Finance
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We’ve now got the full text of the U.S.-Iran peace deal—and allies are appalled at the gains it hands to Iran
Good morning. On Fortune’s radar today: We’ve now got the full text of the U.S.-Iran peace deal. Allies are glad the war is over but appalled at the gains it hands to Iran. Markets threw a fit over Kevin Warsh’s first appearance as Fed chief. Europe’s Most Innovative Companies: See the definitive list here. Elon…
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The G7 just pledged to break China’s rare earth grip — there’s a lot of work to do
The U.S. and six of its allies are tackling their dependence on China and its effective chokehold on rare earth minerals. At the Group of Seven summit in France on Wednesday, the countries pledged to ensure that no single nation can supply more than 60% of rare earth imports by 2030. Issued by the G7…
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Kevin Warsh showed that he’s decisively not Trump’s ‘sock puppet’—and markets didn’t like it
Before Kevin Warsh stepped up to the podium Wednesday afternoon, no one really knew which one would show up: the hawk or the “sock puppet.” There was the young, spry and hawkish Warsh of 2011, a Fed governor who quit following the financial crisis out of protest over the Fed’s bond-buying. But in recent months,…
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How surging gold prices led to the biggest jump on this year’s Southeast Asia 500
As geopolitical unease intensified last year, central banks and retail investors worldwide piled into gold. In 2025, global demand for the precious metal surged 84% to 2,175 tons, according to the World Gold Council. Gold prices hit a record high in January, at $5,589.38 per ounce. Yet nowhere is gold’s gravitational pull more pronounced than…
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The affordability crisis is so bad that, for the first time ever, both mom and dad are working full-time in most American families
Fifty years ago, four in 10 American families survived on a single income. Now, the days of the single-income household are long gone. For the first time in U.S. history, the majority of all heterosexual households have two full-time, working parents. Now, both parents in more than half (52%) of heterosexual couples with kids under…
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Vanguard’s alarming state of retirement in 2026: The average American has $167,970 in their account—or they have $44,115
For 25 years, Vanguard has been keeping score on the great American retirement experiment. Every year, it publishes the most comprehensive snapshot in the industry of how workers save, how much they accumulate, and whether any of it will be enough. The 2026 edition is out. Spoiler: It depends on which number you’re looking at.…
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Biden’s flip-flopping on student loan promises made borrowers increase discretionary spending, and were 7.5% more likely to default as a result
When President Joe Biden announced in August 2022 the federal student loan payment pause would be extended one “final” time, millions of borrowers took him at his word. Then he extended it again. And again. By the time payments actually resumed in October 2023, some borrowers had gone years without making a single payment, convinced…
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Tokens are getting cheaper, but companies are spending even more on AI as a result, top economist warns
The ghost of a 19th century English economist may be haunting yet another part of the AI boom. In 1865, William Stanley Jevons observed that when the Watt steam engine made coal use more efficient—decreasing the amount required to a task—coal consumption actually skyrocketed. More than 150 years later, one economist is citing this phenomenon,…
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Kevin Warsh’s first Fed meeting sees rates hold steady and makes outright promise to deliver price stability—but don’t expect many details on when
In his first appearance as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh confirmed this afternoon the base rate will hold at its current level of 3.5% to 3.75%. Taking over the title from Jerome Powell—who stays on at the Fed as a governor—Warsh said: “Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace, despite elevated uncertainty…
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Sam Bankman-Fried’s pardon faces bipartisan pushback in Congress: ‘Keep him locked up’
Two senators don’t want Sam Bankman-Fried out of prison. On Wednesday, Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz), introduced a resolution urging the executive branch to ignore the FTX cofounder’s formal bid for a pardon. The resolution, which is not explicitly addressed to President Donald Trump, asserts that Bankman-Fried’s 25-year-sentence “serves the interests of…