Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
The U.S. economy keeps expanding, yet a growing share of American households report they cannot keep up with basic costs. Federal Reserve survey data, Census Bureau tracking, and consumer spending figures all point to the same split: aggregate growth masks a widening gap between those riding the boom and those absorbing its costs. The tension…
Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation shares rose about 30% in trading after the Nevada-based gold and silver explorer disclosed a 55% jump in mineral resources at its Hycroft Mine. The updated estimate, effective January 21, 2026, puts measured and indicated resources at 16.4 million ounces of gold and 562.6 million ounces of silver, and it also…
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker by volume, sold only a sliver of battery-electric vehicles relative to its massive global output in 2024, even as competitors raced to scale EV production. The gap is not accidental. It reflects a deliberate corporate strategy that prizes hybrids and a spread of powertrain technologies over a singular bet on…
Circle Internet Group filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting the stage for a public listing that could put the USDC stablecoin issuer under intensified scrutiny from Wall Street investors and regulators. The filing arrives as stablecoin balances have grown into a scale that policymakers and fixed-income markets are…
Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr warned on November 11, 2025, that firms are already scaling back hiring because of artificial intelligence, a signal that the long-predicted collision between AI and the labor market is no longer theoretical. That same week, fresh research and government data confirmed that the effects are spreading well beyond Silicon Valley,…
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet is seeking to raise about $100 million by 2028 to support the digitization of India’s electricity grid, according to a Reuters report citing the alliance’s CEO. The effort is framed as a way to help India integrate more renewable power as it pursues its net-zero goal for…
Canada is set to cut its effective tariff on Chinese electric vehicles from 100% to 6.1%, and polling shows many Canadians are ready to buy. The policy shift, described in reporting as part of a broader deal with Beijing, opens the door to more affordable Chinese-made EVs entering the Canadian market each year. The shift…
Russia’s Lukoil, a 75% stakeholder in Iraq’s West Qurna 2—one of the world’s biggest oil fields—is suddenly losing its grip on the project’s operations after U.S. sanctions forced the company into a rushed divestment of its international holdings. Iraq announced plans to nationalize the field’s operations as Lukoil faces a January 17 deadline to sell…
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, announced plans on February 18, 2026, to temporarily suspend tax incentives for data centers, directly linking the facilities’ explosive electricity demand to rising power bills across the state. The proposal targets a generous incentive package that has offered sales tax exemptions lasting up to 20 years, and it arrives…
Saudi Arabia’s state-backed artificial intelligence company Humain announced on February 18, 2026, that it invested $3 billion into Elon Musk’s xAI as part of the startup’s Series E funding round. The deal, which closed just before SpaceX formally acquired xAI, converted Humain’s stake into SpaceX equity and made the Saudi entity a significant minority shareholder….