Author: insighter

The Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting Tuesday amid signs that inflation is not only sticky but also ticking back up, despite rates hovering at the highest level since 2001. The central is expected to hold rates steady at 5.25%-5.5%, where they have been since July, but commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be particularly scrutinized. That’s after his speech earlier this month, when he largely shut down hopes for rate cuts anytime soon. “Right now, given the strength of the labor market and progress on inflation so far, it’s appropriate to allow restrictive policy further time to work,”…

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Meredith Tabbone first decided to buy and renovate a cheap home in Italy to reconnect with her family history. More than four years and nearly half a million dollars later, her 1-euro home journey has given her a new perspective on work, life, friendships and happiness. Tabbone, 44, is a financial advisor in Chicago. In 2019, she learned about a town in Italy, Sambuca di Sicilia, that was auctioning off abandoned properties starting at 1 euro, or roughly $1.05. At the time, Tabbone was researching her own family history and realized her great-grandfather was originally born in Sambuca before starting…

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Illustration of a cybercriminal using a computer. Seksan Mongkhonkhamsao | Moment | Getty Images A huge fraud website used by thousands of criminals to trick people into handing over personal information such as email addresses, passwords and bank details, has been infiltrated by international police. Britain’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement Thursday that the website, called LabHost, was used by 2,000 criminals to steal users’ personal details. Police have so far identified just under 70,000 individual U.K. victims who entered their details onto a website linked to LabHost. A total of 37 suspects have been arrested so far, according…

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Imagine coming to work one morning and finding your business has burned to the ground, or that your partner has fired you – twice; or you have to choose between keeping your engagement ring or making payroll. What would you do? Would you risk it all, or play it safe? Meet The Unshakeables—the new podcast from Chase for Business that features business clients and their make-or-break moments. Co-hosted by Chase for Business CEO, Ben Walter, and Tanya Nebo, a lawyer and consultant with Nebo Law, The Unshakeables takes a deep dive into the entrepreneurial journeys of business owners—from mom-and-pop coffee…

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The massive volumes of debt piling up around the globe forced the president of the World Economic Forum to reach back more than 200 years for a comparable period. In an interview Sunday with CNBC at a WEF conference in Saudi Arabia, Borge Brende warned overall debt is approaching the world’s total economic output. “We haven’t seen this kind of debt since the Napoleonic Wars,” he said. “We’re getting close to 100% of global GDP in debt.” According to the International Monetary Fund last year, global public debt hit $91 trillion, or 92% of GDP, by the end of 2022.…

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Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15, 2023. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images Creditors want to force Rudy Giuliani to sell his $3.5 million Florida condo to help pay his significant debts, according to a court document filed on Friday. The former New York City mayor filed for bankruptcy protection in December, citing myriad unpaid debts including a $148 million payment to two Georgia election poll workers who he falsely claimed had tampered with the 2020 election ballots while he…

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There are few people in the world better at Instagram than Selena Gomez. The actor, singer and entrepreneur is the most-followed woman on the platform, with a staggering 429 million users following her account. But in a recent appearance at the 2024 TIME 100 Summit, the 31-year-old said getting off of the app was one of the best things she ever did. The “Spring Breakers” star said during the panel discussion that taking an extended break from Instagram was helpful for her mental health. “I took four years off of Instagram and I let my team post for me,” she…

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Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk made an unannounced trip to China on Sunday and met Premier Li Qiang, a week after postponing a visit to India to handle pressing issues at the automaker. China’s No. 2 official met Musk in Beijing just hours after he touched down in the city. Li said the nation is always open to foreign companies, adding that Tesla is a successful example of China-US trade cooperation, according to China Central Television. Musk’s latest China visit comes during a volatile time for Tesla, with slowing EV sales prompting a cost-cutting drive and the reduction of more…

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Investing in semiconductors may be the most efficient way to play the artificial intelligence boom, according to VanEck’s CEO. “Semiconductors have become the heart of the AI trade,” Jan van Eck told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. His firm’s VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which tracks 25 of the biggest chipmakers in the country, is up 21% this year as of Wednesday’s close. However, SMH has fallen nearly 6% this month, led to the downside by Intel, AMD and On Semiconductor. The fund’s top holding, Nvidia, has seen its shares surge nearly 70% this year amid soaring demand for its AI…

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To work in nature conservation is to battle a headwind of bad news. When the overwhelming picture indicates the natural world is in decline, is there any room for optimism? Well, our new global study has some good news: we provide the strongest evidence to date that nature conservation efforts are not only effective, but that when they do work, they often really work. Trends in nature conservation tend to be measured in terms of “biodiversity” – that is, the variety among living organisms from genes to ecosystems. We treasure biodiversity not only for how it enriches society and culture,…

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