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Fannie and Freddie Changes Would Reshape the Mortgage Market. It Hinges on These Questions.

Fannie and Freddie Changes Would Reshape the Mortgage Market. It Hinges on These Questions.

The Trump administration wants to sell shares in two government-controlled companies that are crucial for getting a mortgage. First it needs to figure out what it wants the mortgage market to look like.
A public offering for Fannie Mae FNMA -1.03%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Freddie Mac FMCC 1.40%increase; green up pointing triangle could raise money to help reduce the government deficit. President Trump has twice mentioned selling shares in recent days.

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Labour plots to force households to have two smart meters
Labour plots to force households to have two smart meters

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Labour plots to force households to have two smart meters

Britain's smart meter rollout promised to help households save money – and energy. In reality, the high-tech gadgets have been a disaster, leaving thousands of households with inaccurate energy bills at a huge cost to the taxpayer. And yet, Labour could soon force homeowners to have two smart meters – one for energy and one for water. The move forms part of the Government's proposed 'family bath time tax' which would force owners of larger properties and gardens to pay more for their water bills. However, experts have warned that forcing homes to have a smart meter would overcomplicate bills, undermine customers' privacy and allow cyber attacks to cut off the nation's water supply. Nick Hunn, founder of the wireless technology consulting firm, WiFore, told The Telegraph: 'We were told that the big benefit for smart meters would be lower bills. We can see by number of complaints that this didn't happen. 'We would see the same thing with smart water meters – moving from a system that's quite simple to one that is needlessly complicated and more likely to go wrong.' At the weekend, The Telegraph revealed that ministers will support utilities companies trialling new tariffs that charge the heaviest users of water a higher rate. Introducing 'progressive' water bills would mean rolling out smart water meters nationwide so that customers' consumption can be tracked in real time or at short intervals. Around 60pc of homes in England have a water meter, but the vast majority of those have a conventional meter from which periodic readings are taken. The plan has raised alarm bells among experts, especially as British households continue to pay the price for the botched smart meter rollout for energy bills. The initial target was to have a smart meter installed in every home by 2020. This has now been reduced to 74.5pc by the end of 2025, with the devices currently installed in just 68pc of homes. It is forecast to cost over £13.5bn, but a significant minority of homes are unsuitable for smart meters, which rely on having adequate reception. An estimated 4.3 million smart meters are faulty and unable to send readings back to suppliers remotely, leading to customers being sent sky-high bills that do not reflect their usage. The National Audit Office said in 2023 that 37pc of smart meter customers surveyed by Smart Energy GB, the company tasked with rolling out the devices nationally, reported having issues with their smart meter, including no automatic readings, inaccurate bills and the connected handheld device not showing any information. Smart meters have also found themselves at the centre of a row over privacy. In January, the Government launched a consultation on plans to allow household energy usage to be shared with third parties who could steer them to cheaper deals, as well as lower carbon tariffs from rival suppliers. A spokesman for Open Rights Group, a digital rights campaign group, said a mass smart water meter rollout posed similar risks for consumers, adding: 'Smart water meters could be used to track how many people are in a property, analyse daily routines, and reveal when you cook, shower or water your garden. 'This is a clear example of how everyday infrastructure can quietly become a surveillance tool – without public awareness or consent.' Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow housing secretary, said Labour had been 'caught red-handed' planning a new tax on water usage with the help of 'Big Brother technology'. Concerns have also been raised over consumer protection. Electricity companies are able to switch off your electricity remotely if you have a smart meter, but only under a very narrow set of circumstances and after taking all reasonable steps to manage debt repayment. Any customers deemed vulnerable cannot be disconnected. However, The Telegraph previously revealed how some energy suppliers are forcibly installing prepayment meters remotely by switching customers' smart meters from credit to prepayment mode. Campaigners have said that doing this amounts to disconnecting customers from the grid 'by the back door', as anyone unable to pay on a prepayment meter will lose power. Even if similarly strict regulations are put in place to stop water companies turning off the taps, digitally connecting the water system raises the threat of a widespread cyber attack, Mr Hunn said. He added: 'Electricity companies can disconnect you through a smart meter. If that logic goes into water then you have a situation where the company would be able to turn off your water. 'If someone hacks into that system, they can turn off large chunks of the country's water supply.' The Government and Smart Energy GB were approached for comment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Nucor Leads S&P 500 On Trump's 50% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs
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Nucor Leads S&P 500 On Trump's 50% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

President Trump's Friday announcement that steel and aluminum tariffs will double to 50% on June 4 sent shares of U.S. producers surging early Monday, including Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs and Century Aluminum. Trump made the announcement at a Friday rally near Pittsburgh, celebrating Nippon Steel's deal to buy U.S. Steel, which he blessed after the Japanese company pledged to build a new mill and double its spending plan. "Nobody's going to get around that," Trump said Friday, in announcing the 50% steel tariff.

President Trump's trade agenda is on hold as he waits on a call with Xi Jinping
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An array of charges and countercharges over the weekend between the US and China raised the stakes of a long-awaited call between leaders of the two countries as relations hit new turbulence over tariffs and other issues. US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have significant issues to iron out, from critical minerals to semiconductors. They have led to increasingly hostile commentary from both sides, putting last month's agreement to lower tariffs for 90 days in a tenuous position. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett even suggested Sunday on ABC that trade negotiations with other nations are being held up by the wait for this call between Trump and Xi. He explained why his previous predictions of deals have failed to materialize, saying it's because "the trade team has been focused 100% like a laser beam on the China matter." Once a call resolves the China issues, he added, "then we're going to take [other] deals into the Oval." But it's far from unclear whether a call between the two leaders, who apparently have not spoken since before Trump's inauguration, can resolve the growing issues. The uncertainty is more pronounced by weeks of promises that a call is in the offing, with still no clarity on when it will even take place. A range of Trump officials were pressed over the weekend and offered new uncertainty. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed hope on CBS for "something very soon," while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised on Fox that Trump is "going to go work it out" without offering a timeline. Hassett added he was hoping for a call this week, but said, "you never know in international relations." Whenever the call takes place, the countries will have a series of thorny issues to discuss with a dispute over critical minerals perhaps the most front and center. Trump and his team are charging that China has already violated the 90-day trade truce by not loosening trade restrictions for these building blocks in everything from computers to electric vehicle batteries to jet engines to medical devices. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet China holds a dominant position in the world's reserves of many of these key minerals, as well as in the capacity to refine them. Bessent added on CBS that China is "holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does." The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reacted Monday morning to the weekend's charges by denying the Trump administration's claims and accusing the US of its own actions to undermine the deal. Issues that the Chinese government cited, according to a translation by Chinese state media, were new export controls on semiconductors, the halting of chip design software, as well as the revocation of Chinese student visas. "If the U.S. insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," a ministry spokesperson said, according to the translation. The Chinese added that the US actions have "severely violated the consensus" reached in Geneva during last month's talks as well as during a Jan. 17 call between Trump and Xi, the last time they say the two men spoke. The growing war of words also comes as both sides appear willing to escalate, with Trump offering a critique of China Friday by saying they "violated a big part of the agreement we made." "I'm sure that I'll speak to President Xi and hopefully we'll work that out," he added during that Oval Office appearance. Lutnick added Sunday that China was slow-rolling a deal and, in response, "we are taking certain actions to show them what it feels like on the other side of that equation." The back-and-forth also comes as Trump's tariff power remains in question after a US trade court blocked some of Trump's most prominent tariffs before a federal court paused enforcement pending appeal. Trump and his team have expressed confidence for days that their appeal — which is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court — will be successful, but they maintain they have plenty of other tariff authorities that can be used instead. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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