Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Walmart is turning the most stressful part of grocery shopping, the checkout line, into a test bed for artificial intelligence that does the work of a human cashier and a personal shopper at once. Instead of tapping through menus or scanning every barcode alone, customers are being handed over to AI “agents” that can guide…
Bankruptcy in America is no longer a story confined to the margins of the economy. From households juggling medical bills and credit cards to companies squeezed by tariffs and high interest rates, a growing share of the country is running out of financial runway. The latest data show a sharp rise in both consumer and…
Across the country, a growing body of analysis points to a small but important group of suburbs where home values are likely to fall, not just flatten. With Home prices poised to dip in 22 U.S. cities next year and early data showing some markets already turning negative, buyers and owners in these communities face…
Social Security benefits are rising again in 2026, but a new idea gaining traction in Washington could mean millions of retirees eventually stop receiving the full inflation bump they have come to expect. The proposal would scale back annual cost-of-living adjustments for some beneficiaries in the name of stabilizing the program’s finances, shifting more of…
President Donald Trump’s push to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year has collided head‑on with Wall Street’s largest lenders, and Bank of America is emerging as one of the most forceful critics. The bank’s leadership is warning that a hard ceiling on rates would not simply trim profits, it would reshape…
President Donald Trump is preparing a housing proposal that would let first-time buyers pull money from their 401(k) retirement accounts to cover a down payment, effectively turning long term savings into a bridge to homeownership. The idea, previewed by advisers ahead of a planned rollout at a global economic gathering, would mark a significant shift…
Millions of borrowers are sliding behind on student loans just as aggressive collections return, but a mix of new protections, settlement terms, and repayment options is quietly giving some of them a second chance. The lifeline is not a single sweeping cancellation, it is a patchwork of programs that can pull people out of default,…
A mega-operator behind more than 130 Popeyes restaurants in the Southeast has fallen into Chapter 11, exposing how fragile even the biggest fast-food franchise empires can be when debt, rising costs, and legal fights collide. The collapse of Sailormen Inc., a long‑time powerhouse in the Popeyes system, now hangs over workers, landlords, and lenders from…
Tesla has secured an extra five weeks to answer detailed questions from U.S. auto safety regulators about how its Full Self-Driving system behaves in real traffic, buying time as it combs through more than 8,000 potential violations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to extend the deadline keeps pressure on the company while also…
The sudden collapse of a long‑planned Senate vote on a landmark crypto bill has exposed just how much leverage a single industry heavyweight can wield in Washington. After the Senate Banking Committee scrapped its markup of the Clarity Act at the last moment, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong insisted the process is not dead, arguing that…