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Every week or so, I bank some personal finance nuggets that don’t make it into my Yahoo Finance columns. So now — and in weeks to come — I’ll be clearing out my notebook. Here we go: Private equity comes to your 401(k)? BlackRock (BLK) announced this week that it’s launching a target-date fund that will consist of private credit, private equity, and other investments, aiming to increase the annual return an extra 0.5% — and roughly 15% more money in your 401(k) over a 40-year lifecycle of a target date solution. Invest in Gold Powered by Money.com – Yahoo…

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Share Copy Link   Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday claimed he would’ve lowered interest rates if it weren’t for President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Since his announcement of sweeping tariffs with all U.S. trade partners, Trump has been intensely focused on the interest rates of America’s treasury bonds. Not long after Trump revealed those tariffs, the interest rates saw sharp increases. In response to those increases, Trump has demanded that Powell simply lower the interest rates. Despite a barrage of insults and threats to have him fired, Powell has stood firm and maintained the rates as is. On Tuesday,…

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Personal loans provide a crucial lifeline to aspirational borrowers, especially when they are faced with difficulties and economic challenges in day-to-day life.Personal loans are credit tools that assist borrowers in securing funds for meeting essential financial targets such as surgery costs, education expenses, indispensable house renovation, and other similar unavoidable tasks.Growth slows, but demand remainsAccording to a report by PTI, personal loan growth slowed to 6% in Q4 FY25, a dip from previous years’ double-digit figures. This moderation is seen as a clear sign of growing borrower caution and tighter norms adopted by lenders to primarily facilitate credit discipline. This…

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China’s electric vehicle (EV) maker Leapmotor has signed a carbon credit transfer agreement with Italy’s Stellantis. The plan sees Stellantis buying CO₂ credits from Leapmotor, which can generate these credits through producing and selling zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The deal reflects how EV manufacturers are not only cutting emissions but also earning revenue by selling tradable carbon credits. Let’s uncover how. Trading Carbon and Cars: Inside the Leapmotor-Stellantis Deal In a strategic move, Leapmotor announced that its subsidiary Leapmotor Power has signed a carbon credit transfer agreement with Stellantis units in China. The deal allows Stellantis’ Chinese units to purchase carbon…

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An opportunity is taking shape within the world of tax-free bonds – and it may offer investors some outperformance if they’re careful. Municipal bonds are beloved by high income investors as they spin off interest income that’s free of federal taxes. They’re also tax-exempt on a state basis if the investor resides in the issuing state – a feature that can provide meaningful savings in high-tax locales like New York and California, where top income tax rates are 10.9% and 13.3%, respectively. Retail investors have also been jumping into the space as of late, with Vanguard’s Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEB)…

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Argentina is trying to position itself as a global hub for clean energy, attracting private investment in lithium mining while marketing new battery factories in the region.The World Bank has framed some of the lithium projects it backs as “climate action” that will help advance the clean energy transition.But critics say lithium mining is hurting local and Indigenous communities and depleting freshwater resources.The race to buy up private land for lithium mining has also allowed an influx of international corporations that may contribute to increased carbon emissions rather than help lower them, critics point out.See All Key Ideas …

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The cost for a gallon of gasoline in California is going up — but whether it’s increasing just a little bit or an awful lot is a hot-button political topic. One price bump is definitive, and it went into effect Tuesday. July 1 marked the start of the new fiscal year and the state’s gasoline excise tax ticked up from 59.6 cents to 61.2 cents, an increase of 1.6 cents per gallon. As per Senate Bill 1, which the Legislature in Sacramento passed and then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2017, the excise tax on motor vehicle fuels gets…

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Meta Platforms—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—signed a major deal to secure 791 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from Invenergy. This brings Meta’s total clean energy procurement from Invenergy to 1,800 MW, supporting the company’s net-zero goals and expanding data center and AI operations. The new agreement includes four projects: 300 MW Yellow Wood Solar (Ohio) 140 MW Pleasant Prairie Solar (Ohio) 155 MW Decoy Solar (Arkansas) 196 MW Seaway Wind (Texas) All projects are scheduled to go live between 2027 and 2028. While the electricity flows into the local grid, Meta receives clean energy credits to meet…

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The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is back at an all-time high for the first time since February as optimism around Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and fading fears of tariffs have driven stocks higher. In the final full trading week of June, the S&P 500 rose 3.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose more than 4.1%. Both indexes ended the week at all-time highs. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added about 3.8%. The June jobs report will headline the first week of July. Fresh readings on job openings and wage data, as well as manufacturing and services activity, will…

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