The financial news that actually matters
Covers short-term movements in financial markets including stocks, indices, commodities, and trading reactions. It explains what drives market changes and how investors may interpret them.
Older homeowners who took out federally insured reverse mortgages are at the center of a proposed class action alleging that loan servicers tacked on inspection, preservation, and administrative fees that federal regulations do not permit. The lawsuit targets charges added after FHA endorsement of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans, arguing those costs quietly eroded the…
Retirees across the country are taking their former employers to court, alleging that billions of dollars in pension obligations were transferred to Athene Holding Ltd., a private-equity-backed insurer they say poses unacceptable risks to their retirement security. The lawsuits, which began as a wave of class actions in 2024, have drawn the attention of federal…
American homeowners will pay an average of $3,057 for property insurance this year, capping a 12% national price surge in 2025 that hit hardest in Georgia, New Mexico, Nebraska, and California, where double-digit increases are projected to continue into 2026. The acceleration is not uniform: those four states face steeper hikes than the rest of…
Homeowners who tap a $400,000 property through a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage face $16,000 to $20,000 in upfront charges before a single dollar reaches their bank account. Those costs, drawn from origination fees, closing expenses, mortgage insurance premiums, and a mandatory counseling session, are rolled into the loan balance and begin accruing interest immediately. For…
Verizon retirees have taken the company to court over a $5.9 billion transfer of their pension obligations to private insurance companies, arguing the deal strips them of the federal safety net that once guaranteed their monthly checks. The lawsuit centers on whether Verizon’s fiduciaries met their legal duty under ERISA when they selected insurers to…
Prospective homebuyers shopping for a first mortgage this summer face a monthly payment that has climbed to roughly $2,198 on a median-priced home, driven by the 30-year fixed rate averaging 6.55 percent, the highest level in nearly a year. The rate increase, reported by Freddie Mac in its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, lands at…
A Connecticut court froze annuity payments for policyholders of PHL Variable Insurance Company in May 2024 after regulators determined the insurer was in hazardous financial condition. The collapse left one retiree unable to access a $99,000 annuity contract and exposed roughly 100,000 policyholders to a reported $2.2 billion shortfall. With liquidation now expected by mid-2027,…
Seniors with Home Equity Conversion Mortgages who have fallen behind on property taxes now have access to up to $7,500 in HUD assistance designed to prevent foreclosure. The aid targets a specific vulnerability: HECM borrowers on fixed incomes who cannot cover rising property-tax bills risk losing the homes they tapped equity from in the first…
Homeowners who have carried the same insurance policy for years are losing coverage after a drone or satellite photograph flags a dark streak on their roof. State regulators in North Carolina and Delaware have each issued formal bulletins warning that insurers are relying on aerial imagery to cancel or nonrenew policies, sometimes over cosmetic blemishes…
Roughly 18,000 Lockheed Martin retirees and beneficiaries lost their direct pension relationship with one of the largest U.S. defense contractors after the company transferred $4.9 billion in defined-benefit obligations to an insurer in August 2021. Those retirees now argue the deal prioritized cost savings over their long-term financial security, and the U.S. Department of Labor…