Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)Stocks opened lower Friday and stayed there through the close. While Wall Street seems to generally approve of President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair, price action today was dictated by a massive precious metals sell-off and the latest round of earnings reports.Ahead of Friday’s open, President Trump announced via Truth Social that he has picked Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Powell when his term expires in May, pending Senate approval.”I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Kevin Warsh to be the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE…

Key Takeaways Through a process of elimination, we can move through the periodic table to find out why most elements were never suited to hold value.Gases, reactive or radioactive elements, and metals that are too common or too rare all fall away when tested as stores of wealth.Gold stands apart by clearing every hurdle, while close rivals like silver and platinum are undone by small but critical limits. Gold’s Long History as Money, Jewelry, and a Store of Value For thousands of years, gold has played an outsized role in how societies store value. It has been minted into coins,…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. January 30, 2026 Federal Reserve Board announces approval of application by Cornerstone Capital Bancorp, Inc. For release at 4:00 p.m. EST The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced its approval of the application by Cornerstone Capital Bancorp, Inc., of Houston, Texas, to acquire Peoples Bancorp, Inc., and thereby indirectly acquire Peoples Bank, both of Lubbock, Texas. For media inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 202-452-2955. Last Update: January 30, 2026 Source link

While the overall catastrophe bond market saw issuance rising around 40% year-on-year in 2025, broking group Aon saw its activity supporting issuance of new cat bonds rising by more than 50%, CEO Greg Case said today.In the fourth-quarter of 2025, Aon reported growth in revenues related to its insurance-linked securities (ILS) business in the double-digits, outpacing its overall reinsurance divisions’ 8% organic revenue expansion in the period. Speaking during the Q4 earnings call just now, Aon CEO Greg Case provided some additional colour and said his firm saw the cat bond business it acts on growing faster than the overall…

Selling a business in Arizona can be a very strong win in 2026 if you prepare for what AZ buyers actually care about: clean books, transferable licenses, stable staffing, and predictable cash flow in a state where seasonality (snowbirds + heat) can swing revenue. The Phoenix metro (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert) is where you’ll see the deepest buyer pool, but Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott, and fast-growing secondary markets can still fetch great multiples when the fundamentals are tight. Want a realistic Arizona business valuation before you talk to buyers? Earned Exits can help you estimate a fair sale range…

President Trump announced Friday that Kevin Warsh is his choice to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Takeaway: The president’s choice to nominate Kevin Warsh is a “business as usual” pick who should inspire confidence from markets and his colleagues. The housing market should expect mortgage rates to hold steady; this nomination won’t push rates up or down. Financial markets and fellow Federal Reserve colleagues are getting a familiar face who has long been thought of as serious on inflation and a potential Federal Reserve chairman. Kevin Warsh served as a Fed Governor during the financial crisis alongside Ben Bernanke.…

Self-driving truck startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise isn’t just about trucks.   The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn’t just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber’s bet-on-everything strategy actually works.  Watch as Equity podcast hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber’s AV partnership strategy, why Waabi’s “simulation-first” approach might be different, and…

Key Takeaways Investors locked in profits from a blistering precious metal rally on Friday after President Trump tapped Kevin Warsh, a former Fed Governor, to lead the central bank.Gold prices tumbled 10% from yesterday’s record high, while silver slid more than 25% to trade below $85 an ounce.Geopolitical uncertainty, concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence, and a weakening dollar have helped make gold and silver two of the best-performing assets over the past year. Gold and silver prices tumbled on Friday as investors locked in profits after President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve, allaying some of…

(BOE Report) – Exxon Mobil beat Wall Street targets in fourth-quarter earnings reported on Friday, with higher oil production in profitable Permian Basin and Guyana assets helping to boost the No. 1 U.S. oil producer’s results. Adjusted earnings for the October to December quarter were $1.71 per share, beating a consensus estimate of $1.68 per share from analyst data compiled by LSEG. Shares declined 2% in premarket trading. Oil producer profits were under pressure throughout 2025 as an oversupplied crude market pushed Brent oil futures down 19% last year. Exxon’s full-year 2025 adjusted profit declined by a narrower margin of 10%,…

Given how important public companies are to retirement savings and U.S. household finances, the reduction in listed companies and the increasing age of IPOs is something we should try to correct.Two common complaints (from companies) are that it is: Too expensive and complicated to be public — partly because of all the reporting they need to do.More challenging to execute long-term growth strategies with quarterly reporting and stock reactions.  Nasdaq has long advocated for reduced reporting obligations — either with a bigger focus on materiality or via less frequent reporting. Recently, President Donald Trump and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins have both supported moving U.S. companies from quarterly reporting to semi-annual. This move would also align U.S. public company…