Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said prediction markets are entering a “supercycle” that could eventually drive trillions of dollars in annual trading volume.Shares of the retail brokerage tumbled Wednesday after its quarterly sales missed estimates as cryptocurrency trading volumes plunged. Investors dumped shares of Robinhood Wednesday after the company reported disappointing quarterly results. Its CEO says they should be excited about its newest slate of offerings, particularly in prediction markets. “We’re just at the beginning of a prediction market supercycle that could drive trillions in annual volume over time,” Vlad Tenev told investors during the company’s earnings call late…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The main U.S. equity indexes struggled for direction on Wednesday, with a better-than-forecast employment situation during the first month of the new year dashing hope the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates sooner rather than later. Stocks closed slightly lower, while bonds suggest Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s steady-as-she-goes narrative will carry at least through May.The January jobs report showed U.S. payrolls expanded by 130,000 and exceeded a Wall Street consensus forecast of 55,000. The unemployment rate declined to 4.3% from 4.4% in December.The Bureau of Labor Statistics cited gains in health care, social assistance and construction and…

Key Takeaways Trading-card company Topps hopes to stir up excitement about its latest baseball card set by including a chance to find a card considered a legendary find. That’s the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie, a pristine version of which has sold for more than $12 million. (Other versions sell for considerably less, though they’re still valuable.) Perhaps one of your grandparents once opened a pack of baseball cards—and got the legendary Mickey Mantle that would someday be a collectible legend. Now, in a way, you can too. Topps, the trading-card company owned by Fanatics Inc., this week said a single…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average charged through the historic 50,000 milestone for the first time in history. Despite a surging market, two blue-chip stalwarts stand out for their compelling mix of value, resilience, and overlooked potential. Both stocks trade below fair value with double-digit upside and business tailwinds that could propel them further. With the surging past the historic 50,000 milestone, investors are increasingly seeking stability in an overextended market. Source: Investing.com Two Dow components, Verizon Communications (NYSE:) and Merck & Company (NYSE:), stand out as compelling picks amid the current backdrop. Both have delivered solid year-to-date gains but trade…

During the AIG fourth-quarter earnings call today CEO Peter Zaffino highlighted the insurer’s launch of two sidecar-style syndicates at Lloyd’s and said the company has a “strong pipeline of SPV opportunities” suggesting future third-party capital partnerships may be expected.AIG has increasingly been partnering with third-party capital to support underwriting insurance business in an efficient manner, with the insurer looking to Lloyd’s as a venue and utilising that markets insurance-linked securities (ILS) structure London Bridge 2 PCC to channel capital partners funds to the opportunity. Back in December 2024 AIG announced the first of what arrangement of a special purpose vehicle…

“Having worked closely with the Cenlar team, we have reached an agreement that represents a compelling value proposition for our stockholders, Cenlar’s institutional clients and their clients’ borrowers, as well as the many talented professionals joining Pennymac.” Spector said that upon completion of the acquisition, Pennymac will become the second-largest U.S. mortgage servicer and one of the largest subservicers in the U.S. “Leveraging industry-leading SSE technology, this further strengthens Pennymac’s position as a partner of choice for institutional subservicing and is expected to drive the growth of capital-light, fee-based revenue streams at significant scale,” Spector added. “We operate a best-in-class…

Serg Myshkovsky/Photodisc via Getty ImagesFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Microsoft’s document-scanning Lens app is no longer available for download.For basic scanning, try Apple Notes, Google Drive, or PhotoScan.For more advanced features, look at Adobe Scan or iScanner.I scan a fair number of paper documents via my phone, and one mobile app I grew to rely on was Microsoft Lens. With Lens, I could scan documents, business cards, photos, and other physical items and save or share the digital versions. Now, I’ll have to find a different program, as Lens has left the building.On…

Key Takeaways About 10.5% of Americans ages 18–39 have a net worth of $500,000 or more.The median net worth for Americans around age 40 is about $178,000. Scroll through personal finance TikTok or Reddit long enough and you’d think $500,000 in net worth by 40 is what many adults have. But only about 10.5% of Americans ages 18–39 have hit that mark, according to an Investopedia analysis of the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The median net worth for that age group is closer to $178,000. So if you’re not at half a million yet, you’re not behind.…

(Investing) – MOSCOW – Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that new U.S. restrictions on the role of Russia and other countries in Venezuela’s oil business were blatant discrimination and the Kremlin said it would clarify the matter with Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a general license to facilitate the exploration and production of oil and gas in Venezuela. The license did not authorise transactions involving Russian, Chinese and Iranian nationals or entities. Lavrov, speaking to the lower house of parliament, said that Russia was in touch with Washington on the issue and wanted to conduct mutually…

Key Takeaways After last week’s “broad and largely indiscriminate” software sell-off, some stocks within the industry are trading at a more than 50% discount to their fair value, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday.Analyst say uncertainty about the future of the industry could continue to be a headwind for stocks without more evidence of AI-driven productivity gains or revenue growth. Software stocks may be down, but they’re not out, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. Shares of software companies have been hammered this year by concerns that AI will upend the industry. The iShares Expanded Tech-software Sector…