Author: Money Mechanics

Asian buyers except China have ordered 9 million barrels more Saudi crude for loading next month amid the kingdom’s push to cut its prices, Bloomberg has reported, citing unnamed sources. The Saudis, earlier this month, lowered the official selling price of their flagship Arab Light by $0.30 per barrel above the average of the Oman and Dubai benchmarks, to a premium of $0.30 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai quotes. That’s down from a premium of $0.60 per barrel for the January loadings and the lowest premium in more than five years. The cut was generally in line with the expectations…

The ultimate impact of such a move would likely be limited because this would be a relatively small asset purchase program, by historical standards.  President Trump said he is directing the federal government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds above what they would normally buy, which he said on social media would help bring down mortgage rates and combat the housing affordability crisis. The funds would come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, mortgage companies that are under government conservatorship.  The news brought about an immediate rally in MBS markets, which translated to lower rates.  But the ultimate impact…

AI research lab Anthropic continues to land sizable enterprise deals. Its latest entails bringing its large language models to a legacy German insurance giant. Anthropic on Friday announced a deal with Munich, Germany-based global insurance conglomerate Allianz to bring “responsible AI” to the insurance industry. The parties declined to share financial terms of the deal. The partnership is made up of three specific initiatives. The first is making Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI-powered coding tool, available to all of Allianz’s employees. Anthropic and Allianz will also build custom AI agents for Allianz employees that can execute multi-step workflows with a human…

Key Takeaways Americans who are 55 to 64 years old have a median household income of $82,150, according to Fed data.Earnings vary widely across groups, with homeowners and college graduates far outpacing renters and those without a degree.Even when earnings are high, your ability to retire comfortably depends on additional factors such as total savings, assets, pensions, and debt. According to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) Survey of Consumer Finances, income typically rises through midlife before leveling off in your late 50s and early 60s. Seeing how your earnings and savings compare with others your age can help you gauge where…

(World Oil) – Vickery Energy Partners has closed the acquisition of natural gas assets in the Appalachian basin from Tribune Resources, adding approximately 38,000 net acres and more than 200 MMcfe/d of net production across Wetzel, Tyler, Harrison and Doddridge counties in West Virginia. The assets include development inventory in both the wet and dry windows of the Marcellus Shale, providing Vickery with an established production base and multi-year drilling runway. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Vickery is led by former Tug Hill executives, including President and CEO Sean Willis and CFO Daniel Rowe, and is backed by…

Despite headline-grabbing news in 2025 — from tariffs to wars — economies around the world saw slower, but steady growth. The outlook for 2026 is more of the same. Although the reasons why are evolving, with three tailwinds supporting a broadening recovery in corporate profitability:Lower interest rates: Helped by slowing inflation and more balanced job markets.Broadening spending growth: U.S. tax cuts support consumer spending and European governments are increasing fiscal support.Artificial Intelligence (AI): The AI buildout drove revenues and construction in 2025 and that’s expected to continue this year. At some point, AI should start to drive productivity improvements, which would grow GDP even as population growth globally stalls. 2025: A good year for global stocksLooking first at returns last year highlights that stocks and metals dominated in 2025. It seemed like 2025 was all about AI, which is mostly a U.S. market phenomenon. But many international stock markets outperformed U.S. stocks for…

December HighlightsIn December 2025, Cboe FX recorded a monthly Spot Average Daily Volume (ADV) of $48.6 billion, up from $41.0 billion, or 18.5%, from December 2024.Cboe SEF ADV1 topped $3.0 billion in December, a 39.3% increase from December 2024’s ADV of $2.1 billion.At $19.2 billion, Cboe FX ECN Firm ADV2 accounted for 54.6% of the Spot ECN total, highest share of Firm ADV recorded on Spot ECN, and a 31.9% increase from December 2024’s ADV of $14.5 billion.At $3.5 billion, Cboe FX ECN Metals ADV accounted for 9.9% of the Spot ECN total, a 195.9% increase from December 2024’s ADV…

Key Takeaways The average down payment for 2024–25 buyers hit 19%, the highest in more than three decades.First-time buyers typically put down about 10%, while repeat buyers averaged 23%, according to the National Association of Realtors.If you can manage to put 20% down, it will allow you to skip PMI, potentially saving hundreds each month and thousands over time. Where Down Payments Stand Now Buying a home today takes more cash up front than at any point in decades. Down payments have kept climbing while borrowing costs have remained high. For homebuyers between July 2024 and June 2025, the average…

President Donald Trump speaks during a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, Dec. 12, 2025.Francis Chung | Politico | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump on Thursday said he is “instructing my Representatives” to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds, claiming that doing so will drive rates and monthly payments down.Trump, in a Truth Social post, said he was issuing that directive because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored mortgage-issuing entities, are flush with cash.It was unclear who Trump is referring to as his representatives. The White House and the Federal…

Key Takeaways Used hybrid and EV prices fell more than other vehicles did in December, signaling a broader reset rather than a routine year-end dip.With clean-vehicle tax incentives ending in late 2025, demand cooled quickly, leaving dealers with less pricing power at year-end.As incentive-driven demand has dried up and inventory is hitting lots, used hybrids and EVs could stay more competitively priced in 2026. As we start out 2026, used car pricing is showing anticipated seasonal movement, with one important twist. According to the December 2025 release of the Used Car Price Trends report from Carfax, year-end shifts are once…