Latest news with #Eisenberg
CNBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
4 money moves to make before interest rates drop
The Federal Reserve declined to adjust the federal funds rate in May, leaving the benchmark range at 4.25%-4.50%, where it's been since December 2024. The CME Group, which tracks the likelihood of a target rate adjustment, is pessimistic about a rate cut after the next gathering on June 18. It gave an 82.7% probability that the benchmark interest rate will stay where it is. It's more hopeful about the results of the meeting on July 29 and 30, placing nearly 50% odds on a cut to 4.00% to 4.25%. In March, when the annual inflation rate was 2.4%, the Fed anticipated two rate cuts in 2025, down from the four envisioned in September. The central bank has yet to make any further predictions, instead taking a wait-and-see approach to the impact President Trump's tariff policies have on the economy. While the Federal Reserve doesn't directly control interest rates, adjustments to the fed funds rate have a wide-reaching impact on loans, credit cards, mortgages, savings accounts and more. Here are some smart financial steps to take before interest rates are slashed again. When the Fed lowers the federal funds rate, the annual percentage yield on savings accounts typically declines. Even so, a high-yield savings account (HYSA) should still provide a stronger return than a traditional savings vehicle. "Earning money on your money is critically important," said Elliot Eisenberg, chief economist at financial consulting firm GraphsandLaughs. "Some banks are offering better rates than others, so chase down the good ones." While the days of 5% and 6% yields are behind us for now, even a 4.15% HYSA is more than 10 times the average 0.41% return that traditional savings accounts offer. LendingClub's LevelUp Savings has a generous APY when you make monthly deposits of at least $250 (without deposits, you'll receive a rate of 1% lower). Plus, there are no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. 4.40% (with monthly deposits of at least $250), or 3.40% None None See terms. None N/A Yes Yes Terms apply. If you're looking for an option that doesn't require as much up front, Western Alliance Bank's HYSA also offers a strong APY and only requires a $1 opening deposit. 4.30% APY $1 minimum deposit None Up to 6 transactions each month The bank may charge fees for non-sufficient funds No overdraft fee No No Terms apply. Certificates of deposit (CDs) follow the movement of the Fed, so their return will decline when the federal funds rate starts to come down. But they have fixed rates, so if you take one out now you'll be protected from yield declines later in 2025. While CD rates have already started to drop, they remain a solid investment if you change your timeline. "Take a lower yield or maybe go out a little bit longer with the CD," said Eisenberg. With more cuts anticipated, Eisenberg said investors will want to switch up their strategy when it comes to bonds. "More risk or higher duration, those are the only choices that investors really have," he said. "It's more risk in the credit rating or more risk in the length of time." If you're younger, you'll have more time to recoup losses and can afford to take more risks. Older investors closer to retirement should be more conservative. You can trade bonds using a platform like E*Trade, which also has a library of educational resources for those looking for some additional information. Minimum deposit and balance requirements may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. No minimum to open an E*TRADE brokerage account; minimum $500 deposit to invest in robo-advisor platform Core Portfolios Fees may vary depending on the investment vehicle selected. Zero commission fees for stock, ETF and options trades; zero transaction fees for over 4,400 mutual funds; robo-advisor Core Portfolios charges 0.30% annual advisory fee Robo-advisor: E*TRADE Core Portfolios IRA: E*TRADE Traditional, Roth, Rollover, Beneficiary, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, IRA for Minors and E*TRADE Complete™ IRA Brokerage and trading: E*TRADE Trading Other: E*TRADE Coverdell ESA (Education Savings Account), Custodial Account for minors and small business retirement plans Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, ETFs, options and futures Educational library includes in-depth articles and videos for any type of investor Terms apply. If you're planning a major purchase, like a house or car, now is the time to start squirrelling away money for a down payment. Interest rates on car loans generally drop following a rate cut, sometimes even in anticipation of one. And while the Fed doesn't directly impact home loan rates, its decisions influence what mortgage lenders charge."The supply of homes has gotten better," Eisenberg noted. "Inventory is the best it's been in four or five years." If rates end up falling, you could also consider refinancing. Rocket Mortgage offers fixed-rate terms of anywhere from 8 to 30 years and is one of the highest ranked for customer satisfaction on J.D. Power's 2024 mortgage origination survey. Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox. Sign up here. It's difficult to predict how interest rates will change in 2025. After the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting, members projected two cuts to the federal funds rate by the end of 2025. Since then, however, the Fed has backed off making any more predictions. When the federal funds rate is cut, mortgage rates typically follow suit. Lowering the cost of borrowing creates more opportunities for prospective homeowners. Bond buyers and those with CDs, money market accounts and other savings vehicles often benefit from periods of higher interest rates. The Federal Open Market Committee meets eight times a year to discuss potential changes to the Federal funds rate. It has already met three times in 2025, with the next meeting scheduled for June 17 and 18. The last time the Federal Reserve adjusted the federal funds rate, which heavily influences interest rates, was in December 2024, when it cut it to a range of 4.25% to 4.50% . At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, chief economist for GraphsandLaughs. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mango Markets Exploiter Avi Eisenberg Sentenced to 4+ Years in Prison for Child Porn
NEW YORK, NY — Mango Markets exploiter Avraham 'Avi' Eisenberg, who stole $110 million from the now-defunct decentralized finance protocol in 2022, was sentenced to 52 months in prison on Thursday — on his guilty plea to possession of child sexual exploitation material, not for his conviction on the crypto theft. The sentencing comes a year after a New York jury found Eisenberg guilty of wire fraud, commodities fraud and commodities manipulation for his Mango Markets stunt, and a year after he separately pleaded guilty to the possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which was found on his devices after his arrest. Defense attorneys moved for either a new trial or an acquittal on the Mango Markets-related charges last year, claiming that the Department of Justice pursued the case in the wrong venue (the Southern District of New York), that the government hadn't properly proved that the MNGO Perpetual was a "swap," that Eisenberg intended to manipulate the MNGO Perpetual's price and that his "alleged deceptions ... were immaterial." In a hearing in Manhattan on Thursday, Judge Arun Subramanian said he would sentence Eisenberg to more than four years in prison at FCI Otisville, a medium-security facility about two hours' drive from Manhattan, but that there was a "non-zero chance I will grant that motion" related to the Mango Markets-related charges. The bulk of any sentence would be related to the CSAM charge anyway, the judge said. "I think that in this specific area, general deterrence has more weight ... the only way to try to stem the tide of the distribution of this material" is through a prison sentence, the judge said, before reading three witness statements. The judge also said he acknowledged to Eisenberg's effort to better understand the impact of his crime, but that a prison sentence was still necessary. Eisenberg is sentenced to five years of probation with strict rules after he is released from prison, the judge said, but will have to install monitoring software on all of his electronic devices and go through a drug outpatient program. In their sentencing submission to the court, prosecutors asked for Eisenberg to serve between 6.5 and 8 years in prison, stressing the seriousness of his offenses. Though Eisenberg has maintained that his crypto trading actions on Mango Markets were 'compliant' with the protocol and thus didn't break the law (an argument a jury clearly did not buy), prosecutors say Eisenberg was well aware that what he was doing was a crime. Before his Mango Markets heist, he'd filed suit against someone else for crypto-related market manipulation, and fled the country for Israel once his identity as the attacker was unveiled. Prosecutors also detailed Eisenberg's child sexual abuse material charges, telling the judge that between 2017 and 2022, he downloaded 1,274 sexually-explicit images and videos of children — including toddlers and two-month-old infants — as well as 'depictions of sadistic violence and masochism against children.' In their own sentencing submission to the court, Eisenberg and his lawyers attempted to blame his strict religious upbringing and his lifelong 'struggles to conform to social norms' for his crimes, calling him a 'fundamentally decent person' and detailing his challenges adapting to the 'daily horrors' of life in jail.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' trailer: Jesse Eisenberg returns for heist No. 3
'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' trailer: Jesse Eisenberg returns for heist No. 3 Show Caption Hide Caption Jesse Eisenberg doesn't want to be 'associated with' Mark Zuckerberg During a BBC Radio 4 interview, Jesse Eisenberg said he's tried to distance himself from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, saying he doesn't want to be "associated with somebody like that." unbranded - Entertainment For moviegoers hoping to get hoodwinked, the wait is over. A new trailer dropped April 29 for "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," the third installment of a magician-focused franchise headed up by Jesse Eisenberg. "It is really good to be back," Eisenberg tells a crowd in the teaser for the film, set to release Nov. 14. Eisenberg, fresh off Oscar success with "A Real Pain," returns to his role as head honcho in a gang of heist robbers disguised as stage magicians. The original crew, which features Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco, will return for the third film, though their roles appear a bit more sparing. In the first two films, released in 2013 and 2016, a group of magicians dubbed the "Four Horsemen" are seen as Robin Hood-esque, on the run from the law for devious ploys but motivated by a sense of justice all the same. 'Now You See Me 3' cast The trailer promises a fresh batch of recruits instead, as Eisenberg cycles in a clan of rookies − Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt − to help steal the most valuable diamond in the world. Rosamund Pike adds her name to the cast list, starring as a diamond seller whose family launders their profits through corrupt back-channels. Mid-heist, the remainder of the cast returns, rounded out by Morgan Freeman, who also grounded the original film. 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' trailer Now as a band of eight, the crew is seen in a series of high-stakes puzzles and chase sequences, promising a film as action-packed as the first two, more than 9 years later. "Eight magicians against a worldwide criminal network, I like our chances," Greenblatt says as the trailer draws to a close. Halfway between action, thriller, and mystery, the franchise has carved out a loyal audience, endeared to Eisenberg's charismatic lead and the "what you see if not what you get," quality that grounds any good magic trick.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jesse Eisenberg Enlists a New Generation of Magicians in Twisty 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' Trailer
Now You See Me: Now You Don't is showing off new magic tricks for the franchise's third installment. On Tuesday, April 29, Lionsgate debuted the first trailer for Now You See Me: Now You Don't, which sees original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco reprise their roles as the Four Horsemen in the follow-up to 2016's Now You See Me 2. Morgan Freeman also returns. Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith Rosamund Pike and Dominic Sessa join the cast in new roles. The franchise famously follows the team of illusionists as they use their stage productions to perform elaborate heists. A logline for the new film teases, "The Four Horsemen return along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-melding twists, turns, surprises and magic unlike anything ever captured on film." Related: Dwayne Johnson Transforms Into UFC Legend Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine Trailer In an October interview with GamesRader+, Eisenberg opened up about reuniting with Ruben Fleischer on set. "We've been in Budapest for the last three months, and I almost made it till the end without breaking anything," he said, referring to his finger that he broke while filming. "And the movie is really astounding." The A Real Pain actor added, "Every day we walk onto set and pinch ourselves because the set pieces, the magic, the ensemble, it's really, truly miraculous." The cast has stayed tight-lipped about the movie since it was announced. However, Eisenberg told Collider in March 2024 that the screenplay was finished and he anticipated shooting to start in the "next six months." Production moved quickly and the cast wrapped filming in November 2024, according to a post on Instagram. The third flick sees the return of screenwriters Ed Solomon and Boaz Yakin, who wrote the script with Seth Grahame-Smith. Fleischer, who also directed Eisenberg in Zombieland and its sequel, will serve as the director. In August 2024, newcomer Greenblatt told Nylon that she had been going to magic school in preparation for the upcoming movie. "I've been at the Magic Castle every other day, learning magic,' she said. 'My magic teacher is so awesome; he is one of the best ones. So I get to know all the magician tea.' A fourth Now You See Me movie is already in the works. Now You See Me: Now You Don't is in theaters Nov. 14. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Critics Have Seen Until Dawn. Did They Survive The Night With This ‘Ridiculous Grab-Bag Of Carnage'?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Horror fans have been absolutely feasting so far this year, and with more genre flicks like Sinners and Hell of a Summer on the 2025 movie calendar, that's unlikely to change anytime soon. One of those upcoming horror movies is Until Dawn, an adaptation of the popular video game, and critics were able to screen the film ahead of its April 25 release. Let's take a look at what they're saying. First reactions to Until Dawn called the movie a blast, especially if seen with a crowd, and our own Eric Eisenberg mostly agrees. The plot revolves around a group of friends being brutally murdered by different horrifying creatures every night unless they can survive until sunrise. In CinemaBlend's review of Until Dawn, Eisenberg compares it to snacking on appetizers at a cocktail party — you get some satisfying bites but never feel satisfied. He gives it 3 out of 5 stars, writing: The film is undeniably a love letter to scary storytelling, and it's built in such a way as to try and capture the many different facets of it – with a central premise that allows for exploration into a wide variety of nightmares. There is a great deal of passion to it to go along with a strong foundation, but it's also a movie that isn't quite able to reign in its vast potential and bites off more than it can chew with its scale. The result is a feature that is enjoyable but also feels like it could have been… more. Kristy Puchko of Mashable says the movie tries to mirror gameplay as it explores horror subgenres, but like CinemaBlend's critic, Puchko says that despite some intriguing bits, Until Dawn as a whole is a 'gloppy mess.' She continues: At first, the time loop seems a clever way to bring an element of the original gameplay into the theater. In a lot of video games, the character dies and gets bumped back to the beginning of the level (or save point), and the player uses what they learned from this failure to get further the next time. … There's just two problems with this time-loop device in the movie Until Dawn. For one thing, that's not how the game worked. … The other, bigger issue is that the movie gives up on this device partway through, and for no apparent reason. Alison Foreman of IndieWire grades the Until Dawn movie adaptation a B-, saying director David F. Sandberg misunderstands what was so fun about the video game, betraying it with thin characters, weak scares and plot holes. Foreman continues: Caught between Cabin in the Woods and the mystifying Serenity, Until Dawn makes countless gestures at being an incisive horror comedy — some good, some bad — but works better approached as a full-blown spoof. If that was the intent here, a better name might have been something like Video Game: The Horror Movie (or maybe Horror Movie: The Video Game: The Horror Movie?) A self-aware original moniker that could not only better prepare audiences for the ridiculous grab-bag of carnage to come but even help sell the highest-scoring moments in this baffling attempt as camp. Chase Hutchinson of IGN agrees, giving it a 'Mediocre' 5 out of 10. The critic says Until Dawn is more disappointing than deadly, leaving all the promise of the horror game behind for a jumble of horror-movie re-creations. Hutchinson writes: Until Dawn shares a title and some key details with the game that inspired it, though it mostly tries to do its own thing – to mixed results. While Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg is able to find moments of bloody fun and tension – particularly in the way he shoots darkness – the lackluster script he's working with isn't doing him or the movie any favors. It isn't a total disaster, but as it pushed its one-dimensional characters through a cycle of horror cinema's greatest hits, I wished that the morning could come as quickly as possible. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast says to 'Skip This,' as the film gets lazy after a few deaths by showing a montage of kills via cellphone video, and elsewhere, its concepts are so tiresome that Until Dawn raises the bar for how bad a video game movie can be. Schager continues: David F. Sandberg crafts a gory riff on Groundhog Day, trapping a group of friends in a nocturnal cycle of mayhem and madness. His whirligig contraption, however, lacks any sense of internal logic and is even lighter on surprising scares, dispensing only clichés that are as moldy as the haunted house in which his characters are confined. While Until Dawn's premise does give the filmmakers a way to showcase all different kinds of horror within one movie, the critics seem to think the overall effect isn't very impressive. That said, there's no doubt that the movie includes plenty of gory kills and fun hijinks that might just keep genre fans enthralled for 103 minutes. If this sounds like a movie you want to check out, Until Dawn hits theaters on Friday, April 25.
