Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways American job seekers are telling surveyors that the idea of job security is not as realistic anymore, but say they feel pretty secure about their own employment.Of those surveyed by Express Employment Professionals, 73% said job security isn’t guaranteed for any job, and 71% said that it’s becoming a “thing of the past.”However, around 70% of employed respondents said they are confident in their present ability to provide job security. American job seekers appear to be of two minds about the state of the job market. In a recent survey, 73% of respondents said they see the concept…

Cambricon Technologies, the Beijing-based chipmaker seen as a potential alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), reported a record revenue surge in the first half amid a Chinese stock market frenzy driven by DeepSeek’s breakthrough AI models. Cambricon’s revenue surged 4,348 per cent year on year to 2.88 billion yuan (US$403.8 million) in the first six months of 2025, a record high for the company since it went public in 2020. Profit reached 1.04 billion yuan, reversing a net loss of 533 million yuan seen in the first half of 2024, according to its financial report filed to the Shanghai…

Small caps outperform as Fed rate cuts lower borrowing costs and boost demand. Affordable valuations and growth potential attract investors to small-cap stocks. Two small-cap stocks are offering promising prospects despite sector-specific risks. Looking for actionable trade ideas to navigate the current market volatility? Subscribe here to unlock access to InvestingPro’s AI-selected stock winners. The Russell tracks the performance of 2,000 small-cap U.S. companies across various sectors, such as financials, technology, healthcare, and consumer services. It was established in 1984 by the Frank Russell Company and is a subset of the Russell 3000, which represents 95% of all U.S. stocks.…

Note: this unedited article may be used within a new chapter in my inflation primer.The topic of tariffs became of extreme importance in 2025, courtesy of American President Trump’s trade war on the rest of the world. In the modern meaning, a tariff is a tax on imports or more rarely, exports. (In practice, “export taxes” seems to be used in the financial media.) The origin of the term is that it referred to tables, coming from the Arabic ta’rif (a notification or announcement, see reference by Paul Anthony Jones below). The tables were of fees paid by traders, and…

Key Takeaways A nationwide index of housing prices showed that home values grew at a rate slower than inflation in June, which might indicate a cooling market.Housing prices are diverging by location, with prices in the Northeast and Midwest climbing, while prices in the South and West fell. Housing inventory levels are up, which is keeping prices down in some locations. Fresh data about U.S. home values is the latest sign that the market is dimming for sellers. The problem: The growth rate of home prices isn’t keeping up with inflation, which might indicate a cooling market. In some areas prices…

Key Takeaways Nvidia shares lost ground Thursday morning even as the AI chipmaker and investor favorite reported revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates.After registering a fresh all-time high earlier this month, the stock has traded mostly sideways, indicating apprehension among market participants ahead of the chipmaker’s quarterly results.Investors should watch key support levels on Nvidia’s chart around $174, $159 and $150, while also eyeing an important overhead area near $183. Nvidia (NVDA) shares lost ground Thursday morning even as the AI chipmaker and investor favorite reported revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates. While the results, released late Wednesday,…

The most oversold stocks in the information technology sector presents an opportunity to buy into undervalued companies.The RSI is a momentum indicator, which compares a stock’s strength on days when prices go up to its strength on days when prices go down. When compared to a stock’s price action, it can give traders a better sense of how a stock may perform in the short term. An asset is typically considered oversold when the RSI is below 30, according to Benzinga Pro.Here’s the latest list of major oversold players in this sector, having an RSI near or below 30.Intuit Inc…

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 2,404 counties, decreased in 691 counties, and was unchanged in 17 counties in 2021, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The percent change in real GDP ranged from 81.8 percent in Coke County, TX, to –34.8 percent in Chouteau County, MT (table 1). GDP is the value of goods and services produced within a county. The size of a county’s economy as measured by GDP varies considerably across the United States. In 2021, the total level of real GDP ranged from $11.7 million in Petroleum County,…

In-brief analysis August 28, 2025 On August 25, 2025, the Monday before Labor Day weekend, the retail price of regular gasoline averaged $3.15 per gallon (gal) across the United States, 5% (or 17 cents/gal) lower than at the same time last year. The cost of crude oil typically accounts for a little more than half of the retail gasoline price. Falling crude oil prices, driven by increasing global crude oil supply, have contributed to lower retail gasoline prices heading into this Labor Day. From August 1 to August 25, Brent crude oil prices averaged $67…

Declining mortgage rates have pushed monthly payments down to their lowest level since the start of the year, leading to a modest improvement in demand. But Redfin agents report that many prospective buyers are waiting for rates to drop lower before making a move.  The weekly average mortgage rate is sitting at 6.58%, its lowest level in 10 months. Falling mortgage rates have pushed the median U.S. monthly mortgage payment down to $2,616, its lowest level since the start of the year. Lower housing costs are bringing some house hunters off the sidelines. Pending home sales rose 1.6% year over…