Rohit Chopra is cracking down on big banks and Big Tech. Is he out of control?

In March, Rohit Chopra was invited to give a virtual speech at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school known for churning out finance-minded graduates who fill the rosters of Wall Street ...

Judge Pauses Albertsons’ $4 Billion Special Dividend From Kroger Merger

A Washington judge has blocked Albertsons Cos. from paying out $4 billion in dividends while regulators review its proposed merger with Kroger.   King County Superior Court Commissioner Henry Judson a...

India-Focused Payments Company Ebix Races to Raise Cash Against Debt Deadline

Payments and software company Ebix Inc. is seeking to raise cash to pay back some $600 million in debt due early next year, but time is running short as it awaits regulatory approval for a public offe...

State attorneys general sue to block Albertsons’ $4 billion dividend payout

The attorneys general of California, Illinois and the District of Columbia are suing Albertsons in an effort to stop the grocery chain from paying a nearly $4 billion dividend to its shareholders. The...

20 dividend stocks that may be safest if the Federal Reserve causes a recession

Investors cheered when a report last week showed the economy expanded in the third quarter after back-to-back contractions. But it’s too early to get excited, because the Federal Reserve hasn’t given ...

40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year. Why that’s good news.

Millions of workers are bouncing back — and making enough money to pay Uncle Sam. Some 72.5 million households or 40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, down from the pre-pandemic...

Why China’s party congress left investors feeling gloomy

Financial-market investors were craving economic policy guidance from the China’s Communist Party Congress, but when the ruling party wrapped up its twice-a-decade political gathering on Saturday to t...

Rethinking China: Xi’s Power Play Could Bring Down Stocks Even More

Chinese stocks have lost roughly half their market value, or almost $1.5 trillion, over the past two years. But the damage may not be over as investors reassess their China allocations after President...

IRS has been missing out on $500 billion in taxes owed annually — and the gap between what’s owed and paid is projected to widen

There’s a difference between the amount of taxes that people and businesses owe the Internal Revenue Service and the amount they actually pay. From 2014 to 2016, that multibillion-dollar gap widened, ...

20-year-old investor who made $110 million on a meme stock is now pushing for change at psychedelics company MindMed

The 20-year-old investor who found fame this year when he made $110 million trading shares of troubled retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY, -5.48%, has turned activist shareholder and is pushing ...

TSMC’s stock slumps after reported diss of U.S. chip efforts; industry downgrades also weigh on sector

Chip stocks lagged behind the broader market Monday following one report that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is pessimistic about U.S. efforts to build domestic capacity, and another that said...

Yellen warns of ‘dangerous and volatile environment’ as she pledges to bolster Treasury market

““We’ve experienced energy shocks, food shocks, supply shocks, persistent inflation in many countries around the world, rising interests rates in many parts of the world and we have seen some financia...

‘From Bambi to Godzilla.’ Strategist David Rosenberg skewers the Federal Reserve as he sees a 30% hit to home prices and the S&P 500 returning to an early 2020 low

The last time David Rosenberg shared his outlook for the U.S. stock market and the economy with MarketWatch, in late May, it was depressing enough. Rosenberg is the widely followed president and chief...

Nio stock dives below $10, Alibaba hits 6 1/2-year low as Xi’s power move fuels fears

The U.S.-listed shares of China-based companies were rocked Monday, as China President Xi Jinping’s moves to consolidate power fueled fears that current policies that have led to a slowing economy wil...

Residential housing demand ‘cratered’ as mortgage rates spiked, analyst says

Raymond James analyst Buck Horne lowered ratings on all of the home-builder stocks he covers, as he believes the recent “relentless” climb in mortgage rates has ensured a housing recession. “Interest ...

IRS releases new federal tax brackets and standard deductions. Here’s how they affect your family’s tax bill.

America’s high inflation rate will produce a 7% increase in the size of the standard deduction when workers file their taxes on their 2023 income, according to new inflation adjustments from the Inter...

IRS sets new 401(k) limits — investors can save a lot more money in 2023

People can contribute up to $22,500 in 401(k) accounts and $6,500 in IRAs in 2023, the IRS said Friday. For 401(k)s, that’s an almost 10% increase from 2022’s contribution limit of $20,500. For IRAs, ...

New IRS tax brackets and standard deduction could save families hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Now, for the bad news.

In a time of rising costs, the Internal Revenue Service just raised income-tax brackets through new inflation adjustments for next year. It might feel tough sometimes to link the IRS with the concept ...

This U.S. pension plan faces a bigger crisis than the U.K.’s

Could the U.S. pensions behemoth be hit by the kind of crisis that just swept across the U. K.? Don’t bet on it, says ratings agency Fitch. This kind of turmoil is “unlikely,” it says. We can only add...

Why Zelle moves twice as much money as Venmo and the Cash App combined

Zelle may not have its own clothing line or suggest emojis when you pay your friend, but the peer-to-peer payment service is moving serious money, and that seems to be raising eyebrows these days. Sen...

What bank earnings tell us about how consumers are doing with high inflation, recession worries — ‘It’s not a crack in current numbers’

For all the worries about inflation’s pinch and the chance of a recession, just-released earnings reports from big banks indicate the wallets of many regular Americans are generally holding up as they...

Kroger unveils $24.6 bln deal to buy smaller grocery chain Albertsons

Kroger has inked a deal with Albertsons to purchase the smaller grocery retailer for $24.6 billion. The acquisition will establish a national footprint “to serve America with fresh, affordable food,” ...

‘This is not QE or QT. This is none of those.’ Why the U.S. Treasury is exploring debt buybacks

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday said it plans to start talking with primary dealers in late October about the potential for it to begin buying back some of its older debt to help stave off mark...

Kroger and Albertsons Say the Merger Will Cut Prices. Their Shares Are Tumbling.

With inflation still an untamed threat, Friday’s announced merger of the grocers Kroger and Albertsons will spur debate about whether the consolidation will raise food prices, or lower them. The Biden...

There’s no rush to buy I-bonds

This week’s worse-than-expected inflation report led to turmoil in more than one market, but you only read about one of them. The market that got all the headlines was in stocks, since in the wake of ...

‘The mood has turned darker’: Desperate to outrun inflation, people are making big (and easy) changes to their habits. You can too.

We never were the same after last summer. Stubbornly high inflation rates in recent months and several interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve are impacting consumer behavior. That’s according...

U.S. Suppliers Halt Operations at Top Chinese Memory Chip Maker

BEIJING–U.S. chip-equipment suppliers are pulling out staff based at China’s leading memory-chip maker and pausing business activities there, according to people familiar with the matter, as they grap...

Americans are souring on the housing market and California is now giving residents up to $1,050 of ‘inflation relief’ — here’s who is eligible

Hi, MarketWatchers. Don’t miss these top stories. September jobs report highlights major shift in white-collar work — as Labor Department plans changes to jobs questionnaire ‘The old question was beco...

Sticking with your Medicare plan this open enrollment season? You could pay a hefty price.

Even Medicare beneficiaries happy with their plans should take the opportunity this open enrollment season to comparison shop — and review their current coverage.  Medicare’s annual open enrollment pe...

Americans are souring on the housing market. Home buyer sentiment hits lowest level since 2011 — and mortgage rates reach 7%.

There’s no respite for home buyers these days. From rising rates, high home prices, and an uncertain economic outlook, shoppers are finding it hard to jump into purchasing a home.  Fannie Mae noted th...

Exxon Improperly Fired Scientists Suspected of Sharing Information, Labor Department Finds

Listen to article (2 minutes) The Labor Department said it found Exxon Mobil illegally fired two company scientists over suspicions they shared information with The Wall Street Journal about concerns ...

Opinion: 4 predictable retirement problems — and how to solve them

​When modeling out retirement, people often apply rules of thumb for income timing. The classic one is the “​4% rule,” which many people now think is a bit optimistic as a “safe” withdrawal rate. ​Bey...