Author: Money Mechanics

Fresh peace talks between the United States and Iran were unexpectedly cancelled, raising new questions around the durability of the recent ceasefire agreement.The talks, which were scheduled to take place in Switzerland on Friday, were called off shortly after U.S. Vice President JD Vance withdrew from the meeting. The discussions were expected to revolve around Iran’s nuclear program, building on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries to end their recent conflict.Iranian media reported that Tehran wants clearer evidence that Washington is implementing the terms of the agreement before committing to another round of negotiations. While the cancellation does…

Swiss Re, the global reinsurer, is launching a new Alternative Capital Solutions unit to encompass its activities in insurance-linked securities and retrocessional hedging and execution, with long-standing senior employee Mirjam Wiget set to lead the team.The Alternative Capital Solutions team is launching on July 1st, with Wiget stepping into a new role to coordinate and lead the important hedging strategy and execution of ILS and retro trades to benefit the reinsurer. Wiget has worked at Swiss Re for more than 15 years, having joined the company in 2011 as a Senior Treasury Officer. She worked her way up through the…

(Oil & Gas 360) – This week marked a notable shift in market sentiment. For months, energy markets were focused on disruption, conflict, and supply risk. Now, attention is turning toward reopening trade routes, restoring production, and assessing whether the world is moving from a supply crisis toward a period of greater abundance. Prices moved lower, but capital continued flowing toward oil, gas, LNG, and power infrastructure, suggesting the industry remains focused on long-term demand growth. THIS WEEK’S 5 HEADLINES THAT MATTERED 1. Oil prices fall as geopolitical tensions ease Brent crude declined after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a…

Social Security plans to finish their switch to electronic payments this year.gettyOn June 2, the Social Security Administration sent an email with a link to a very important blog post titled, “Social Security to Fully Transition to Electronic Payments.” A transition to electronic payments has been swirling around since an Executive Order (March 25, 2025) highlighted the need to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance security in federal payments. The blog post noted that Social Security would complete the full transition to electronic payments this year (no exact date noted). Other than some general instructions, there were no details about…

Coastal and Western states trail the rest of the nation when it comes to homebuilding and housing affordability—with New York ranking dead last this year.  The Empire State fared worst among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, earning an F grade in the 2026 Realtor.com® Housing Report Card released on Monday. It earned a startlingly low score of just 8.5 points out of 100 due to its sluggish construction and high costs.Five other coastal states also received failing grades, with only slightly better scores on residential building and affordability: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii, California, and Connecticut.A further four states—Oregon,…

HP/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.Ahead of Amazon Prime Day, the HP Omen Gaming Laptop is 30% off, having dropped down to a cool $1,599. It also comes bundled with a free Thunderobot 7-in-1 USB-C Hub.  Also: The best early Amazon Prime Day deals: I found editor-approved tech already on saleGaming laptops are among the most expensive PCs that you can buy. Manufacturers are putting world-class hardware into a relatively small form factor. And it’s for that reason that I really like this HP Omen deal, because it’s a great way to get into PC gaming without needing to…

Plan to live well as long as you can, instead of living to an arbitrary age.gettyWhen I was in my 50s, I wanted to live to age 100, and I made changes in my exercise and nutrition to increase the odds of succeeding. According to a recent survey conducted by Corebridge Financial titled Living and Funding Longer Lives, I had a lot of company. Almost half (49%) of survey respondents reported they also wanted to live to 100.Why People Want To Live To 100There can be many reasons people might express a desire to live until age 100. Humans have…

For renters these days, energy bills can add up quickly.A new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that Americans will spend an average of nearly $800 on electricity from June to September, up 10.5% from the same period last year.This comes at a time when 1 in 6 U.S. households is behind on its utility bills and nearly 40% of households earning less than $50,000 report difficulty paying energy bills, according to the same report.“For families already struggling to make ends meet, higher cooling costs can force difficult choices between paying utility bills and covering other necessities…

By Shashwat Chauhan and Jaspreet Singh June 18 (Reuters) – Shares of SpaceX dropped more than 6% on Thursday, as the post-IPO frenzy that briefly placed Elon ‌Musk’s rockets-to-AI firm among the world’s top five most valuable companies appeared ‌to fizzle out. The stock was last down 6.5% at $178.50, after falling nearly 5% in the last session. It ​was still more than 30% above its $135 offering price. If the losses persist, SpaceX’s market value of $2.52 trillion would shrink by more than $150 billion on Thursday. “Given the magnitude of the IPO and the strong initial performance, some…

Kevin Warsh ran his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting as Fed Chair on June 16-17, and if you were expecting a victory lap for the doves, you were watching the wrong meeting. The Fed held rates steady at 3.50%-3.75%, which was never really in doubt. What mattered was everything around that decision, and on nearly every front, Warsh signaled he’s not interested in playing the game the way his predecessors did. An Unusual Twist Here’s the thing nobody saw coming: Warsh didn’t submit a 2028 federal funds rate projection for himself. Warsh has been openly skeptical of the dot…