The financial news that actually matters
California homeowners are losing insurance policies after carriers flag roof moss, tree shadows, or minor wear spotted in drone and satellite photos, and state regulators say some of those cancellations were flat-out wrong. The California Department of Insurance has fielded complaints from policyholders whose coverage was dropped based on imprecise aerial imagery, and Insurance Commissioner…
Borrowers, businesses, and bond traders face a two-week countdown that could reset the cost of credit across the U.S. economy. The Federal Open Market Committee meets July 28 through 29, and for the first time in over a year, a rate increase is a live possibility. The Committee held the federal funds rate at 3-1/2…
Federal prosecutors have charged First Brands Group executives with orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud that left the company holding roughly $12 million in cash at the time of its bankruptcy, even as it reported about $5 billion in net annual sales and carried more than $9 billion in liabilities. The gap between those numbers raises pointed…
Shoppers bracing for back-to-school and holiday deals this year face a new cost reality. Best Buy and Apple have both warned that tariffs on imported electronics will drive retail prices higher in the months ahead, putting pressure on consumers already stretched by years of inflation. The warnings come as layered trade actions, including a presidential…
Working families with three or more qualifying children can reclaim as much as $7,830 through the Earned Income Tax Credit for tax year 2024, a figure set by IRS inflation adjustments published in Revenue Procedure 2023-34. That credit, fully refundable, goes directly into household bank accounts even when a filer owes no federal income tax….
Best Buy’s outgoing chief executive has warned that consumers are pulling back hard on big-ticket electronics and appliances, a signal that discretionary spending on high-cost goods is weakening even as overall consumer activity holds up in other categories. The company’s annual regulatory filing for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, details rising sensitivity to…
Families with estates above $13.99 million gained significant new planning room when Public Law 119-21, signed on July 4, 2025, raised the federal estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 per person for calendar year 2026. That single legislative change, which amended Internal Revenue Code Section 2010(c)(3), represents a jump of roughly $1…
Target reported weaker traffic and softer comparable sales across its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025, a period in which inflation-conscious households increasingly split their spending between warehouse clubs and dollar stores. The retailer’s earnings release showed persistent softness in general merchandise categories, while competitors at both ends of the price spectrum posted results…
Federal Reserve officials left their benchmark interest rate unchanged at the June 17 meeting but revealed sharp internal disagreements over how long rates should stay at current levels, with several policymakers warning that inflation risks have continued to build rather than fade. The split, documented in the meeting minutes and echoed in Associated Press coverage…
Nearly 63,000 gig workers who cleaned homes and assembled furniture through the Handy platform are receiving checks from the federal government after regulators found the company advertised pay rates most workers never actually earned. The Federal Trade Commission is distributing more than $2.7 million to 62,893 people who worked for Handy Technologies between January 2019…