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MONEY & MARKETS

The Social Security trust fund deadline just moved up one quarter

Jul 13, 2026

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1 min read

The Social Security trust fund deadline just moved up one quarter

Last month the Trustees moved the deadline up yet again. The average retiree loses $458 a month the moment it happens.

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COST OF LIVING

In 2019, the mortgage payment was $1,072. Today it's $2,155.

Jul 7, 2026

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1 min read

In 2019, the mortgage payment was $1,072. Today it's $2,155.

That's the 30-year tab for buying today versus buying in 2019. Same loan type. Very different era.

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PEOPLE & SOCIETY

4 in 10 working-age Americans aren't even in the labor force

Jul 6, 2026

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1 min read

4 in 10 working-age Americans aren't even in the labor force

Not laid off. Not between jobs. They just stopped looking, and the count stopped with them.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

Canada and Mexico dwarf China in U.S. trade — by nearly 4 to 1

Jul 3, 2026

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1 min read

Canada and Mexico dwarf China in U.S. trade — by nearly 4 to 1

That $1.59 trillion covers auto parts, Canadian oil, and a huge share of the fresh food on store shelves — all of it now under annual review.

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MONEY & MARKETS

Three months ago your portfolio was bleeding. Then Q2 happened.

Jul 2, 2026

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1 min read

Three months ago your portfolio was bleeding. Then Q2 happened.

If you held through the Q1 selloff, those 90 days handed you more than a typical full year of returns.

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COST OF LIVING

What your AC will cost before you run it

Jul 1, 2026

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2 min read

What your AC will cost before you run it

The estimate came out before the heat dome did.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

49.5: consumer confidence lower than any point during COVID

Jun 30, 2026

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1 min read

49.5: consumer confidence lower than any point during COVID

The University of Michigan has run this survey for 74 years. It has never looked like this.

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COST OF LIVING

Your July 4th cookout costs $21 more than the 2019 version

Jun 29, 2026

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1 min read

Your July 4th cookout costs $21 more than the 2019 version

Ground beef is up 5.5% from last year and buns jumped 7.7% — here's where the extra $21 went.

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GOVERNMENT & POWER

Jun 26, 2026

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1 min read

What the Pentagon said six weeks ago

Your senators are being asked to vote on a figure almost three times what their colleagues heard in May.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

Real wages just hit -0.7% — in February they were +1.3%

Jun 25, 2026

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1 min read

Real wages just hit -0.7% — in February they were +1.3%

A two-percentage-point swing in ninety days — the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed it this morning.

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GOVERNMENT & POWER

$500 a month — the projected Social Security cut when the trust fund hits zero

Jun 24, 2026

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1 min read

$500 a month — the projected Social Security cut when the trust fund hits zero

The 2026 Trustees Report has a date, a percentage, and a monthly dollar figure — and every one of them is worse than last year's report.

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PROPERTY & RIGHTS

What your house has been doing while you slept

Jun 23, 2026

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1 min read

What your house has been doing while you slept

The Fed put the new figure out on the 11th.

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MONEY & MARKETS

$3,820 — the real cost of keeping $100,000 in your savings account last year

Jun 22, 2026

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1 min read

$3,820 — the real cost of keeping $100,000 in your savings account last year

CPI just hit its highest reading since April 2023. That's the number your interest rate has to beat — and isn't.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

109 days: the Strait of Hormuz closed, and 20 million barrels a day went to zero

Jun 19, 2026

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1 min read

109 days: the Strait of Hormuz closed, and 20 million barrels a day went to zero

$4 gas, $126 oil, and 109 straight days of zero flow through the world's busiest oil chokepoint.

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GOVERNMENT & POWER

The number that got buried while everyone watched the Fed yesterday

Jun 18, 2026

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1 min read

The number that got buried while everyone watched the Fed yesterday

At $88 billion a month, the debt bill passed the defense budget — and the Fed may not be done raising rates.

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COST OF LIVING

Your neighborhood's next build just stopped

Jun 17, 2026

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1 min read

Your neighborhood's next build just stopped

Builders pulled back the hardest since the lockdown.

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MONEY & MARKETS

Jun 16, 2026

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1 min read

What your grocer paid last month

It hasn't hit your receipt yet. It will.

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PEOPLE & SOCIETY

Jun 15, 2026

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1 min read

Three richest men, or just one

Page, Brin, Bezos combined — still short.

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PROPERTY & RIGHTS

The last time this happened, gas was 31 cents

Jun 12, 2026

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1 min read

The last time this happened, gas was 31 cents

American farmers haven't grown this little wheat since 1962.

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MONEY & MARKETS

Jun 11, 2026

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1 min read

The dollar just lost ground again

The Fed's target is half of this.

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GOVERNMENT & POWER

Jun 9, 2026

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1 min read

What 100 days of war cost your family

Moody's did the arithmetic. It's bigger than you think.

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THE ECONOMY & MAIN STREET

Where the hiring recession actually went

Jun 8, 2026

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1 min read

Where the hiring recession actually went

It didn't end. It moved.

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COST OF LIVING

Jun 5, 2026

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1 min read

The most expensive room in healthcare

Same procedure. Triple the bill. Depending on the door.

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MONEY & MARKETS

Jun 4, 2026

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1 min read

Gold just did what gold always does

Iran. Inflation. A Fed that might hike. Guess.

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GOVERNMENT & POWER

Jun 2, 2026

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1 min read

The biggest workforce cut in 70 years

And it’s not at a Fortune 500.

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