Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Future)For the fourth year, we’re pleased to present the winners of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. In a survey we conducted on Kiplinger.com in January and February, more than 4,200 readers rated the financial products and services they use in 13 categories, from credit cards and banks to brokers, wealth managers and annuity providers. The results here offer valuable insight into the everyday experiences that Kiplinger readers have with their financial providers.Respondents made their judgments on such criteria as their interactions with customer service, the likelihood they would recommend the product or service to others, and their overall…

Whitney Leavitt has announced her exit from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” after four seasons—having left her life in Utah behind to launch a new career on Broadway in New York City.The 32-year-old revealed during her final performance of “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre that she will not return to the hit Hulu series, sharing the news while still in character as Roxie Hart. Video footage obtained by TMZ shows Leavitt, who shares three children with her husband, Conner Leavitt, suddenly pivoting from the script to read a newspaper that was being held by one of her co-stars. “What…

A severe security vulnerability affecting almost every version of the Linux operating system has caught defenders off-guard and scrambling to patch after security researchers publicly released exploit code that allows attackers to take complete control of vulnerable systems. The U.S. government says the bug, dubbed “CopyFail,” is now being exploited in the wild, meaning it’s being actively used in malicious hacking campaigns. The bug, officially tracked as CVE-2026-31431 and discovered in Linux kernel versions 7.0 and earlier, was disclosed to the Linux kernel security team in late March, and patched after about a week. But the patches have yet to fully…

Link to Report: Macro Volatility DigestWHAT STANDS OUT:Implied volatilities were mixed last week as oil prices continued to climb and the Fed came out more hawkish than expected. Brent oil prices briefly jumped to over $126/bbl – their highest level since the Iran conflict started – while oil volatility (OVX Index) remained elevated in the 88th percentile high. In contrast, the VIX® Index ended the week near a 3-month low of 16.9% as the SPX Index hit an all-time high on the back of better-than-expected earnings.As we enter the 3rd month of the Iran conflict, what stands out is just…

(Image credit: Future)For the fourth year, we’re pleased to present the winners of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. In a survey we conducted on Kiplinger.com in January and February, more than 4,200 readers rated the financial products and services they use in 13 categories, from credit cards and banks to brokers, wealth managers and annuity providers. The results here offer valuable insight into the everyday experiences that Kiplinger readers have with their financial providers.Respondents made their judgments on such criteria as their interactions with customer service, the likelihood they would recommend the product or service to others, and their overall…

(Image credit: Future)For the fourth year, we’re pleased to present the winners of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. In a survey we conducted on Kiplinger.com in January and February, more than 4,200 readers rated the financial products and services they use in 13 categories, from credit cards and banks to brokers, wealth managers and annuity providers. The results here offer valuable insight into the everyday experiences that Kiplinger readers have with their financial providers.Respondents made their judgments on such criteria as their interactions with customer service, the likelihood they would recommend the product or service to others, and their overall…

(Image credit: Future)For the fourth year, we’re pleased to present the winners of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. In a survey we conducted on Kiplinger.com in January and February, more than 4,200 readers rated the financial products and services they use in 13 categories, from credit cards and banks to brokers, wealth managers and annuity providers. The results here offer valuable insight into the everyday experiences that Kiplinger readers have with their financial providers.Respondents made their judgments on such criteria as their interactions with customer service, the likelihood they would recommend the product or service to others, and their overall…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The Senate is on track to confirm Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair by Friday, May 15. That’s when Powell’s term as Fed chair is scheduled to expire. And President Donald Trump would like Warsh to cut interest rates as soon as June 16-17, at the next Fed meeting.But decisions about the federal funds rate are made by a committee. And the Fed chair is just one of 12 voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee. The FOMC includes the seven members of the board, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of…

Actress Cameron Diazhas welcomed her third child with husband Benji Madden, nearly two years after she reemerged on the Hollywood scene following an 11-year hiatus from acting—a period that she described as the “best years” of her life.Diaz, 53, and Madden, 47, who wed in 2015, announced the arrival of their baby boy in an Instagram post shared by the Good Charlotte rocker, who revealed that they have named their son Nautas, a name that means “one who embarks on a journey and fears not the unknown.” Sharing a “character” card for his son which featured an image of a…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Stocks closed lower Monday and oil prices climbed on escalating tensions in the Middle East. Market participants also took a cautious stance ahead of another busy week of corporate earnings and Friday’s key jobs report.Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said via Truth Social that the U.S. will begin guiding ships out of the Strait of Hormuz that have been stranded there during the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran.”This is a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran,” Trump wrote in his post. “Many…