Author: Money Mechanics

(World Oil) – India plans to build larger oil inventories, expand storage capacity and deepen supply partnerships to hedge against the kind of price volatility seen during the Iran war. “I’m not worried about it, but I have to prepare for it,” Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday, replying to a question on whether the world’s third-largest oil consumer was concerned about future spikes. Crude prices have slumped, wiping out all the gains during the conflict, since flows started to increase through the Strait of Hormuz following an interim U.S.-Iran peace deal. The price…

A fireworks display in your own backyard may seem like the perfect way to celebrate the Fourth of July.If you’re not careful, however, it can quickly turn into a costly disaster that your home insurance may or may not cover.In 2024, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimated that fireworks started 34,079 fires, which resulted in $98 million in property damage. And unsurprisingly, AAA (Auto Club Group) urges homeowners to get familiar with the dangers of backyard fireworks and the specifics of their home insurance policy.“Even well-planned fireworks displays can end in injury or property damage,” said Adrienne Woodland of AAA…

According to the Zillow lender marketplace, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose by 8 basis points to 6.44% today, Friday, July 3, 2026. The average 20-year fixed rate increased by 4 basis points to 6.26%. The 15-year fixed rate was nearly unchanged (down 1 basis point) at 5.86%. The average 5/1 ARM rose by 5 basis points to 6.46%. Read more: Weekly survey of mortgage lenders with the lowest rates: 6% is back (without fees) Current mortgage rates Here are the current purchase rates, according to the latest Zillow data, for Friday, July 3, 2026: 30-year fixed: 6.44% 20-year fixed:…

In recognition of National Homeownership Month in June, we surveyed American homeowners about how their homes and neighborhoods make them feel.  Most homeowners have warm feelings about their home, with 74% saying their home is a reflection of who they are. The same share, 74%, agreed they would rather be home than anywhere else.  Most homeowners (72%) feel a sense of belonging in their neighborhood, and 71% have a neighbor they consider a friend. By contrast, most renters (57%) said their home is just a place to live. Just 35% of homeowners said the same. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of U.S.…

Artificial intelligence is rewriting the world, and simultaneously inventing a whole new language to describe how it’s doing it. Sit in on any product meeting, pitch, or panel these days, and you’ll hear people toss around LLMs, RAG, RLHF, and a dozen other terms that can make even very smart people in the tech world feel a little insecure. This glossary is our attempt to fix that: pain-English definitions of the AI terms you’re most likely to actually run into, whether you’re building with this stuff, investing in it, or just trying to keep up by reading TechCrunch or listening…

At Realtor.com®, we spend every day reporting on the forces shaping where and how Americans live. But some of the most important conversations about housing continue long after an article is published.That’s why we built The Daily Address, our new second home on Substack.It’s a place to pull up a chair, stay a little longer, and join a more direct conversation with our readers—in your inbox, on the app, and in the comments.You’ll find the same rigor behind our daily coverage at Realtor.com/news, our first and forever home. But at The Daily Address, we have more room for the stories…

has spent the past three months being crushed by the US technology sector. The Gold-to- ratio has fallen by more than 32%, including a stretch of almost ten consecutive weekly declines. It has now returned to the same broad area that marked major relative lows in 2021 and 2024. But now, Gold has received a fresh macro catalyst to potentially begin a recovery, while the most extended part of the technology trade is showing its first meaningful weakness in months. That makes the Gold-to-XLK ratio chart highly interesting to watch. Weak NFP Gives Gold a Reason to RecoverJune increased by…

Central Park Tower, left, and One57, center, along Billionaire’s Row in New York, May 1, 2026.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.A month after the passage of a tax on second homes in New York City, sales of luxury real estate remain strong and inventory is falling, according to brokers and analysts.When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature approved the so-called pied-à-terre tax on May 27,…

(Oil Price) – Kuwait’s state oil firm, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), has asked some of the asset management funds bidding for a stake in its oil pipeline network to tap other investors in their bids for the planned sale estimated at $7 billion, anonymous sources familiar with the process told Reuters on Thursday. Early this year, it emerged that KPC is considering following in the footsteps of its Saudi and Abu Dhabi peers by tapping major international infrastructure investors to buy a stake in its oil pipeline network. KPC held initial talks with several major investors about the potential transaction. The world’s biggest…

The typical new-car payment hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2026, new data shows—a jump that could cost hopeful househunters as much as $135,000 in buying power.The average monthly payment on a new vehicle is now $770, up nearly 3% from a year earlier, according to Experian. The increase follows a sharp run-up in both vehicle prices and borrowing costs: New-car prices are almost 30% higher than they were in 2020, while auto-loan rates hit more than 7.5% in February 2026, compared with about 4.5% in early 2022.For a median-income household, those added costs can mean the…