Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
January’s Consumer Price Index report landed with a clear message for bitcoin holders: the inflation story that supported their biggest thesis is weakening. With headline CPI rising just 0.2% month-over-month and the annual rate dropping to 2.4% from December’s 2.7%, the macro environment that once made bitcoin look like a natural hedge is shifting under…
Elon Musk is framing a newly released trove of Medicaid spending data as a major victory for his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The release coincides with a federal finding that 2.8 million Americans may be enrolled in duplicate health coverage plans, a problem the administration says costs taxpayers $14 billion each year. But…
Walmart’s $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of Vizio, announced on May 21, 2024, signals a strategic push to leverage artificial intelligence for targeted advertising across 18 million connected TVs. This move forces major technology companies to share revenues through cloud services and AI partnerships while Walmart builds higher-margin advertising and membership businesses projected to generate $8.2…
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Moscow has still not received a single formal response to Vladimir Putin’s proposal to pay 1 billion dollars to join Donald Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza reconstruction. The offer hinges on unblocking frozen Russian assets so the money can be transferred as a “permanent membership” contribution. Putin unveiled the…
Rick Harrison of “Pawn Stars” fame recently warned Fox News viewers about what he calls a “brutal” silver shortage, describing a “structural supply deficit” where industrial demand from tech and energy sectors now outpaces mining supply. His stark assessment aligns with fresh data from the Silver Institute showing 2024 mine production reached 819.7 million ounces…
The SEC’s climate disclosure rule took effect in March 2024, even as earlier Trump-era regulators worked to roll back core federal climate findings. That clash between expanding securities rules and shrinking environmental rules has left companies navigating a patchwork of expectations while still being judged on quarterly earnings. Many CEOs now face three practical questions:…
Inflation cooled in January as consumer prices barely moved, with the Consumer Price Index rising just 0.2% from December and 2.4% from a year earlier, according to the latest government data released on February 13, 2026. That marks a clear step down from the stickier readings that worried households and policymakers through much of 2025,…
The government’s preferred inflation gauge just hit a five‑year high, and that could show up in your wallet through higher shelter costs even as gas prices wobble. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, rose 2.8% year over year in November 2025, and December’s reading is scheduled for release on February 20, 2026 by…
New York City’s most prominent budget watchdog is publicly urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to rein in spending and shelve talk of new taxes, escalating a fight over how to close a projected multibillion-dollar gap. The Citizens Budget Commission’s open letter landed just as Mamdani signed an executive order installing “Chief Savings Officers” in every agency,…
The labor market “is a lot more fragile than the headline numbers suggest,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi has warned, arguing that the apparent strength in hiring masks growing pockets of weakness. The latest evidence is the January payroll report, which showed employers adding 130,000 jobs while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3…