The financial news that actually matters
Shopify just delivered record revenue, record gross merchandise volume, and a gross margin that most software companies would frame and hang on the wall. The stock dropped 7%. The Canadian e-commerce company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $3.17 billion, up 34% from $2.36 billion a year earlier, according to a Form 8-K filed with the…
A gallon of regular gasoline cost $4.48 at the national average as of June 2, 2026, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly retail survey confirms the number. That is roughly 50 percent higher than the $2.94 average the EIA recorded in early 2025, before the Iran conflict disrupted tanker…
For two years, would-be homebuyers told themselves the same thing: wait for rates to drop. By late May 2026, many of them stopped waiting. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.22% for the week ending May 22, its highest point in a month, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey published through…
The first paychecks of 2026 delivered a jolt to millions of older workers who earn six figures. Take-home pay dropped, even though salaries stayed the same. The culprit: a new federal rule that forces higher-earning employees to make their 401(k) catch-up contributions on an after-tax Roth basis, wiping out an upfront tax deduction many had…
Millions of Americans who paid penalties or interest on federal tax returns filed during the pandemic may be owed refunds they don’t know about. The problem: the IRS has no plans to send the money on its own, and the deadline to claim it is July 10, 2026. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent watchdog…
When Maria Gonzalez opened her homeowners insurance renewal letter in April 2026, the number had jumped again. Her premium for a three-bedroom house in a fire-adjacent community east of Los Angeles climbed 19% in a single year. She is not alone, and her experience is not unusual. For the fifth consecutive year, homeowners insurance premiums…
For more than 20 years, workers over 50 have been able to stash extra money in their 401(k) on a pre-tax basis, shaving thousands off their annual tax bill in the process. That option just disappeared for a significant slice of the workforce. As of January 2026, any employee whose employer-paid wages topped $145,000 in…
A daily pill just became the cheapest branded GLP-1 weight loss drug on the U.S. market, and it does not require a single injection. Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, containing the active ingredient orforglipron, received FDA approval in early April 2026 for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight who have at least one weight-related…
For years, American families absorbed the cost of tariffs on imported goods every time they bought a car, replaced an appliance, or filled a grocery cart. Those tariffs are now gone, struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional. And roughly $166 billion in collected duties is now being refunded to the companies that…
Millions of Americans who paid IRS penalties on tax returns filed between 2020 and 2023 may be entitled to get that money back. The potential refunds range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on the penalty type and amount originally assessed. But there is a hard deadline approaching: July 10. After that,…