Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Three high-yield dividend ETFs built on quality U.S. payers and backed by transparent regulatory filings are drawing fresh attention from income-focused investors heading into 2026. With many active managers struggling to consistently outperform their benchmarks over time, the case for low-cost, dividend-focused index funds remains compelling. I see the iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV),…
Jim Cramer, the outspoken CNBC host, recently praised General Motors CEO Mary Barra for what he called an absolutely nailed call on the automaker’s direction. The praise arrived alongside GM’s release of its 2025 financial results and 2026 forward guidance, a package that paired strong operating performance with aggressive shareholder returns. What makes the moment…
The Congressional Budget Office just released a fiscal forecast that should alarm anyone with a stake in the American economy. Federal deficits and debt are on track to worsen sharply over the next decade, driven by rising program spending and ballooning interest costs on existing borrowing. If current policy trajectories hold, the United States could…
California drivers are absorbing a roughly $0.40 per gallon increase in gasoline prices over just two weeks, a pace that far outstrips the national average and has turned routine fill-ups into a source of genuine frustration. The speed of this jump, confirmed by federal energy data, raises hard questions about whether the state’s refining capacity…
The Congressional Budget Office now projects annual federal deficits climbing toward $3.1 trillion by 2036, with cumulative shortfalls over the next decade reaching roughly $24.4 trillion. That trajectory would push U.S. debt held by the public well past any level recorded since World War II, raising hard questions about whether Washington can sustain its borrowing…
Wall Street’s biggest banks are racing to adopt artificial intelligence, and their CEOs rarely miss a chance to praise the technology’s potential. But a closer look at what these institutions actually tell regulators about their workforces reveals a striking gap between boardroom optimism and the cautious, sometimes vague language buried in official filings. That disconnect…
Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised New Yorkers a concrete path to lower costs through rent freezes, universal child care, and fare-free buses. Weeks into office, his administration has already acknowledged a budget crisis inherited from the Adams era, and the fiscal math behind those campaign pledges looks increasingly difficult to reconcile with the city’s actual balance…
The partial federal government shutdown that began on January 31, 2026, after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement, has settled into a stalemate with no resolution on the calendar. Lawmakers left Washington for a recess without passing the spending bills needed to reopen affected agencies, and the procedural machinery in the Senate has already…
The White House issued a proclamation in June 2025 raising tariffs on aluminum and steel imports to 50% ad valorem, the latest in a series of escalating trade actions that have rattled equity markets and injected fresh uncertainty into the retirement savings of millions of Americans. Most people saving for retirement through 401(k) plans or…
The federal government collected over $100 billion in customs revenue during fiscal year 2025, and nearly all of that money came from American businesses writing checks to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, not from foreign governments. That basic fact sits at the center of a growing disconnect between how the Trump administration frames its tariff…