The financial news that actually matters
Hundreds of thousands of older Americans living on Social Security could see a chunk of their monthly benefits seized to repay defaulted student loans. Federal law allows the government to withhold up to 15 percent of a borrower’s Social Security check, or the amount above a $750 monthly floor, whichever is less. The Department of…
Bank of America’s equity and quantitative strategy team has flagged speculation readings that, in every prior instance, preceded a significant equity market decline. The warning draws on a framework of bear‑market signposts that the bank has tracked across multiple cycles, including the peaks of 2000, 2007, and 2021. With the Federal Reserve’s policy rate still…
Ed Yardeni, the veteran Wall Street strategist, raised his estimated probability of a U.S. market meltdown to 35% from 20%, while slashing his odds of a meltup to just 5% from 20%. The shift, reported in March 2026, reflects his assessment that war-driven oil price shocks and Federal Reserve policy constraints are compounding risks for…
Comcast customers whose personal data was stolen during the October 2023 Xfinity breach can now file for a $50 payment without submitting proof of harm, but the window to do so closes on August 14. The breach, which ran from October 16 through October 19, 2023, exposed usernames, passwords, and other sensitive identifiers after hackers…
Millions of teenagers across the United States earn wages from summer jobs, fast-food shifts, and freelance gigs, yet almost none of them funnel that money into a Roth IRA. Federal tax law places no minimum age on opening one. A 16-year-old who deposits even a few hundred dollars a year into a Roth account locks…
Micron Technology shares dropped roughly a tenth of their value in a single session on June 24, 2026, the same day the chipmaker filed its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The selloff came despite a year-to-date gain of about 260 percent, built almost entirely on surging demand for high-bandwidth memory…
Millions of taxpayers who were hit with failure-to-pay penalties on their 2020 and 2021 federal returns during the pandemic could still be owed money by the IRS, but the window to file a protective refund claim closes on July 10, 2026. With just five days left, anyone who paid penalties or interest during the COVID…
Virginia homeowners carrying unpaid medical bills now have a statutory shield against losing their property to debt collectors. The Medical Debt Protection Act, codified as Title 59.1, Chapter 59 of the Code of Virginia, bars creditors from using foreclosure and other aggressive tactics to recover medical debt. The same law imposes a 90-day window during…
Tesla posted record first-quarter 2023 vehicle deliveries, but the volume came at a steep cost. The automaker slashed prices on multiple models before reporting results for the period ended March 31, 2023, and the trade-off showed up immediately in thinner profit margins. Investors who cheered the delivery numbers quickly turned their attention to what those…
Workers who borrow against their 401(k) plans at roughly 8 percent interest often view the arrangement as painless, since the payments flow back into their own accounts. That logic holds only as long as they stay employed. When a job ends and the outstanding loan balance cannot be repaid, the IRS treats the remaining amount…