The Department of Labor appears to be giving a bright green light to private equity investments and crypto options in our nation’s 401(k) plans. Both industries have long salivated at the idea of gaining access to the trillions of retirement plan assets, but there was always a tricky barrier: the rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, more commonly known as ERISA.

There’s nothing to worry about in this number: the inflation rate rose from 2.5% to 2.7% in July, which is above the 2% target that the Federal Reserve Board is targeting, but clearly far more moderate than some of the dire predictions around the tariff increases. It’s worth remembering that three years ago, during the aftershocks of the Covid epidemic, the consumer price index had risen from 1% to 9%. The economy has been (as the chart shows) recovering from that bout of inflation first quickly, now more gradually, and this appears to be a blip on the chart.

They tell the story of a group of young men in a far-off land who sincerely wished to become wealthy. Accordingly, they traveled deep into the woods to visit an ancient hermit who was said to have mastered the mysteries of magic.

When most people think about life insurance, they think about one thing: money for their family when they pass away. And yes, that’s important. But life insurance—certain types of it—can actually do a lot more while you're still alive.

The predictions about the future of artificial intelligence include two extreme views. One posits that AI will become a powerful, but tame servant of humanity, able to comb through the sum total of human knowledge to usher in a period of truth and prosperity. The other suggests that AI has the potential to become sentient, uncooperative, rogue and dangerous.

This past January 13, a week before the Presidential inauguration, the U.S. dollar was riding high. How high? Measured against a basket of other currencies, including the euro and the yen, it stood at 109.96—meaning, among other things that a dollar would buy more than a euro on the world markets—and imported goods and services were proportionately cheaper for U.S. buyers.

You have a little extra cash and you want to improve the look or livability of your home. How do you evaluate your options?

Schwab has identified a recent trend where fraudsters have been using Remote Access Tools (RATs) in combination with phishing attacks to compromise digital devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. These RATs are tools that are used for legitimate purposes—IT support for example. However, bad actors can abuse them to steal assets and data.

If you were a particularly nervous child, you might have been frightened by the idea that monsters could be hiding under your bed while you slept at night. Today, economists have a similar fear, but this one has a name. It’s called ‘stagflation.’

The so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ finally squeaked through the Congressional legislative process, sending it to the President’s desk over the holiday weekend. He signed it in a triumphant Fourth of July ceremony, making the various complex provisions the tax law of the land.

Following an awful first quarter that saw negative returns across the board, the U.S. investment markets staged a remarkable comeback, banishing (for the moment) worries about the risk of a recession, a slowdown in consumer spending and the uncertainty over trade wars and tariffs.

If you have trouble getting to sleep at night, one of the surest cures is to read the minutes of the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee—the summary of a group conversation among the economists who set policy every quarter, mostly to decide if fed funds rates should be raised or lowered. The prose is generally bland and somewhat technical, and rarely offers a lot of insights that most of us wouldn’t know already.

We’ve now experienced four months of a very bumpy ride in market returns. In February, the S&P 500 fell 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 3.9%. March: down 5.6% and 7.6%, respectively. April: down 0.8% for the S&P 500 but a small (0.88%) gain for Nasdaq. May: the S&P 500 jumped up 6.29% while the Nasdaq Composite surged 9.6%.

Investors appeared to be encouraged by an inflation report which showed an increase in core inflation of just 2.3% in March, down from February’s reading of 2.7%. Maybe the massive new tariff regime won’t raises prices after all.

The tax code we have lived under for the past decade was written as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which created the existing tax brackets, expanded the standard deduction, provided exemptions to the Alternative Minimum Tax and generous gift and estate tax exemption amounts, a $10,000 limit on state and local tax itemized deductions and created the Section 199A deduction for up to 20% of qualified business income for pass-through business owners.

Long-term market watchers no doubt find it fascinating how the investment markets are engaging in a surprisingly frank dialogue with the White House over the tariffs. Whenever the news involves a hardening stance on tariffs, the markets drop. Whenever there is a pullback or pause, the markets rally.

For as long as trade has existed, there have been duties, fees, levies, tariffs, or taxes that have been applied in all shapes and sizes on goods entering a country. Some folks continue to promote the idea that free trade exists, but it has never truly existed.

After two years of stellar returns, the U.S. investment markets have decided to give back some of their recent gains. We are not in bear market territory quite yet, but the risk of a recession, a slowdown in consumer spending and the uncertainty over trade wars and tariffs, has created some market jitters that are raining on the bull market parade.

The most eye-catching news making the rounds currently is the initial public offering of the Newsmax channel, which took place when the bell rang on Monday. The stock rose an astonishing 735% on the first day of public trading, and then rose another 60% on the second day. The investment bankers were asking for $14 a share in the initial offering, but by the end of the second day, some investors were paying more than $200.

It’s fair to say that the Trump Administration’s tariff announcements have not had the desired effect — at least, not immediately. The S&P 500 fell 2.7% on Monday after dropping more than 5% the previous week. Investors are clearly rattled about the uncertainty of waging escalating trade wars on America’s biggest trading partners, and there are additional concerns that the trade barriers being erected in retaliation could lead to a recession.