Author: Money Mechanics

Homeowners have gained a lot of equity in recent years. Data shows that nearly half are considered “equity-rich” — meaning their mortgage balance is less than half their home’s total value. For those needing a larger house or one with different features, this glut of equity presents a conundrum: Do you tap your home equity with a home equity loan or line of credit to add onto your house and increase its value? Or do you sell the home, take the profits, and move on to potentially greener pastures? Moving is one option if you have plenty of home equity…

’s (NASDAQ:INTC) share price has swung sharply in recent months. It fell to multi-year lows during the summer, then climbed to its highest level in three years. Part of that rebound came after the US government bought a 9.9% stake in Intel and backed the company with guaranteed orders. Confidence improved further when bought $5 billion worth of Intel shares. These moves reflect the wider push by the US to strengthen its domestic chip industry and reduce reliance on overseas rivals, led by . The next big test for Intel is Panther Lake, its newly announced laptop processor. How well…

Selling a business in Oregon can be a big win, but Oregon deals have a “different texture” than many states. You have a strong buyer pool in the Portland metro area (and steady interest in Bend and Eugene), plus plenty of out-of-state buyers from Washington and California. The key is to prep around Oregon-specific diligence themes like payroll compliance, licensing, and Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) exposure for larger operations, so your deal does not stall late. Want a realistic sale price estimate before you talk to Oregon buyers? EarnedExits helps you sanity-check what your Oregon business may be worth,…

This Week In A Nutshell: There’s a Fed meeting on Wednesday, but it’s unlikely to move mortgage rates. The key driver of rates recently have been White House policies (i.e., the $200B MBS purchase and Greenland). Upcoming Attractions    Another light week on economic data, but there’s a Fed meeting, a potential government shutdown, and the possibility of further announcements on housing affordability. Fed meeting (Wednesday): There are three more meetings before the end of Jerome Powell’s term as Fed chair. Markets do not expect a cut at any of these meetings. The first meeting with a cut priced in…

Ricursive Intelligence, a startup building an AI system to design and automatically improve AI chips, has raised $300 million at a $4 billion valuation. The company said Monday the round was led by Lightspeed. Ricursive says the system will be able to create its own silicon substrate layer and speed up AI chip improvements. Rinse and repeat to get to AGI, the founders say. The Series A comes just two months since the company formally launched with a seed investment led by Sequoia. It has raised $335 million total, reports The New York Times. Ricursive was founded by former Google…

Key Takeaways New research sheds light on how financial markets respond to unexpected statements by Federal Reserve officials.Treasuries and stock prices are most affected by Fed press conferences, compared to other forms of communication, such as official statements.The next opportunity for such a surprise will come Wednesday, when the Fed’s policy committee will set its benchmark interest rate. If Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says anything unexpected at Wednesday’s press conference, you’ll likely see it reflected in prices for your financial assets, especially in bonds tied to inflation expectations.That’s one of the conclusions of a paper by researchers at the…

Key Takeaways Shares of GameStop surged Monday after famed investor Michael Burry reportedly revealed a stake in a Substack newsletter.Burry, best known for predicting the 2008 crash, said he believes GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is raising cash to “make a big buy of a real growing cash cow business.” An OG meme stock just got a vote of confidence from a famous investor. Michael Burry, the former founder and CEO of Scion Asset Management—who inspired the film and book “The Big Short” and is best known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis—said he’s now putting his weight behind a $10…

Key Takeaways Fed moves aside, the biggest banks still pay nearly 0% on savings, while many smaller banks pay rates 10–13 times the national average. Even a $5,000 balance can earn dramatically more in a top high-yield savings account, and the gap grows as your savings increase. You don’t need to leave your primary bank to earn more: Linking a separate savings account is easy and can reduce spending temptation. The Huge Gap Between Big-Bank Savings Rates and What Smaller Banks Pay With Federal Reserve decisions and interest rate headlines back in the news, savings rates are once again in…

Key Takeaways The most valuable associate degrees combine low community college tuition with high, recession‑resistant demand in healthcare and the trades.Roles like dental hygienist, radiological technologist and respiratory therapist can approach or exceed six‑figure pay with experience and overtime.​ The top-ranked job on Indeed’s 2026 Best Jobs list pays $133,907—and requires only a two-year degree. But some two-year programs never pay for themselves, leaving graduates underemployed and potentially paying off student loan debt for a degree that didn’t pan out. The difference comes down to which careers pay well and are actually hiring. According to Indeed’s 2026 Best Jobs list…

Key Takeaways A public spat, of sorts, between Elon Musk and the chief of Ryanair has drawn attention to both companies’ businesses. Ryanair has turned the beef into ticket sales promotions. Musk jokingly threatened to buy the airline operator. All the world’s a stage for Elon Musk and Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary. The rest of us? Mere spectators. A disagreement between the aerospace company and the the budget airline operator has evolved into a full-blown public beef as the executives—Musk, of SpaceX, and Ryanair’s O’Leary, neither who are strangers to confrontation or shy about making dramatic public comments—have egged each other…