Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways News services overnight reported declining Tesla sales and market value in China, though also an increase in shipments from China to other markets.Investor focus isn’t likely to shift entirely back to vehicle sales after a shareholder vote that marked a turning of the page to other ventures, but car sales still matter to the business. Talking about Tesla’s auto sales just a few days after a $1 trillion vote might seem odd—but while they might not be the most interesting thing about the company these days, they still matter. Reuters and other news services overnight reported that Tesla’s…

When it comes to investing, almost everyone wants to snag the next big winner. Stories abound of investors getting in early and benefiting from explosive growth, sometimes building their fortunes on a single win alone. However, for every story of triumph, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of cautionary tales of investors who placed big bets only to see them crumble.”While the upside of concentrated positions can be enticing, many of the most successful investors believe the risk is too high,” says Erin Scannell, a private wealth adviser at Ameriprise Financial.This is where one of the most powerful, yet overlooked,…

KEY TAKEAWAYS The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” lowers the amount of federal student loans many families will be able to take out for their undergraduate students starting in the next academic year.Personal loans, such as home equity loans, bank loans, or 401(k) loans, may offer better terms than some private student loans—but they are typically not recommended to cover educational costs. For the next school year, many families of college students will have less access to federal student loans than in years past, and will need to find the best alternative to help their student pay for their education. The…

Key Takeaways SoftBank on Tuesday said it raised nearly $6 billion selling its stake of Nvidia shares. But it’s using those and other funds to invest in OpenAI, so the Japanese company isn’t getting out of the AI business. SoftBank is out of Nvidia stock—but not the AI trade. The Japanese company in a Tuesday statement said it sold 32.1 million shares of chip giant Nvidia (NVDA), a “complete sale,” in October, raising $5.83 billion. That comes to an average price of just under $182, below Monday’s $199.05 per share close. (It also reported $9.17 billion in proceeds on sales…

Amid a record-breaking federal government shutdown, Washington, D.C. leaders made an emergency move that impacts key tax breaks for residents.The D.C. City Council decoupled from the new 2025 Trump tax law, thereby removing local income tax savings tied to the new “no tax on tips” deduction and the $6,000 “senior bonus” deduction. This means District of Columbia residents who qualify for these federal tax breaks won’t be able to claim them on their local tax returns.While difficult, the choice certainly wasn’t surprising. The District of Columbia is expected to lose up to $1 billion in revenue over the next four…

Open enrollment season is here, bringing with it the annual rush of decisions about health insurance and related benefits. For many, one option often rises above the rest: the Health Savings Account (HSA).Why? Because of the HSAs’ so-called “triple tax advantage.” That includes pre-tax contributions, tax-free investment growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.With such potentially significant tax advantages, opting in to an HSA might seem like an easy choice. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters Profit and prosper with the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A crypto fugitive who orchestrated a multibillion-pound Ponzi scheme to defraud investors in China before she fled the country on a moped and made her way to the UK has been jailed for 11 years and eight months.Zhimin Qian, 47, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London on Tuesday following what London’s Metropolitan Police said was the UK’s highest-value money laundering case. Her Malaysian assistant, Seng Hok Ling, also 47, received a sentence of four years and 11 months. Prosecutors said…

Silver futures are trading at $50.69, up 0.75%, marking a continuation of the bullish momentum that began from the cyclical low of $46.52 earlier in the week. The market’s structure shows a strong vertical advance, establishing a new high at $51.10, precisely aligning with the Daily Sell 1 level, confirming the accuracy of the VC PMI AI predictive model. The current price behavior suggests that is in a short-term consolidation phase after a steep five-day advance within an expanding upward channel. From a technical perspective, the market remains in a confirmed bullish trend above both the daily and weekly VC…

Chen ZhaoChen Zhao is the head of economics research, where she produces research on the housing market for public and internal audiences. Previously, she was an executive director leading housing finance and financial markets research at the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Prior to joining JPMCI, Chen was an economics consultant at Analysis Group, Inc., where she worked on financial litigation cases and led teams conducting health economics and outcomes research on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. While in graduate school, Chen was with the Center for Economic Studies and the Social Economic and Housing Statistics Division at the US Census Bureau, where…

The European Commission is stepping up efforts to bolster the security of Europe’s telecommunications networks by urging member states to phase out equipment from vendors such as Chinese tech giants Huawei and ZTE from its 5G and next-gen networks, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. The EC had in 2020 recommended that member nations stop using tech from “high-risk” vendors like Huawei and ZTE, and now its vice president, Henna Virkkunen, is pushing to turn that recommendation into regulation, Bloomberg reported. Virkkunen’s proposal could push EU countries to follow the Commission’s security guidance more closely. If the recommendations become legally binding,…