April 29, 2024
Loans

Energy Department conditionally approves $2.26 billion loan for huge lithium mine in Nevada

RENO, Nev. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration has conditionally agreed to loan more than $2 billion to the company building a controversial lithium mine in Nevada with the largest known U.S. deposit of the metal critical to making batteries for electric vehicles key to his renewable energy agenda. The U.S Energy Department agreed on

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Mortgage

Mortgage rates may be a bellwether for 2024 presidential election

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lori Shelton can’t fathom ever having the money to buy a home — and that’s a major reason why so many voters feel down on the economy ahead of this year’s presidential election. Shelton, 67, drives an Uber to help pay rent in Aurora, Colorado. An advance on her pay covered her

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Funds

Australia resumes funding for UNRWA and pledges more Gaza aid

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations that some of its Gaza-based staff participated in the Oct. 7 attack. The Australian government also pledged Friday to increase aid for the besieged enclave,

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Finance

New Bitcoin ETFs Are Raking in Cash But Not From Financial Advisors. Here’s Why.

The new crop of exchange-traded funds offering direct exposure to Bitcoin may have accumulated billions in new assets in the two months since they hit the market, but experts say that’s not because advisors have suddenly jumped on the crypto bandwagon. Most advisors aren’t permitted to talk to clients about the so-called spot Bitcoin funds,

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Loans

What to know about the SAVE plan, the income-driven plan to repay student loans

NEW YORK — More than 75 million student loan borrowers have enrolled in the U.S. government’s newest repayment plan since it launched in August. President Joe Biden recently announced that he was canceling federal student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the plan, known as the SAVE plan. Forgiveness was granted to borrowers who

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Funds

Retired Investors Can Benefit From Actively Managed Funds. It’s All in the Timing.

Many advisors are turning away from mutual funds in favor of exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts to build client portfolios. But not Jeff Leonard, founder and managing partner of Leonard & Martens, a 25-year-old Anchorage, Alaska, practice under the Raymond James umbrella with $1.2 billion in assets under management. Leonard has tried SMAs and

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Crypto

A cryptocurrency mogul arrested in Montenegro faces extradition to South Korea after a court ruling

A Montenegrin court has ruled that cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon should be handed over to his native South Korea, the latest twist in the months-long legal procedure that followed the arrest of the Terraform Labs founder in the Balkan nation last year By PREDRAG MILIC Associated Press March 7, 2024, 10:29 AM ET • 2

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Crypto

Bitcoin briefly hits an all-time high, less than two years after FTX scandal clobbered crypto

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has hit an all-time high less than two years after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX severely damaged faith in digital currencies and sent prices plunging. The world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped 4% this week and briefly surpassed $68,800 Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap. That’s just above bitcoin’s

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Loans

Assumable mortgages are easier to find in these cities — but there’s a catch

Assumable mortgages, or home loans that pass on their mortgage rate from a home seller to a buyer, are considered an attractive option these days: They effectively allow buyers to inherit a far lower interest rate at a time when mortgage rates are higher than 7%. And while these loans are relatively hard to find

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Property

China seeks ways to revive slowing economy and salvage property market as annual congress convenes

BEIJING — It’s clear that China’s efforts to build confidence in its slowing economy will top the agenda of this week’s meeting of its ceremonial national legislature. What remains unclear is how the ruling Communist Party can navigate toward stronger, sustained growth as China’s workforce is aging, relations with Washington are fraught, and housing construction

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