MoneyPage 5 of 7

76 articles

Economy, markets, debt, jobs, the Fed, and business

A New Paper Says the Corporate Bond 'Factor Zoo' Is a Replication Crisis: Most Factors Fail Once You Fix the Data

Alexander Dickerson, Cesare Robotti, and Giulio Rossetti argue that 108 documented corporate bond factors across nine thematic clusters mostly disappear once you correct for two specific methodological flaws: errors-in-variables bias from TRACE transaction prices, and ex-post return filtering that embeds future information in factor construction.

WorldApr 11

Tesla FSD (Supervised) Cleared for Dutch Roads — First European Country to Approve

Tesla Europe announced Friday that the Netherlands' RDW has approved Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for rollout, after an 18-month joint testing program. The decision triggers notifications to the European Commission and all 27 EU member states that could open a path to bloc-wide mutual recognition this summer.

PowerApr 10

IBM Pays $17M to DOJ to Settle First-Ever Civil Rights Fraud Initiative Case, Targeting Diversity Modifiers and 'Diverse Interview Slates'

In the inaugural resolution of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, IBM agreed Friday to pay $17,077,043 over allegations that its federal contracts were tainted by DEI practices that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called "repackaged" racial discrimination.

MoneyApr 10

March CPI Jumps 0.9% on Record Gasoline Surge; Core Inflation Holds at 2.6%

Headline U.S. consumer prices rose 0.9% in March — their biggest monthly gain in years — driven almost entirely by a 21.2% spike in the gasoline index, the largest monthly increase in the 59-year history of the series. Core inflation stayed steady at 2.6% year-over-year.

MoneyApr 10

Texas state unemployment fund starts borrowing from Treasury for first time since COVID, balance up to $299M in five weeks

The Texas Workforce Commission's unemployment trust fund took its first Title XII advance from the federal Treasury on March 4, 2026 -- the first time since the COVID-era borrowing was repaid. The balance has climbed to $299M as of April 8, averaging roughly $57M per week.

MoneyApr 10

Trump's new Section 232 tariffs now apply to full customs value of imports, effective April 6

A proclamation signed April 2 overhauls the tiered duty structure for steel, aluminum, and copper. The 50% base rate now applies to the full value of derivative products -- eliminating the metal-content carve-out that importers had used to reduce their tariff exposure.

WorldApr 9

Argentina Narrows Glacier Protections in 137-111 Vote, Clearing Path for $30 Billion in Mining

After 12 hours of debate, Argentina's lower house voted to let provinces decide which of the country's 17,000 glaciers deserve protection -- and which can be opened to copper, lithium, and gold extraction by six of the world's largest mining companies.

MoneyApr 9

Weekly Jobless Claims Jump to 219,000, Breaking a Downtrend the Fed Was Watching

Initial unemployment claims rose 17,000 to 219,000 for the week ending April 4, above the 210,000 estimate and reversing the decline to 202,000 the prior week. The data arrives two days after FOMC minutes showed officials worried about labor market softening from the Iran conflict.

MoneyApr 9

Poland Bought More Gold in February Than Every Other Central Bank Combined

Poland purchased 20 tonnes of gold in February -- nearly three-quarters of global net central bank buying. The Czech Republic extended its streak to 36 consecutive months of purchases, and China's PBOC to 16. Gold is up 43% since last April.

MoneyApr 9

$500 Million in Oil Futures Traded 15 Minutes Before Trump's Iran Post, at 9x Normal Volume

Rep. Ritchie Torres is demanding the SEC and CFTC investigate what he calls 'potentially the largest instance of insider trading in history' -- over $500 million in crude oil bets placed minutes before Trump announced a pause in strikes against Iran on March 22.

MoneyApr 9

Fed Officials Split on Next Move: Some Push for Cuts, Others See Case for Hikes

The March FOMC minutes, released April 8, show a Federal Reserve pulled in two directions -- officials worried about labor market damage from the Iran conflict want rate cuts, while others see oil-driven inflation as grounds for rate hikes.

MoneyApr 9

Credit Conditions Turn Tighter Than Average for First Time Since the Tariff Crisis

The Chicago Fed's credit sub-index has crossed above zero -- meaning conditions are now tighter than the historical average -- for the first time since the spring 2025 tariff shock, as the broader NFCI tightens for a twelfth straight week.