start in one of the most significant mid-2020s tech trends. Revenues are growing again, its stock reached an all-time high in February 2025, and CEO Arvind Krishna is credibly pitching IBM as the platform…

U.S. tariffs on goods from India doubled to 50% at midnight ET, raising levies on the Asian nation to among the highest in the world. On Wednesday, a 25% duty was stacked on top of the 25% “reciprocal” tariff imposed in early April by President Donald Trump due to India’s continued purchases of discounted Russian oil. Trump has sought to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, and has been using tariffs to apply pressure to countries that provide support to Russia. The U.S. makes up 20% of India’s goods exports but just about 2.2% of the country’s GDP, UBS analysts wrote earlier…

Mandy Xu ▬ July 7, 2025 Link to Report: Macro Volatility DigestWHAT STANDS OUT:“Spot up, vol up” was the theme last week as implied volatility levels appeared to have found a floor ahead of this week’s key trade deadlines. While the SPX® index rallied 1.7%, the VIX® index gained 1.2 pts to 17.5% driven primarily by higher SPX fixed strike vols. The volatility risk premium also increased, with the SPX 1M implied-realized vol spread widening to 3.4% (80th percentile high).In relative value space, what stands out is the widening spread between RTY vs. SPX, where the 3M implied vol spread…

Someday, perhaps, people will have moved on from their pumpkin spice obsessions. But that is not this day.  The fall, apart from being a season for decorative gourds, is a high time for the flavoring long associated mostly with pie that is now a nine-figure business.  Coffee chains, beer brewers, and restaurants use it to enliven drinks and snacks. Pet-food companies make sure Fido doesn’t miss out. Counterprogrammers aim to be there when you’ve had enough, offering up alternatives for the weary. Could be, theorized sandwich meat company Steak-Umm on X recently, that “pumpkin spice is here in august because…