By Chris Farrell, Next Avenue Mention college and the conversation swiftly turns to student loans — with good reason. The current loan-based system to pay for postsecondary education is failing too many students, including a surprisingly large number of debtors nearing or in their retirement years. For one thing, $1.6…

Mortgage rates jumped markedly this week, sending demand down for a second straight week. Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage surged to 6.32% from last week’s reading of 6.12%. The average rate on a 30-year loan was…

A measure of wholesale prices showed no change in September, pointing to a continued easing in inflation, the Labor Department reported Friday.The producer price index, which measures what producers get for their goods and services, was flat for the month and up 1.8% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by…

France’s newly-installed government on Thursday presented a draft budget containing 60 billion euros ($65.6 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts, as analysts warned the package may not be enough to stave off ratings downgrades for the economy.The 2025 budget features a greater focus on tax-raising measures than some were…

Several hundred “underperforming” 7-Eleven locations across North America are closing, the convenience store announced. Seven & I Holdings, the chain’s Japan-based parent company, revealed in an earnings report Thursday that 444 locations of 7-Eleven are shutting down because of a variety of issues, including slowing sales, declining traffic, inflationary pressures…

Fellow Investors, The third quarter of 2024 has ended, and our portfolio increased by 2.5% despite substantial volatility over the past three months. We continue to seek superior returns by focusing on “off the beaten path” investments in small companies. To this end, if you were to fully acquire every…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors from the 1945 attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.The grassroots group was awarded the prize on…

At last month’s presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed violent migrant gangs were “taking over” Aurora, Colorado, amplifying and exaggerating a disputed rumor his supporters had spread across the internet in the days leading up to his nationally televised face-off with Kamala Harris. Now, the former president is set to hold…

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, also known as MPPP, MP3 or M3P, is a brand-new program that will take effect on January 1, 2025, the same day as the $2,000 cap on Part D out-of-pocket drug costs. The MPPP is like an installment payment plan for those who have Part…

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation, increased 0.2% in September, a similar increase consumers saw in August and July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the index increased 2.4%, the lowest yearly increase since February 2021. A rise in food and…