Author: Money Mechanics

Passed unanimously out of the Senate Banking Committee, the ROAD to Housing Act embraces solutions to the housing affordability crisis like zoning reform and streamlining rules to encourage more homebuilding. For the first time since the foreclosure crisis, U.S. Congress has taken meaningful action to make housing more affordable and homeownership more achievable for Americans with the ROAD to Housing Act. For over a decade, housing affordability has been a distant priority for congress. The prevailing view was that housing was a local issue, best left to city councils and mayors. But housing is now a national crisis. From California…

simoncarter/E+/Getty ImagesFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysDesigning healthy relationships between humans and AI will require formalizing business practices.The future of work is humans and AIs as colleagues, co-creating value. Agentic AI governance must clarify shared responsibility and accountability.First, Dr. Vint Cerf, one of the Internet’s co-creators, observes that with AI, “It feels like we’ve encountered a new life form and we’re trying to figure out how it thinks.” It’s worth noting that our work and business relationships with AI might differ from human relationships. Second, Dr. David Bray, a tech leader with success in challenging environments including the…

(By Oil & Gas 360) – The oil market is entering a new phase of uncertainty. After months dominated by headlines surrounding the Iran conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, and fears of supply disruption, attention is shifting back toward fundamentals. Those fundamentals are delivering mixed signals, creating a market caught between tightening inventories today and growing concerns about oversupply tomorrow. On the surface, recent data appear supportive of prices. U.S. crude inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels last week, a sizeable draw that would normally suggest healthy demand and tightening market conditions. Inventory declines of that magnitude often reinforce expectations…

U.S. options activity has been growing consistently as new traders enter the market, existing traders explore new strategies and products evolve to meet the needs of both groups. Overall options activity hit new highs in the first quarter of 2026, with market-wide Average Daily Volume (ADV) reaching 68.6 million contracts.At Cboe Global Markets — the largest U.S. options exchange operator — index options volume increased 22% in the first quarter, averaging 6.1 million contracts daily. S&P 500 Index options (SPX) reached a record ADV of 4.9 million. Mini-SPX Index options (XSP) volume also reached a new record, rising 47% quarter-over-quarter…

Chip and Joanna Gaines are ready to add yet another impressive real estate win to their awe-inspiring resume after snagging a buyer for one of the reality TV-approved renovation projects mere days after putting it on the market for $935,000.The property, which is located around 30 minutes from the couple’s iconic Waco, TX, farmhouse, was one of three dwellings that were listed by the Gaineses earlier this month, having all been given a total overhaul by the reality TV stars. While two of those properties—The Castle and The Hillcrest Estate—remain on the market, the third, and cheapest, of the trio,…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. June 24, 2026 Federal Reserve Board’s annual bank stress test confirms that large banks are well positioned to weather a severe recession and able to continue to lend to households and businesses For release at 4:00 p.m. EDT The results of the Federal Reserve Board’s annual bank stress test confirmed that large banks are well positioned to weather a severe recession and able to continue to lend to households and businesses. Despite absorbing…

President Donald Trump on Wednesday canceled via Truth Social a scheduled Capitol Hill signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill that leaders in both parties had heralded as a win, setting off a contentious day in Congress for the president.”Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump posted Wednesday, a little over an hour before he was due at the Capitol to sign the bill into law. House Speaker Mike…

Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma visited Washington this week to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of Congress to oppose the MATCH Act, a bill that would bar Chinese chipmakers from accessing Western semiconductor equipment, and one that would hit ASML especially hard. ASML, based in the Netherlands, is Europe’s most valuable company and the only maker in the world of the sophisticated lithography machines that are used to make cutting-edge AI chips. “It’s exceptional that I’m coming here to broadly outline our concerns to Congress,” Sjoerdsma told Bloomberg after the meetings. “The stakes for the Netherlands may…

Tipping has always been part of everyday life, whether you’re dining out, getting a haircut or ordering food delivery. But in recent years, you may have noticed that tip prompts seem to be appearing in more places than ever before.At the same time, inflation has pushed up the cost of restaurant meals, personal services and other everyday expenses. That means even when you’re leaving the same percentage tip you always have, the dollar amount is often higher simply because the bill is higher.The result is that many people are taking a closer look at their tipping habits and wondering what’s…

Modular construction, panelized building, and other techniques could shave major costs off the price of building a new home, a new study finds.Manufactured housing techniques could shave 20% to 30% off the cost of building some homes, according to a new from the JPMorganChase PolicyCenter. Those techniques could also cut down the time needed to build new homes by 30% to 50%. Think two months less of building time.Since construction accounts for nearly two-thirds of the cost of a new home, cutting those expenses could help homebuyers face a surging market that has priced many out.”We’re really trying to look…