Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
New federal rules allowing advanced headlight technology on American vehicles are creating an unexpected side effect, a widening gray area around aftermarket lighting that could leave drivers exposed to fines, failed inspections, and denied insurance claims. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cleared Adaptive Driving Beam headlights for new cars, but the same regulatory…
Many consumers pay for insurance products that sound protective on paper but rarely deliver meaningful value when a claim arises. From dealer add-ons pushed during car purchases to credit card extras enrolled without clear consent, a pattern emerges across the financial services industry: low-cost monthly charges that add up over years while providing little actual…
Los Angeles is betting that its glut of vacant office space can become part of the solution to its chronic housing shortage. The city has moved to expand adaptive reuse rules that allow older commercial buildings to be converted into apartments, a strategy that could unlock thousands of new units without breaking ground on new…
Forest City, a massive development on reclaimed land off the southern coast of Malaysia, was designed to house roughly one million residents and cost an estimated $100 billion. Instead, the project has attracted only about 9,000 people, turning what was once billed as a futuristic urban hub into one of Southeast Asia’s most conspicuous real…
Clark County’s layered lodging-tax surcharges on hotels near the Las Vegas Strip are widening the cost gap between the Strip’s Primary Gaming Corridor and nearby communities. Henderson, southeast of the Strip, and Pahrump in Nye County are often cited as alternatives because the Primary Gaming Corridor’s add-on rates do not apply there. While no single…
Toyota’s Tacoma pickup truck posted its strongest sales year on record in 2025, moving 274,638 units across the United States and extending a dominance streak that now stretches more than two decades. For a nameplate that traces its lineage back 42 years, the achievement raises a pointed question about American truck buyers: why does a…
Housing advocates in New York City are pressing Mayor Zohran Mamdani to go beyond standard city-owned lots and direct attention to underused parcels controlled by the City University of New York. The push comes just as Mamdani signed an executive order creating a task force to identify land for at least 25,000 new housing units,…
The idea of stretching a home loan to 50 years sounds like a lifeline for buyers priced out of the market, but the total cost of that extra time could dwarf the monthly savings. With the share of first-time home buyers falling to a historic low of 21% and their median age climbing to 40,…
A single document, delivered too late, can turn a smooth home purchase into a last-minute scramble. The Closing Disclosure, a federally required summary of your final mortgage terms, comes with a built-in review window that most buyers do not use to its full advantage. Requesting that document at least five calendar days before your scheduled…
Hawaii has become the first state where housing costs have outpaced local incomes so thoroughly that no city, county, or metro area offers an affordable option for a typical working household, whether renting or buying. A University of Hawaii housing affordability report found that conditions are “as bad as it’s ever been,” and federal data…