Author: News Room

The First of Long Island (NASDAQ:FLIC) is a bank with nearly 100 years of history and is headquartered in Melville, New York. Its recent history has been marked by significant challenges mainly due to the rapid rise in the Fed Funds Rate. In fact, in early 2022 FLIC was trading at about $22 per share; today we are below $10 per share. This is a huge drop, which occurred among other things at a time when FLIC was already far from its all-time high of $31 per share at the end of 2017. Certainly, the TBV per share has stalled…

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a $30 billion antitrust settlement under which Visa and Mastercard agreed to limit fees they charge merchants that accept their credit and debit cards. U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York Margo Brodie in Brooklyn said she was unlikely to grant final approval to the settlement and therefore denied the request for preliminary approval made by a group of merchants made up primarily of small businesses.The settlement was opposed by many merchants and trade groups, including the National Retail Federation. Opponents argued that card fees would remain too high under the…

President Joe Biden’s income-driven repayment plan hit a legal snag this week after two federal judges blocked parts of it that were set to take effect next week.  The Biden Administration introduced the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan after the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. The White House said that the SAVE plan could lower borrowers’ monthly payments to zero dollars, reduce monthly costs in half and save those who make payments at least $1,000 yearly. Additionally, borrowers with an original balance of $12,000 or less will receive forgiveness of any remaining balance after…

Mortgage rates reversed course this week and headed north of 7% again, following several weeks of decline, according to Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.03% for the week ending May 30, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That’s an increase from the previous week when it averaged 6.94% and up from 6.79% a year ago. The average rate for a 15-year mortgage was 6.36%, up from 6.24% last week and up from 6.18% last year.  The increase in borrowing costs comes as interest rate cuts fall further into the distance. The Federal Reserve reiterated its…

Roger Federer played 1,526 singles matches throughout his career and won nearly 80% of them. However, he recently revealed that he only won 54% of the individual points within those matches. To put it another way, one of the greatest tennis players of all time barely won over half the points he played throughout his storied career. Federer’s “It’s Only A Point” revelation came at his commencement address to Dartmouth’s 2024 graduating class and serves as a helpful reminder to investors: perfection is impossible. The stock market has had plenty of bad days and will have more. No plan, strategy,…

In a break from tradition, this year’s first presidential debate is being hosted by CNN, the cable news channel, rather than the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates.CNN has set out its own rules and format for the 90-minute showdown, which will air with just two commercial breaks.The candidates, whose microphones will be muted when they are not speaking, will be given two minutes for answers and one minute for rebuttals. Both candidates will appear behind a podium, and their positions on stage were determined by a coin flip — Joe Biden’s campaign won the coin toss and elected for the incumbent…

The Clough Global Equity Fund (NYSE:GLQ) is a closed-end fund, or CEF, that income-focused investors can purchase as a method of pursuing their goals. The fund does very well at this, just like most funds from Clough Capital Partners. As of the time of writing, the fund yields an impressive 10.50%, which generally compares pretty well to its peers: Fund Name Morningstar Classification Current Yield Clough Global Equity Fund Equity-Global Equity 10.50% Allspring Global Dividend Opportunity Fund (EOD) Equity-Global Equity 9.20% Calamos Long/Short Equity & Dynamic Income Trust (CPZ) Equity-Global Equity 11.05% Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Income Fund (ETG)…

Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. Borrowers with good credit seeking personal loans during the past seven days prequalified for rates that were lower for 3-year loans and higher 5-year loans when compared to fixed-rate loans for the seven days before. For borrowers with credit scores of 720 or higher who used the Credible marketplace to select…

Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.990% as of June 3, which is 0.010 percentage points lower than Friday. Additionally, the interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.125%, which is 0.250 percentage points lower than Friday.  With mortgage rates changing daily, it’s a good idea to…

Medicare beneficiaries need to know the changes taking place in in 2024 and 2025. The changes begin with the inflation adjustments for various Medicare features. The monthly basic Part B Medicare premium increased by $9.80 (or 5.94%) to $174.70 on January 1. The annual Part B deductible increased by $14 to $240. The additional Part B premiums paid by higher-income beneficiaries under the Medicare premium surtax (also known as IRMAA) rose by about 8%. The maximum total monthly premium is $594.00. That top premium will apply to individuals who had adjusted gross incomes greater than $500,000 in 2022 and married…