Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)There’s a lot to ask yourself when you start investing beyond your retirement account: How much money should I allocate? What types of investments should I make?But one investing pro says the most important questions new investors need to ask themselves are, “What am I trying to achieve?” and “What are the financial goals for this?” This is according to Cullen Roche, author of Your Perfect Portfolio, which comes out January 6.And Roche should know. His career as a financial adviser has spanned more than 20 years – most recently as the founder and chief investment officer…

China’s carmakers are on track to capture about one-third of the global auto market by 2030 and generate most of their profits overseas, according to UBS, underscoring the resilience of the country’s electric vehicle (EV) advantage despite mounting trade barriers in the West. The Swiss bank said its forecast had remained unchanged from two years ago, even as Chinese carmakers accelerated factory construction in Europe and some global rivals scaled back electrification plans. “The main drag was due to Europe’s slowdown of EV adoption, and tariffs and protectionism against Chinese EVs,” said Paul Gong, an analyst at UBS specialising in…

Russia’s Novatek exported 21 cargoes of liquefied to China from its Arctic LNG 2 facility last year, data from Kpler cited by Reuters has shown. Arctic LNG 2 is under EU and U.S. sanctions. One more LNG cargo went to China from Gazprom’s Portovaya facility, also under Western sanctions. China’s CNPC and CNOOC are shareholders in Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2, with a 10% stake each. Russia’s total exports of liquefied natural gas to China in 2025 hit an all-time high despite the sanctions, with September flows specifically doubling from a year earlier, to 1.6 million tons from 751,000 tons. Novatek…

“The Court accepts as true all of the well-pleaded facts in the Complaint and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiffs.” So said U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on 12.4.2025. According to Reuters: “A group of companies that lease land for mobile homes has convinced a federal judge in Chicago to dismiss a proposed nationwide class action accusing them of conspiring to inflate lot rents.” That suit in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division styled “Manufactured Home Lot Rents Antitrust Litigation,” Case No. 23-cv-06715. “U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama on Thursday said the plaintiffs had failed for now to…

Key Takeaways A Zillow study showed that mortgage rates in many major U.S. cities would have to drop well below levels of around 6.2% to make housing affordable.Mortgage rates need to fall by two percentage points in places like Dallas, New Orleans, and Nashville to make borrowing costs accessible for homebuyers. But in Pittsburgh, Birmingham, and other cities with low housing costs, mortgage rates could tick even higher and still remain affordable. Some housing markets are so expensive that they would still be unaffordable even if rates plummeted. In other areas, a small decline in rates would be enough to make…

(Investing)– Oil prices were trading modestly higher on Wednesday but still heading toward their steepest annual losses since 2020, as persistent supply surplus concerns dominated markets through the year despite recurring geopolitical risks that offered only intermittent support. As of 05:30 ET (10:30 GMT),  expiring in March traded rose 0.2% to $61.47 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were also higher 0.2%, exchanging hands at $58.11 per barrel. Both benchmarks are set to end 2025 sharply lower, with Brent down about 18% and WTI on track for a near 20% decline, marking their biggest annual percentage falls since…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK financial regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The UK’s financial watchdog has closed 100 investigations without taking enforcement action in less than three years, slashing the number of active probes to the lowest for almost a decade.The unprecedented cull of legacy cases highlights a strategic change at the Financial Conduct Authority since Therese Chambers and Steve Smart became co-heads of its enforcement arm in April and June 2023 with the aim to focus on fewer but higher-impact investigations.The FCA completed 24 investigations between April and November last year,…

Jason Hiner/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET key takeaways Samsung is rumored to unveil a brain health feature at CES.The feature could detect early signs of dementia. It will also provide recommendations for prevention. Samsung’s next health feature could address and aim to prevent a condition that impacts over 6 million Americans. At CES 2026, the tech giant is rumored to unveil a Brain Health feature, developed to detect early signs of dementia, according to rumors. Details are sparse, but Sammobile reported that the feature will analyze various metrics to detect early signs of dementia. These include gait patterns, changes in a…

It has been a roller coaster ride for Lululemon (LULU) shareholders in 2025. At the beginning of the year, LULU stock traded at a 52-week high near $423. A sharp correction followed on growth deceleration and LULU stock touched a 52-week low near $159. However, there has since been some revival and LULU stock now trades at $209, still lower by 45% for year-to-date (YTD). In terms of positive developments, it was reported on Dec. 18 that Elliott Investment Management holds a stake exceeding $1 billion in LULU. As one of the largest investors, the activist investor is pushing for a…

Even before the holiday season began, the Bank of Japan held its final meeting of the year and, as expected, raised by 0.25%, taking them to their highest level in decades. Despite this rate hike, the Japanese yen initially weakened against the US dollar and stayed stuck in a sideways range. After the meeting minutes were released, the yen recovered some ground as markets picked up signals that more rate hikes could come, since real interest rates in Japan remain deeply negative. will stay the key factor to watch next year, as it has been running above the central bank’s…