Author: Money Mechanics

The weekly average mortgage rate fell to a 3-year low, nudging some house hunters and sellers off the sidelines.  U.S. pending home sales fell 2.9% year over year during the four weeks ending January 18, the smallest decline in over a month, as mortgage rates declined. Mortgage-purchase applications rose 5% week over week to their highest level in three years.  New listings followed a similar pattern as pending sales: They dipped 1.6% year over year, the smallest decline since November.  The slight improvements in homebuying demand and home listings are largely the result of falling mortgage rates. The weekly average…

Kais Khimji has spent most of his professional career as a venture investor, including six years as a partner at the prominent VC firm Sequoia Capital. But just like several other former Sequoia partners — including David Vélez, who founded the Brazilian digital bank Nubank — Khimji (pictured left) has always wanted to be a startup founder. On Thursday, he announced that he has revived an idea he began working on as a student at Harvard about 10 years ago, turning it into the AI calendar-scheduling company Blockit. In a major vote of confidence, Khimji’s former employer, Sequoia, led the…

Key Takeaways If you qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, paying the minimum isn’t surrender, but often a good strategy. You get tax-free forgiveness after 120 payments.Private loans above 7% interest can grow even while you’re paying. That’s financially dangerous. A recent post on Reddit’s r/personalfinance captured a dilemma millions of borrowers face: I have 120K in federal student loans, and I am 33. Is the best thing for me to do to pay the minimum every month and put all my money into an account that grows my money so I can just die in debt but live well?…

Key Takeaways Intel is set to post fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell today, following a recent rally for the stock.Ahead of the release, several analysts said they expect demand for AI products to help drive strong results. Intel’s red-hot rally is about to face a big test. The chipmaker is slated to report fourth-quarter results after the market closes today. The results are due after a strong run for the company’s stock in recent weeks that has seen Intel (INTC) add nearly half of its value since the year began. A show of support from President Donald Trump earlier…

KEY TAKEAWAYS About 14.3 million federal student loan borrowers are aged 25 to 34, with the average balance for this age group at $33,566.Payment pauses and lawsuits against the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan have made repayment schedules unusually chaotic. As of September 2025, there were about 14.3 million borrowers aged 25 to 34, owing a total of $480 billion in federal student loans, according to data from the Department of Education. The average borrower in this age group has a student loan balance of about $33,566. That’s below the average loan amount of $39,546 held by all…

Key Takeaways BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned at Davos that AI-driven wealth generation risks repeating the same mistake as post-Cold War globalization: concentrating gains among a narrow few.The top 1% of Americans now hold 31% of household wealth while the bottom 50% own just 2.5%, according to Federal Reserve data, a gap that has widened since 1989. The world is on the brink of repeating post-Cold War mistakes that widened global income inequality, according to a Wall Street chief—and it might be about to do the same with AI. More wealth was created in the decades after the Cold War…

Key Takeaways Much of the U.S. could face harsh winter weather in the days to come, with sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow expected across several regions.Natural gas prices, along with stocks and ETFs related to the sector, have surged this week. It’s about to get extremely cold in much of the United States, but some stocks are only getting hotter. Shares of backup power generator and energy equipment maker Generac (GNRC) have rallied over 10% this week amid worries harsh winter weather could cause power outages. Exchange-traded funds that track the natural gas and energy sectors have soared too, with…

Key Takeaways Intel shares slid in extended trading Thursday after the chipmaker’s outlook missed analysts’ projections. Executives warned supplies could hit a low this quarter.  Intel wants to sell more products. Can it keep up? Shares of the chipmaker slid late Thursday after Intel’s (INTC) outlook missed analysts’ projections. Executives in a statement warned that supplies could hit a low in the current quarter.  “We expect our available supply to be at its lowest level in Q1 before improving in Q2 and beyond,” CFO David Zinsner said in an evening statement, as the company contends with industry-wide supply shortages. Why…

Recently, home equity loans have been pretty popular. According to TransUnion, as of the second quarter of 2025, annual home equity product originations had increased for five consecutive quarters. In quarter two, home equity loans jumped by 23% among Gen Z alone. While this data may signal that home equity loans are a good fit for many homeowners, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right fit for everyone. Here’s what to think about if you’re considering a home equity loan — and when it may (or may not) be a good idea to apply for one. A home equity loan…

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (July, August, and September), according to the updated estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.Due to the recent government shutdown, this updated report for the third quarter of 2025 replaces the release of the third estimate originally scheduled for December 19, 2025.The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, government spending, and investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP,…