Specialized search for economics

12+ min ago (488+ words) The yield curve is an important barometer of economic health and market sentiment within the fixed-income space. While professionals use it to interpret expectations around future interest rates, inflation, growth and risk premiums, retail investors can also draw meaningful cues from its movements when deciding among fixed deposits, debt mutual funds or bonds. A yield curve plots bond yields against their maturities, with short-term securities on one end and long-term instruments on the other. The vertical axis shows the yield, while the horizontal axis represents the time to maturity. Under normal market conditions, the curve slopes upward, reflecting the typical expectation that investors require higher returns for holding long-term debt. In India, the yield curve is generally constructed using central government securities such as Treasury Bills maturing in 91, 182 and 364 days, and dated government securities (G-secs) ranging from 1 to 50 years. The…...

23+ min ago (1227+ words) Thinking about tapping your home's equity? Here's what a $50,000 HELOC might cost you each month based on current rates. With a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, you can use your home's equity to cover costs like renovations, education or emergency expenses. With Americans collectively holding about $17.3 trillion in home equity, a level not seen in decades, many homeowners now have more borrowing power than they realize. A HELOC's flexibility is appealing, but your monthly payment can shift based on your credit, loan terms and interest rate. Understanding how those factors work is key before tapping your equity. Here's what a $50,000 HELOC may cost each month and how to decide if this type of financing fits your needs. Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues Many factors affect your HELOC payment,…...

23+ min ago (1227+ words) Thinking about tapping your home's equity? Here's what a $50,000 HELOC might cost you each month based on current rates. With a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, you can use your home's equity to cover costs like renovations, education or emergency expenses. With Americans collectively holding about $17.3 trillion in home equity, a level not seen in decades, many homeowners now have more borrowing power than they realize. A HELOC's flexibility is appealing, but your monthly payment can shift based on your credit, loan terms and interest rate. Understanding how those factors work is key before tapping your equity. Here's what a $50,000 HELOC may cost each month and how to decide if this type of financing fits your needs. Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues Many factors affect your HELOC payment,…...

33+ min ago (729+ words) Mortgage rates increased today. According to Zillow, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has risen by 13 basis points to 6.10%, and the 15-year fixed rate is up 14 basis points to 5.55%. MORE: See our top picks for mortgage lenders for first-time buyers. Discover 8 strategies for getting the lowest mortgage rates. Want to refinance your mortgage before the end of 2025? Here's what to do. Use the mortgage calculator below to see how today's interest rates would affect your monthly mortgage payments. You can bookmark the Yahoo Finance mortgage payment calculator and keep it handy for future use, as you shop for homes and lenders. You also have the option to enter costs for private mortgage insurance (PMI) and homeowners' association dues, if applicable. These details result in a more accurate monthly payment estimate than if you simply calculated your mortgage principal and interest....

33+ min ago (443+ words) The following is a breakdown of CD rates today and where to find the best offers. Generally, the best CD rates today are offered on shorter terms of around one year or less. Online banks and credit unions, in particular, offer the top CD rates. As of December 6, 2025, the highest CD rate is 4.1% APY. This rate is offered by Marcus by Goldman Sachs on its 14-month CD. Here is a look at some of the best CD rates available today: Say you invest $1,000 in a one-year CD with 1.70% APY, and interest compounds monthly. At the end of that year, your balance would grow to $1,017.13 " your initial $1,000 deposit, plus $17.13 in interest. Now let's say you choose a one-year CD that offers 4% APY instead. In this case, your balance would grow to $1,040.74 over the same period, which includes $40.74 in interest. The more you…...

33+ min ago (254+ words) Find out how much you could earn with today's savings rates. Interest rates on savings accounts have been falling, so it's important to be sure you're getting the best rate possible when shopping around for a savings account. The following is a breakdown of savings interest rates today and where to find the best offers. The national average savings account rate stands at 0.4%, according to the FDIC. This might not seem like much, but consider that three years ago, it was just 0.06%. Although the national average savings interest rate is fairly low compared to other investments, the best savings rates on the market today are much higher. In fact, some of the top accounts are currently offering 4% APY and up. Say you put $1,000 in a savings account at the average interest rate of 0.4 % with daily compounding. At the end of…...

36+ min ago (1427+ words) These days, gauging the health of the economy is almost like trying to figure out how Schr'dinger's cat is doing. Depending on who you talk to, the economy might be on the upswing or trending downward: It's showing promise but also headed for collapse. Approaching retirement with no savings? Don't panic, you're not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast) And at least some of the numbers seem to agree. A revision of second-quarter GDP saw a jump to 3.8% from April through June of 2025, which had previously been reported as 3.3%. That figure was a big boost from -0.6% GDP growth in the first quarter of the year, and one of the fastest paces for GDP growth since the third quarter of 2023. The GDP growth was driven by a slowing of imports and a greater increase in consumer…...

38+ min ago (462+ words) This wave of reductions signals a profound shift from the tight "low hire, low fire" environment that characterized much of the recent labor recovery. Announced job cuts during November "have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and 2008," Challenger's chief revenue officer, Andy Challenger, said in a'statement. The sheer scale of the announced cuts'totaling over 1.1 million'is the first time the annual figure has topped the million mark since 2020, putting the labor market on an uneasy footing. October alone saw a staggering number of planned reductions, marking the highest monthly total since 2003. While the number of announced layoffs doesn't always translate directly to an equivalent number of immediate job losses (as some cuts occur through attrition or are spread over time), the figure represents a dramatic increase in corporate caution and restructuring. This uptick in planned cuts is occurring even as the…...

45+ min ago (373+ words) Gold's record-setting run may be facing a sharp reversal, according to economist Henrik Zeberg, who warned the metal is on the verge of a major downturn. His latest analysis argues that the momentum behind gold's 2025 surge is weakening rapidly, with technical indicators now pointing to a sizable correction ahead, he said in an X post on December 6. Zeberg warned that gold is "about to fall over the cliff in a very big way," noting that the narrative of rising inflation expectations can no longer sustain prices at current elevated levels. The warning comes as gold trades near historic highs above $4,200 per ounce, driven earlier this year by aggressive investment flows, central bank buying, and expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts. According to Zeberg's analysis, price action is unfolding inside a large, exhausted consolidation zone, with gold repeatedly failing to break…...

46+ min ago (227+ words) India's economic growth will accelerate to at least 7 per cent this year as fundamentals remain robust despite global uncertainties, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. "Fundamentals of the economy are strong," Sitharaman said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, adding that consumer spending was expected to stay resilient, supported by low inflation and recent cuts in goods and services tax rates. "We saw the growth numbers for the second quarter. I think that will sustain, and overall, this year's growth numbers will be 7 or beyond it as well," she said. Gross domestic product grew 6.5 per cent last fiscal year. India's economy beat forecasts to grow 8.2 per cent in the three months through September, India's fiscal second quarter, lifted by robust consumer spending and front-loading of production ahead of local festivals and punitive US tariffs. Global headwinds…...