U.S. Market Close 10/22/2025

DOW 30  -0.71 -334.33 46,590.41

S&P 500  -0.53% -35.95 6,699.40

NASDAQ 100  -0.99% -248.13 24,879.00

Investors are biggest share of homebuyers

Key Points

• Real estate investors, both individual and institutional, bought one-third of all single-family residential properties sold in the second quarter of 2025.
• That is an increase from 27% in the first quarter, and the highest percentage in the last five years, according to a report from CJ Patrick Co., using numbers from BatchData.
• Institutional investors are selling more homes than they buy and have been for six consecutive quarters.

Real estate investors, both individual and institutional, bought one-third of all single-family residential properties sold in the second quarter of 2025. That is an increase from 27% in the first quarter, and the highest percentage in the last five years, according to a report from CJ Patrick Co., using numbers from BatchData, a real estate data provider. Investors accounted for 25.7% of residential home sales in 2024.

While the share of sales is higher, the raw numbers are lower. Investors in the second quarter of this year bought 16,000 fewer homes than a year ago, but home sales overall were much weaker this year than last year. That accounts for the gain in the investor share. Investors continue to own about 20% of the 86 million single-family homes in the country.

Read more at CNBC

Rapid US Non-Bank Loan Growth Raises Risk of Wider Losses for Banks

Fitch Ratings-New York/Chicago-20 October 2025: U.S. regional banks’ recent losses tied to non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) may signal broader risk from this fast-growing loan segment, Fitch Ratings says. While these cases may be fraud-related and idiosyncratic, rapid expansion of NBFI exposures increases the chance that concentrated counterparties, combined with weak underwriting, could pressure bank earnings and sentiment beyond individually affected banks.

U.S. bank lending to NBFIs expanded sharply over the last five years, per bank regulatory data. Loans to NBFIs reached about $1.2 trillion at June 30, 2025, nearly 10% of total loans, up from roughly 3% a decade ago. Growth averaged about 11% annually on a CAGR basis for the entire industry; however, banks with assets between $10 billion and $250 billion in assets grew the fastest at roughly 35% during this period.

Disclosures from Fifth Third, JPMorgan Chase, Zions and Western Alliance regarding recent incidents point to losses linked to borrowers in consumer credit or commercial real estate (CRE) mortgage warehouse lending. These losses highlight the interconnectedness between the NBFI sector and the regulated banking system, and that weaknesses in the former can create outsized earnings impact in the latter, particularly when exposures are more material for banks.

Read more at FITCH RATINGS

Visa and Paysend set the pace in the $290 trillion payments race

The cross-border payments landscape just reached a new velocity. Visa and Paysend have strategically expanded their alliance, deploying the Paysend Enterprise API to North American merchants.

The global payments race just got a major speed boost. Visa and Paysend are strategically expanding their partnership in a move that will powerfully change how North American businesses manage international settlements. By deploying Paysend’s Enterprise API across Visa’s network of merchants and collaborators in the US and Canada, the alliance directly attacks the decades-old problems of slow speed, high cost, and poor transparency in the massive cross-border ecosystem.

This is more than a press release; it is a critical infrastructure upgrade that embeds cutting-edge fintech capability deep inside one of the world’s largest payment networks.

The Technology of Transparency: Visa Direct Meets Paysend API

The power of this expanded service lies in connecting Paysend’s Enterprise API, which allows companies to integrate payment and payout functions directly into their software, with the global reach of Visa Direct.

Read more at BOBS GUIDE

Statement on IRS operations limited during the lapse in appropriations; regular tax deadlines remain: IRS

In-person services limited; IRS.gov, automated applications still available

Due to the current lapse in appropriations, IRS operations are limited. However, the underlying tax law remains in effect, and all taxpayers must continue to meet their tax obligations as normal.

Tax refunds will generally not be paid during this period with one key exception. For taxpayers filing a Form 1040, refunds will continue to be paid on electronically filed, error-free tax returns that can be automatically processed and direct deposited. The IRS urges individual taxpayers to file electronically with direct deposit to avoid delays.

During this period, the IRS will accept and process any payments and remittances received, whether received electronically or by mail.

Limited live IRS telephone customer service assistance will be available, however most automated toll-free telephone applications will remain operational.

Read more at INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Have a tax law question?

Our #IRS Interactive Tax Assistant has answers.

Watch this short video to learn more:

https://youtu.be/y6HkaBkdKdU

Jose L. Santiago

Public Affairs Specialist

Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education

Email: jose.l.santiago@irs.gov

Commercial real estate is finally embracing blockchain. Here’s what investors should know

Key Points

• Investors can already use cryptocurrency to buy commercial real estate assets. It’s blockchain, where crypto lives, that commercial real estate is finally adopting.
• Tony Giordano, founder of the Opulent Agency, explains the blockchain can hold billions of records without risk, including mortgage bonds, titles or deeds.
• Tokenization converts ownership rights of a CRE asset into digital tokens, allowing for fractional ownership and easier trading of shares in a property.

Roughly a decade ago, cryptocurrency began to show up in the residential real estate market. There were stories of the first bitcoin home sale, but really it was just people buying in the currency and then converting it back to dollars. 

Now crypto is being used more for leverage. Lenders like Propy are using it as collateral for both residential and commercial property loans, so buyers don’t actually have to sell their bitcoin or other digital currency in order to buy. They want to keep the crypto, because it generally appreciates far faster than the housing market. 

Read more at CNBC

Tax brackets are changing. See how much you'll owe starting next year.

The IRS has made its annual inflation adjustments. Calculate what your tax rate for 2026 will be.

If you get a raise next year, there’s a chance your tax rate won’t change thanks to new tax brackets recently released by the Internal Revenue Service.

And if you earn the same amount or less, your rate may even decrease.

The IRS usually adjusts tax brackets every year for inflation. This way, a household that reports nominally higher income — but not an increase in buying power — doesn’t tip over into a higher tax.

Read more at NBC

INFiN's 2025 MoneyTrends Conference

October 26-October 29

Contact: LeeAnn Thompson, Director of Member Services

lthompson@infinalliance.org

PrimaLend Capital Partners files for bankruptcy amid debt struggles

Investing.com -- PrimaLend Capital Partners has filed for bankruptcy after months of negotiations with creditors following missed interest payments on its debt.

The company, which provides financing to auto dealerships serving subprime borrowers, listed estimated assets and liabilities each below $500 million in court documents filed in the Northern District of Texas.

PrimaLend announced in a press release that it plans to pursue a sale of the business through bankruptcy court while continuing to fund and service loans to its borrowers. The company specializes in financing "buy here, pay here" auto dealerships that cater to low-income customers.

"No debt is being called due or accelerated as a result of this process," said Mark Jensen, PrimaLund’s chief executive officer. "We deeply value our dealer-borrower relationships and look forward to continuing to serve the buy-here-pay-here industry as we move forward."

Read more at INVESTING.COM

Middle school curriculum to include financial literacy in upcoming year - report

Students across Israel will soon study financial literacy weekly, learning key life skills like budgeting and saving.

Financial education will be introduced as a mandatory subject in all middle schools starting next year, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

According to initial reports, Education Minister Yoav Kisch updated district administrators of the ministry’s intention to incorporate an hour of “financial education” as a requirement at schools nationwide.

Students would be taught one hour weekly in middle school, but the specific age group is yet to be determined, according to N12.

Read more at The Jerusalem Post

Contact Chuck.Sockol@mcrc.biz to discuss your recovery needs

A Fed rate cut is expected and it may save you money. Why most don't care.

The Federal Reserve's expected to lower interest rates again on October 29, but most Americans don't seem to care much even if lower rates could ultimately save them money, according to personal finance app company WalletHub.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans feel indifferent or unhappy about Fed rate cuts, with 59% saying another quarter-point cut wouldn't make a difference in their lives, said WalletHub's online survey of 200 people between September 29 and October 3.

Those views may be surprising as another rate cut could save consumers billions of dollars, WalletHub said. Credit card rates would fall in tandem with a Fed rate cut and save credit card users at least $1.92 billion in interest over the next 12 months, it estimated. Meanwhile, the average APR on a 48 month new car loan should drop by around 0.12% in the months following a 0.25 percentage point rate cut, it said,

Read more at USA TODAY

Fintech Investment Remains Stable Offering Opportunities for Growth Outside of AI; Silicon Valley Bank Releases Annual Fintech Report

Increasing adoption of stablecoin generates positive outlook for the fintech sector

SAN FRANCISCO, October 21, 2025 – Despite promising use cases for AI, fintech founders are operating in one of the least saturated spaces for AI adoption, according to the 2025 Fintech report from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank. While AI has accounted for more than half (58%) of VC investments in 2025, AI-enabled fintech startups have accounted for 30% of total VC investment, according to the report.

Data indicates that while AI can offer long-term transformation, the more immediate impact of technology disruption is with blockchain, largely driven by increasing acceptance of stablecoins as a potential replacement for conventional payment rails. According to the report, funds with a cryptocurrency focus represent two-thirds of all fintech funds while total cryptocurrency market cap has surpassed $4 trillion.

“The fintech sector is showing signs of relative stability and potential. Investments are up, cash burn is down, profitability is improving, and revenue growth has stabilized,” said Nick Christian, co-author of the report and Head of National Fintech and Specialty Finance at Silicon Valley Bank.

Read more at SILICON VALLEY BANK

TransUnion slams single-bureau model for mortgage credit checks

The credit reporting agency affirms its ‘ardent’ support for tri-merge model

TransUnion, one of “big three” credit reporting agencies, remains all in on the tri-merge credit report requirement for loans backed by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In a study released Monday, the Chicago-based credit bureau said it remains “an ardent supporter of the tri-merge credit reporting model for mortgage underwriting,” arguing that shifting to a single-bureau model could exclude 4.4 million borrowers from qualifying for agency-backed mortgages.

“The data consistently shows that more information means more opportunity for homebuyers,” said Satyan Merchant, senior vice president of mortgage and automotive at TransUnion, in a press release. “A ‘single-pull’ environment creates significant risk that strong borrowers will lose access to credit while additional at-risk borrowers find themselves in a mortgage they can’t afford.”

Read more at Scotsman Guide

Your Health Insurance Bill May Surge Again in 2026. Here’s Why Costs Keep Rising

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• This year, health insurance costs grew faster than inflation and wages, with many insurers attempting to cover the rising costs of specialty drugs, such as GLP-1s.
• Many employers have indicated they expect to shift more healthcare costs to workers in 2026, as service and prescription drug costs continue to rise.

Health insurance premium rates rose this year, and the growing costs of health services and prescriptions are expected to push up premium rates again next year.

In 2025, family health insurance premiums through employer-sponsored plans rose by 6%, or $1,408, from last year, according to a recent report from KFF, a nonpartisan healthcare research organization. The average worker is paying $6,850 out of their paycheck annually for family coverage. Premiums rose by 7% in both 2023 and 2024.

Employers reported earlier this year that they plan to shift even more health care costs to their workers in 2026. Many employers say this shift is intended to offset increases in health care expenses and the use of high-cost drugs, such as GLP-1s. Experts also say that some actions taken by the Trump administration, such as potential tariffs on prescription drugs and Medicare cuts, could lead to higher medicine prices.

Read more at INVESTOPEDIA

Whether as a standalone store or a kiosk inside your current location/s,

El Vecino provides a turnkey solution with a strong brand, built-in provider network, and all the support you need. EV

Gen Z is open about money and seeking financial help, study finds

BOA: 66 percent of Gen Z does not feel pressured by friends to spend more than they can afford

Most people avoid talking about their finances, especially with anyone outside of their immediate family, but Gen Z is changing that.

A new study from Bank of America finds 72 percent of Gen Z is bucking the trend and taking action to improve their financial health.

Dominique Washington with Bank of America said one of the things that stands out to him from the study about Gen Z is how open and transparent they are when it comes to discussing money.

Previous generations have been a lot more taboo about this.

Read more at wdbj7.com

Does Brazil Have An App That Can Upend Digital Finance? – Analysis

Washington’s unease is rising as Brazil’s Pix bypasses U.S.-dominated payment networks. The country’s digital payment revolution may soon be impossible to contain as other countries adapt their own models.

The Trump administration’s July 2025 decision to have the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) investigate Brazil’s “attacks on American social media companies as well as other unfair trading practices,” followed by the launch of 50 percent tariffs, drew immediate headlines and caused predictable market panic. Washington has also placed sanctions on Brazilian officials in response to Brazil’s prosecution of its former president and Trump ally, Jair Bolsonaro.

Tensions remain high even after Trump’s October 2025 call with current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the country’s foreign minister arriving in Washington days later. While U.S.-Brazil relations have long fluctuated between strain and cooperation, Trump’s latest moves suggest his administration sees Brazil less as a partner and more as a trade and political rival, despite the U.S. maintaining consistent surpluses with the country.

Read more at Eurasia Review

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Top 5 Tips That Will Save Retirees from Financial Disaster

“Shark Tank” star and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary has built a reputation for no-nonsense financial advice, and when it comes to retirement planning, his guidance could be the difference between financial security and disaster.

Follow the 15% Retirement Contribution Rule

The “magic number” when it comes to retirement contributions is 15% of your income, O’Leary said, per Yahoo Finance. This consistent approach forms the foundation of his retirement strategy, emphasizing that regular contributions over time can help build substantial wealth for retirement.

Try This: Dave Ramsey Warns: This Common Habit Can Ruin Your Retirement

Don’t Panic About Market Volatility

O’Leary advocates for a steady approach during market turbulence. He pointed out that riding the volatility of the market and investing in a slightly riskier security could amount to more gains.

Read more at NASDAQ.COM

How Buffett's 90/10 Rule Can Simplify Your Investment Strategy

Key Takeaways

• Warren Buffett's 90/10 strategy involves allocating 90% of assets to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and 10% to short-term government bonds.
• The 90/10 rule offers simplicity, lower fees, and the potential for higher returns.
• The strategy is based on historical returns for the S&P 500, as well as Buffett's skepticism about the performance of the average fund manager.
• Critics say such a high allocation to equities isn't suitable for all investors, particularly those nearing retirement or already retired.

The 90/10 rule comes from legendary Warren Buffett's advice for average investors. Put 90% of your money into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and the other 10% in short-term government bonds.

The idea is simple: most people don't have the expertise needed to make great decisions about investing in individual stocks—don't take that as a knock since Wall St. money managers often fail to match the returns of simple index funds. So save money on management fees, bet on the American economy, and be patient, Buffett says.

Read more at INVESTOPEDIA

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How To Capture Consumer Attention

Attention marketing is developing campaigns and marketing materials to capture someone’s limited attention through non-invasive means.

When was the last time an ad you saw on YouTube made you buy something? If it’s been a while, you know it’s because you’re constantly bombarded by ads. To reach consumers fatigued by the onslaught of media vying for their interest across the advertising world, you need to master the attention marketing game.

The most valuable currency in today’s hyper-competitive marketing landscape is attention. Gone are the days when brands could get away with templatized, pre-packaged, or generic marketing messages alone. Even the most cutting-edge products or brand campaigns risk failing if your target audience never sees them.

Here’s how to develop captivating campaigns that seize limited consumer attention to drive engagement, revenue, and lasting growth.

Read more at SHOPIFY

This is the worst the jobs market has looked (outside of a recession) in 50 years, says Goldman Sachs, meaning bullish GDP estimates are too optimistic

Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius warned that U.S. GDP estimates showing 3.8% growth in Q2 and 3.3% in Q3 may be overstated, due to missing data from the government shutdown and weakening labor trends. He pointed to falling employment indicators and survey data signaling stagnation, arguing job market weakness offers a more accurate gauge of current growth. Hatzius also cited temporary boosts from tariff-driven stockpiling earlier this year and warned that younger workers face growing hiring challenges, particularly as AI adoption reshapes labor demand.

GDP estimates which show steady growth in the American economy may prove to be overly optimistic, Goldman Sachs warned, as a vacuum of data during the government shutdown may result in employment figures ultimately dragging down the optimistic outlook.

In a note seen by Fortune, Goldman’s chief U.S. economist Jan Hatzius highlighted that GDP estimates have moved up sharply during the government shutdown, with Q2 tracking at 3.8% and Q3 at 3.3%. By some estimations, that figure is even higher: The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, for example, wrote in an October 17 update that Q3 GDP may track as high as 3.9%.

Read more at FORTUNE

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start-up, product development, and product evolution stages. PS

Bank chief says US firm collapses ring 'alarm bells'

The collapse of two US companies could be a sign of wider problems in the financial system and "alarm bells" were ringing, the governor of the Bank of England has said.

Andrew Bailey told a House of Lords committee that it was important to take the failure of car parts supplier First Brands and subprime car lender Tricolor "very seriously" - and drew parallels with the 2008 financial crisis.

He said it was unclear whether these were one-off issues, or a case of "the canary in the coal mine".

Mr Bailey also said the Bank of England was planning to run a "stress test" of private equity and credit firms.

The bankruptcies of First Brands and Tricolor have raised questions about the quality of deals in what is known as the private credit market - where companies arrange loans from non-bank lenders.

Read more at BBC NEWS

6 Essential Tips for Social Commerce for Tax, Finance, and IT Leaders

As social commerce reshapes retail, tax, finance, and IT leaders face mounting complexity across platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram. This ebook delivers six essential strategies to help you streamline compliance, protect margins, and scale with confidence—without slowing down innovation.

Whether you’re navigating marketplace facilitator laws or integrating tax workflows across systems, this guide empowers you to unify your approach and future-proof your operations.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to centralize tax compliance across all digital channels
• Ways to build customer trust through transparent tax calculations
• Strategies to automate controls and reduce audit risk
• Download the ebook now and take control of your social commerce tax strategy.

Read more at RETAILTOUCHPOINTS.COM

Treasury, IRS provide transition relief for 2025 for businesses reporting car loan interest under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today provided transitional guidance for businesses required to report car loan interest under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. Notice 2025-57 PDF provides penalty relief and guidance to certain lenders for new information reporting requirements for car loan interest received in 2025 under the OBBB.

Transition relief for 2025

Notice 2025-57 provides transitional relief for 2025 for lenders and other interest recipients who are required to file information returns with the IRS and provide statements to borrowers showing the total amount of interest received on qualified passenger vehicle loans and other information related to the loan.

A qualified passenger vehicle is a car, minivan, van, SUV, pick-up truck or motorcycle, with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds, and that has undergone final assembly in the United States.

Read more at INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons: Hudson Cook, LLP

The first nine months of the new Trump administration have dramatically affected the regulation and oversight of the consumer financial industry.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new leadership moved swiftly to curtail its enforcement and supervisory activities and is now poised to fire more than 90% of its staff, leaving a void that probably cannot be filled entirely by state attorneys general and other financial regulators.[1]

With these developments as a backdrop, Chris Mufarrige, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, recently indicated that the FTC will return to its "historically important role" in overseeing the consumer finance industry, emphasizing the FTC's jurisdiction to enforce laws relating to data privacy, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm- Leach-Bliley Act, and the FTC Act's prohibitions on unfair or deceptive business practices.

Read more at JD Supra, LLC