Author: Money Mechanics

(Investing) – WASHINGTON – The United States is seeking the forfeiture of Motor Tanker Skipper, an oil tanker seized by the U.S. in December, and 1.8 million barrels of crude oil cargo supplied by Venezuelan state-run company PDVSA, the Justice Department said on Friday. In its complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the department alleged a scheme dating to 2021 to facilitate the shipment and sale of petroleum products to benefit Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is under U.S. sanctions. It said the Skipper moved crude oil from Iran and Venezuela during this time. “The Skipper…

January 2026 HighlightsMember Usage & Peer Ranking Reports Now AvailableMember Usage and Peer Ranking Reports are now available to help members understand how their trading activity and performance compare to other members in their peer groups on each of the Cboe trading venues.Metrics available include: traded volume across different order types on a shares and notional basis, post trade markouts by liquidity, price group and spread buckets, and volumes and average trade size for NBBO setting and joining add volume. For each of these metrics, members are given an overall ranking and a ranking within their peer group, along with…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldThe writer is a professor at Arizona State University and author of ‘Putin’s Sledgehammer’Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US is still debating how to categorise the paramilitary networks that help finance and sustain Vladimir Putin’s war effort. The recently introduced Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries Act (Harm) suggests that Congress is finally ready to move beyond a narrow focus on the Wagner Group and confront the broader ecosystem that replaced it. Lawmakers should act quickly, but they…

To get a personal loan, you’ll need good credit, a stable income and a steady employment history. Bad credit loans are available, but rates can be high and loan amounts may be limited. You’ll qualify for a lower, more competitive rate with good-to-excellent credit. Most personal loans are unsecured, which makes them faster and easier to get than collateral-backed loans. Shopping for personal loans with multiple lenders could land you the best deal. Getting a personal loan is relatively simple. Most lenders offer a fully online application process and only require information about your income, credit history and bank account…

prices were on course for their first weekly decline in four weeks as the United States and Iran signaled they were willing to continue negotiating instead of escalating to a hot war. At the time of writing, was trading at $71 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $65.56 per barrel, after three weeks of gains. Brent crude has gained more than $3 per barrel over the past four weeks, and WTI is also up by some $3 per barrel. “Traders are in wait-and-see mode heading into the weekend with Iran tensions mounting on one hand, and the OPEC+ meeting…

Lower rates haven’t yet brought homebuyers off the sidelines, but hope is in the air as we approach spring.  The weekly average mortgage rate has dropped to 6.01%, its lowest level since September 2022. That has pushed the median U.S. monthly housing payment down to $2,599, 2.6% lower than a year ago. Wages are nearly 4% higher than they were a year ago, improving affordability further.  Homebuyers have gained $34,000 in purchasing power since last year, when rates were sitting around 6.9%.  Falling rates may bring some house hunters out of the woodwork in the coming weeks, especially as spring…

Prediction market users have made — and profited from — big bets around the bombing of Iran by the U.S. and Israeli military. On Polymarket, $529 million was traded on contracts tied to the timing of the attack, according to Bloomberg. An analysis by analytics firm Bubblemaps SA found that six newly-created accounts made a profit of $1 million by correctly betting that the U.S. would strike Iran by February 28 — behavior that could indicate insider trading. The bets might merely reflect broader speculation about U.S. intentions in Iran, but Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman said the circulation of information…

A shaky start to the week is in store for financial markets after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend. Oil prices surged when trading got underway Sunday evening on concerns that supplies from the Middle East could be disrupted. Stock futures slid as investors scaled back their exposure to risky assets amid the fresh dose of geopolitical and economic uncertainty sparked by developments in the Middle East. Gold, which has already hit a series of record highs in recent months, was on the rise as some investors turned to the traditional safe haven. The bombing of Iran…

Swiss Re’s CEO Andreas Berger said the reinsurance company is focused on amplifying the core of its business to deepen its relevance, citing leverage from alternative capital, a need to reimagine the value-chain, the role of artificial intelligence and the importance of disciplined cycle management at this time.Speaking during a media call today after the global reinsurance giant reported its 2025 results, Andreas Berger discussed some of the priorities for the Swiss Re business in 2026. One of the first areas to be highlighted was the firm’s business unit that focuses on third-party reinsurance capital management and insurance-linked securities (ILS)…

Iran conflict Now, traditionally, when there was military conflict in the Middle East, people would expect money to flow into the U.S. dollar and the U.S. bond market as a safe haven, and oil prices would rise. But in the last few years, this really hasn’t happened. Part of this, I believe, is that traders don’t fear a wider escalation in the Middle East and see these events being contained. With the midterms coming up, there isn’t a fear of a long, protracted war with Iran, and Trump seems to like a quick fix and nothing too prolonged when it…