Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
The U.S. housing market crash of 2007 to 2009 was not triggered by a single policy failure or one reckless bank. It grew from a chain of reinforcing breakdowns: loose lending standards, the conversion of home mortgages into tradable securities, and a prolonged period of cheap credit that masked the risk building inside the system….
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has said he steers clear of companies whose revenue depends heavily on Amazon, calling the fees those sellers pay “INSANE AND UNSUSTAINABLE.” His warning arrives as Amazon layers new charges onto its third-party marketplace and faces a record federal enforcement action, creating a squeeze that should concern anyone betting on platform-dependent…
Kevin O’Leary, the investor and television personality known for Shark Tank, told a House committee on February 10, 2026, that President Trump must take ownership of an affordability crisis pushing American families to skip rent payments, meals, and prescription medications. His testimony before the House Financial Services Committee arrived at a moment when tariff policy,…
World Liberty Financial, the crypto platform tied to the Trump family, is rapidly expanding its reach into stablecoins, foreign investment deals, and real estate tokenization while positioning its USD1 stablecoin as the essential tool for preserving American dollar dominance. The venture’s latest moves, including a plan to tokenize loan revenue from a Trump-branded hotel in…
The Wall Street Journal has highlighted concerns that very low effective tax rates for the superwealthy can create broader economic downsides, including larger deficits that can weigh on long-run growth. The House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1) would extend and expand Trump-era tax cuts and pair them with changes to federal spending, including health…
California is now importing gasoline through roundabout shipping routes, including tankers routed via the Bahamas, as the state’s refining capacity shrinks under a wave of permanent plant closures. The Valero Benicia refinery, one of Northern California’s last major fuel producers, will keep making gasoline only through April 2026 before shifting entirely to imports. With Phillips…
The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed an emergency order keeping Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant running through May 18, 2026, marking the fourth consecutive directive blocking the facility’s planned retirement. The latest action, effective February 17, 2026, extends a chain of federal interventions that began last May and has drawn sharp legal pushback from…
Nearly all electric vehicle owners say they would not switch back to gasoline-powered cars, a finding that holds even in a scenario where federal purchase incentives drop to zero. That loyalty is being tested as the future of clean vehicle tax credits faces political uncertainty (with credits worth up to $7,500 for new EVs and…
Regulators across the United States and internationally are warning that the fast-growing private credit industry, which channels hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate loans outside the traditional banking system, could trigger the next financial crisis. The Federal Reserve, the IMF, and the Financial Stability Oversight Council have each flagged the sector’s rapid expansion and…
California drivers are absorbing a sharp hit at the pump after the state’s average price for regular gasoline climbed roughly 40 cents per gallon over a two-week stretch in February 2026. The spike lands amid broader concerns about refinery capacity and planned facility changes that could affect supply stability through the spring. For a state…