Biden’s latest mortgage assistance can cut your monthly payment by up to 25% While most U.S. homeowners have come through the pandemic unscathed, or even further ahead thanks to money-saving refinances at cheap mortgage rates, millions of others have had to opt for forbearance to put their loan payments on hold. A federal foreclosure ban provided them further protection. Now, those safeguards are falling away. Though more than 1.74 million mortgages were still in forbearance as of Aug. 10,… Source link

(Bloomberg) — Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Federal Reserve’s massive bond-buying program is resulting in a “bizarre” situation in which the government’s funding structure is overly focused on the short-term. Under its quantitative easing program, the Fed purchases longer-term Treasuries and the money it creates to buy them ends up in the accounts that banks hold with the central bank, in the form of overnight reserves. These reserves earn a rate of interest… Source link

This photo shows cars and homes destroyed by the Dixie Fire line central Greenville on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Plumas County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) It’s a great paradox that the two biggest stories of our time are invisible. COVID for one. You can’t see it. And that’s what makes it difficult to convince, say, 700,000 bikers at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota this week that they should socially distance, wear masks and get vaccinated. Of course, you do see COVID… Source link

(Bloomberg) — Initial public offerings are coming thick and fast in mainland China, with Shanghai set to host the world’s two biggest listings this year as domestic investors look past the government’s regulatory crackdown. It’s a different story in Hong Kong, a global center for IPOs that’s seen only one offering so far this month. International investors who use the financial hub as a window into China are increasingly concerned by policy risks in sectors ranging from technology… Source link

Amplitude Studios’ upcoming strategy game, Humankind, will be the first Stadia release to feature a new touch-focused control scheme when it comes out on August 17th, according to 9to5Google and confirmed to The Verge by Google. “Direct touch” is designed around multitouch finger inputs like a traditional mobile game, rather than the previous way you may have played Stadia on your phone, with a Bluetooth controller or gamepad overlay. The screenshots Google shared give a pretty good… Source link

The next Social Security raise may hit a 40-year record. But will it be enough? Consumer prices soared in June and July at an annual rate of 5.4, the highest since 2008. Steeper prices for gas, food, cars and countless other things are squeezing Americans, especially older ones with fixed, often modest incomes. But there’s a bright side: The spike in inflation could provide seniors next year with their biggest Social Security boost in almost four decades. In fact, advocates just raised their… Source link

Way back in January 2020, Sonos sued Google over patent infringement. Today, the streaming speaker company scored an early victory with the U.S. International Trade Commission. A preliminary ruling penned by ITC chief administrative law judge Charles Bullock finds that Google infringed on five patents. “Today the ALJ has found all five of Sonos’ asserted patents to be valid and that Google infringes on all five patents,” Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus said in a statement… Source link

OAKLAND, Calif. — Google infringed on speaker-technology patents held by Sonos and should not be allowed to import products that violate Sonos’s intellectual property, a judge said in a preliminary finding by the United States International Trade Commission. In January 2020, Sonos sued Google in federal court and in front of the United States International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial body that decides trade cases and can block the import of goods that violate patents. Google later… Source link

Bitcoin’s price rose Friday, back above $46,000 after dipping as low as $43,800 the prior day.  The largest cryptocurrency by market value was trading close to its highest level in more than two months, sitting on a 60% year-to-date gain after rallying from a low around $29,000 as recently as June.  A key threshold is the 200-day moving average of the price, currently around $45,000.  Related: Cardano Jumps on Signals Smart Contracts Coming Next Month “The 200-day moving average is… Source link

A man cycles through the snow in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. (Hazir Reka/Reuters/HR/ABP) As much of the Northern Hemisphere continues to bake in a year of unprecedented heat waves linked to climate change, one paradoxical consequence of rising global temperatures is that some areas of the world could become much colder.  A study published this month by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)… Source link