Financial Face-Off: Should you use your tax refund to buy I bonds or crypto? One of these options could get a 9.6% return. Let us explain.

Hello and welcome to Financial Face-off, a MarketWatch column where we help you weigh financial decisions. Our columnist will give her verdict. Tell us whether you think she’s right in the comments. A...

U.S. stock futures slip headed into big earnings week

U.S. stock-index futures fell Sunday, ahead of a big week of earnings reports. As of midnight Eastern, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -0.16% futures were down about 80 points, or 0.2%, whi...

Tesla stockholders ask judge to silence Elon Musk in ‘funding secured’ fraud case

DETROIT — A group of Tesla shareholders suing CEO Elon Musk over some 2018 tweets about taking the company private is asking a federal judge to order Musk to stop commenting on the case. Lawyers for s...

These money and investing tips are what you need when markets aren’t giving what you want

Don’t miss these top money and investing features: Sign up here to get MarketWatch’s best mutual funds and ETF stories emailed to you weekly! INVESTING NEWS & TRENDS Americans of all ages are fail...

Recession fears and the stock market — Is it too late to play defense?

Recession fears are on the rise as the Federal Reserve gears up to fight inflation. Many stock-market investors are already playing defense and may wonder if those strategies have more room to run. Bu...

U.S. natural gas is trading at an ‘insane’ price — Why it hit a 14-year high

Natural-gas futures on Thursday posted a gain for the holiday-shortened week, their fifth weekly climb in a row, with prices for the fuel settling at their highest in close to 14 years. The front-mont...

This is where property taxes increased the most last year — it’s not in California or New York

Today’s home buyers could be in for a shock when the tax man comes calling. In 2021, around $328 billion in property taxes were imposed on single-family homes across the country, according to a new re...

This is how much you made if you bought into the oil crash 2 years ago

If you want to retire rich, the late, great Dan Bunting has some advice for you. “Always buy the market (i.e., stocks or even just the index) after a spectacular bankruptcy,” my old friend Bunting, a ...

Honda to introduce a new CR-V Hybrid this year, followed by the Accord Hybrid

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. HMC, -0.85% 7267, +0.67% said Thursday it will introduce a new CR-V Hybrid model this year, followed by a new Accord Hybrid, as part of its electrification strategy in North Ameri...

A retired nurse lost $43,000 to bitcoin — watch out for red flags online

A New York retired nurse lost $43,000 of her life savings to bitcoin scammers, after transferring the money to them through a malicious computer pop-up – an unfortunate reminder to be vigilant when it...

Inflation is raging, but these 16 companies have pricing power

Decades of deflationary forces that helped feed booming prices for U.S. stocks are over, at least for now. But some companies are countering the trend, by a combination of holding down expenses and ra...

‘Please help!’ It seems like I have been paying my child’s student loan forever. How much longer must I pay it off?

Dear Quentin, It seems like I have been paying my Parent PLUS Loan forever. Someone told me that when my husband passed away, even though we were divorced at the time, I wouldn’t have to keep paying t...

Recession is `the most likely’ outcome for U.S. economy, says Larry Summers

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, whose out-of-consensus views about the risks of persistent inflation have come true, is reiterating his concerns about a potential U.S. downturn: He now says a...

Mortgage rates soar to highest level in over a decade — even wealthy home buyers are feeling the pain

Mortgage rates are soaring, and no one is being spared. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5% as of the week ending April 14, representing an increase of 28 basis points from the pr...

4 big expenses you should factor in for retirement

Retirement planning is part savings, part guessing game. While many of your day-to-day expenses will remain the same, there are big-ticket categories that can take a large bite out of your savings. Th...

Why the stock-market rally may be nothing more than ‘wishful thinking,’ according to Morgan Stanley CIO

Listen to the bond market. That is the advice from Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, warning that recent resilience in stocks could be “nothing more than a be...

Facebook parent Meta set to take nearly 50% cut from virtual sales — and Apple is calling it out

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.’s intent to take a nearly 50% cut of digital asset sales within its emerging metaverse is drawing widespread criticism from developers and longtime nemesis Apple In...

Costco to increase dividend by nearly 14% to 90 cents a share

Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, +1.67% said late Wednesday that its board of directors has authorized a dividend increase to 90 cents a share, from 70 cents a share. The dividend is payable on May 13 to ...

As mortgage rates climb, one big thing homebuyers should consider doing now

Is a mortgage rate lock right for you? Getty Images Mortgage rates will likely rise throughout 2022, many experts predict. Indeed, both Holden Lewis, home and mortgage expert at Nerdwallet, and Jeff O...

Here’s the playbook if the rest of the world breaks free from the U.S. dollar, says Credit Suisse’s monetary plumbing guru

It’s pretty well accepted that no one knows as much about the plumbing of the world’s financial system as Zoltan Pozsar, global head of short-term interest-rate strategy at Credit Suisse, who was the ...

‘The weight of this debt is crushing’: I’m 74, and a retired speech-language pathologist with a student-loan debt of $200K. Am I obliged to pay it off?

Dear Quentin, I have not seen anyone address student-loan debt for people over 70 years of age. I am a 74-year-old retired  speech-language pathologist with a student-loan debt of $200,000.  I’m on a ...

ARK’s Cathie Wood: ‘Private markets get it,’ but disruptive tech is beaten-up in the stock market

When it comes to valuing disruptive innovation, private markets seem to understand the opportunity better than the stock market, according to Cathie Wood, founder and chief executive of ARK Investment...

Three value stocks that can provide safety as interest rates rise

Stocks have been on a rocky road this year, as investors have tried to anticipate every possible move by the Federal Reserve to combat inflation. Value strategies have held up better than growth strat...

Procter & Gamble hikes dividend by 5%

Procter & Gamble Co. PG, -0.30% said late Tuesday its board approved a 5% dividend hike for its 66th straight year of dividend increases. The consumer products maker said it will pay a quarterly d...

The end of one-chip wonders: Why Nvidia, Intel and AMD’s valuations have experienced massive upheaval

It wasn’t too long ago that Intel Corp. was the unquestioned king of U.S. chip makers and the largest semiconductor company by market capitalization. It’s also not long since most computing was done w...

The silver lining of surging inflation: I-bond yields should climb above 9%

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –Want to lock in a greater-than-8% return with U.S. Treasurys over the next 12 months? Of course you would, especially given the higher-than-expected inflation numbers reported this ...

‘Calamity’ may be coming, stock-market setup similar to 1999: Jeffrey Gundlach

 A “calamity” may be coming for markets, potentially in 2023, Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of DoubleLine, warned Tuesday on stage at the Exchange ETF conferen...

As inflation hits a new 40-year high, 5 financial advisers on what they’re doing with their own money amid high inflation

Getty Images/iStockphoto The annual rate of inflation in the U.S. rose to 8.5%, which is a four-decade high, new consumer price index data revealed. Inflation hasn’t been this high since the early 198...

Citi upgrades Wells Fargo, cuts view on five other banks as inflation woes mount

Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz upgraded Wells Fargo to a buy, reiterated a bullish view on M&T Bancorp and cut ratings on five other banks on Monday. While banks looked poised for outperformance...

Toyota launches all-electric bZ4X SUV, starting at $42,000

Toyota Motor Corp. TM, -1.76% announced Tuesday the launch of its all-electric bZ4X SUV, starting at $42,000. The bZ4X line will have two grades, XLE and Limited, and will be offered in both front whe...

I’ve been paying my student loan for 37 years, but now I’m earning $11K a year

How to get out of student loan debt Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I have a student loan from 1984 that I defaulted on. I am 72 years old and have been paying through a deduction in my Supplementa...

2 things all the financial advisers I talked to told me — that I don’t like

How to find the right financial adviser for you. Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I’m about three years from FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) status and have been looking at placing a por...