Author: Kaitlyn Collins

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three climate groups by the Biden administration, saying the government’s “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud are insufficient.”The order by U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan prevents — for now — the Environmental Protection Agency from ending the grant program, which totaled $20 billion. The judge also blocked Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else.EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the grant recipients of mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing and froze the…

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that housing cost pressures eased in February to the slowest pace in over three years. Shelter costs rose 4.2% from a year earlier in February, slower than the 4.4% increase seen in January, and the smallest 12-month increase since December 2021. On a monthly basis, housing costs ticked up 0.3% in Februarydown from January’s 0.4% monthly increase. “Shelter inflation remains in a disinflationary trajectory, which will be a welcome development for those hoping for further progress on inflation,” Jeff Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments, told Yahoo Finance in…

Two recent readings on inflation showed price increases decelerated in February — but within the details, economists see warning signs. Thursday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that its “core” Producer Price Index (PPI) — which tracks the price changes companies see and excludes food and energy — rose 3.4% from the year prior, down from the 3.6% seen in January. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed core prices rose 3.1% in February, the lowest yearly increase in core CPI since April 2021. Read more: From $5 eggs to insurance premiums, here’s where…

Consumer sentiment tumbled in March as the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and elevated price increases remain top concerns for Americans. The latest University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey released Friday showed sentiment hit its lowest level since November 2022. The index slid to a reading of 57.9, below the 64.7 seen last month and the 63 expected by economists. Pessimism over the inflation outlook soared again in March as one year-inflation expectations jumped to 4.9% from 4.3% the month prior. Just two months ago, consumers had only expected inflation of 3.3% over the next year. Long-run inflation…

Homebuyers are getting more relief from high mortgage rates, but not for reasons anyone would hope for. The average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.63% for the week through Wednesday, from 6.76% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data. The latest drop came after President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, and China and markets digested a string of downbeat economic data that sparked a selloff and raised new fears about a possible recession in the US. 15-year mortgage rates also dropped to 5.79%, from 5.94%. Despite the economic uncertainty, lower rates over the…

(Bloomberg) — Gold prices passed $3,000 an ounce for the first time ever, driven higher by a central bank buying spree, economic fragility worldwide, and President Donald Trump’s attempts to rewrite the rules of global trade by imposing tariffs on allies and strategic rivals. Most Read from Bloomberg Bullion climbed as much as 0.5% to $3,004.94 an ounce on Friday before erasing gains. The move through the psychological $3,000 level drives home gold’s centuries-old role as a store of value in turbulent times and as a gauge of fear in markets. In the last quarter century, the price has risen…

Listen and subscribe to Stocks in Translation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Inflation has ticked up again, and though the rate has decreased from its 2021 high of 9.1%, investors and consumers are warily watching renewed price hike risks. Computer Trading Corporation chief executive Peter Borish believes a selection of products he calls the seven C’s of commodities — coffee, corn, cotton, copper, crude oil, cocoa, and cattle — can be the key to monitoring inflation rates. “It’s an easy way to think about potential inflationary pressures, and it’s a set of diverse commodities,”…

Investors are hearing a lot these days from Trump economic officials about trade and DOGE and the benefits of falling stock prices — but not as much about things that could stop the selling, such as the push for tax cuts. That’s in part because tariff talk is perhaps drowning out everything else for markets but also because the slow pace of Capitol Hill tax talks has offered Trump’s team very little in the way of news to share. A recent example of the dynamic came over the weekend when Trump’s top tax evangelist, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appeared on…

urbazon via Getty Images Realizing you can’t pay your taxes can be especially stressful, but it’s a problem many Americans face. About 18.6 million individual taxpayers owed the IRS a collective $360 billion in back taxes as of 2022. Fortunately, you have options for dealing with a tax bill you can’t pay. To minimize penalties and interest, you’ll need to take action before taxes are due. We’ll walk you through what to do if you can’t afford your taxes, the consequences of not paying, and why so-called tax relief services are usually best avoided. When you owe taxes you can’t…

Nvidia (NVDA) stock briefly extended its decline on Friday as the AI chip giant’s market cap losses from its record high in January reached $1 trillion. A broader market sell-off coupled with fears of an overvaluation in the AI trade has sent the stock tumbling more than 23% over the past two months. On Friday shares temporarily fell to hover near $107 each, down from their record close of $149.43 on Jan. 6, when the company’s valuation sat just north of $3.66 trillion. Nvidia’s market cap stood at $2.6 trillion during Friday’s session as selling on Wall Street intensified. On…