The financial news that actually matters
U.S. banks are carrying about $42 billion in credit card balances that are at least 30 days past due, according to figures drawn from bank Call Reports and highlighted in recent coverage. On its own, that total is eye-catching. In context, it points to something broader: more households are falling behind on card payments after…
Blue Cross Blue Shield’s long-running antitrust settlement is no longer stuck in legal limbo. After years of appeals, the $2.67 billion deal tied to claims that Blue (Blue Cross Blue Shield) plans limited competition can now move fully into the payment phase for approved claimants.That does not mean every past policyholder is about to get…
About three in four American workers now say they rely on some form of secondary income to help cover everyday costs. That’s according to a new survey that points to just how fragile a single paycheck has become for many households.That headline-grabbing figure stands in sharp contrast to the government’s official count of Americans with…
A new Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis found that Americans bore almost the entire cost of the tariff surge that hit imported goods in 2025, undercutting the long-running political argument that foreign exporters would end up paying the bill. The finding is straightforward and hard to spin. Looking across U.S. import data through…
Apple users who filed valid claims in the Siri privacy class action are now starting to see money arrive, turning a long-running lawsuit into something tangible at last. For many recipients, the payout is not life-changing. In some cases it is little more than the cost of a streaming subscription or a takeout meal. But…
Minimum wages are rising in 19 states as 2026 begins, giving millions of hourly workers a pay increase at a time when household budgets remain under pressure from rent, food and transportation costs. Among states, Washington will lead the pack at $17.13 an hour, followed closely by Connecticut at $16.94 and California at $16.90. The…
Used-car shoppers are finally seeing a market that feels more manageable than the one that defined the post-pandemic years. Dealer lots are fuller, more listings are available across price points, and the panic-buying atmosphere that once turned ordinary late-model vehicles into hard-to-find commodities has largely faded. That does not mean the market has snapped back…
Walmart has done something no retailer had ever managed before. On February 3, the company’s market value climbed past $1 trillion, putting the Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain into a club that has been dominated almost entirely by technology giants. The milestone says as much about how investors now see Walmart as it does about the stock’s…
Savers heading into 2026 have a real opportunity-cost problem. Leaving $10,000 in a sleepy branch savings account can mean earning next to nothing, while a better cash account can generate a few hundred dollars over the same stretch with little added effort. That makes the high-yield savings versus money market debate more than a technical…
Claudia Sahm’s recession indicator is back in the conversation, and that alone is enough to make investors and workers pay attention. The Sahm Rule has one of the cleanest reputations in macroeconomics because it was designed to spot the early stage of a recession using something simple and hard to fake: a meaningful rise in…