Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
After nearly six years of extraordinary relief, federal student loan collections are snapping back into place, and with them comes one of the harshest tools in the government’s kit: taking money directly out of paychecks. Beginning in January 2026, borrowers who slid into default during or after the pandemic protections face the renewed threat of…
Across the United States, checkout counters are turning into negotiation tables as cashiers and customers haggle over nickels and dimes. With the 1 cent coin no longer being made and existing pennies vanishing into jars and couch cushions, retailers are pleading for exact change or steering shoppers toward cards and apps. I see a simple…
Costco is reshaping one of the most sensitive parts of the warehouse experience: the moment you pay. Self-checkout, once a relatively anonymous way to scan a cart, is now a frontline for membership enforcement, with staff posted nearby and ID checks that shut out non-members. The retailer is betting that tighter controls, backed by new…
Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has quietly executed one of the most dramatic portfolio pivots of the current artificial intelligence boom, unloading high‑profile stakes in Nvidia and Tesla to concentrate capital in a single software giant whose stock has surged an astonishing 483,000% since its market debut. The shift, carried out through his hedge fund Thiel…
President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping overhaul of federal student loans that tightens borrowing, reshapes repayment, and restarts some of the harshest collection tools on people already in trouble. Yet even as the policy screws turn, a little‑noticed shift in how courts treat education debt in bankruptcy is quietly giving a subset of borrowers…
Artificial intelligence is quietly taking over the box office. From the moment fans search for a show to the second they tap a wristband at the gate, algorithms are deciding what they see, what they pay and how fast they get inside. The result is a live events economy where concerts and games feel more…
Parents who have spent a lifetime saving often want a simple way to help a daughter pay bills, avoid court delays, and eventually inherit what is left. The most common shortcut is to either add her as a joint owner on every account or name her as the beneficiary everywhere. I want to unpack how…
The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that hits Social Security checks at the start of 2026 is being sold as proof that the program is keeping up with prices. It is also being branded as a political win for President Donald Trump, whose tariff strategy helped nudge inflation high enough to trigger a larger formula-based raise….
President Donald Trump is moving quickly to reshape the Federal Reserve, telling allies he intends to name a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell in January and signaling that the search has narrowed to a small circle of contenders. The timing raises the stakes for financial markets already trying to gauge the path of interest…
Lululemon is heading into a rare double transition, with a new chief executive on the way just as its outspoken founder moves to reassert influence over the boardroom. At stake is not only who runs the yoga-wear pioneer, but whether investors believe the brand can recapture the creative spark and growth premium that once set…