Author: Money Mechanics

The main U.S. equity indexes were mixed a day after all three posted gains of greater than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did hit a new high on an intraday basis, led by an old-school industrial stock, as markets digested more solid earnings and healthy guidance amid the ongoing government shutdown.Eight of the 11 official sectors closed in the red. Communication services stocks were among the collective losers, even though Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD, +11.0%) surged on takeover talk. And sector bellwether Netflix (NFLX, +0.2%) posted a modest gain ahead of its turn on the earnings calendar after Tuesday’s…

When you receive your 2026 Social Security payment is determined, with a few exceptions, by your date of birth. However, if you received Social Security before May 1997 or are receiving both Social Security & SSI, Social Security is paid on the 3rd and SSI on the 1st. If your payment date falls on a federal holiday or weekend, you can expect to receive that month’s payment on the weekday immediately prior.The official COLA increase has been delayed until this Friday. For now, we can take a look at 2026 COLA estimates that are based on two of the three…

Key Takeaways ChatGPT can be a resource for retirement planning questions, but it doesn’t replace the advice of a human financial advisor. When using ChatGPT for research, be sure to check the sources of the information ChatGPT is using to answer your question. Take your ChatGPT answers with you as you discuss your in-depth retirement plans with a human financial advisor. ChatGPT is ready for your retirement planning questions. It can provide answers on subjects such as deciding when to collect Social Security, estimating medical costs, and choosing which retirement accounts to tap first to minimize taxes. But should you…

KEY TAKEAWAYS Last week, the Department of Education said it is resuming loan forgiveness for borrowers under the Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, and Pay as You Earn plans.Borrowers under the Saving for a Valuable Education plan are still unable to make payments that move them closer to forgiveness. However, they can transfer to an eligible plan to get their loans discharged. Student loan forgiveness is resuming, and borrowers who have been waiting months for their loans to be discharged are moving one step closer. The Department of Education agreed Friday afternoon to settle a class-action lawsuit in which a group…

Key Takeaways Netflix is scheduled to report its quarterly results after the closing bell Tuesday.Wall Street analysts widely expect the streaming giant to have benefited from a strong slate of content and higher prices, along with its efforts to grow its advertising business. Can Netflix keep up its recent momentum and maintain its reputation as a streaming winner? The company’s third-quarter results, due after the bell today, could show whether its investments in original shows, charging higher prices, and efforts to grow its advertising business have paid off, with Wall Street analysts generally bullish that the stock still has room…

Have you heard about the 2025 tax and spending megabill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4?This new law (Public Law 119-21 and referred to by Trump as the “big, beautiful bill”) reshapes many tax rules that individuals rely on. But understanding the various changes and their implications for taxpayers can be confusing.Essentially, the tax bill extends many of the lower tax rates and increased standard deduction base amounts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which was enacted during Trump’s first term. As a result, some concerns about “tax cliffs”— key provisions initially set…

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. A healthcare technology startup is tackling one of skilled nursing‘s most persistent operational challenges: the admissions bottleneck. ExaCare AI on Oct. 16 announced a $30 million Series A funding round led by Insight Partners. The New York City-based company serves 1,500 facilities nationwide, including major operators like National Healthcare Associates, Journey Healthcare, Ignite Medical Resorts, Monarch Healthcare Management, and Majestic Care. ExaCare AI said the fresh capital will accelerate product development, expand engineering resources, and strengthen customer support operations across the industry. Don’t…

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. Thank you, Susan, and good morning, everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Federal Reserve Board for our first Payments Innovation Conference.1 My objective in creating this conference is twofold. First, I wanted to have a conference that focused on the…

As the Q3 earnings season begins, investors will focus more on actual financial results and how companies are performing. At the same time, uncertainty remains in the broader economy, with issues like a possible US government shutdown or China-US trade tensions.For investors, this means looking for companies that consistently deliver strong results and are likely to report solid Q3 numbers.In practical terms, these are profitable companies that have healthy margins and show strong growth in both sales and earnings.Since it is impossible to review thousands of stocks individually, investors need a simple way to find the best opportunities.Investing.com’s ’Profitable Expansions’…

Garmin is very popular with those who enjoy outdoor activities, appleaing to multi-sport athletes, outdoor adventurers, and weekend warriors. You can run with a Forerunner 970, hike with a Garmin Instinct 3 or golf with the Approach S70. Garmin offers a sports watch for everyone with a price range from $200 to $1,600.Garmin’s smartwatches stand out with precise location accuracy. Its watches provide health and fitness tracker data for all smartphone owners, with a new Connect Plus subscription option for more insights and guidance on your health and fitness data. The new Garmin Venu X1 is unique with the largest display on a Garmin watch,…