The financial news that actually matters
American households spent less freely in the first three months of 2026, even as the prices they faced climbed at the fastest pace in over a year. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.0% annual rate in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis advance estimate released April 30. But beneath that…
Maria works split shifts at two small restaurants in Phoenix. She has no 401(k), no employer match, and no pension. Neither does the freelance graphic designer in Atlanta billing clients through three gig platforms, nor the home health aide in rural Ohio employed by a five-person agency. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from March 2023…
Spirit Airlines pulled every flight from its schedule at 3 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, 2026, told passengers not to come to the airport, and began shutting down permanently. After 34 years of ultra-low-cost flying, the carrier’s collapse has eliminated roughly 17,000 jobs and left a potentially enormous number of travelers holding tickets that may…
A server at a Chicago restaurant rings up a $50 dinner. The customer leaves a $15 tip and pays with a credit card. The restaurant’s payment processor charges interchange on the full $65, plus the sales tax. That means the restaurant is paying a bank fee on money that belongs to the server and money…
In January, a buyer putting 20% down on a $400,000 home could lock in a 30-year fixed mortgage near 5.75%, making the monthly principal-and-interest payment about $2,334. Five months later, that same loan costs roughly $2,520 a month. The 30-year fixed rate has climbed to 6.46%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and…
The first Social Security deposits of May 2026 hit bank accounts next week, starting a four-date disbursement cycle that will put money into the hands of 74 million Americans. Retirees, disabled workers, survivors, and Supplemental Security Income recipients will all see payments that include the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that kicked in this past January….
Friday morning could deliver the weakest jobs number in more than two years. Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg and Reuters expect the U.S. economy added just 50,000 jobs in April, a steep fall from the 178,000 gain the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported for March. The BLS will publish its April Employment Situation report at 8:30…
Better Home & Finance and Coinbase launched what they call the first conforming mortgage that lets borrowers pledge cryptocurrency as a down payment instead of converting it to cash. The product is designed so that finished loans can be sold to Fannie Mae on the secondary market, just like any other conventional home loan. Only…
Ticket buyers who used StubHub during a three-day stretch last May are about to get money back. The Federal Trade Commission announced in April 2026 that StubHub must pay $10 million in automatic refunds to customers who purchased U.S. live-event tickets between May 12 and May 14, 2025, after the agency charged the company with…
Alphabet added tens of billions of dollars in market value in a single session on April 29, 2026, after first-quarter earnings revealed something Wall Street had been waiting months to see: hard proof that corporate customers are spending real money on artificial intelligence, not just talking about it. Google Cloud revenue jumped 63% from the…