The financial news that actually matters
On June 30, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published two interim final actions that allow nationally chartered banks to keep charging merchants credit card processing fees on tips and sales tax, overriding an Illinois law designed to eliminate exactly those charges. The state’s ban was set to take effect the very…
For more than two years, American workers had something they hadn’t enjoyed in a long time: raises that actually outpaced rising prices. Groceries cost more, rent kept climbing, but the number on the paycheck was climbing faster. That cushion disappeared in April 2026. Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2026 shows…
Seventy-seven days into the U.S. war with Iran, the Pentagon has burned through $29 billion in taxpayer money. Nearly half of that, roughly $12 billion, represents military equipment destroyed or damaged by Iranian missile and drone strikes across the region. The figures surfaced during an April 30, 2026, budget hearing before the House Appropriations Defense…
Wall Street’s autumn rally hit a wall on November 13, 2024. Minutes after the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a hotter-than-expected consumer-price report for October, the S&P 500 slid 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1%, snapping a six-week winning streak that had carried the benchmark index more than 8% off its August lows. By…
The price of a raw steak in the United States has never been higher. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average for uncooked beef steaks hit $12.74 per pound in February 2026, then kept climbing to $13.02 in April, blowing past the previous record. The April 2026 Consumer Price Index, released this…
When Maria Gonzalez, a medical assistant in Phoenix, signed the paperwork on her 2026 Honda CR-V last March, the monthly payment landed at $847 for seven years. “I knew it was a lot,” she told a local television reporter. “But I need the car to get to work, and everything on the lot was about…
The Pentagon told Congress today the Iran war has cost $29 billion – up $4 billion in two weeks – and Harvard estimates the final bill will top $1 trillion Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on May 12, 2026, that the U.S. war in Iran has now cost $29 billion….
When Maria Delgado-Loss opened her renewal notice in April 2026, the number stopped her mid-step in the kitchen. Her homeowners premium in suburban Houston had jumped 38% in a single year, pushing the annual bill past $4,200. She and her husband sat at the table that night crossing items off a list: the family beach…
The phone rings, and the caller ID shows your bank’s real 1-800 number. A polite voice says there has been suspicious activity on your account. Within minutes, you have followed their instructions to “secure” your funds, and thousands of dollars are gone. According to the FBI, this exact scenario is playing out across the country…
A borrower with $35,000 in federal student loans who has been paying nothing per month under the SAVE repayment plan could soon owe $350 or more. Starting July 1, loan servicers will begin sending notices to roughly 7.5 million people still enrolled in SAVE, informing them the plan is finished and giving them 90 days…