The financial news that actually matters
American drivers are paying less at the pump this week after the national average price of regular gasoline dropped to $4.13 a gallon, down from $4.28 just seven days earlier. The 15-cent decline arrived as crude oil pulled back from its highest level of 2026, easing pressure on refiners and the retail fuel chain. For…
American grocery shoppers are paying measurably more than they were a year ago, and federal forecasters expect the pressure to continue. The Consumer Price Index for food climbed 3.1% over the 12 months ending May 2026, while grocery store prices specifically rose 2.7% in the same period. The USDA Economic Research Service has issued 2026…
Customers affected by Krispy Kreme’s data breach face a tight window to file claims for payments reported to reach as high as $3,500, with the deadline set for June 22. The settlement follows a cybersecurity incident that prompted the company to file a breach notification with the California Department of Justice. With fewer than two…
Owners of roughly 880,000 Honda and Acura SUVs sold in cold-weather states now face a safety recall tied to rust eating through rear subframe mounts that hold the suspension in place. The recall covers 2016 through 2020 model-year Honda Pilot, Ridgeline, and Passport vehicles along with the Acura MDX, all registered in 20 salt-belt states…
Crude oil prices have shed roughly 20% from their 2026 high after traders began pricing in a durable ceasefire between the United States and Iran. North Sea Dated crude, a key global benchmark, fell from $144 a barrel to below $100, driven by shifting conflict signals and recalculated supply risks. The speed of the drop…
American drivers paying more than $4 a gallon at the pump got a break when U.S. crude futures dropped below $100 a barrel after Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The deal sent oil prices sharply lower, lifted U.S. stock futures and Asian equity markets, and…
More than 7 million federal student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan are roughly 20 days away from receiving formal exit notices that will force them to choose a new repayment path or be automatically shifted into a plan with potentially higher monthly bills. The Department of Education confirmed that servicers will begin…
Roughly 68 million Americans who depend on Social Security checks are tracking a number that keeps climbing. Forecasters now project the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment between 3.9% and 4.2%, which would add about $81 a month to the average retired worker’s benefit. That estimate draws on the latest Consumer Price Index data released by the Bureau…
Merchants in Illinois and potentially other states just lost a layer of protection against credit-card swipe fees. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interim final rule and a separate preemption order declaring that national banks and federal savings associations do not have to comply with the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition…
Federal regulators have formally banned the use of “reputation risk” as a basis for pressuring banks to close customer accounts, ending a supervisory practice that allowed examiners to push institutions into cutting ties with people engaged in lawful but politically disfavored activity. The FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a…