Britain’s competition watchdog is to be given new post-Brexit powers to levy massive fines on companies that rip off consumers, speed up antitrust cases and protect innovative small companies from predatory rivals. Kwasi Kwarteng, business secretary, will next week propose streamlined and strengthened powers for the Competition and Markets Authority, intended to drive innovation and
The U.S. economy is on pace for its best year of growth in GDP in decades, according to LPL Financial’s midyear outlook. The SEC hired a team of new policy officials, and barred a jailed Morgan Stanley advisor who pleaded guilty to defrauding clients out of $6 million. Wealth management mergers and acquisitions are at
Over the past few years, shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) have been on an almost constant upward trajectory. With the stock likely sitting at or very near another all-time high, the company will step up to the earnings plate next week (Tuesday, July 20) to deliver Q2’s financials. Looking ahead to the report, Baird’s
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Source: NYSE Stocks enter a busy week for earnings news with two perplexing questions hanging over the market. One is whether the big gains in corporate profits will start to boost stocks with solid earnings reports. That was not the case for some financial sector
Sharing is Caring! by confoundedinterest17 The University of Michigan consumer survey was released this morning and revealed that their consumer sentiment index fell to 80.8 (the index was around 100 prior to the Covid outbreak in March 2020). Inflation expectations for the coming 12 months soared to 4.8%. UMi buying conditions for housing has collapsed (but
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will eliminate the hotly contested 0.5% refinance fee as of August 1 to help families reduce their housing costs. To allow households to save more money, lenders will no longer be required to pay the government-sponsored enterprises a 50-basis point fee
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are dropping a fee on mortgage refinances that was instituted during the pandemic, lowering costs for borrowers, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Friday. Fannie and Freddie were charging lenders a 50 basis-point fee for all loans that were delivered to the two mortgage giants. The fee, designed to cover
The working group involved with the research and development of the digital yuan for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has published a paper describing the digital currency’s progress. The PBOC initiated a task force dedicated to the creation of a digital yuan in 2014, and the recently published document is the project’s first white
The pain of inflation is often harshest on the budgets of retirees on fixed incomes. The only bright light of the recent spike in the consumer price index is the potential for a more significant Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year. Estimates of the Social Security COLA in 2021 (for 2022) have been in
Chicago is searching for a financial advisor to help assess development proposals as it looks to stake out a share of the casino gambling market with the promise of a roughly $200 million annual jackpot. The city launched a request for qualifications for an advisor July 14 to help evaluate proposals it receives from a
Silver Failed To Settle Above The Resistance At $26.30 Silver is currently trying to settle below $26 while the U.S. dollar is moving higher against a broad basket of currencies. The U.S. Dollar Index got an additional boost after the release of better-than-expected U.S. Retail Sales data and made an attempt to get to the
Powell still sees inflation as transitory. For now, gold has risen under the,,, by Arkadiusz Sieron of Sunshine Profits The CPI surged 5.4% in June, but Powell still sees inflation as transitory. For now, gold has risen under the dovish Fed’s wing amid higher inflation. Did you think that 5% was high inflation? Or that
The decentralized application aiming to connect Facebook’s Diem blockchain with public networks is partnering with node infrastructure provider Pinknode. In a Friday announcement, the Pontem Network said it would be working with Pinknode to provide node infrastructure through the Polkadot ecosystem. The network is aimed at allowing developers to use a Polkadot parachain as a
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is bringing its ubiquitous operating system to the cloud. The company announced Windows 365, as the service is known, in a press release on Wednesday. Microsoft is framing Windows 365 as a new way of working in distributed environments where office employees have the freedom to work from anywhere. The company refers
Vanessa Rivera (left), Azuri Moon (center), Candace Koole (right) all say their unemployment insurance was stolen from their accounts. Source: CNBC As millions of Americans received unemployment payments to get through the crisis, scammers developed a new way to steal cash directly from recipients’ accounts, according to an investigation by CNBC. When one single mother’s
The Biden administration will on Friday warn US companies that they face serious and escalating risks operating in Hong Kong, as the Chinese government increasingly cracks down on freedoms in the financial hub. The US will issue a “business advisory” about threats ranging from China’s ability to gain access to corporate data stored on servers
Asian fintech start-ups leave western peers far behind. Paytm is no exception. The Indian digital payments app, reported to be on the verge of a $2bn-plus offering that values it at about $25bn, allows users to trade gold, play games, shop and even book their Covid-19 vaccination. Yet even with a potential record IPO on
Target-date funds for the next generation of retirees have underperformed broader indexes over the last five years. They have also recorded significant outflows. The top-performing 2025 target-date funds, with at least $100 million in assets under management, notched an average five-year gain of roughly 11%, Morningstar Direct data show. Over the past year, the same
Today, Square’s (SQ) co-founder, Jack Dorsey tweeted from his official Twitter handle that SQ is looking at creating a new business that will unify its Seller, Cash App, and Tidal businesses, and focus on “building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services.”
A pedestrian wearing a face mask looks at a smartphone while passing in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, on Monday, July 20, 2020. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images The bond market is defying Wall Street forecasters, as long-term Treasury yields keep heading lower despite a strong economy
Sharing is Caring! by Fabian Ommar If you’ve been following the news this week, you know the crap is hitting the fan ugly and fast in South Africa. Mobs have been looting, ransacking, and destroying supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants, and shopping centers in cities in the country’s Eastern region. The situation is also tense in Cuba.
Real estate investor, Founder/CEO of TurboTenant: rental marketing, tenant screening, rental applications, rent payments, and more. It’s no secret the rental industry has had multiple forces negatively impacting it over the last year. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium, state eviction moratoriums, job loss and a lack of knowledge and access to
Shoppers load up their vehicle outside a HomeGoods store in South Bend, Indiana, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images An engine as massive as the U.S. economy is not going to restart without some sputtering, which is what many economists believe explains the double-digit price increases in many goods
Regulators from the CVM, the securities watchdog of Brazil, have approved the first Ethereum-based ETF in Latin America (Latam). The product, presented by blockchain investment company QR Asset, aims to simplify the task of getting Ether exposure for retail and institutional investors. It will be traded with the QETH11 ticker on the B3 stock exchange.
The web site ProPublica recently reported that billionaire Peter Thiel has a Roth IRA with a value of more than $5 billion. That has leaders in Congress up in arms and talking about passing laws that could affect your IRA. The web site says it obtained IRS data or taxpayers’ filed returns, though it didn’t
Virginia closed out fiscal 2021 with an historic $2.6 billion surplus, the largest recorded in state history, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday. Total revenue collections were up 14.5% over fiscal year 2020, according to preliminary figures, far ahead of the 2.7% growth that had been forecast. Total revenue collections hit $8.6 billion in the fourth
Silver price confirmed breaching 26.25 level after closing the daily candlestick above it, to activate the bullish trend scenario on the intraday basis, on its way to visit 26.80 as a first station. Moving above the EMA50 supports the suggested positive scenario, which will remain valid conditioned by the price stability above 26.25. The expected
The banks will own these bullion assets ahead of their customers, and the banks will do their best to… by Matthew Piepenburg via Gold Switzerland For informed investors who have successfully traversed the tired Bitcoin vs. Gold debate and recognized the critical importance of owning physical (as opposed to paper/ETF) gold as an obvious antidote to globally debased currencies and openly systemic financial
United States’ city of Jackson, Tennessee, continues exploring a potential dive into cryptocurrencies, now looking to accept Bitcoin (BTC) for property tax payments. Jackson Mayor Scott Conger announced late Thursday that the city’s blockchain task force had launched a study on potential methods to accept property tax payments in Bitcoin in the city. The blockchain
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) has grown from a tiny airline with three planes serving three Texas cities in 1971 to one that serves more than 100 destinations across the U.S., flying 4,000 flights a day. Moreover, Southwest has added 41 airports to its route network since 2010, and now serves 14 near-international destinations in 10