Author: Money Mechanics

Each week, in our Ask the Editor series, Joy Taylor, The Kiplinger Tax Letter Editor, answers questions on topics submitted by readers. This week, she’s looking at nine questions on the tax deduction for medical expenses. (Get a free issue of The Kiplinger Tax Letter or subscribe.)1. Can I claim medical expenses and the standard deduction?Question: I normally claim the standard deduction when I file my Form 1040. This year, I have incurred lots of medical expenses. Can I deduct them and take the standard deduction?Joy Taylor: No. The medical expense write-off is an itemized deduction claimed on Schedule A…

Stock futures pointed higher Friday before the release of September inflation data that has been delayed because of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. Futures associated with the tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average were up a respective 0.5%, 0.3% and 0.1%. The three indexes all closed higher yesterday and are on pace to record weekly gains. The Consumer Price Index report scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET is likely to show that prices rose 3.1% over the year in December, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. If the report comes in as…

A battle is on in Europe for the savings of wealthy investors. Asset managers see a golden opportunity to sell private assets — equity, credit and infrastructure — to clients previously accustomed to investing only in publicly traded stocks and bonds, through new types of funds.The super-rich — at least those with more than $50mn to invest — may well hold upwards of a quarter of their portfolios in private assets. But those with less have found it difficult to meet minimum investment thresholds. Until now.In Europe, recent open-ended funds have evolved into the Eltif (European Long-Term Investment Fund), designed…

Accessible Keys for Video [Space Bar] toggles play/pause; [Right/Left Arrows] seeks the video forwards and back (5 sec ); [Up/Down Arrows] increase/decrease volume; [M] toggles mute on/off; [F] toggles fullscreen on/off (Except IE 11); The [Tab] key may be used in combination with the [Enter/Return] key to navigate and activate control buttons, such as caption on/off. Let me thank the Opportunity Finance Network for the invitation to be part of this gathering.1 Unfortunately, I could not join you in person, but I’m pleased to be able to offer a few words to celebrate the legacy of Community Development Financial Institutions…

Gold has always been a haven for investors—but what happens when even the most reliable asset starts to tumble? This week, gold futures have taken center stage in a dramatic market shake-up, with every bounce now eyed as a potential selling opportunity. As money flows shift and volatility spikes, the market is telling a story of risk, strategy, and rapid change. Let’s dive into what’s driving this wild ride—and what it might mean for traders ahead.After reviewing the movements of the gold futures on different time charts, I anticipate that the gold futures have been facing intense selling pressure since…

Total existing-home sales for September Total existing-home sales for September, From NAR: 1.5% increase in existing-home sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million. 4.1% increase in sales year-over-year. Based on our Housing Market Tracker data, we noticed a slight year-over-year pick-up in demand starting in the May/June period. Our pending contract data takes about 30-60 days to appear in the existing home sales report. By mid-June, I realized our tracker data showed a shift in the supply-and-demand equilibrium, so it wasn’t a surprise when sales grew — we are working from extremely low sales levels. Inventory…

People tend to equate concepts like “budget” or “low-cost” with poor quality, but that’s not true. You can find plenty of high-quality laptops that cost less than $1,000. I’m talking about well-crafted, powerful computers that can compete with the best laptops on the market when tackling productivity and entertainment workloads. It certainly helps that many budget laptops were former high-end devices. Apple, for example, frequently drops the price of older MacBooks whenever a new one comes out. It also helps that sometimes newer computers only provide an incremental upgrade, allowing the previous generations to continue performing years after launch. MacBooks are one…

(Oil Price) – Google has signed the first U.S. corporate power purchase agreement involving natural gas with carbon capture, marking a major shift in how Big Tech plans to fuel the data-hungry future of artificial intelligence. The deal centers on the Broadwing Project, a 400-megawatt gas-fired power plant planned for Decatur, Illinois, developed by privately held Low Carbon Infrastructure. The plant will capture and store about 90% of its carbon dioxide emissions in underground wells 5,000 to 7,000 feet deep. Power will flow to Google’s expanding network of Midwestern data centers through the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which covers 15…

We’ve talked in the past about how the mechanics of short selling work, and how the rules around trading, holding, and reporting do, too. However, there remain a lot of misconceptions out there about why companies see fluctuations in their short interest.Now, we’ll talk about the interesting dynamics in today’s markets between short interest and index inclusion.At first, these two seem unrelated — one about passive flows and benchmarking, and the other with market efficiency — but when you look at the data, some patterns emerge.Index membership brings new passive demand – and new hedging activityIt’s no secret that addition…

Key Takeaways Berkshire Hathaway acquired OxyChem for $9.7 billion, marking Buffett’s largest deal since 2022. The deal may be Buffet’s last as CEO before he steps down. The petrochemical business manufactures commodity chemicals like chlorine and sodium hydroxide, which are used in water treatment, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and more. Wall Street reacted negatively to Occidental Petroleum’s stock after the sale announcement, with shares falling 7%, though analysts see strategic value for Berkshire. At the age of 95, the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, has unleashed his biggest investment in years, and it isn’t in tech or finance. The Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B)…