Author: Money Mechanics

As Singapore continues to work on plans to adopt a regulatory framework for a Protected Cell Company (PCC) structure to support collateralised reinsurance and ILS issuance, Simon Goh of law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore, has expressed how this flexible structure could ultimately become a game changer for the country’s captive insurance and ILS landscape.We reported in early July that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had launched a consultation process on the regulatory framework for a Protected Cell Company (PCC) structure that can be used for collateralised reinsurance arrangements, including sidecars, and efficient insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance. Given this,…

Homes in Hercules, California, June 17, 2026.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMortgage demand continued to plummet last week, after mortgage rates rose to their highest level in over a year. Total mortgage application volume dropped 2.9% week to week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Applications were also 5% lower than they were the same week one year ago. That is the first time volume was lower annually since April.The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, increased to 6.81% from 6.76%, with points decreasing to 0.65…

Ukraine-based app developer MacPaw has partnered up with Liquid AI to power its products with locally hosted AI models, and eventually make the tech stack available to developers. The company is also preparing its SetApp app store for AI apps with credit-based plans for users. MacPaw is currently working on its AI assistant Eney, which it unveiled last year, and now plans to build a locally hosted version, for which it has roped in Liquid AI to develop an on-device inference system called Elix as well as a local memory system. “Before training our models, we select an architecture that…

(BOE Report) – Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it expects Brent crude to trade in an $80-$90 per barrel range until there is either confirmation of a new U.S.-Iran nuclear deal or a significant escalation of their conflict. The bank estimates spot Brent’s fair value at about $80 a barrel, suggesting markets are pricing in only a modest risk premium despite ongoing uncertainty over Middle East oil supplies. Brent traded near $85 a barrel on Tuesday as conflicting signals from the U.S. and Iran over the status of talks to end their five-month-old war sowed uncertainty. Although Brent retreated to…

I’ll start with what you already know: Index funds, with portfolios determined by computer algorithms to reflect categories of stocks and bonds, have a much better track record than funds whose stocks and bonds are selected by human beings — so-called actively managed funds.Over the 10 years ending December 31, 2025, research firm Morningstar calculates, only 3.6% of active large-capitalization growth funds have beaten the average index fund in the same category.I enthusiastically endorsed index funds in the 1999 book I coauthored, Dow 36,000, and I have advocated them ever since. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become…

In July, Morningstar published a column, “These 15 Funds Cost Investors Billions Over the Last Decade.” The list was revealing. Many of the biggest wealth destroyers were inverse ETFs, products designed to deliver one, two or three times the inverse daily return of a market benchmark.Among the funds highlighted were ETFs betting against semiconductor stocks, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100, often with leverage. Given the strong performance of U.S. equities over much of the past decade, these strategies proved costly for investors.Also appearing on the list were leveraged long ETFs tied to particularly volatile non-equity assets. Products seeking to…

Digital payments refer to any transactions where money moves electronically rather than in cash. That means credit and debit cards, online bank transfers, e-wallets and mobile payments, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) plans.Charge cards emerged in the 1950s, followed by mass‑market credit cards in the 1960s and 1970s, and e-commerce in the late 1990s. But cashless payments have become standard over the past decade, since smartphones and contactless cards turned payments into taps.Here’s the problem: When the way we pay changes, the way we think about spending changes, too. And…

Gold (GC=F) December futures opened at $4,109.60 per troy ounce on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, up 0.5% from Monday’s closing price. The price of gold moved higher this morning to $4,136.30 per troy ounce as of 8:03 a.m. ET. The opening price of gold continues to hold above $4,100 this week, and the precious metal continues to gain value in early trading, despite inflammatory comments from President Trump. While the president hopes his comments will accelerate a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, they could prolong the war and raise energy costs even further: “I want to give them…

JPMorgan Chase has announced that it would deploy more than $750 billion into the housing market over the next decade in a bid to create more affordable housing and make homeownership more accessible for Americans.The financial firm’s American Dream Initiative aims to build or preserve 1 million affordable housing units and help a half-million customers purchase homes—including 200,000 first-time homebuyers.The plan announced on Monday entails JPMorgan Chase hiring 850 new Home Lending Advisors and rolling out a slate of digital tools to streamline the borrowing process. The aim is to help jump-start housing market growth, which has slowed in recent…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. August 04, 2026 Federal Reserve Board announces approval of the application by FS Bancorp, Inc. For release at 4:30 p.m. EDT The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced its approval of the application by FS Bancorp, Inc., of Mountlake Terrace, Washington, to merge with Pacific West Bancorp, and thereby indirectly acquire Pacific West Bank, both of West Linn, Oregon. For media inquiries, please email [email protected] or call (202) 452-2955. Last Update: August 04,…