Category: personal finance

Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold and Other Commodities (May 5)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for June delivery rose $2.78 to $71.34 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for July delivery rose $2.80 to $75.30 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for June delivery rose 5 cents $2.38 a gallon. June heating oil rose 7 cents $2.31 a gallon. June natural gas rose 4 cents to $2.14 per 1,000…


TurboTax to Pay $141 Million Settlement for Deceiving Taxpayers

New York attorney general Letitia James announced that low-income consumers who had been “tricked” by the financial software firm Intuit into paying for free tax services will be receiving millions in dollars as a settlement. The case revolves around Intuit’s TurboTax tax-preparation software. The $141 million multistate settlement with Intuit was announced last year. The…


ANALYSIS: Why Short Sellers are Winning Big on Bets Against Bank Shares

News analysis Regulators seized First Republic Bank on May 1 and sold off its assets to JPMorgan Chase, wiping out the bank’s shareholders and making First Republic the third U.S. regional bank to fail this year. But while depositors have been made whole and bank stockholders suffer sudden, catastrophic losses, short sellers in bank shares…


How to Have a Fun Summer When Your Finances Fall Short

With layoffs, bank closures and inflation, financial tensions remain high for many Americans heading into the summer. In a fall 2022 survey conducted by The Harris Poll for the American Psychological Association, 83 percent of adults said inflation was a source of stress, and 56 percent said they and/or their family had to make different…


How to Help Your Children Buy a Home

By Emma Patch From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Given today’s high home prices, many parents these days want to help their adult children buy their first home. One way to do that is through an intra-family loan that works for parents and children. You may be able to offer your child a lower interest rate than…


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

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for June delivery fell 4 cents to $68.56 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude for July delivery rose 17 cents to $72.50 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for June delivery rose 1 cent $2.33 a gallon. June heating oil rose 1 cent $2.24 a gallon. June natural gas fell 7 cents to $2.10…


What Happened to First Republic Bank?

On May 1, First Republic Bank became the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Its failure is second to Washington Mutual (2008) and just ahead of Silicon Valley Bank recently. The result was another disruption in the banking industry. Trouble was on the rise in February 2023 when First Republic’s shares had a 98 percent…


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

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for June delivery fell $3.06 to $68.60 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for July delivery fell $2.99 to $72.33 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for June delivery fell 11 cents $2.32 a gallon. June heating oil fell 6 cents $2.23 a gallon. June natural gas fell 4 cents to $2.17 per 1,000…


States Protest Biden’s Move to Hike Mortgage Fees for Buyers With Good Credit

Financial officers from 27 states issued a letter to President Joe Biden protesting a new policy from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that increases mortgage fees for some higher-credit borrowers while lowering them for more risky borrowers. This policy, which critics say will penalize people with good credit and encourage risky borrowing, went into…