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The US wants to get its hands on critical minerals — whether through a deal (now in limbo) with Ukraine or domestic production. On Tuesday President Donald Trump teased efforts to produce more critical minerals required for everything from semiconductors to aerospace and defense. “Later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA,” Trump said on Tuesday during his speech in front of Congress. Industry watchers point to more than 50 critical minerals identified by the US Geological Survey needed for nearly every type of modern…

Apple Health, KanCare, ARHOME, Med-QUEST, and Medi-Cal: What do these have in common? They’re all Medicaid programs. States, which administer Medicaid after receiving federal funds, often change the name of the program, sometimes even branding it to reflect state pride, such as Husky Health in Connecticut or SoonerCare in Oklahoma. They also change the name of the federally funded CHIP healthcare program for children, at times with cutesy names like PeachCare for Kids in Georgia and CubCare in Maine. Some Medicaid programs even have a private insurer’s name attached to it because many states farm out contracts to managed care…

Listen and subscribe to Decoding Retirement on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. If given the opportunity to do things over, many retirees say they would’ve made financial decisions differently. According to research by Olivia Mitchell, a Wharton professor and executive director of the Pension Research Council, a majority of the adults over the age of 50 that Mitchell surveyed expressed strong regret over insufficient savings. “A majority of the respondents said they wished they saved more,” Mitchell said on a recent episode of Decoding Retirement (see video above or listen below). “Only 2% said they…

The “Magnificent Seven” stocks were at the center of another sell-off hitting markets Monday. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT) all fell, with Tesla’s more than 8% drop leading the way down. Five of the seven megacap names saw drops of over 4%. The selling pressure hitting the Magnificent Seven comes after US markets suffered their worst week of the year as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell into correction last Thursday — defined as a 10% decline from its most recent closing high — and the S&P…

Mortgage giant Rocket Companies (RKT) announced Monday it agreed to purchase digital real estate brokerage Redfin (RDFN) in an all-stock deal valued at $1.75 billion. Redfin stock rose as much as 76% on the news. Rocket stock fell as much as 10%. In 2024, Rocket’s revenues were $5.1 billion; Redfin reported revenue of $1.04 billion in 2024. “For far too long, the homeownership process has been outdated and disconnected. Home search, brokerage, mortgage, title, closing, and servicing all exist in separate ecosystems, forcing consumers to piece together a complex and frustrating journey,” Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna told analysts and…

Labor market data released Tuesday was largely in line with Wall Street’s expectations, reflecting a gradually cooling labor market. Investors have been watching closely for any further signs of cracks forming in the US economy. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday showed 7.74 million jobs open at the end of January, an increase from the 7.51 million seen in December. Still, job openings in January remained near a level last seen in early 2021 and don’t include the latest shifts in the labor market, such as the start of significant employee layoffs. The December figure was…

February’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) will serve as the latest test of whether an inflation resurgence is a risk to the US economy as investors debate if and when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2025. The report, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, is expected to show price increases moderated during the second month of the year. Headline annual inflation is forecast to come in at 2.9% in February, just below January’s 3% annual gain. On a month-over-month basis, prices are estimated to rise 0.3%, below the 0.5% increase seen in January. On a…

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady when it meets this week, but investors will be watching for something else — any sign that President Trump’s policies are changing the central bank’s future expectations for the economy. The Fed’s latest round of projections released Wednesday will include the much-studied “dot plot,” a chart updated quarterly that shows each Fed official’s prediction about the direction of the central bank’s benchmark interest rate. The last dot plot, released in December, revealed a consensus among Fed officials for two cuts this year, revised down from four, as some were…

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang announced the company’s next-generation Blackwell Ultra AI chip during its annual GTC event in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday. In addition to the Blackwell Ultra chip, Nvidia also announced its GB300 superchip, which combines two Blackwell Ultras with the company’s Grace central processing unit (CPU). The chips are designed to power AI systems for customers ranging from hyperscalers like Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Meta (META) to research labs around the world. NasdaqGS – Delayed Quote • USD At close: March 18 at 4:00:00 PM EDT According to Nvidia, the Blackwell Ultra…

Egg sticker shock could soon be declining, but it may be a good time to get in on the shares of their producers. For the last three weeks, wholesale prices have been falling from above $8 for a dozen white, large eggs to roughly $4, per the latest USDA report on March 14. Over the past week, prices fell 39% from $6.85 to $4.15, though it’ll take time for retail prices to catch up. The drop reflects the “highly volatile” nature of eggs and that consumers are “responding to high prices by buying fewer eggs,” Texas A&M University professor David…