Author: Money Mechanics

Graduation and adulthood are still years down the road for my two young kids, so my focus now is on setting them up for success when they get there. One way my husband and I are doing that is through 529 college-savings plans. With these investment accounts, you can set aside money that grows tax-deferred and withdraw it tax-free for qualified education-related expenses, including college tuition and fees, room and board, and computers.A common concern among parents who contribute to 529s is that their kids won’t end up going to college, or that the costs will be lower than expected.…

(Image credit: Getty Images)You walk into the store and notice your usual product is more expensive again. The shelves aren’t empty, and demand doesn’t seem any higher.But prices of certain products don’t just move because more people are buying them. They also shift because of costs, policy, currency changes, supply chains and more.Understanding these forces can help you decide when to buy a product and when to wait or switch to an alternative. Here are the basics. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to…

May 18 (Reuters) – The Trump administration plans to unveil a framework for trading ‌tokenized or digital versions of ‌securities, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar ​with the matter. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to release an “innovation exemption” for tokenized stocks as soon as this ‌week, the report ⁠said. The move highlights the Trump administration’s push to bring stock trading ⁠onto crypto platforms, potentially paving a new regulatory pathway for trading shares outside ​traditional exchanges. Recently, ​the Republican-led Senate ​Banking Committee advanced legislation ‌aimed at creating clearer U.S. regulations for cryptocurrencies. According to the…

Key Takeaways WTI trades inside a constructive rotational structure ahead of the FOMC Minutes The active framework remains centered above 105.00, with 108.00–108.20 acting as the primary recovery barrier Fed communication, USD dynamics and rate expectations continue shaping crude positioning across macro markets Shipping stress and resilient energy participation maintain support across the physical side of the market Macro Context: FOMC Minutes Become the Central Transmission LayerWTI enters the May 20 session with markets transitioning from inflation repricing toward a more selective positioning phase centered on the Federal Reserve. The focus now shifts toward the and how markets interpret inflation…

The Travelers Companies, the US property & casualty insurance giant, has now successfully priced what will be its largest catastrophe bond sponsorship ever, securing $750 million of multi-peril reinsurance protection from the new Long Point Re IV Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance, Artemis can report.Travelers ventured back into the catastrophe bond market at the end of April, with an initial target to secure $500 million of multi-peril reinsurance protection covering losses in northeast states. As we reported in our first update on this deal, the target size of the issuance had been raised to as much as $750 million, while the price…

Growing concern over the trajectory of the Iran war has bond yields rising and mortgage rates following suit.The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan rose 7 basis points Tuesday to 6.75%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the highest level since July 31. Rates are now up 33 basis points in just the past 10 days and are 46 basis points higher than their recent April low of 6.29%. That April drop came after a sharp spike in rates at the start of the war, when the rate jumped from 5.99% at the start of March to 6.64%…

By Radhika Rajkumar, Senior Editor / May 19 at 2:30 p.m. ETGoogle Flow, a filmmaker-forward video tool released at last year’s I/O, has expanded into a fuller creative studio featuring several new agents accompanying various processes. Google demonstrated how users can interact with Flow Agent, for example, like a creative collaborator, asking it for recommendations and input on dialogue and plot development. With the new Omni Flash model, Google said Flow now preserves character consistency across frames, comparing Omni for video to Nano Banana for images. Pics, Google’s new image tool, leverages Nano Banana and lets you create all-new graphics or…

(By Oil & Gas 360) – For decades, the oil and gas industry has been shaped by access to hydrocarbons. Increasingly, it is being shaped by something else, water. What was once treated as an operational input is becoming a strategic constraint across the energy system. And now, the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and hyperscale data centers is accelerating the pressure. The intersection between oil and gas, electricity demand, AI, and water is beginning to expose a broader reality about the modern energy economy: digital growth still depends heavily on physical resources. Data centers require enormous amounts of electricity,…

Nashville is already known as one of the country’s premier hubs for music—but in 2030, it will take on a new, very high-profile role at the center of the NFL universe when it hosts Super Bowl LXIV.NFL owners unanimously voted to name the Tennessee city as an upcoming venue for the annual event at the Spring League Meeting on May 19, confirming that Nashville will follow Las Vegas as the latest location in the Super Bowl lineup.By then, local team the Tennessee Titans are expected to have a new $2.1 billion stadium up and running, providing the perfect spot for…

Google announced at its annual Google I/O event on Tuesday that it’s launching Pics, a new AI-powered design and image-generation app for Google Workspace. The tech giant says it designed the app to be accessible to everyone, from teachers to small business owners. With Pics, users can generate everything from social media graphics and invitations to marketing materials and mock-ups using simple text prompts, without needing any editing skills or advanced tools. By giving users an easy way to generate visuals, Google is looking to take on popular design apps like Canva, as well as products from AI-native competitors like…