BUSINESS

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets closer, the U.S. must find a way to solve five major issues before the June 11 kickoff.

The spike in U.S. mortgage rates since the Iran war began in late February has been dashing hopes for an affordability boost ahead of the spring home-buying season.

A major discount retail chain is permanently closing a distribution facility in North Carolina, resulting in hundreds of job losses.Family Dollar will close its Matthews, North Carolina, facility, eliminating approximately 373 jobs,  the discount retailer confirmed in a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing.Some employees will be separated from the Family Dollar beginning May 18, while the remaining workers will lose their jobs by August 12, or within a 14-day period following those dates.The job cuts will be permanent and will affect all employees working at the location. The retailer said that while employees will be offered severance packages, they will not have the option to transfer or displace within the company.A turning point for the discount chainThe shutdown comes during a period of significant change for the discount chain, which is attempting to reposition itself after separating from longtime parent company Dollar Tree last year.Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for roughly $8.5 billion in 2015, hoping to expand its reach among lower-income shoppers. But the combination struggled to deliver on expectations, weighed down by aging stores, thin margins, and supply constraints.In 2025, Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to private equity firms Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for about $1 billion, ending nearly a decade of ownership and effectively resetting the brand’s strategy.

Family Dollar will launch Extra Small Box store format.Shutterstock

From turbulent past to restructuringFamily Dollar has faced a series of operational challenges in recent years, which have weighed heavily on the brand.In 2024, the Department of Justice fined the company $40 million after investigators found that the store had been selling products stocked in a rodent-infested warehouse in Memphis.More Layoffs:Major grocery store supplier delivers harsh message to workers4 signs your company is quietly planning layoffsLuxury retail giant cuts more than 1,200 jobs after bankruptcy filingIt was one of the largest penalties imposed in a food safety case, after which the retailer announced the closure of hundreds of stores.The combination of store closures, regulatory scrutiny, and operational issues contributed ot the decision to sell the chain in 2025 and begin a broader restructuring effort.The restructuring also reflects a broader shift across the retail industry, where consumers are becoming increasingly focused on value. According to a recent Deloitte outlook, roughly 4 in 10 US consumers now exhibit cost-conscious or deal-driven behavior, with even higher-income households reassessing spending habits. This dynamic has reinforced the importance of discount chains like Family Dollar, even as they face mounting pressure to operate more efficiently and compete with bigger chains like Walmart, which is continuously focusing on value-for-price products.The decision to shut down a distribution center underscores a key emerging theme across the retail sector: cost discipline and supply chain transformation.Deloitte notes that nearly all retail executives expect rising costs tied to global trade and operations, pushing companies to rethink logistics and streamline operations.“The urgency for transformation is underscored by the 66% of respondents who plan to restructure their supply chain through measures such as onshoring, nearshoring, and diversifying their supplier base if input costs rise in 2026,” notes Deloitte research.Family Dollar’s turnaround strategyFamily Dollar has framed many of its recent operational changes as part of a broader turnaround strategy.In a recent update, the company said it is executing a multi-year transformational plan involving roughly 70 initiatives across merchandising, store operations, supply chain, and technology. The moves are aimed at increasing cash flow and ensure long term success.One of the core initiatives in the company’s Extra Small Box (XSB) store format in 2026. It is a smaller and more flexible store design that requires less inventory and lower operating costs. The format is intended to help the retailer expand into new markets, especially “high-intensity neighborhoods,” and will complement its existing store base. It will pilot in 2026, and unit growth will begin in 2027.Related: Major grocery store supplier delivers harsh message to workers

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 6.48% on March 25, a significant one-day drop of 0.07% from March 24 when it was 6.55%, according to Mortgage News Daily (MND).Still, that was significantly up from March 19, when it was calculated as 6.22% by government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac.Matthew Graham, chief operating officer for MND, considers bond yields and geopolitics when discussing recent mortgage rate activity.”The past 24 hours have seen multiple news stories with seemingly contradictory updates regarding the state of the Iran war,” Graham wrote. “There’s a ceasefire. There’s no ceasefire. There’s negotiation. There’s no negotiation, etc.”Related: Redfin, Zillow reveal major mortgage rate, housing market changeFrom the market’s perspective, the key shift has been an apparent move toward diplomacy and de‑escalation, Graham observed. That signal alone has helped crude hold onto most of the early‑week pullback.”Bond yields (which correlate with mortgage rates) have been doing even better than oil prices today,” Graham wrote. “The net effect is the lowest average mortgage rates since last Thursday.” “Notably, these rates are still sharply higher than February’s and, apart from the past few days, the highest since early September, 2025.”Zillow predicts mortgage rate impact on housing marketAgainst this backdrop, real estate technology company Zillow noted that affordability is still improved over March 2025 — and said the recent uptick in rates has chipped away at those improvements and rattled some buyers’ nerves, prompting many to pause or wait for more stability before moving ahead.”Mortgage rates have risen back to the mid-6% range, after briefly falling below the important psychological threshold of 6%,” Zillow wrote. “Here lies the conundrum for what it means for home buying and selling — affordability is still improved from a year ago, but about a third of the gains have reversed in recent weeks.””Home shoppers can still afford more than they could last year, but because of the hit to sentiment — both with anchoring on the buying power from a few weeks ago, and uncertainty about their financial prospects — some may choose to wait to transact.”Looking ahead, Zillow forecasted that the impact of mortgage rates hikes on the housing market will depend on how long the high rates last.”The bulk of home activity typically happens between March and October,” Zillow wrote. “Though the scenario modeling is linear for simplicity, if the situation resolves quickly, it’ll be early enough in the home shopping season for catch-up activity, and transactions might be higher than our modeled scenarios.” “The longer it takes for the rate shock to resolve, the more likely transactions would be delayed to next season, offering a repeat of 2025.”Zillow examines housing market uncertaintyMischa Fisher, chief economist for Zillow Group, reported that Zillow entered 2026 expecting only slight growth in the housing market — projecting a 4.3% rise in existing‑home sales. That wouldn’t signal a boom, but it would mark a market beginning to stabilize, with 2026 functioning as a reset year, Fisher had concluded. More recently, though, volatility in energy prices and renewed inflation worries have introduced fresh uncertainty into that outlook.”The housing market has been bouncing along the bottom for three years, and we entered 2026 with data-driven optimism that the market would start to improve, with a modest increase in existing home sales and the year ending with a typical home affordable to the median household in 20 of the 50 major metro areas,” Fisher wrote for Zillow on March 24.”More uncertainty has entered that outlook, with elevated mortgage rates likely to act as a slight drag on the spring season, already removing about a third of the year-over-year affordability gains we’ve seen,” he added.Market conditions can shift quickly, meaning the outlook could brighten or deteriorate just as fast, Zillow explained. Given the latest uncertainties, Zillow says it’s more useful to think about 2026 not as a single forecast but as a range of possible scenarios, each shaped by how key economic factors evolve over time.

Zillow predicts the impact of mortgage rates spikes on housing market trends, including existing home sales.TheStreet

Zillow models real estate scenariosTo explore a range of possible outcomes, Zillow analyzed two main channels: the impact of higher inflation on mortgage rates, and the risk that elevated prices could weaken consumer spending enough to nudge the unemployment rate slightly higher.”One must be careful at over interpreting the full-year effect of something that does not persist for a full year,” Zillow wrote. “The challenge here, of course, remains that no one knows precisely when elevated energy prices will subside; the futures market for oil can offer some clues about investor expectations, but nothing is certain.””We have modeled the outcome if the current 50 basis-point (bps) increase in mortgage rates persists for the full year alongside a slight 20 bps increase in the unemployment rate.”Zillow forecasts 2026 existing home salesIf the combined shock of higher mortgage rates and a modest rise in unemployment lasted through April, Zillow estimates 2026 existing‑home sales would still post a 3.48% annual increase.If those pressures extended through June and eased on July 1, Zillow projects sales would end the year up 2.33%.If the disruption carried through the heart of the buying season and didn’t lift until Sept. 1, Zillow expects sales would rise only 1.21%.And if mortgage rates stayed 50 basis points above their counterfactual path and unemployment remained 20 basis points higher for the rest of 2026, Zillow says existing‑home sales would slip slightly, declining 0.73%.(Source:Zillow)Related: Zillow predicts mortgage rate, housing market change

Arm Holdings (ARM) ripped higher after giving investors a new reason to think about the company as more than a chip-design licensor. The stock jumped after Arm unveiled a new AI data-center CPU and said that the product line could add about $15 billion in annual revenue within five years. The launch also came with a notable list of partners and customers, including Meta, OpenAI, Cloudflare, SAP, and SK Telecom.That reaction makes sense because the market has historically valued Arm as a company that licenses chip architecture and then collects royalties when customers ship chips built on its designs. The new AI CPU pitch gave investors a broader version of the bull case, one tied more directly to data-center spending and AI inference demand.How Arm makes moneyArm’s business model is still the first thing investors need to understand. The company does not mainly make money by selling finished chips. Instead, it signs licensing agreements that generate upfront “license and other” revenue, then earns royalty revenue when customers ship chips using Arm technology. Arm’s fiscal 2025 annual report showed $4.007 billion in total revenue, split between $1.839 billion of license-and-other revenue and $2.168 billion of royalty revenue.More on ARMNvidia buys $3 billion in under-the-radar tech stocks, exits ArmArm’s ‘AI tollbooth’ keeps ringing, but SoftBank’s 16% sales slice is the tellMeta expands AI ambitions with mega dealsThat split matters because royalties are the recurring engine of the business, while licenses are the upfront growth driver. Investors who want the cleanest view of that model should start with Arm’s latest annual Form 20-F and its quarterly shareholder materials. Arm is a foreign private issuer, so those filings serve the role a 10-K and 10-Q would normally play for a U.S. company.Why investors are paying up nowThe company’s fundamentals were already strong before the latest gap up in its share price. In fiscal Q3 2026, ended Dec. 31, 2025, Arm reported revenue of $1.24 billion, up 26% year over year. Royalty revenue rose 27% to $737 million, while license-and-other revenue increased 25% to $505 million.Management tied that growth to AI and general-purpose data-center demand, smartphone adoption of Armv9, and expanding use of Arm Compute Subsystems.Related: Analysts drop verdicts on AMD, Intel, and ARMThose numbers gave the market a solid base before the AI CPU announcement arrived. In other words, investors were not trying to rescue a weak story. They were adding a catalyst to a company that had already posted four straight billion-dollar quarters and was seeing stronger adoption in some of the most important semiconductor end markets.What ARM’s chart says nowFrom a technical perspective, ARM is now at a meaningful decision point. On the daily chart, the stock opened at $148.26, traded as high as $166.69, and closed at $157.07, up 16.38% on the session. Volume reached 29.48 million shares, one of the largest spikes on the chart and a sign that the move drew real participation versus light-volume chasing, according to YahooFinance.

ARM stock’s daily chart with key levels and EMAs.TradingView.

Price also reclaimed trend lines commonly used by technical analysts as support levels in one session. The 20-day EMA (light blue) sits at $128.84 and the 200-day EMA (dark blue) sits at $131.25, leaving the stock well above both after the gap. That is constructive, though it also places ARM directly into a resistance zone that has rejected price before. Based on the chart, that resistance area sits roughly from $160 to $185.Underneath price, the broader support zone sits around $100 to $118. For the near term, the more relevant support could be higher. If ARM can hold the lower edge of the resistance band and start building acceptance there, the breakout has room to develop. If the stock fades back below that area, traders will likely focus on the EMA cluster around $129 to $131 as the next technical test.Fundamentally, Arm just gave the market a bigger growth narrative tied to AI and data-center compute. Technically, the stock now has momentum, a major volume confirmation, and a direct test of overhead supply. The next few sessions should show whether this was the start of a new leg higher or a powerful gap into resistance.Related: Palantir stock tests key level as Pentagon momentum builds

You probably remember the promise when you first started paying into Social Security decades ago during your working career years. The deal was simple enough for most working Americans to understand clearly: Pay in now, and collect benefits tax-free later.That deal changed in 1984 when Congress passed a little-known provision that made Social Security benefits taxable for the first time. Here is the part that should genuinely bother you: The income thresholds triggering that tax have never been updated for inflation.A rule designed to affect only the wealthiest 10% of retirees in 1984 now captures roughly half of all Social Security beneficiaries. You could be paying hundreds or thousands in taxes on your benefits right now without fully understanding why or how to fight back.The 1984 Greenspan Commission rule that Congress never adjusted for inflationBefore 1984, Social Security benefits were completely exempt from federal income tax for every single American who received them. The Greenspan Commission recommended taxing benefits for higher-income retirees, and Congress adopted that recommendation with a catch.Related: Oil shock sends blunt message on stock market inflation riskThe income thresholds that trigger taxation were set at $25,000 for single filers and $32,000 for married couples filing jointly. Congress deliberately chose not to index those thresholds to inflation, according to the Congressional Research Service.The Greenspan Commission itself estimated that only about 10% of Social Security recipients would ever be affected by that provision.How the IRS calculates whether your Social Security benefits get taxedThe IRS uses a specific formula called “combined income” to determine whether you owe federal taxes on your Social Security benefits. Your combined income equals your adjusted gross income plus any nontaxable interest plus half of your total Social Security benefit.If your only income source is Social Security, you likely fall below the threshold and owe nothing in taxes on those benefits. But if you also receive pension payments, IRA distributions, 401(k) withdrawals, or investment income, your combined income climbs fast.Federal tax thresholds for Social Security benefitsThe following table, based on the Social Security Administration IRS Publication 915, shows the federal income-based tax thresholds.Filing StatusCombined IncomeMax Portion TaxedSingleUnder $25,0000%Single$25,000 to $34,000Up to 50%SingleOver $34,000Up to 85%Married JointUnder $32,0000%Married Joint$32,000 to $44,000Up to 50%Married JointOver $44,000Up to 85%The key problem is that the dollar thresholds are frozen at their 1984 levels, with absolutely no adjustment for inflation.Forty years of inflation turned a wealthy-retiree tax into an everyone taxIf Congress had indexed the $32,000 married-couple threshold to average wage growth since 1984, it would exceed $96,000 today. Likewise, the $25,000 single-filer threshold would sit above $75,000 today if it had kept pace with the SSA’s average wage index.Instead, those numbers remain frozen exactly where they were set more than four decades ago under the Reagan administration’s reform. The Social Security Administration’s own research projected that 52% of beneficiary families would pay tax on benefits by 2015.The Congressional Budget Office projects that the share of benefits owed in taxes will keep rising every year under current law. Each annual cost-of-living adjustment pushes your benefit amount higher, but the frozen tax thresholds do not move alongside those increases.The new $6,000 senior tax deduction offers only partial reliefThe One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, created a new $6,000 annual tax deduction for Americans aged 65 and older. Married couples filing jointly where both spouses qualify can claim up to $12,000 in combined additional deductions on their return.The IRS confirmed that this deduction is available for tax years 2025 through 2028 and applies to standard and itemized filers. The deduction phases out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income above $75,000 and joint filers above $150,000 annually.What the $6,000 deduction does not change for you:The underlying Social Security tax thresholds from 1984 remain completely frozen at $25,000 for singles and $32,000 for couples.This deduction is temporary and scheduled to expire after the 2028 tax year, unless Congress votes to extend the provision.It reduces your taxable income but does not eliminate the formula the IRS uses to calculate your Social Security tax liability.Higher-income retirees above the phase-out thresholds receive a reduced deduction or no benefit from this provision at all.

The $6,000 senior deduction provides short-term tax relief, but it leaves the outdated Social Security tax system unchanged and still working against retirees.Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock

Three strategies that can lower the tax bite on your Social Security benefitsYou cannot change the frozen thresholds, but you can take concrete steps to reduce your combined income and protect your benefits.Prioritize withdrawals from your Roth accounts firstRoth IRA and Roth 401(k) withdrawals are not included in your adjusted gross income, keeping your combined income figure lower overall. Every dollar you pull from a Roth account instead of a traditional IRA is a dollar that the IRS cannot count against you.Use Qualified Charitable Distributions from your traditional IRA accountsIf you are 70-and-a-half years old or older, you can donate up to $105,000 directly from your IRA to qualified charities through a QCD each year. QCDs satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution obligation without adding that amount to your adjusted gross income or combined income.Consider strategic tax-loss harvesting inside your taxable investment accountsSelling investments that have declined in value allows you to offset capital gains from your profitable investments that same tax year. Reducing your net capital gains directly lowers your adjusted gross income, which in turn reduces your Social Security tax exposure.Even if your benefits are not taxed today, the problem will catch upThe 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 increased the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit to approximately $1,976 per person. Each future COLA raises your benefit amount higher, pushing your combined income closer to those frozen 1984 thresholds every single year.More Social Security: AARP raises a red flag on Social Security, MedicareDave Ramsey warns Americans on Social Security, 401(k)sDave Ramsey warns of big Social Security problemA retiree who falls just below the $25,000 threshold today could easily cross it within two or three annual COLA adjustments. You should calculate your combined income every year and plan your withdrawal strategy before tax season arrives and catches you off guard.Do a quick self-check to see where you stand right now.Add up your adjusted gross income from all sources except Social Security, including pensions, IRAs, dividends, and rental income.Include any tax-exempt municipal bond interest because the IRS counts this in the Social Security tax formula, even though it is untaxed.Take half of your annual Social Security benefit and add that figure to the total you calculated in the two steps above.Compare your combined income total to the thresholds in the table above to see exactly where you fall in the taxation brackets.Congress has proposed eliminating Social Security taxes entirely, but no bill has passed yetMultiple bills sit before Congress right now that would repeal the federal income tax on Social Security benefits entirely for all recipients. The Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act, H.R. 1040, would amend the tax code to exclude all Social Security benefits from gross income.A separate bill, H.R. 904, would accomplish the same goal while also providing replacement funding for the Social Security trust fund. Neither bill has advanced beyond committee as of March 2026, so you should not plan your finances around a repeal happening anytime soon.The $6,000 senior deduction represents the only concrete legislative action taken so far, and that provision expires after the 2028 tax year. Your best move right now is to work with a tax professional who understands retirement income planning and Social Security coordination strategies.Related: Social Security has a $184,500 problem no one talks about

State-by-state complexity and missed deadlines can quietly derail even the most promising startups without proactive systems in place.

Inspiration alone isn’t the answer for high performance amid change. Routinizing change may be.

The global K-pop phenomenon BTS has officially launched its comeback era with a new album, a historic livestream, and one of the most anticipated world tours. But the route to market dominance is proving more turbulent than the “Army” anticipated.On March 20, the seven-member Korean boy band BTS (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) released Arirang, their first full-group project in nearly 4 years. While the album is a digital hit, shattering records on Apple Music and Spotify, a controversial crowd count moment at their Seoul concert had Hybe Co. investors scrambling.Meanwhile, a recent announcement from Netflix suggests that the market reacted too quickly to the band’s strength and faith in its very loyal and extended fanbase.Digital dominance vs physical frictionBTS, which was not able to perform as a group due to mandatory military service in South Korea, has now returned with their fifth studio album, Arirang, a project that blends modern pop with traditional Korean elements.Digitally, the band remains untouchable. Arirang, a 14-track project, achieved the biggest first-day streaming debut for a pop group in Apple Music history.On Spotify, the album clocked over 110 million streams in 24 hours, making it the most streamed K-Pop album in Spotify history and the most-streamed album in a single day in 2026.But the physical reality in South Korea left investors uneasy. Their BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang, a large-scale concert held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, opposite the main entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace, reported underwhelming numbers compared to the expected monumental turnout.More Streaming:Paramount Warner Bros. hostile bid has a catch for cable networksApple TV adds key feature Netflix droppedFacebook makes daring move to challenge Disney, NetflixAccording to Hybe, the managing company for BTS, 104,000 people were in the vicinity of Gwanghwamun Square; however, Seoul government crowd-tracking data showed only 60,000 people halfway through the concert, the New York Times reported. The downturn raised questions and even led Hybe to lose around 15% of its stock on Monday, as the market reacted to fears of waning demand. The stock rebounded in the days following the loss and was up 3.9% on Wednesday.

BTS Arirang comeback live stream had 18.4 million viewers.Shutterstock

The Netflix factor: a live recordThe comeback concert’s Seoul location was a glimpse into the theme of their latest album, blending history with the modern world.The concert was streamed live on Netflix to global audiences in more than 190 countries. It was the platform’s first live broadcast of a music concert event. And the move comes as Netflix is trying to ride the Korean wave hard after the immense success of K-pop Demon Hunters, which won the Oscar for its original song, “Golden.”The entertainment giant Netflix confirmed that the concert drew a staggering 18.4 million concurrent viewers and has reached 2.62 billion global social impressions “just across our owned Netflix channels”. After this definite win, Netflix is now looking forward to the band’s upcoming documentary, BTS: The Return, which will premiere on March 27. The documentary will include behind-the-scenes footage of their new album, Arirang, and of their preparation for the comeback concert, as well as a deep dive into the group’s return.“Life changed, love didn’t”While the stock market panicked, a different emotional story was unfolding digitally. On the one hand, Army (BTS’s official fandom) ensured that the album broke all streaming records through constant posting across multiple social media platforms. On the other hand, fans noted that while their lives have changed since 2022, their loyalty remains a fixed constant. On multiple subreddits, fans have been quick to note their initial surprise at the album’s departure from BTS’s previous works.But day two and day three posts showed a completely different picture, with listeners claiming that a second listening brought tears or made them think of reuniting with an old friend. Also noting that the songs were made for performance, and they looked forward to the world tour.Take a look at the song list from Arirang:Body to bodyHooliganAliensFYA2.0No. 29SwimMerry Go RoundNORMALLike AnimalsThey don’t know ‘bout usOne More NightPleaseInto the SunNYC soft launch and BTS world tourThree days after the launch of Arirang and the comeback concert in Seoul, BTS pivoted to the US this week. On March 23, the group performed an ultra-exclusive Spotify x BTS: Swimside set for 1,000 top listeners, followed by a Q&A moderated by Suki Waterhouse.This set the stage for their upcoming 82-show world tour, covering 34 regions and 82 concerts across Asia, North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. The tour will begin in Goyang, South Korea, on April 9.And industry analysts are projecting the world tour craze to exceed Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, generating more than $800 million in ticket and merchandise revenue, Bloomberg reported.Analysts at IBK Securities project the tour could generate upwards of $2 billion in revenue, with just 82 shows. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour had 149 shows and generated over $2 billion in revenue. And with Bighit’s official site teasing “more to come,” the revenue count can aggressively increase as more locations are added to the list.Related: YouTube TV just removed a major hurdle for millions of cord-cutters

The bankruptcy of the FanDuel branded networks has thrown the regional sports networks of MLB into uncertainty. But, data shows viewership and advertisers running to MLB.