Author: Money Mechanics

(World Oil)– At least two vessels chartered by Chevron Corp. that picked up oil from Venezuela since the Trump administration launched a partial maritime blockade have successfully unloaded cargoes at U.S. ports, according to data reviewed by Bloomberg. Chevron, which holds a U.S. license to drill and export oil from the sanctioned country, has finished discharging a cargo from the vessel Searuby and is in the process of unloading ship Canopus Voyager, according to Bloomberg tanker tracking. A ship called Nave Neutrino also off-loaded Venezuelan crude in the US Gulf Coast over the past few days, data from maritime intelligence…

While tech stocks were busy setting records in 2025, the executives behind those companies were equally busy turning their paper fortunes into actual cash — more than $16 billion worth, according to Bloomberg’s analysis of insider trading data. Jeff Bezos led the way. The Amazon founder sold 25 million shares for $5.7 billion in June and July, right around the time he was getting hitched to Lauren Sanchez in Venice. Oracle’s former CEO Safra Catz wasn’t far behind at $2.5 billion, followed by Michael Dell at $2.2 billion. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang watched his company become the world’s first $5 trillion…

Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) stock, a start-up manufacturer of small modular (nuclear) power reactors, surged 5.5% through noon ET on Friday — apparently on no good news at all. Actually, the opposite: Reports out of Finland say a technical fault at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant caused one of the site’s three units, “OL2,” to shut down temporarily today. Image source: Getty Images. Is this bad news for nuclear power investors? If so, it’s not terribly bad. News site “Mezha” reports the “unplanned unavailability” of the reactor was related to “an update of the power management system software” and should last…

Taking stock of Commodities: an insight into trends across supply, demand, valuations, sentiment and positioning, technicals, and super-cycles. Learnings and conclusions from this session… Valuation: commodities (asset class level) are cheap. Cycle: serious underinvestment in supply + cyclical demand upturn. Monetary: Supporting the cyclical upturn are substantial monetary tailwinds. Sentiment: Investor sentiment is lukewarm, and allocations are historically low. Technicals: a new cyclical bull market is getting underway; still early. Overall, there’s growing evidence for a new cyclical bull market in commodities (following a cyclical bear market from 2022-24). This is likely to become a major macro theme in 2026…

(Oil Price)– The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States saw a build of 1.7 million barrels in the week ending December 26. Crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week prior. Crude oil inventories in the United States are so far showing a net decrease of 5.1 million barrels for the year, according to Oilprice calculations of API data. Earlier this week, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have risen by 200,000 barrels to 413.2 million barrels in the week ending…

 When you reflect upon 2025, what were some of the key thematics that TradeTalks covered? And how do you see these trends continuing in 2026?TradeTalks has evolved into a trusted resource at the intersection of technology, capital markets, and policy and regulation. Over the past year, the conversations have expanded to highlight how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the enterprise, not only in terms of efficiency but also in measuring return on investment across workflows.With AI coming to the fore, cybersecurity has become a central theme as AI-driven threats intensify, making resilience and compliance board-level priorities. Alongside this, there has…

As we get into the full swing of winter, many folks are hitting the slopes, and Washington has stunning mountains and numerous resorts to do just that. Some may even be thinking about making the Evergreen State their permanent home. If that’s you, you could be wondering about the financial side of living there — specifically, yearly property taxes and tax advantages.Not only do residents enjoy no state income taxes (except for a controversial Washington capital gains tax for some high earners), but property tax bills could be lower than where you currently live. Plus, with cultural hotspots like Seattle…

2025 is the year all headline catastrophe bond records fell, and the first time annual issuance exceeded $20 billion, rising by 45% year-on-year to $25.6 billion across full 144A and private transactions we analysed. It was supported by record fourth quarter issuance of over $7 billion, the fifth-largest quarter ever, Artemis’ new quarterly catastrophe bond market report shows.The Artemis Q4 and Full Year 2025 Catastrophe Bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) Market Report, available to download now, examines the cat bond and related ILS risk capital issued in the quarter and key trends from the record year. The Artemis Q4…

Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty ImagesIf you’ve fallen behind on your student loans, it may be more challenging to get a property manager to approve you for rental housing, financial experts say. “Delinquency is a bad sign for creditworthiness, and landlords may choose not to rent to potential tenants who are having a hard time paying off their student debt,” said Joel Berner, a senior economist at Realtor.com. Many people may be running into that scenario. The number of rental applicants who were more than 90 days delinquent on their education debt more than doubled, from 15% in January…

Nina Raemont/ZDNETSmart rings might be a newer product category in the world of wearables, but they’re making big waves. As we follow the growth of this burgeoning product category, ZDNET’s team of experts is testing out every notable smart ring on the market. It’s no small feat, given how rapidly the market in question is growing. Also: The best smart rings you can buyHow do we test and evaluate these smart rings? What features do we seek out, and what are some red and green flags you should look for as you shop for smart rings? Here’s the full breakdown.What makes…