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.
Homeowners filing claims with the largest property insurers in the United States now face odds that look more like a coin toss than a safety net. An analysis of insurer data found that State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and Farmers did not pay out on more than 44% of claims they resolved in 2025….
Near-retirees who buy their own health coverage through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace are about to confront a sharp price increase. When the temporary expansion of premium tax credits expires after tax year 2025, a 60-year-old earning roughly $64,000 a year could owe about $14,900 annually for a benchmark silver plan in 2026. That figure…
Homebuyers shopping for a fixed-rate loan this week face the steepest borrowing costs of 2026. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 6.55%, a level not seen since late August 2025, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That jump adds roughly $40 per month to a principal-and-interest payment on a $400,000 loan compared…
Homeowners across the United States are paying hundreds of dollars more each year to insure their properties than they did just a few years ago. Average premiums climbed roughly 27 percent between 2019 and 2024, rising from about $2,235 to approximately $2,829, according to a federal analysis. The steepest increases have hit ZIP codes exposed…
Roughly one in seven U.S. homes now lacks homeowners insurance, according to a Federal Reserve survey of household finances, as carriers accelerate their retreat from areas hit hardest by wildfires, hurricanes, and severe storms. Federal data covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia show that nonrenewal activity has climbed steadily since 2018, with…
Homeowners who paid for mortgage help that never arrived are getting money back. The Federal Trade Commission announced in June 2026 that it is mailing checks totaling more than $2.8 million to 1,821 people who were charged by a network of companies operating under names like Golden Home Services and Home Matters USA. According to…
Families settling the estates of deceased reverse-mortgage borrowers are facing unexpected fees that surface only after a loved one dies, according to allegations in a lawsuit targeting a major servicer. The complaint centers on charges that heirs say were never disclosed during the life of the loan, emerging instead during probate when survivors have the…
Homeowners in disaster-prone parts of the country are absorbing premium increases of 25% or more, according to a federal audit, and several states are now locked into scheduled rate hikes that will push bills higher through 2026. North Carolina approved a 7.5% base-rate increase effective June 1, 2025, with a second 7.5% jump set for…
Older homeowners in Florida are losing a staggering share of their fixed incomes to property insurance. A calculation pairing federal retirement-income data with state regulatory filings puts the figure at 34 percent of mean retirement income for residents 65 and older, a ratio that reflects years of hurricane-driven premium increases colliding with stagnant pension and…
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…