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The closed-end fund aims to give everyday investors exposure to private firms before they go public.

Costco has shared that it raises gas prices more slowly than it raises them.Basically, Costco takes a lower margin on gas sales while prices are rising, but makes that up as they fall.Former Costco CFO Richard Galanti defended that practice, discussing the warehouse club’s gas business during its second-quarter 2022 earnings call.“As prices went up or went, even went down a little bit, they didn’t go down as fast as perhaps they could have been, which gives us, in our view, an ability to make a little more and still be the most competitive,” he said.Now, with gas prices rising due to the war in Iran, Costco’s current CFO, Gary Millerchip, shared some key news on the company’s pricing strategy. He also shared how higher gas prices drive member behaviour.ALSO READ: Why Costco’s gas prices won’t rise as fast as traditional gas stationsCostco’s gas drives member visitsShopping at Costco’s warehouses saves members money.Costco’s prices were 21% lower than Walmart’s, which were used as the baseline for a recent Consumer Reports study of grocery prices.Consumer Reports commissioned the research from Strategic Resource Group (SRG), a retail- and grocery-industry market research company in New York.”When SRG compared prices on baskets of commonly purchased items at mainstream grocery chains in six regionally representative cities across the U.S., the difference between the highest- and lowest-priced in each city was more than 33%. And when the comparison included the warehouse clubs like Costco and specialty grocers like Whole Foods, the price differences were even more significant,” the consumer advocate shared.This study highlights Costco’s consistent pricing advantage across the U.S., showing how warehouse clubs maintain lower prices even compared with major discount grocers.More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryLululemon struggles to reverse concerning customer behaviorThat means that anything that entices Costco members to visit its warehouses saves them money.”Generally speaking, we see about half of members who will shop at the gas station will also cross-shop at the warehouse,” Millerchip shared during Costco’s second quarter 2026 earnings call.Economics professor Alan Gin from the University of San Diego believes the motivation for Costco’s aggressive gas price strategy has to do with how Costco makes its money. “The bulk of their profits come from memberships,” he told ABC News. Gin says up to 70% of Costco’s profits come from the $65 or $130 that customers pay for the right to shop at its warehouses. “They can afford to take some losses on the chicken and the hot dogs, and now maybe even the gas, if that gets people to sign up then for these memberships,” Gin said.

Costco tries to be a pricing leader when it comes to gas.Shutterstock

Gas prices are rising”The nation’s average price of gasoline has risen 23.2 cents over the last week and stands at $3.68 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country,” the gas pricing website reported. Prices have been climbing quickly.”The national average is up 80 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel rose 34.0 cents in the last week and stands at $4.951 per gallon,” GasBuddy added.Costco is monitoring the situation.”It is early days to know what the impact longer term might be from events in the Middle East at the moment. But generally speaking, if gas prices start to increase, then we tend to see our value proposition resonate better with members, just because obviously we want to be the pricing authority on gas,” Millerchip shared.He also noted that higher gas prices changes member behaviour.”And so when prices are higher, that will tend to cause members to maybe take the extra mile that it might involve to get to the gas station because of the incremental value they see there. But, obviously, we will have to see what happens with gas prices over the coming months there,” he added.Lower gas prices have been a key part of Costco’s strategy for decades.”Costco, for example, is typically 20 cents a gallon below the market average,” Tom Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at IHS Markit’s Oil Price Information Service told CNN.In times of higher gas prices, consumers seek out savings.“People are seeking out the clubs because of the gas,” Michael Baker, a retail analyst at D.A. Davidson told CNN. “It’s U.S. consumers’ nature to go out of their way for lower gas prices.”Related: Sam’s Club fixes problem that’s a major pain point at Costco

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Sable Offshore (SOC) is trading more like a regulatory battle than a normal oil stock.That is the clearest way to read the latest fight over Line 325, a section of pipeline tied to the company’s Santa Ynez restart plan. Through the plan, the U.S. Department of Energy is forcing reactivation of Sable Offshore’s Santa Ynez Unit, part of the Las Flores Pipeline System in California.Line 325 (including 325A Gaviota to Sisquoc and 325B Sisquoc to Pentland) is a crucial part of the crude transport system.Federal officials have pushed Sable forward, but California is still arguing it retains authority over key parts of the system, including land access and pipeline oversight.California still controls a key piece of oil pipeline systemThe most important detail is not especially dramatic, but it is important. A four-mile stretch in Gaviota State Park still requires a state easement for pipeline maintenance, and the earlier 30-year easement expired in 2016. Since then, State Parks has relied on shorter-term access permissions while it reviews a longer-term request. That leaves Sable exposed to a state-level bottleneck, even as Washington pushes the project in the opposite direction.More OilScott Bessent sounds the alarm on Treasury’s oil market limitsOil’s whiplash is powering ConocoPhillips, but the real catalyst is internalA record release of oil reserves is no match for a scared energy market — oil prices are already back above where they wereThat is why this story keeps snapping back into focus. One federal green light does not automatically clear a project that still runs through California land, California process, and California courts. The issue is not just whether Sable can produce oil. It is whether the company can move that oil to market on a timeline that still works financially.The federal push to restart the oil lines is real, but so is the lawsuitSable did get a meaningful boost from Washington late last year. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said in December that the Santa Ynez Pipeline System was an active interstate pipeline under federal jurisdiction, approving Sable’s restart plan for segments 324 and 325. It then issued an emergency special permit tied to corrosion and integrity management requirements. Sable later said it would continue operating under those conditions while PHMSA considers a longer-term special permit request.California moved back quickly. In January, Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration, arguing PHMSA unlawfully tried to federalize the lines, bypass state authority and approve restart steps that should still be subject to California oversight. That suit matters, because it keeps the restart timeline from becoming a simple federal-agency story.

The U.S. DOT deemed the Santa Ynez Pipeline System an active interstate pipeline under federal jurisdiction, approving Sable’s restart plan for segments 324 and 325. Shutterstock

The balance sheet shows why Santa Ynez delays matter for SableThis would be a different story if Sable had years of financial flexibility. It does not.In its full-year 2025 results, Sable reported a net loss of $410.2 million, cash and cash equivalents of $97.7 million, and short-term outstanding debt of $921.6 million, including paid-in-kind interest. The company has also put a $250 million at-the-market stock program in place, giving it another funding option if delays continue.That does not make dilution inevitable, but it does make the timeline important. Sable is still trying to turn a restart narrative into an actual sales narrative. If that process gets dragged out by easement fights, litigation or added conditions, the market is likely to focus more on financing risk.Sable by the numbersMarket cap: about $2.4 billionCash at year-end 2025: $97.7 millionShort-term outstanding debt at year-end 2025: $921.6 millionPrior gross production before the long shutdown: About 34 MBOE/DWhy Sable is trading like a politics stockA favorable federal headline can send the stock sharply higher, as happened after reports that President Donald Trump planned to use emergency powers to help restart output. A state legal challenge can reverse sentiment just as quickly, as happened after California sued over the federal pipeline actions.The company still has an asset with real value. But until it moves from “restart progress” to reliable commercial sales, the stock is likely to keep reacting to process more than production. That is why Line 325 matters so much. On a map, it is only one segment. In the equity story, it is one of the gates that still has to open.Related: Scott Bessent sounds the alarm on Treasury’s oil market limits

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If you have federal student loans, you trust the company managing your account to keep accurate records. You trust that your monthly bill reflects what you actually owe. You trust that when you call for help, the person on the other end gives you correct information.A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office suggests that trust may no longer be justified. The nonpartisan watchdog found that the Education Department quietly stopped verifying whether your loan servicer’s records are right.It also stopped monitoring the quality of phone calls between servicers and borrowers. The agency’s reason was straightforward: It did not have enough staff.The timing could not be worse. Major changes to federal student loan repayment arrive this summer. Millions of borrowers will need reliable guidance from these same servicers. Right now, no federal check exists to make sure they get it.The Education Department stopped checking your loan servicer’s accuracyThe GAO report, released March 11, 2026, documents a breakdown in how the federal government oversees student loan servicers. These are private companies that process your payments, maintain your account records, and advise you on repayment options.More Personal Finance:Why selling a home to your child for a dollar can backfireElon Musk says ‘universal high income’ is comingFTC, 21 states sue Uber over ‘shady’ subscription billingIn February 2025, the Office of Federal Student Aid stopped conducting quarterly assessments of servicer accuracy, CNBC reports. FSA also stopped reviewing recorded calls between servicers and borrowers. These assessments were required under contracts FSA signed with its five loan servicers in April 2024.The agency told GAO investigators it halted the reviews because it lacked staff capacity. The numbers support that claim. FSA began 2025 with 1,433 employees. By December, it had 777. That is a 46% reduction in a single year.What inaccurate loan servicer records could mean for your financesThis is not an abstract bureaucratic issue. If your loan servicer has the wrong information in your file, the consequences show up in your bank account.According to the GAO report (GAO-26-108534), inaccurate servicer records could lead to:Being placed in the wrong repayment statusGetting billed for incorrect amounts each monthHaving a refund delayed or never processedReceiving wrong information about repayment plans or forgiveness eligibilityThe servicer’s track record was already poor before oversight endedThe GAO reviewed servicer performance at the end of 2024. Four of the five federal loan servicers failed to meet the Education Department’s own accuracy standards. Two of those servicers received the maximum financial penalty allowed under their contracts.Loan servicers have long faced criticism for misleading borrowers or giving them bad advice. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia told NPR that borrowers risk overpaying or landing in the wrong program. He called the department’s failure to oversee servicers a dereliction of duty.The federal student loan system is about to get much more complicatedThe oversight gap is alarming on its own. It becomes far more dangerous, given what is coming next for federal student loans. Several major policy changes take effect in July 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.The SAVE plan is officially deadThe Biden-era Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan offered the lowest monthly payments of any federal program. On March 10, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ordered SAVE’s permanent termination. More than 7 million borrowers are still enrolled. Their loans have been accruing interest since August 2025.New repayment plans are replacing familiar onesStarting in July, two brand-new repayment plans will launch. Several existing options, including Income-Contingent Repayment and Pay As You Earn, will be phased out by 2028. New borrowers will have far fewer choices than those who enrolled even a year ago.You will rely on your servicer to explain these new plans. The GAO warned that millions of people will need accurate information when they call. The Education Department has no way to verify that they are getting it.About 12 million student loan borrowers are in or near defaultAn estimated 12 million federal student loan borrowers are either in default or approaching it. Default carries serious consequences for your finances. The government can garnish your wages, seize your tax refund, and damage your credit score.Borrowers in this situation need accurate guidance on rehabilitation and repayment options. Without federal oversight of service quality, there is no guarantee they will receive it.

New student loan borrowers will have far fewer choices than those who enrolled even a year ago.andresr/Getty Images

The Education Department disagrees with the GAO’s recommendationGAO made one formal recommendation: resume the assessments of servicer accuracy and call quality.The Education Department declined. Richard Lucas, FSA’s acting chief operating officer, argued the agency uses other methods to evaluate servicers.Those methods include borrower satisfaction surveys, weekly executive check-in meetings, and daily performance reports from the servicers themselves.GAO says the alternative methods are not sufficientGAO concluded that these alternatives do not effectively replace direct accuracy assessments. The department’s own independent financial auditor reinforced this point. In January 2026, the auditor found the Education Department still had a material weakness in the reliability of its student loan data.Related: Federal student loan changes could raise payments for millionsThe Education Department pays servicers more than $1 billion per year to manage borrower accounts, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. GAO’s Melissa Emrey-Arras said that without accountability, the government risks overpaying for poor performance.How to protect yourself if your loan servicer has wrong recordsYou cannot control whether the Education Department resumes oversight. But you can take steps now to check your own records and reduce your exposure to servicer errors.Review your account on StudentAid.govLog in to StudentAid.gov and verify your loan balances, repayment status, and servicer assignment. Compare what the federal site shows against your servicer’s records. Flag any discrepancy immediately.Keep your own payment recordsDownload or take screenshots of your payment confirmations each month. If your servicer disputes a payment or applies it to the wrong loan, your own records become your evidence. Store them in a folder you can access quickly.Do not rely solely on your servicer for plan adviceNew repayment plans launch in July 2026. Use the Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator to estimate your payments under each plan before calling your servicer. This gives you a baseline to spot bad advice.File complaints when something goes wrongIf your servicer gives you wrong information or mishandles your account, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Student Aid Feedback Center. The more borrowers report problems, the harder it becomes for the department to justify skipping oversight.Watch for the July 2026 SAVE transition deadlineIf you are enrolled in SAVE, you must switch repayment plans. If you have Parent PLUS loans, consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan before July 1, 2026. After that date, Parent PLUS borrowers lose access to income-driven repayment. Consolidation takes four to six weeks. Do not wait until June.The numbers behind the student loan oversight gapThe federal student loan portfolio is massive. Roughly 43 million Americans carry about $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt, according to the Department of Education. Student debt is the second-largest category of consumer debt in the country, behind only mortgages.Five private companies service this entire portfolio. They process payments, field borrower questions, and maintain the records that determine how much you owe. When the federal government stops verifying those records, 43 million borrowers are left to catch errors on their own.Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who requested the GAO investigation, said the administration has made it harder for borrowers to understand their obligations. Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, countered that servicers monitor themselves because accurate records serve their financial interest.The GAO report undercuts that argument. Four of five servicers failed accuracy standards even while federal oversight was still active. Self-policing alone was not enough then. Without any external check at all, the risks to your account only grow.Related: SAVE Plan ends with bad news for student loan borrowers