Author: News Room

This week is America Saves Week, a time to focus on actions Americans can take to successfully save. When it comes to saving for retirement, Americans are feeling pessimistic. In a recent nationwide survey of working age Americans, 79 percent agree that the nation faces a retirement savings crisis, up from 67 percent in 2020. And more than half of Americans (55 percent) are concerned that they cannot achieve financial security in retirement. But is this worry about retirement savings warranted? Afterall, people worry about many things, and some worries are not necessarily justified. For example, up to 40 percent…

By Alasdair Pal SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand will report “significantly slower” economic growth for the next few years when it releases a pre-Budget update in two weeks’ time, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said on Friday, as slower productivity growth hampers the country’s economy. New Zealand’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter and significant downward revisions were made to economic growth in earlier quarters, leading the market to pull back on bets of further interest rate hikes next year. That, combined with recent data continuing to be weaker than forecast, has led Treasury officials to reassess growth projections for…

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign sent a letter Thursday to the Commission on Presidential Debates asking for this year’s general election debates to take place “much earlier” and calling for more of them to be added to the schedule. “While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to occur later this year, we are in favor of these debates beginning much earlier,” Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in the letter to commission members. Wiles and LaCivita said that with voting beginning much earlier in recent elections, the commission…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.ExxonMobil’s chief executive collected a pay packet last year worth almost four times that of bosses at rivals BP and Shell, underlining the vast disparity between European and US remuneration in the booming oil sector.Darren Woods received salary, stock options and a bonus amounting to $36.9mn in 2023, the US’s biggest oil company reported in a securities filing on Thursday. That was $1mn more than the previous year. His remuneration compares with the $26.5mn paid to Mike Wirth, boss of rival US supermajor…

Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors have gotten used to attractive returns over the course of the last two decades as the company stayed at the forefront of technological innovations, delivering massive 25.6% EPS growth annually since 2003. Since then, the stock is up more than 65x, confirming American engineering ingenuity, fueling one of the major success stories of the 21st century. While I do not want to be short-sighted, it does appear the company has recently hit a wall with the stock being up only 3.5% in a span of 12 months, even though the AI narrative is pushing other major…

Last updated: April 11, 2024 11:41 EDT | 3 min read Bitfinex Securities El Salvador S.A. de C.V., a tokenized securities platform, is spearheading an initiative to fund the development of a Hampton by Hilton hotel complex at El Salvador International Airport through a tokenized debt issue.The token, known as HILSV, will trade against the U.S. dollar and tether (USDT) and will be issued on the Liquid Network, a bitcoin sidechain, as outlined in a recent press release.HILSV Tokenized Debt Offering Marks Milestone in El Salvador’s Capital Market Development Bitfinex Securities to facilitate first ever El Salvador tokenised asset raise…

Interest rate cuts have been the main focus for Wall Street ever since the end of last year, when Federal Reserve officials indicated they intended to lower rates. But stubborn inflation now has some investors wondering about the exact opposite: a rate hike. Inflation slowed substantially in 2023 as the Fed lifted rates to nearly a quarter-century high and held them at that level since July. But recent economic data shows there hasn’t been much improvement this year. Then came March’s Consumer Price Index report, which showed prices rose 3.5% last month from a year earlier, up considerably from February’s…

One of the largest donations to Rudy Giuliani’s legal defense fund is at the center of a new lawsuit that argues the $100,000 contribution rightfully belongs to victims of an alleged online fraud scheme.The donation by Matthew Martorano in September accounted for nearly 13% of all the money that Giuliani, the former attorney for Donald Trump and New York City mayor, raised in the fund.The fund was intended to help Giuliani pay for lawyers in the Georgia election interference case — where Trump is a co-defendant — and in a civil defamation case that Giuliani lost, brought by two Georgia…

DETROIT – Skyrocketing auto insurance costs helped contribute to inflation accelerating at a faster-than-expected pace in March and are adding to the ever more expensive costs for U.S. vehicle owners.On a monthly basis, car insurance prices as part of the consumer price index rose by 2.6%, the year-over-year increase to 22.2%, according to data released Wednesday. The CPI index is a key inflation gauge and is a broad measure of goods and service costs across the economy.Auto insurance costs have been on the rise for some time, growing every month as part of the CPI since December 2021. Since then,…

Bilt Rewards, a company that allows Americans to be rewarded for paying their rent, on Wednesday announced a $200 million equity investment, which thrusts the company’s valuation to $3.1 billion as business heavyweight Ken Chenault and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell were added to its board.  The investment, led by General Catalyst, also has significant contributions by Eldridge, along with existing investors Left Lane Capital, Camber Creek and Prosus Ventures.”This capital raise and the addition of industry titans like Ken Chenault and Roger Goodell to our board are a testament to Bilt’s innovative vision. We’re not just building a loyalty program; we’re…