Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways The Russell 2000 and the S&P 600 have risen more than 4% in the first few trading days of 2026.A BofA Global Research screen turned up 30 stocks with 12-month price targets that imply average implied upside of almost 30%. The stock market’s underdogs may be ready to lead the pack. Small-caps—generally, companies with market capitalizations between about $250 million and $2 billion—are poised to outpace their larger peers this year, Wall Street analysts say. The group’s early 2026 outperformance supports that view: The S&P 600 and the Russell 2000, benchmark indexes for that category, have risen more…

Key Takeaways President Trump said he had a “great meeting” with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, sending shares of the chipmaker soaring Friday.Trump said the government is “proud” to be a major Intel shareholder after taking a 10% stake in the chipmaker last year. Intel’s stock hit its highest point in nearly two years Friday, thanks to a social media post. The chipmaker’s stock was up nearly 10% in recent trading, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Friday after President Trump praised Intel (INTC) CEO Lip-Bu Tan on social media. “I just finished a great meeting…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The December jobs report came in lighter than expected, but a lower unemployment rate is likely to encourage the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged when it meets later this month. Still, market participants are hopeful for at least two rate cuts this year.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, falling short of economists’ estimates for the creation of roughly 55,000 new jobs.The figures for October were revised down by 68,000, from -105,000 to -173,000, while jobs growth for November was lowered by 8,000, from +64,000 to +56,000.…

Key Takeaways The 59,000-person riverfront town of Dubuque, Iowa has a small but involved community of retirees.The median rent and median home value are attractive compared to nationwide medians—you get a lot of bang for your buck here.Local taxes are generally favorable for retirees as well.The town offers plentiful opportunities for outdoor recreation along the Mississippi River and through miles of hiking and biking trails.There is easy access to strong medical facilities and the regional airport. With a population of just under 59,000, Dubuque, Iowa is a large Midwestern town on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. It’s not just…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Homeownership is expensive enough as it is. So many homeowners are always on the lookout for ways to offset the costs and pad their emergency fund. With tax season approaching, one of the best ways to do that is claim tax credits and tax deductions you’re eligible for as a homeowner.While there are many tax breaks for homeowners filing their 2025 taxes – like mortgage interest or property taxes – home insurance is unfortunately not one of them, except in a few circumstances.Still, it’s worth understanding when and how you can deduct home insurance premiums, just in…

Twenty years after Rio Tinto’s disastrous $44bn takeover of Alcan, the miner is pursuing another deal that would set records: a $260bn megamerger with rival Glencore.The revival of talks to create the world’s largest mining group — which is already being dubbed “GlenTinto” — a year after a previous attempt faltered comes despite Rio’s new boss, Simon Trott, signalling that he wanted to make the London-headquartered miner more productive. Behind the scenes, he was rekindling talks with Glencore as majors worldwide race to secure copper assets in a new era of dealmaking where bigger is seen as better. The discussions,…

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the designation of the chairs and deputy chairs of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks for 2026. Each Reserve Bank has a nine-member board of directors, representing a wide range of business and community leaders across each regional district. By law, the Board of Governors in Washington appoints three of these directors to represent the public in the district and each year designates one of its appointees as chair and a second as deputy chair. Following are the names of the chairs and deputy chairs designated by the Board for 2026: Boston Lizanne Kindler,…

In-brief analysis January 9, 2026 In 2025, the wholesale U.S. natural gas spot price at the national benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana averaged $3.52 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), based on data from LSEG Data. The 2025 average Henry Hub natural gas spot price increased 56% from the 2024 annual average, which—when adjusted for inflation—was the lowest on record. On a daily basis, the Henry Hub natural gas spot price ranged from $2.65/MMBtu to $9.86/MMBtu, reflecting a narrower range of daily prices compared with the previous year. Natural gas prices tend to be higher…

Today we are pleased to reveal the fifth and now final wave of speakers for our upcoming insurance-linked securities conference. With tickets continuing to sell more quickly than prior years for ILS NYC 2026, we urge you to register soon to guarantee your place at the conference as we could sell out.The annual New York conference is our flagship ILS industry event of the year and among the biggest events in the world dedicated to the catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities asset class. ILS NYC is well-known for the detailed discussions held on stage by our expert insurance-linked securities (ILS)…

CUSIP 912828N71 continued the trend of strong performance. By David Enna, Tipswatch.com Back on Jan. 21, 2016, we had a “sort-of” exciting moment in the market for Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. The Treasury auctioned a new 10-year TIPS — CUSIP 912828N71 — which generated a real yield to maturity of 0.725%, the highest yield for any 9- to 10-year TIPS auction for nearly five years. That real yield seems mundane today, but it was a big improvement over a stretch of very low and often negative real yields dating back to September 2011. Inflation breakeven rate. Another interesting aspect of this…