Author: Money Mechanics

Federal tax policy often dominates headlines, especially since President Donald Trump and the GOP enacted a sweeping tax overhaul last year. But many people don’t realize that state tax laws tend to have a more immediate impact on household budgets.For 2026, dozens of states enacted changes to income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and senior and Veteran tax relief programs. These may impact everything from take-home pay and retirement income to property taxes and the cost of everyday purchases.Here are some significant 2026 state tax changes and what they may mean for you as a resident and taxpayer. From just…

Short-term swings in the USD/JPY pair at the start of the week reflect several forces acting mainly on the US dollar. Last Friday, provided mild support to the US dollar. Even so, it remains difficult to argue that a broader trend shift is underway, particularly given the sizeable downward revisions seen in recent months. At the same time, the growing clash between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is weighing on the US dollar. The threat of criminal charges linked to the renovation of federal buildings has unsettled markets, though many view this as an effort to…

Following the recent closure of its inaugural reinsurance sidecar transaction with QBE Re, Calidris Investment Partners has announced key leadership hires, with Marcus Foley joining the firm as Director of Quantitative Strategies, and Natasha Osborne as Director of Finance and Operations.Calidris was launched last year by former Ontario Teachers’ insurance-linked securities (ILS) specialist Philippe Trahan and former Blackstone insurance transaction specialist Daniel Miller. As Artemis reported, QBE Re, the international reinsurance arm of QBE, closed its first casualty reinsurance sidecar vehicle earlier this month, securing over $550 million in fully collateralised quota share reinsurance through George Street Re. The George…

Core inflation held at 2.6%, a 5-year low for a completed year. By David Enna, Tipswatch.com U.S. inflation rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, with annual inflation holding steady at 2.7%, same as reported for November. The annual rate ended up higher than expectations, but that was balanced off by a lower-than-expectations increase for core inflation, which removes food and energy. Core inflation increased 0.2% for the month and held steady at 2.6% for the year. So this looks like a fairly mild inflation report. The December report closes the…

Google on Tuesday updated its Veo 3.1 AI video generation model with the ability to create native vertical videos for social platforms using reference images. The changes will also make the videos generated from reference images more expressive and dynamic. When producing AI-generated videos for YouTube Shorts or other platforms like Instagram or TikTok, Veo users can now natively choose the 9:16 vertical format to avoid any cropping. Google is also adding the feature directly to the YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app. Google first released Veo 3.1 in October 2025 with improved audio output and more granular editing…

Key Takeaways Inflation was cooler than expected in December as prices for used cars fell, driving down the overall inflation rate.However, food prices rose at their fastest pace in more than three years.Tariffs hurt less than expected, with prices for goods other than food and energy staying flat for the first time since May. A key measure of inflation rose less than expected in December, offering some relief to household budgets strained by years of steep cost-of-living increases.The Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. That was the same annual increase as in…

Key Takeaways Baytown’s median home price of around $264,000 combined with Texas’s lack of state income tax can stretch retirement savings further than pricier Gulf Coast alternatives.The city is just 25 miles from Houston’s Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex, giving retirees access to advanced specialty care without paying big-city housing prices.Year-round mild weather supports an outdoor lifestyle centered on fishing, kayaking, and birding along Galveston Bay—but long, humid summers and hurricane season require realistic expectations and flood insurance planning. As the cost of living continues to rise in many long-established retirement hot spots, more people are quietly…

Key Takeaways JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in a statement Tuesday called the U.S. economy “resilient” but continued to warn of risk factors—including some he called underappreciated by markets.A number of major U.S. banks are set to report their latest quarterly financial results this week. The U.S. economy is “resilient,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday, but investors should remain wary of a range of possible “hazards” ahead. Dimon’s comments came as the big U.S. bank turned in quarterly financial results that included higher four-quarter net revenue and a year-over-year drop in net income. Big-bank numbers mark the unofficial…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation is holding steady, though key areas such as shelter, food and energy saw prices rise. The data will likely keep the Federal Reserve sidelined at its January meeting, with the central bank all but guaranteed to keep interest rates unchanged.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, headline CPI was up 0.3% from November to December, faster than the 0.2% rise seen the month prior and arriving in line with economists’ expectations.The CPI was 2.7% higher year over year, matching November’s increase and economists’ estimates. From just $107.88 $24.99…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Investors have long appreciated the business model that is asset management, but historically, the only way they could gain exposure was through publicly traded asset managers.The challenge is that those stocks tend to be very volatile, exhibit high correlations to the rest of a typical investor’s portfolio and usually do not provide much in the way of cash flow to their stockholders.Yet the amount of assets invested in the private markets has grown by more than four times over the past 14 years, and most expect another doubling in the next six years. If that is true,…