Category: investing

How the Current Real Estate Market Can Affect Your Finances

The real estate market is in an interesting state right now. Home sales are slowing because of higher interest rates, but prices in some areas have yet to drop, demonstrating how much the current real estate market can affect your finances. Overall, the median existing-home sales price in January 2023 was up 1.3 percent from…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (Apr. 4)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose 29 cents to $80.71 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude for June delivery rose 1 cent to $84.94 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for May delivery fell 2 cents to $2.74 a gallon. May heating oil rose 1 cent to $2.67 a gallon. May natural gas rose 1 cent…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (Apr. 3)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose $4.75 to $80.42 a barrel Monday. Brent crude for June delivery rose $5.04 to $84.93 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for May delivery rose 8 cents to $2.76 a gallon. May heating oil rose 4 cents to $2.66 a gallon. May natural gas fell 12 cents to $2.10…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other (Mar. 31)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose $1.30 to $75.67 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for May delivery rose 50 cents to $79.77 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for April delivery rose 4 cents to $2.70 a gallon. April heating oil rose 6 cents to $2.68 a gallon. May natural gas rose 12 cents to…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (Mar. 30)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose $1.40 to $74.37 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude for May delivery rose 99 cents to $79.27 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for April delivery fell 1 cent to $2.66 a gallon. April heating oil fell 4 cents to $2.62 a gallon. May natural gas fell 8 cents to…


Choosing Between Look-alike ETFs and Mutual Funds

By Nellie S. Huang From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance When faced with a choice between buying shares in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and buying shares in a mutual fund that follows a similar strategy, which is the better option for you? “The choice isn’t always black and white,” says Charles Rotblut, with AAII, which helps individual…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (Mar. 29)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery fell 23 cents to $72.97 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for May delivery fell 37 cents to $78.28 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for April delivery fell 4 cents to $2.67 a gallon. April heating oil fell 11 cents to $2.66 a gallon. April natural gas fell 4 cents…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (Mar. 28)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose 39 cents to $73.20 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude for May delivery rose 53 cents to $78.65 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for April delivery rose 3 cents to $2.71 a gallon. April heating oil was unchanged at $2.77 a gallon. April natural gas fell 6 cents to…


How to Shelter in the Financial Storm

Commentary The banking crisis, which became visible to most Americans only with the sudden and unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) two weeks ago, has not abated. There are reasons to believe it will become worse. So, what should one do to get out of harm’s way? Is it possible to find shelter in…


FICO Changes That Could Impact Credit Availability

In 1989, the Fair, Isaac, and Company (FICO) established FICO scores. It provided an industry standard for scoring creditworthiness. It was fair for both consumers and lenders. Before FICO, there were many different scores with various calculating methods, sometimes including gender or political affiliation. Changes now are coming to the way FICO is calculated. You…