Homes in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, March 23, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images The immediate impact of the war with Iran on the U.S. housing market has been a sharp rise in mortgage rates. One day before the strikes began, the average rate on the 30-year fixed loan was 5.99%, according to Mortgage News Daily. It is now hovering around 6.5%. Higher rates have curtai...
Homes in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, March 23, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images The immediate impact of the war with Iran on the U.S. housing market has been a sharp rise in mortgage rates. One day before the strikes began, the average rate on the 30-year fixed loan was 5.99%, according to Mortgage News Daily. It is now hovering around 6.5%. Higher rates have curtailed what was expected to be an improvement in affordability. Not only were mortgage rates falling before the war, but home price gains were shrinking and the supply of houses for sale was rising. All of those favored buyers, who had been up against a tight and pricey market. As interest rates rose last week, applications for a mortgage to buy a home dropped 5% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But it's not just mortgage rates. Zillow had forecast a 4.3% gain in sales of existing homes this year, compared with last year. "While that of course would not be a strong market, it would represent a market that had turned a corner, with 2026 acting as a 'reset' year," wrote Mischa Fisher, Zillow's chief economist, in a report Tuesday. "However, new uncertainty has emerged via energy prices and inflation concerns, adding fresh complexity to our outlook." Fisher used the increase in mortgage rates, due to increased concerns over inflation and the "potential for a slight uptick in the unemployment rate given reduced consumer spending power resulting from higher prices." Get Property Play directly to your inbox CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. Subscribe here to get access today . Modeling those, he forecast that if the current scenario only lasted through the end of April, home sales would still rise 3.48% this year compared with last year. If it ended July 1, sales that gain would drop to 2.33%. If it ended Sept. 1, the gain would be 1.21%. Fina...
A weekly, midday program that delivers high-impact, editorially driven coverage of the most important corporate transactions shaping the global market. Today's guests: Goldman Sachs Head of Global M&A Stephan Feldgoise, Advent Global Head of Aerospace and Defense Shonnel Malani, Carlyle Global Head of Aerospace Defense and Government Ian Fujiyama, Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Erin Price-Wri...
A weekly, midday program that delivers high-impact, editorially driven coverage of the most important corporate transactions shaping the global market. Today's guests: Goldman Sachs Head of Global M&A Stephan Feldgoise, Advent Global Head of Aerospace and Defense Shonnel Malani, Carlyle Global Head of Aerospace Defense and Government Ian Fujiyama, Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Erin Price-Wright, JPMorgan Managing Director Mark Marengo, and Vinson and Elkins Partner Lande Spottswood. (Source: Bloomberg)
OpenAI warned investors that its heavy dependence on Microsoft Corp. for "a substantial portion of our financing and compute" could pose a business risk, according to a document tied to its latest funding round. Microsoft Reliance Raises Risk Concerns The company, which recently secured $110 billion in funding and is seeking an additional $10 billion, said its future performance depends on diversi...
OpenAI warned investors that its heavy dependence on Microsoft Corp. for "a substantial portion of our financing and compute" could pose a business risk, according to a document tied to its latest funding round. Microsoft Reliance Raises Risk Concerns The company, which recently secured $110 billion in funding and is seeking an additional $10 billion, said its future performance depends on diversifying partners beyond Microsoft, CNBC reported on Monday. OpenAI also highlighted rising compute cos
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to introduce a fuel surcharge on package deliveries for the first time, as rising energy costs add pressure to its already strained finances, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The planned fee, expected to take effect in April, would add about 8% to package shi...
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to introduce a fuel surcharge on package deliveries for the first time, as rising energy costs add pressure to its already strained finances, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The planned fee, expected to take effect in April, would add about 8% to package shipments and is currently slated to remain in place through early 2027, according to people familiar with the plan. Letter mail would not be affected. Private carriers such as FedEx ( FDX ) and UPS ( UPS ) have long relied on fuel surcharges and have recently increased them as oil prices climbed amid instability in the Middle East. Diesel prices have surged sharply over the past year, driving up delivery costs across the industry. The move marks a shift for USPS, which has historically avoided adding extra fees for fuel, residential delivery or weekend service as a way to compete with private carriers. Financial strain has been building for years at the Postal Service. Postmaster General David Steiner recently warned lawmakers that the agency could run out of cash within a year and urged Congress to ease restrictions that limit pricing flexibility. Much of USPS’s financial burden stems from its universal service obligation, which requires delivery to more than 170 million addresses six days a week. The agency has said most delivery routes operate at a loss, and a majority of post offices fail to cover their costs. In recent years, USPS has leaned more heavily into package delivery to boost revenue. The new surcharge suggests it may now adopt pricing strategies long used by its private-sector rivals. More on State Street® Energy Select Sector SPDR® ETF Avoid S&P + Bonds, Buy Gold + Energy - George Noble Oil Above $100: Why Game Theory Suggests This Spike Won't Last 12 High-Yield Oil And Gas Stocks For Income Investors In March 2026 Exxon Mobil tops Nvidia in valuation amid the...
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is working to develop climate models that will help prevent extreme weather events, part of a push to set up a public supercomputer that can use millions of data points to tackle national challenges. Mexican researchers will work along with Barcelona’s Supercomputing Center to standardize Mexico’s weather data to improve climate forecasts and early warnings, acc...
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is working to develop climate models that will help prevent extreme weather events, part of a push to set up a public supercomputer that can use millions of data points to tackle national challenges. Mexican researchers will work along with Barcelona’s Supercomputing Center to standardize Mexico’s weather data to improve climate forecasts and early warnings, according to Fabián Vázquez Romaña, the coordinator of the National Meteorological Service. While still in its early stages, the supercomputer has become one of Sheinbaum’s flagship initiatives. Named Coatlicue after an Aztec deity that was the mother of other gods and a source of energy, the project aims to give Mexico data-processing power equivalent to about 375,000 ordinary computers running at the same time. It will be used for climate predictions, energy planning and corruption prevention, among other issues. The government will spend 6 billion pesos ($340 million) on the supercomputer, which will reach 314,000 trillion operations per second — seven times more than Pegaso, Brazil’s largest supercomputer. Coatlicue will also have more than a hundred times the capacity of Mexico’s most advanced existing system, Yuca, located in Sonora, according to the government. Construction has already begun near Mexico City, though it could take at least two years, Estefanía Capdeville, director of global cooperation at the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, said Wednesday alongside Vázquez Romaña at Mexico’s consulate in Barcelona. For meteorological purposes, “the supercomputing is needed now,” Vázquez Romaña said. “We can’t wait another two years for everything to be installed in Mexico, he added, highlighting the need to move forward with the help of Spanish researchers. Gas From Texas Will Test New President’s Climate Goals in Mexico Mexico Seeks to Halve Permitting Time to Attract More Factories EV Startup Olinia Powers Up in Mexico Thanks to State Help Sheinba...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images By Ezequiel Gomes Gold price pushed back toward $4,550 on Wednesday, March 25, after a broad retreat in crude oil and U.S. Treasury yields gave bullion room to recover from this week’s heavy liquidation. The move marked a notable change in tone from Tuesday, with buyers returning once the pressure from energy markets, the dollar, and rate expectations began to soft...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images By Ezequiel Gomes Gold price pushed back toward $4,550 on Wednesday, March 25, after a broad retreat in crude oil and U.S. Treasury yields gave bullion room to recover from this week’s heavy liquidation. The move marked a notable change in tone from Tuesday, with buyers returning once the pressure from energy markets, the dollar, and rate expectations began to soften. Gold no longer looks pinned to the floor of this week’s range. Wednesday’s recovery lifted the metal away from the area just above $4,400 and brought the price back into territory where short-term traders start thinking less about damage control and more about whether momentum can extend. That leaves $4,500 as the first line that matters. Holding above it would keep the rebound credible into the next session, while a push through the intraday highs around the mid-$4,500 region would suggest the washout earlier in the week was more capitulation than trend break. Support now looks clearer too. If the rally fades, traders will likely watch whether gold can stay anchored between $4,480 and $4,500 before the market starts reopening the lower band that dominated trade on Monday and Tuesday. Gold price dynamics (February-March 2026). Source: TradingView. When the pressure points eased, gold responded The biggest shift came from energy. Brent crude, which had been feeding inflation anxiety and pushing real rate concerns back into the conversation, fell sharply on Wednesday and eased some of the macro stress that had weighed on metals earlier in the week. Rates helped as well. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield pulled back toward 4.32%, and the dollar also lost some ground, which together made it easier for gold to attract fresh buying after being knocked lower in previous sessions. The policy setting, however, has not become easy. The Federal Reserve is still holding its target range at 3.50% to 3.75%, so bullion remains in a market that can quickly turn less friendly again if inf...
One of the most divisive stocks in the market today is undoubtedly Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) . The company has seen tremendous revenue growth, but with that has come a valuation that has been pushed into the stratosphere. Let's take a closer look at this artificial intelligence (AI) leader to see if the stock is a long-term buy. Palantir started out as the brainchild of former PayPal co...
One of the most divisive stocks in the market today is undoubtedly Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) . The company has seen tremendous revenue growth, but with that has come a valuation that has been pushed into the stratosphere. Let's take a closer look at this artificial intelligence (AI) leader to see if the stock is a long-term buy. Palantir started out as the brainchild of former PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who believed he could deploy technology similar to that used by PayPal for fraud detection and apply it to help fight terrorism after 9/11. The company's first successful platform was Gotham, which was able to gather data from a wide range of sources and identify patterns and potential threats. Image source: The Motley Fool. Continue reading
Newly released records in the now-dismissed classified documents case against US President Donald Trump raise fresh concerns over national security risks and potential private business motivations, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said. The records, handed over by the US Department of Justice as part of the Republican-led panel’s investigation into former US Special Counsel Jack ...
Newly released records in the now-dismissed classified documents case against US President Donald Trump raise fresh concerns over national security risks and potential private business motivations, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said. The records, handed over by the US Department of Justice as part of the Republican-led panel’s investigation into former US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump, show FBI investigators said in a 2023 memo that the classified...
kodda/iStock via Getty Images The Iran war is shifting the landscape for U.S. energy including midstream, with global buyers likely to rely more heavily on U.S. liquefied petroleum gas as well as liquefied natural gas, Wells Fargo analysts led by Michael Blum said Wednesday, upgrading Enterprise Products Partners ( EPD ), ONEOK ( OKE ), and Kinetik Holdings ( KNTK ). Blum said he anticipates incre...
kodda/iStock via Getty Images The Iran war is shifting the landscape for U.S. energy including midstream, with global buyers likely to rely more heavily on U.S. liquefied petroleum gas as well as liquefied natural gas, Wells Fargo analysts led by Michael Blum said Wednesday, upgrading Enterprise Products Partners ( EPD ), ONEOK ( OKE ), and Kinetik Holdings ( KNTK ). Blum said he anticipates increased structural demand for LPG, with global buyers looking to lock up more long-term capacity from the U.S., which should drive additional LPG export expansions for Enterprise Products ( EPD ), Energy Transfer ( ET ), and Targa Resources ( TRGP ) and enable ONEOK ( OKE ) and MPLX ( MPLX ) to contract their 400K bbl/day Texas City export dock at favorable rates. Enterprise Products ( EPD ) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $42 price target, raised from $40, to reflect a higher volume growth forecast and likely growing demand for U.S. LPG exports. ONEOK ( OKE ) was boosted to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $100 PT, up from $81, to reflect widening near-term spreads and potentially higher volumes as producers ramp up supply in response to higher prices. Finally, Kinetik Holdings ( KNTK ) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $52 PT, up from $47, to reflect a more robust five-year volume growth outlook given accelerating Permian Basin gas and NGL supply growth. More on Enterprise Products Partners Enterprise Products Partners: My Top 10 Reasons To Buy Enterprise Products Partners: It Is Time To Say Goodbye (Downgrade) Oil Prices Fluctuate, But Enterprise Products Partners' Dividends Do Not