The financial news that actually matters
The last time Series I savings bonds paid this well, inflation was running near 4% and savers were scrambling to lock in yields before they dropped. On May 1, 2026, the U.S. Treasury set the new I bond composite rate at 4.26%, the highest since the November 2023 cycle delivered 5.27%. That rate applies to…
The last time the United States had this few cattle, Dwight Eisenhower was finishing his presidency and the country had 180 million people. Today it has nearly 340 million, and the herd they all depend on for hamburgers, brisket, and Sunday roasts has dropped to roughly 86.7 million head, according to the USDA’s January 2026…
Brent crude whipsawed nearly $8 in a single trading session in late May 2026. The front-month contract opened above $116 a barrel, then cratered to $108 after a Pentagon spokesperson told reporters that both the United States and Iran were observing the terms of a ceasefire brokered in Oman and that U.S. naval assets in…
On Friday, May 8, at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the April 2026 Employment Situation report, and the range of expectations heading into the release is unusually wide. Analyst forecasts for nonfarm payroll gains stretch from roughly 53,000 to 150,000 new jobs. A gap that large reflects more than normal…
Small-cap stocks stole the spotlight on Wall Street on Tuesday, June 10, 2026, as falling oil prices and solid labor-market data pushed investors toward the domestically focused companies that rarely lead the tape. The Russell 2000 surged 1.8% to about 2,845, a level that, based on available index data, appeared to mark a fresh all-time…
A gallon of regular gasoline cost $4.48 at the national average as of June 2, 2026, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly retail survey confirms the number. That is roughly 50 percent higher than the $2.94 average the EIA recorded in early 2025, before the Iran conflict disrupted tanker…
President Trump suspended the U.S. Navy’s armed escort operation through the Strait of Hormuz after a single day of fighting with Iranian forces, halting a mission that had been pitched as the answer to weeks of Iranian threats against commercial shipping in the world’s most critical oil chokepoint. During roughly 24 hours of operations in…
A week ago, filling a 15-gallon tank cost the average American driver about $61. Today it costs roughly $67. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline surged to $4.48 as of late May 2026, according to AAA, a 38-cent jump in just seven days. The automobile association’s warning was blunt: the summer…
The Senate is set to vote the week of May 11, 2026, on Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, and the math points toward something that has never happened in the central bank’s modern era: a chair confirmed without a single vote from the opposing party. Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on…
Time is nearly up for displaced Spirit Airlines passengers hoping to lock in discounted rebookings. The rescue fare programs arranged by the U.S. Department of Transportation and four major carriers are set to close as early as May 15, 2026, depending on the airline. After that, travelers on routes Spirit once dominated will face a…