Markets & Investing
Coverage of financial markets, investment strategies, and the economic forces that move money. Connects macro trends to real decisions for investors and professionals.
Latest in Markets & Investing
Gold prices have surged in 2026 as investors hunt for an inflation hedge
Investors holding gold have watched the metal climb through the first half of 2026, with LBMA-based pricing data showing a sustained advance that outpaced gains...
Federal agents arrested 276 people in a global “pig butchering” crypto crackdown
At least 276 people were arrested across multiple countries in a coordinated strike against Southeast Asian scam compounds that ran “pig butchering” cryptocurrency fraud schemes...
Hiring beat forecasts in May and unemployment held at 4.3%
Private employers added 122,000 jobs in May while the official unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent, signaling a labor market that is cooling without cracking....
Markets now price in no Fed rate cuts for the rest of 2026
Borrowers hoping for relief on mortgage rates, auto loans, or business credit lines will have to wait longer than almost anyone expected. Futures markets tied...
The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,599.96 even as the Fed signals no rate cuts are coming
The S&P 500 hit a fresh record close of 7,599.96 on June 1, 2026, gaining 19.90 points in a session where rising oil prices and...
A surprise 172,000 May jobs just raised the odds of a Fed rate hike this year to 57% — keeping mortgage and credit-card rates high
American borrowers hoping for relief on their mortgage payments and credit-card bills will have to wait longer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total...
Capital One Performance Savings still pays 4.10% APY, while online-only competitors hover around 4.20% — the CFPB’s new open-banking rule lets you switch in minutes for free
As of June 2026, Capital One’s Performance Savings account is advertising a 4.10% annual percentage yield. That is a strong rate by historical standards, but...
Kevin Warsh’s first FOMC meeting opens June 16 — and Wall Street is pricing in under a 3% chance of any rate cut for the rest of 2026
Kevin Warsh has been Federal Reserve chairman for less than a month, and the bond market has already rendered its verdict on what he will...
Brent crude jumped 2.5% Tuesday to $98.47 — Iran’s foreign ministry now says vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz “will have costs” as part of any ceasefire deal
Iran is no longer just threatening to weaponize the Strait of Hormuz. It is billing for passage. Brent crude settled at $98.47 a barrel on...
The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record 7,519 the first day back from Memorial Day — Wall Street brushed off Iran’s retaliation threats and a dip in consumer confidence
Stocks shrugged off airstrikes in Iran and a dip in consumer confidence on Tuesday, May 27, 2026, sending the S&P 500 to a fresh all-time...
Brokers are paying up to $1,000 or more to move your investment account over — a cash bonus most savers don’t know they can simply ask for
Last spring, a financial planner in Dallas told me something that stuck: the easiest money most of her clients ever made was a phone call....
Gold has jumped 41% in a year and central banks can’t stop buying — the metal is now outrunning the S&P 500 and the cash sitting in your savings account
In May 2025, an ounce of gold fetched roughly $2,350 on the London Bullion Market. Twelve months later, spot prices have pushed past $3,300, a...
Nvidia is now a bigger slice of your index fund than the entire energy sector — just five tech stocks drove nearly half the S&P 500’s gains this year
Open your 401(k) statement and look at the largest holding in your S&P 500 index fund. Odds are it is not a bank, not a...
Bitcoin ETFs are now buying ten times more coins each day than miners can produce — a supply squeeze building since April’s halving cut new supply in half
During the first full week of May 2026, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds pulled in a net 31,500 BTC, according to daily creation and redemption...
Americans are now parked on a record $7 trillion in money-market funds — earning about 4% while the stock market keeps setting records without them
Americans are now parked on a record $7 trillion in money-market funds, earning about 4% while the stock market keeps setting records without them. Somewhere...
80% of companies that adopted AI cut jobs this year — and a new study finds the layoffs haven’t actually boosted profits at most of them
Companies rushed to cut headcount after rolling out artificial intelligence tools. For most of them, the payoff never arrived. The headline claim that 80% of...
Just five tech stocks have driven more than half the S&P 500’s gains this year — so your index fund is now a bet on a handful of companies
As of early June 2026, the S&P 500 has returned roughly 11% year to date. But strip away just five names and the picture changes...
One year after Moody’s stripped the U.S. of its last AAA rating, the 30-year Treasury yield just hit 5.14% — the number that sets the floor under every mortgage
The 30-year Treasury yield crossed 5.14% in late May 2025, a level not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis. It arrived almost to the...
Brent crude hit $114 this week, the highest of the entire Iran war — after the U.S. sank six Iranian boats and the UAE came under drone attack
Brent crude hit $114 a barrel on May 19, 2026, its highest price since the Iran conflict began. The spike followed two shocks in rapid...
The Fed meets June 17 with markets betting 98% it does nothing — meaning your 6.5% mortgage and 21.5% credit card rate are locked in deep into 2026
Put 10 percent down on a $400,000 house today and the 30-year fixed principal-and-interest payment runs about $2,270 a month. The same loan at the...