Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)Investors drawn to gold for its reputation as a safe-haven asset may understandably be disappointed lately.As the conflict in Iran escalates and surging energy prices stoke fears of inflation, it feels like this should be the yellow metal’s time to shine.Instead, gold has recently fallen over 10% from its all-time high earlier this year. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is down nearly twice that much.Article continues below 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 4 Special Issues CLICK FOR FREE…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The financial allure of moving to a new state for tax relief is real, but the challenges and pitfalls are substantial. Successful state residency planning is less about counting days on a calendar and more about shifting the ‘center of gravity’ of your life. If you plan on following the crowds to popular no or low-income-tax states, such as South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Florida, you’ll need a plan. Because tax authorities in high-tax states, including California, New York, and Massachusetts, will be watching.While the 183-day rule provides a clear numerical threshold, tax auditors will gather data…

This 1913 Liberty Head Nickel sold in 2018 for $4.5 million.(Image credit: Courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries)Kathryn McMiller and her siblings inherited dozens of collections from their parents, including coins, stamps, fly swatters and more than 400 vintage toothpick holders. There may be significant value in some of those items, but determining how much and how to monetize them is a chore that has dragged on for years.“I wish they had got rid of this stuff a long time ago,” says McMiller, a retired expert in managing health information.For disciples of the Japanese de-cluttering guru Marie Kondo, disposing of such…

Over 3,500 companies have chosen to go public through the Nasdaq stock exchange. The Nasdaq-100 index tracks the performance of the top 100 (by value) companies, excluding banks and other financial institutions. Since the technology sector is home to more trillion-dollar companies than any other sector, it boasts a dominant weighting of almost 60% in the Nasdaq-100. That means companies at the cutting edge of industries like artificial intelligence (AI) have a significant influence over the performance of the index, which is why it typically delivers higher returns than more diversified indexes like the S&P 500. Will AI create the…

We’ve felt a bit of a lone wolf year-to-date in duly citing ’s overbought state. However of late, the mighty metal’s market participants have finally been grasping Gold’s dire strait. For en route to settling the week yesterday (Friday) at 4492, price from its All-Time High of 5586 — a mere 36 trading days ago on 29 January — is down -19.6%. Not surprisingly in turn (and as promptly posted Wednesday on “X” @deMeadvillePro), Gold’s 14-week run of being parabolically Long saw such stance flip to Short. Here ’tis, the rightmost first red dot as encircled: But wait, there’s more:…

Every mortgage lender knows that declined loans represent marketing spend, staff time and operational resources that never convert into funded loans or revenue. Those losses add up quickly in a margin-sensitive environment. In Q3 2025, independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a pre-tax net production profit of $1,201 per loan originated — up from $950 per loan in Q2 2025. When a lender declines an application after underwriting, their investment up to that point is gone, along with the opportunity to serve a borrower who may have qualified with a different approach. Down Payment Resource…

Adam Doud/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysMy 5G road trip tests included rigorous testing on three Google Pixel phones.Signal reliability generally proved good to decent across three major interstate carriers.Network architecture, including non-standalone 5G, emerged as a factor in deployment.5G made a number of promises when it debuted. The first was the ability to handle excessive capacity. I tested that promise outside a baseball playoff game this past October, and I found it to be partially true. The other promise was better coverage coast to coast. Now, it was time to head out and give that…

(Investing) – Oil prices oscillated around the flatline on Friday, after U.S. officials said Washington may soon lift sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea, freeing up more supplies. Hopes for some de-escalation in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran had earlier weighed on crude. Helping underpin the sentiment were U.S. calls for Israel to hold off on future attacks against Iran’s energy infrastructure. Brent oil futures, the global benchmark, last ticked down 1.1% to $109.87 a barrel. On Thursday, an attack by Israel on the South Pars gas field, the Iranian sector of the world biggest gas deposit, sent Brent to…

Compared to broader financial markets and asset classes that are more correlated with the global macroeconomy, catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities are exhibiting significantly lower volatility in 2026, specialist investment manager Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP has highlighted.With the conflict in the Middle East now set to move into its fourth week, the ramifications of the war and fears of the ultimate cost to the global economy is driving meaningful volatility in financial markets. It’s not like traditional financial markets haven’t been volatile anyway over the last few years. But the attack on Iran, and its attacks on Gulf neighbours, have…

The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its investigation into electric vehicle startup Faraday Future, despite SEC staff on the case recommending an enforcement action last year, TechCrunch has learned. Four sources familiar with the investigation, who were granted anonymity to speak about the government case, told TechCrunch that the SEC informed the company and people involved in the probe about the closure this past week. The dismissal of the case comes amid a historic drop in enforcement actions by the SEC, which only initiated four cases against publicly-traded companies in its 2025 fiscal year, a recent report shows. The…