Author: News Room
You may not even be aware that there’s a Northern California city known as the Endurance Capital of the World. Yes, Auburn, with its Gold Rush history and landmark status has been the site of decades of epic events, such as the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, the Tevis Cup 100-Mile Endurance Equestrian Ride and the Auburn Triathlon. The former mining territory, once rich in gold, boasts natural wealth these days in the form of the Auburn State Regional Park with hiking, camping and whitewater rafting. Stretching along two forks of the American River, the recreation area bumps up against…
Social Security is routinely clawing back benefits it claims it paid by mistake over years if not decades. This policy is cruel and unusual. It’s based on Social Security’s despicable mantra: Our mistake is your mistake. It leaves 77 million Social Security recipients living in constant fear of having benefits received for years, if not decades, clawed back in part or in full. These letters come with no explanation. If you don’t pay up, your benefits are turned off. Meanwhile you’ve paid taxes on those benefits. Social Security doesn’t seem to care if you are surviving on the benefits and…
The Supreme Court has denied a request to delay $6 billion in student loan forgiveness and other student debt relief under an approved settlement, paving the way for the Education Department to continue to discharge the debts of hundreds of thousands of borrowers. Here’s the latest. Legal Challenge Tries To Stop $6 Billion In Student Loan Forgiveness Under Settlement The dispute before the Supreme Court is over an agreement to end Sweet v. Cardona, a class action lawsuit between the Education Department and student loan borrowers over disputed Borrower Defense to Repayment claims. The Borrower Defense to Repayment program can…
Businesses appear to be in favor of real-time payments, according to a survey by U.S. Bank, and a better payment experience is one of the top drivers. And they want to be able to choose which rails to use. “We are building intelligent routing,” said Anu Somani head of global payables & embedded payments at the bank. “Clients can come to us for a one-stop bank and we can connect to any instant payment rail that meets their business goals. In payment transformation initiatives planned for the year ahead, 53% want to improve vendor and customer payment experiences, 48% want…
(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve policymakers scaled back their expectations for rate hikes this year after a series of bank collapses roiled markets last month, and stressed they would remain vigilant for the potential of a credit crunch to further slow the economy, a record of the meeting showed. “Many participants noted that the likely effects of recent banking-sector developments on economic activity and inflation had led them to lower their assessments of the federal funds rate target range that would be sufficiently restrictive,” according to minutes of the March 21-22 Federal Open Market Committee gathering, released in Washington Wednesday. For…
LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s government has called on the armed forces to tighten border controls to curb the smuggling of state-subsidized fuels, a move it believes will save state coffers some $250 million per year. Keeping fuel prices steady, currently 3.74 bolivianos ($0.5452) per liter for gasoline and 3.72 bolivianos per liter for diesel, cost Bolivia $1.7 billion last year alone, according to data from state oil firm YPFB. The proliferation of subsidized fuel on the black market and its use in illegal mining and drug trafficking, “is bleeding Bolivia’s economy,” the nation’s hydrocarbons minister Franklin Molina said at…
© Reuters Zeekr launches compact electric SUV, targets European market By Michael Elkins Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr announced Wednesday that the automaker launched a compact, all-electric sport utility vehicle, as it targets a premium market in China that has been dominated by German automakers. The company also announced plans to offer the SUV-styled Zeekr X and its Zeekr 001 EV sedan in Western Europe, but would not disclose when that would be. With a starting price of 189,800 yuan (CNY 1 = $0.1454) in China, the Zeekr X offers features such as facial recognition to unlock the car and…
Series I bonds had a good two-year run at the top of the interest-rate heap, but the next 6-month rate that will be announced on May 1 is likely to fall so low that buyers probably won’t show up in record-breaking numbers. I-bonds are priced based on two factors: a variable rate based on six months of inflation data (from October through March) and a fixed rate that is less transparently calculated. The latest CPI numbers for March indicate that the variable rate is going to pan out at an annualized rate of 3.38%, down from… Read the full article…
Earlier this week, the internet was abuzz about a new type of home loan: a 40-year mortgage. Google searches for “40-year mortgage rates” spiked 450% — and searches for “FHA 40-year mortgage 2023″ jumped more than 2,650%. But the excitement was misplaced, because there is in fact no new 40-year mortgage. One mortgage lender shed some light… Read the full article here
Shares of General Electric Co. gained ground Thursday after bullish UBS analyst Chris Snyder raised his price target by 15%, saying the aviation, power and renewable-energy company is a defensive play in the face of a worrisome economic outlook. Synder said while the market’s valuation of GE’s GE stock may be “pushing near the upper limit,” his chief concern is geopolitical, not macroeconomic. “[GE’s]… Read the full article here
