Warren Cohen, Author at The Financial Wire

Woman signing the contract and buying new house.

The April jobs report just dropped — 115,000 jobs a71% of homeowners say their insurance went up — and 57% made financial sacrifices to afford it, from canceling vacations to skipping home repairs

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago012 mins

The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April 2026 and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 8. The gain topped most forecasts, especially given the drag from higher energy prices. Tensions between the United States and Iran that escalated earlier in 2026 have disrupted oil…

S and P 500 stock market chart showing a strong upward trend on a monitor in a modern trading office

The S&P 500 just hit another record high at 7,399 — while gas costs $4.55, mortgage rates are 6.37%, and 1.55 million workers dropped out of the labor force

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago012 mins

The S&P 500 just hit another record high at 7,399 — while gas costs $4.55, mortgage rates are 6.37%, and 1.55 million workers dropped out of the labor force The S&P 500 closed at 7,398.93 on May 8, 2026, a fresh all-time high. That same morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its April jobs…

Portrait of a Woman Choosing Meat in a Supermarket

Steak is still at an all-time record of $12.74 a pound — ground beef is $6.70 — and the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest since the 1960s

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago011 mins

A pound of steak has never cost more at the American grocery store. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average retail price for uncooked beef steaks at $12.74 per pound in February 2026, the highest reading in the agency’s decades-long tracking series. March held almost flat at $12.73. Ground beef, the cut millions of…

a woman filling a car with gas at a gas station

The average family is spending $187 more per month on gas than in January — that’s $2,244 extra this year if prices stay at $4.56

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago010 mins

In the spring of 2022, filling up the family car went from routine expense to budget emergency. Between January and mid-May of that year, the national average price of gasoline jumped from roughly $3.30 per gallon to $4.56, according to AAA’s daily tracking data. For a household burning about 41 gallons of fuel a month,…

S and p 500 index showing on a computer screen with financial data in background

The S&P 500 pulled back from its all-time high at 7,337 — and more than half the year’s gains came from just five stocks

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago011 mins

The S&P 500 pulled back from its all-time high at 7,337 — and more than half the year’s gains came from just five stocks. The S&P 500 hit 7,337 on an intraday basis in mid-May 2026, marking a fresh peak before sellers stepped in and dragged it lower by the close. The retreat was small….

Colleagues in a boardroom discussion, seated at a table together, swapping ideas and strategizing project strategy. In the office, young business professionals

Private payrolls beat expectations with 109,000 jobs in April — but healthcare alone added 76,000 of them

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago010 mins

A nurse shortage that never ended may be the only thing keeping the U.S. jobs market from looking outright weak. The private sector added 109,000 positions in April 2026, comfortably beating the 97,000 that economists had projected and snapping back from a sluggish March. But strip out healthcare and its adjacent services and the picture…

Closeup Golden bitcoin coin in a business office.

Bitcoin hit $81,423 — its highest since January — as $2.44 billion poured into spot ETFs in April

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago09 mins

Bitcoin surged past $81,000 in the first week of May 2026, touching $81,423 during Asian trading hours on May 4 and reclaiming a level it hadn’t seen since January 31. The rally didn’t come out of nowhere. Across April, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds absorbed a net $2.44 billion in fresh capital, according to daily…

Young sexy woman in a stylish shirt using laptop and telephone freelancing on the tropical paradise beach Girl cup tea coffee freelancer work sitting in a summer cafe remote work indian ocean

High-yield savings accounts still advertise 4.1% APY — but the top rate six months ago was 4.75% and the cuts are accelerating

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago010 mins

Not long ago, a saver willing to open an online account could earn close to 4.75% APY on plain, FDIC-insured cash. That was late 2025, when Bankrate’s weekly survey of top nationally available accounts showed leading offers clustered near that mark. By late May 2026, the best widely available high-yield savings rates have slipped to…

Credit card debt hit $1.28 trillion at 21% APR — the average American is paying $1,386 a year just in interest

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago012 mins

A household carrying $6,600 in credit card debt at today’s average interest rate will hand roughly $1,386 to its card issuer this year and owe every dollar of the original balance when January rolls around. That single number captures the trap that tens of millions of Americans are stuck in as of mid-2025: high balances…

US Treasury stimulus check laying on a form 1040 tax return for 2020 to illustrate questions about qualification for payment

The IRS owes tens of millions of Americans a COVID-era penalty refund — you have 64 days left to file or lose it forever

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago011 mins

The average refund is roughly $750, and about 1.6 million taxpayers were told they would get it automatically. Three years later, an unknown number of those people are still waiting, and the final deadline to claim the money is May 17, 2026. After that, the IRS loses the legal authority to pay it out, no…

Warren Cohen

The April jobs report just dropped — 115,000 jobs a71% of homeowners say their insurance went up — and 57% made financial sacrifices to afford it, from canceling vacations to skipping home repairs

The S&P 500 just hit another record high at 7,399 — while gas costs $4.55, mortgage rates are 6.37%, and 1.55 million workers dropped out of the labor force

Steak is still at an all-time record of $12.74 a pound — ground beef is $6.70 — and the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest since the 1960s

The average family is spending $187 more per month on gas than in January — that’s $2,244 extra this year if prices stay at $4.56

The S&P 500 pulled back from its all-time high at 7,337 — and more than half the year’s gains came from just five stocks

Private payrolls beat expectations with 109,000 jobs in April — but healthcare alone added 76,000 of them

Bitcoin hit $81,423 — its highest since January — as $2.44 billion poured into spot ETFs in April

High-yield savings accounts still advertise 4.1% APY — but the top rate six months ago was 4.75% and the cuts are accelerating

Credit card debt hit $1.28 trillion at 21% APR — the average American is paying $1,386 a year just in interest

The IRS owes tens of millions of Americans a COVID-era penalty refund — you have 64 days left to file or lose it forever

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