Author: News Room
Mortgage rates continued their upward climb this week, further hindering demand in the housing market amid elevated rates and high home prices. Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage surged to 6.44% from last week’s reading of 6.32%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 7.63% a year ago. “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased for the third consecutive week, moving closer to 6.5%,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “In general, higher rates reflect the strength in the economy that is supportive of the housing market,”…
The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP, M3P or MP3) will take effect January 1, 2025. It will allow those who have Part D prescription drug coverage to spread the costs out over the year, instead of paying all at once. As with anything that is brand-new, this plan can be confusing. Because drug plan enrollees need to decide whether or not to enroll (participation is voluntary), getting a handle on how it will work is very important. The Medicare Plan Finder has a link on the plan details page to show what each enrollee’s drug costs would be with and…
A judge in Georgia has struck down a slate of controversial new election rules passed by Donald Trump allies, including two that Democrats say would inject post-election “chaos” into the critical battleground state. Among the rules Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox said violated state law are two that would require county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into election results before certifying them and allow them to “examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.” “The court here declares that these rules are illegal, unconstitutional and void,” Cox wrote…
The US has announced a new $425mn military aid package for Ukraine, as President Joe Biden tries to surge security assistance to Kyiv before his term ends and is possibly succeeded by Donald Trump.The new package includes air defence capabilities, air-to-ground munitions, armoured vehicles and other critical munitions, Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call on Wednesday. The funds are from the more than $60bn set aside for Ukraine as part of a military aid package passed by lawmakers earlier this year.Over the coming months, the US will also give Ukraine “hundreds of air defence interceptors, dozens of…
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX has accused a California regulator of political discrimination after it voted to block the rocket company from conducting more launches on the state’s central coast. SpaceX claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that members of the California Coastal Commission violated Musk’s right to free speech and overstepped the agency’s authority after members cited the billionaire’s conspiratorial comments on his social media platform X in denying the bid. The commission oversees development and environmental protection of the state’s coastline. It’s not clear whether the commission was ever in a position to block the project, and the increased number…
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading: Discover Financial — Shares inched lower by 1%. The financial services company posted third-quarter results that surpassed expectations, with earnings of $3.69 per share on $4.45 billion of revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG were calling for earnings of $3.42 per share and revenue of $4.35 billion. CSX — The rail transportation company lost 4% after third-quarter results fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts. CSX reported earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $3.62 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG anticipated 48 cents per share in earnings and revenue of…
Shares of Lucid Group dropped by more than 10% during after-hours trading following the electric vehicle startup announcing a public offering of nearly 262.5 million shares of its common stock.The announcement was made in conjunction with plans for Lucid’s majority stockholder and affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Ayar Third Investment Co., to purchase more than 374.7 million shares of common stock from Lucid in a “private placement concurrently with the public offering.”Following the transaction, Ayar is expected to maintain its approximate 58.8% ownership of Lucid’s outstanding common stock, Lucid said in a release.Lucid said the transaction is subject to…
The start of the Medicare Open Enrollment Period revealed major changes in the availability of plans and pricing. The biggest changes are in Medicare Advantage plans and Part D prescription drug plans. As expected, significant changes were on the way because of announcements from major insurers and policy changes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Revisions in the law also made an upheaval likely, especially in Part D plans. Preliminary data from CMS issued before open enrollment (which runs from October 15 to December 7) summarized the changes. There are 6.6% fewer Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug…
Geraldo Rivera explains why he is endorsing Kamala Harris Former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera joins CNN’s Erin Burnett to discuss why he is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and why his relationship with former President Donald Trump has changed. Read the full article here
