Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation. Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import t...
Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation. Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections. Continue reading...
Social Security is a safety net that helps older adults live a comfortable retirement. For many, it is their primary source of income. However, there are important rules that you need to understand before you claim Social Security and start collecting this important entitlement. One of the biggest issues to consider is the age at which you begin collecting, with 62 the earliest age at which most p...
Social Security is a safety net that helps older adults live a comfortable retirement. For many, it is their primary source of income. However, there are important rules that you need to understand before you claim Social Security and start collecting this important entitlement. One of the biggest issues to consider is the age at which you begin collecting, with 62 the earliest age at which most people can start. Here's what happens to your Social Security check if you start collecting as soon as you can. You pay into the Social Security system while you are working. When you retire, you can claim your entitlement and collect a monthly check for the rest of your life. The amount you receive will be adjusted for inflation over time, so the buying power of your Social Security check isn't eroded by rising costs. Social Security has been a powerful tool, helping older adults live healthy, happy lives after retirement. Continue reading
Maximusnd/iStock via Getty Images Jolted. The U.S. military campaign against the Iranian theocracy has roiled financial markets. As a result of the incursion, oil prices are surging and are up 90%+ since the beginning of the year and continuing to gain ground. The acute and sudden rise in energy prices has broken the calm of the post-Liberation Day stock market. For the month, the S&P 500 Total Re...
Maximusnd/iStock via Getty Images Jolted. The U.S. military campaign against the Iranian theocracy has roiled financial markets. As a result of the incursion, oil prices are surging and are up 90%+ since the beginning of the year and continuing to gain ground. The acute and sudden rise in energy prices has broken the calm of the post-Liberation Day stock market. For the month, the S&P 500 Total Return Index was down -5% and ranged -8% from high to low. From an ideological perspective, there is no question as to the merit of the mission; a world without a nuclear-armed Iran is a safer and more prosperous one, but for every action, there are consequences. For the financial world, the primary consequence is energy uncertainty. Iran, through the explicit threat of violence, has drastically decreased the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway used by Iran and neighboring Middle Eastern countries to ship a significant portion of their oil to the rest of the world. The threat is as simple as it is nefarious: traffic the strait without Iranian authority and risk being blown up by a drone. That narrow piece of the world is a significant global energy bottleneck. The IEA estimates that 20% of the world’s oil traverses that strait before reaching its final destination. In that context, it is easy to understand how the hindered flow of oil out of the strait has dire consequences for global commerce. The Probability Race. Markets are manic discounting machines, relentlessly tabulating the probabilities of almost everything happening in the world today, tomorrow and well into the future. Today, the most important calculations boil down to a probabilistic race – what is the likelihood that oil starts flowing from the Middle East again before a global recession brought on by excessive energy prices ensues? For now, as suggested by the orderly declines in the stock market, financial markets are placing their bets closer to the former. Additionally, oil futures marke...