Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)The main U.S. equity indexes extended their gains and crude oil futures extended their losses on Wednesday amid more talk of peace in the Middle East. Price action during the first trading session of the second quarter, like the last session of the first quarter, was all about hope for opening the Strait of Hormuz.In yet another pre-opening-bell Truth Social post, President Donald Trump said “Iran’s New Regime President” Masoud Pezeshkian, who has held his title since July 2024, “has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Trump also said the U.S. “will consider…

Target (TGT) is not operating in an easy retail environment right now. Consumers are still cautious, discretionary spending is uneven, and the company is already trying to rebuild momentum after a rough stretch of sales pressure and activist backlash tied to last year’s DEI rollback. Now, Target is facing another reputational hit. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) says it wants its 1.8 million members to avoid Target for back-to-school shopping, a move aimed at the company’s response to federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That is not automatically a business-altering event, but it does add another layer of…

Postal savings banks are a venerable form of public banks. They were traditionally aimed at providing payment and savings options for the broad public — they were not banks providing a full range of lending services. Instead, they recycled deposits into the bond and money markets, mainly investing in central government bonds. The “neoliberal” trends since the early 1980s resulted in these institutions being weakened or even privatised. In addition to the political shifts, the rise of digital computing raised the level of expected services in most countries.This is an unedited draft section of my banking primer. My inflation manuscript…

Apple has pushed a security update to older iPhones and iPads that protects against a leaked set of powerful hacking tools capable of stealing data from a person’s device. The tech giant said on Wednesday that it released iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7 to allow a broader range of devices to “receive important security protections from web attacks called DarkSword.” DarkSword is a hacking toolkit that can be used to break into Apple devices running iOS 18.4 through 18.7 simply by a user visiting a website that hosts the malicious code, such as legitimate websites that have themselves been breached.…

You’re sitting at your kitchen table, ready to file your own taxes, and it hits you — your college student might have earned enough to file an income tax return.That part-time job, summer internship, or freelance gig can quickly raise questions for the whole family, even when it seems like they didn’t make much. That’s because whether your college kid actually needs to file under IRS rules depends on how much they earned and what type of income was involved.And then there’s another looming question: if they do file their own return, can you still claim them as a dependent?…

Ben Stiller, Lisa Loeb, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo and Ethan Hawke attend “Reality Bites” 25th Anniversary.(Image credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)Reality does kind of bite for Gen X, the generation that grew up watching music videos on MTV. Now nearing retirement, they are closely monitoring their 401(k) balances to see if they’re on track to retire.Born between 1965 and 1980 and ranging in age from 46 to 61, Gen Xers are the first generation of American workers to rely on their own 401(k) savings to fund the bulk of their retirement, rather than on traditional pensions.Gen X,…

This article is an on-site version of our Moral Money newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered twice a week. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters.Visit our Moral Money hub for all the latest ESG news, opinion and analysis from around the FT In 2019, a team at the company then known as Facebook carried out some private research on a highly sensitive topic: the effects of its Instagram app on the mental health of the teenagers who had become its most enthusiastic users.The results were troubling. “Teens blame…

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this discussion. Last year, Congress passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which provides some needed clarity to issuers of stablecoins about how they can fit into the regulatory framework. While there is a lot of work to do by the relevant agencies to fill in the specifics during the rulemaking process, increased regulatory certainty could lead to more rapid development of stablecoins. Today, stablecoins are mostly used to facilitate crypto-trading activities and, secondarily, as a dollar-denominated store of value in some foreign jurisdictions. Stablecoins might…

A tiny home in New York is going viral on social media because it has no bedrooms. The house at 84 Wyona Ave in Selden went on the market about a month ago with a listing price of $329,900. The house was built in 1930 and is 446 square feet. It is about 10 feet wide and 37 feet long and has a small kitchen, dining room, living area and full bathroom. The tiny house sits on a lot that is 22 by 100 feet. Photo credit: Picture Perfect It sits on a lot that is 22 by 100 feet…

(Image credit: Getty Images)When you retire, you’ll need income to replace the money you used to earn. If you have a fantastic pension and/or great wealth, no worries. But most retirees need new sources of income.Social Security benefits alone rarely suffice and may be less generous in the future. Mandated IRA or 401(k) withdrawals are also part of the equation, and retirees who’ve put significant portions of their savings in stocks have done very well since 2009. But with the market near all-time highs, equities look riskier now.What if you live well beyond the average lifespan? Will you run out…