Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
The implosion of Evergrande was sold to the world as a contained drama, a single bad actor finally brought to heel. In reality, the group’s collapse has exposed structural fractures that still run through China’s growth model, its financial system and the daily lives of ordinary homebuyers. The most visible crisis is over, but the…
Warnings about a rough 2026 for workers are piling up, from Wall Street strategists to labor economists, and they are all circling the same themes: slower hiring, weaker pay growth, and a more fragile sense of job security. The picture is not an outright catastrophe, but it is a clear shift from the tight labor…
Gold’s blistering rally has pushed the metal above $4,400 an ounce for the first time, while silver has surged to its own record as traders double down on expectations of aggressive interest rate cuts. The move caps a year in which precious metals have shifted from a defensive niche to the center of global market…
Tariffs are no longer an abstract debate about trade theory. With rates climbing to levels not seen since the 1930s, economists now warn that the current trajectory could wipe out roughly 480,000 jobs across the United States. The question is not whether higher import taxes bite, but how deeply they cut into hiring, investment, and…
Kevin O’Leary is not mincing words about the global artificial intelligence race. The investor and television personality argues that while the United States debates rules and permitting, China is rapidly scaling the raw infrastructure that makes advanced AI possible. In his view, the combination of cheap power, fast approvals and national focus means China is…
The US is heading into 2026 with an economy that looks healthy on paper but feels brittle on the ground. Growth is picking up, inflation is easing and corporate profits are strong, yet workers are confronting a labor market that is stingier with stable, well paid roles than headline numbers suggest. That disconnect is why…
Home Depot’s latest forecast is not just a corporate update, it is a warning flare for the broader U.S. economy. The retailer is signaling that homeowners are pulling back, big-ticket projects are being delayed, and the housing market is losing momentum, all at a time when Wall Street has been betting on a smooth landing….
Across the United States, households are bracing for electricity bills that climb faster than paychecks, driven by new demand from data centers, electrified vehicles, and extreme weather. Yet buried inside that challenge is a largely untapped resource: millions of homes and businesses that could quietly act like a flexible power plant. If policymakers and utilities…
America’s most productive oil patch is now grappling with a hidden threat building beneath its rigs and pump jacks. As drillers chase record output, the Permian Basin is accumulating toxic, high pressure wastewater in aging rock layers that were never designed to hold it. The result is a vast industrial system that increasingly resembles a…
New car shoppers are ending the year confronting a price tag that now hovers just under $50,000, even before taxes, fees, and financing costs. The average transaction price has climbed into the high $40,000s at the same time a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and parts is reshaping the market. I see those two forces…