Warren Cohen, Author at The Financial Wire

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 11: Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the TechCrunch Conference at SF Design Center on September 11, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by C Flanigan/WireImage)

Meta cut 8,000 jobs this week and reassigned 7,000 survivors to build AI — the same technology that made their old roles redundant

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago08 mins

Meta eliminated roughly 8,000 positions this week in its largest single round of layoffs since early 2023. About 7,000 employees who survived the cuts received new assignments: build the artificial intelligence systems that rendered their former colleagues unnecessary. Another 6,000 open positions will go unfilled, pushing the total headcount reduction to roughly 14,000. The layoffs…

Customer using credit card for payment to owner at cafe restaurant cashless technology and credit card payment concept

The OCC’s bank-fee rule takes effect in 40 days — blocking any state from capping the swipe fees built into the price of everything you buy

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago014 mins

A server at a Chicago restaurant earns a $20 tip on a credit card. Before that money reaches her, the bank that issued the customer’s card skims a percentage off the top as an interchange fee. Starting July 1, 2026, Illinois law was supposed to stop banks from collecting that cut on tips and sales…

Building of FED Federal Reserve Bank in Washington Concept of economy finance interest rate money

The Fed meets June 17 with markets pricing 98% odds of no cut — locking your 6.6% mortgage and 21.5% credit card rate deep into 2026

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago013 mins

Put a number on it: a family closing on a $400,000 home this month at 6.6 percent will write a check for roughly $2,509 in principal and interest every month for the next 30 years. The same loan in early 2021, when 30-year fixed rates briefly dipped below 3 percent, would have cost about $1,686….

red and black metal chair near yellow and blue store

The federal gas-tax suspension now has bipartisan backing — but the math shows the average family would save just $35 over the five-month window

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago010 mins

Fill up a midsize SUV once a week this summer, and the proposed federal gas-tax holiday would save you about $1.60 each trip. Over five months, that adds up to roughly $35, less than what most families spend on a single weeknight takeout order. The bill behind those numbers landed in the Senate in May…

80% of companies that deployed AI have since cut their workforce — and a new study finds the layoffs aren’t even generating the promised returns

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago010 mins

The sales pitch was simple: bring in artificial intelligence, streamline operations, do more with fewer people. A growing body of research now suggests the “fewer people” part happened on schedule while the “do more” part has not. Two working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research, drawing on U.S. Census Bureau survey data and…

Business computer and man working at a desk while online for research or creative work Male entrepreneur person at workplace with focus and internet connection for designer project or reading email

Big banks still pay just 0.4% on savings while online banks pay 4% — leaving roughly $1 trillion in deposits earning almost nothing

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago013 mins

A customer with $25,000 sitting in a standard savings account at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo will collect roughly $98 in interest over the next 12 months. Move that same balance to a high-yield online savings account at a bank like Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Ally, or Capital One 360, and the…

A Social Security rule change is raising monthly checks for some widows and divorced spouses — and it applies automatically for everyone who qualifies

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago012 mins

Some widows, widowers and surviving divorced spouses have been opening their bank statements in recent months to find Social Security deposits several hundred dollars larger than expected. They did not file a new application. They did not call anyone. The Social Security Administration simply bumped them up. Under rules that have been on the books…

houses and american homes showing mortgage rates impact suburban homes symbolizing financial strain

It now takes $127,000 a year to afford the median U.S. home — up from $79,000 before the pandemic, pricing out half of households

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago014 mins

A household earning $80,000 a year, right at the national median, can comfortably afford a monthly mortgage payment of roughly $1,870 under standard lending rules that cap housing costs at 28 percent of gross income. The problem: the actual payment on a median-priced U.S. home now runs closer to $2,960 a month, assuming a 20…

Senior woman reviewing documents with young girl at desk

Half of Americans over 55 have less than $50,000 saved — just as new rules let the government dock Social Security to collect defaulted student loans

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago014 mins

A retired school aide in Ohio. A former truck driver in Florida. A grandmother in Texas who co-signed a loan for a grandchild who never finished college. Across the country, millions of Americans over 55 are heading toward retirement with almost nothing saved, and a federal debt-collection mechanism that was dormant for years is now…

a bitcoin sitting on top of a computer motherboard

The IRS has doubled its AI audit models to 125 in two years — and crypto transactions now trigger automatic matching against your return for the first time

Warren Cohen2 months ago2 months ago014 mins

If you sold Bitcoin through Coinbase last year and figured the IRS would never notice a small discrepancy on your return, that bet no longer holds. Starting with the 2025 tax year, every centralized crypto exchange in the United States is required to file a new form, the 1099-DA, reporting the gross proceeds of your…

Warren Cohen

Meta cut 8,000 jobs this week and reassigned 7,000 survivors to build AI — the same technology that made their old roles redundant

The OCC’s bank-fee rule takes effect in 40 days — blocking any state from capping the swipe fees built into the price of everything you buy

The Fed meets June 17 with markets pricing 98% odds of no cut — locking your 6.6% mortgage and 21.5% credit card rate deep into 2026

The federal gas-tax suspension now has bipartisan backing — but the math shows the average family would save just $35 over the five-month window

80% of companies that deployed AI have since cut their workforce — and a new study finds the layoffs aren’t even generating the promised returns

Big banks still pay just 0.4% on savings while online banks pay 4% — leaving roughly $1 trillion in deposits earning almost nothing

It now takes $127,000 a year to afford the median U.S. home — up from $79,000 before the pandemic, pricing out half of households

The IRS has doubled its AI audit models to 125 in two years — and crypto transactions now trigger automatic matching against your return for the first time

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