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Learn why merchant cash advances are not classified as loans and how that distinction impacts enforcement and court outcomes in the fintech and legal landscape.  By David I. Mizrahi, Principal Attorney of David I. Mizrahi Law P.C.     The intelligence layer for fintech professionals who think for themselves. Primary source intelligence. Original analysis. Contributed pieces from the people defining the industry. Trusted by professionals at JP Morgan, Coinbase, BlackRock, Klarna and more. Join the FinTech Weekly Clarity Circle →   Merchant cash advances (MCAs) have become a core component of the alternative financing ecosystem, particularly for small and mid-sized businesses…

Mortgage rates in the US fell for a second week as the spring home sales season gets off to a sluggish start.

The Netflix logo is seen on an office building in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 5, 2026. Michael Yanow | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesNetflix kicks off earnings season for media companies on Thursday with a quarterly report that Wall Street hopes will give more updates on the company’s path forward after walking away from its proposed deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. Here’s how Netflix is expected to perform when it reports results for the first quarter of 2026, according to estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:Earnings per share: 76 cents estimatedRevenue: $12.18 billion estimatedLast quarter Netflix’s management focused much of its earnings…

Abstract Understanding whether labor market developments stem from supply or demand forces has fundamental implications for the conduct of monetary policy. This article develops a structural vector autoregression (VAR) methodology to decompose U.S. employment and wage growth into supply and demand components using sign restrictions. Extending Shapiro 2026, we separately identify trend growth, current shocks, and past shocks across different industries. Results reveal that goods-producing sectors experienced strong demand-driven growth in 2022, which subsequently weakened as Federal Reserve tightening took effect. Service sectors showed robust demand through 2023, but by 2025, supply-side factors—likely due to immigration policy changes—became dominant. We…

Make CryptoSlate preferred on Goldman Sachs, the $3.5 trillion banking giant, has filed to launch an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that uses covered calls to generate income from Bitcoin.The April 14 filing for the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF marks a strategic pivot for the investment bank, which previously had a hostile relationship with the flagship digital asset.Moreover, what makes the new product more distinct is that Goldman is not launching a conventional spot Bitcoin product to compete in the increasingly saturated $100 billion BTC ETF market.Instead, the banking giant is looking to engineer a moderated, yield-bearing version of…

Airline stocks were some of the worst performers during the Middle East violence tied to the U.S.-Iran war. While the current ceasefire is welcome news for the group as crude oil prices — and jet fuel — pull back, the carriers remain vulnerable, analysts warn. Two worries from the war in the Middle East weighed on the domestic airlines: higher jet fuel prices stemming from surging oil prices, and demand destruction from strapped consumers avoiding more expensive ticket prices as airlines passed along increased costs. With the exception of Delta, domestic carriers slumped between 16% and 28% between the start…

BlackRock’s Q1 numbers beat expectations. The institutional Bitcoin story is not in the revenue line. It is in the gap between IBIT and Morgan Stanley’s MSBT.    The intelligence layer for fintech professionals who think for themselves. Primary source intelligence. Original analysis. Contributed pieces from the people defining the industry. Trusted by professionals at JP Morgan, Coinbase, BlackRock, Klarna and more. Join the FinTech Weekly Clarity Circle →     BlackRock reported its first quarter 2026 results. Revenue reached $6.7 billion, up 27% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $12.53 against analyst expectations of $11.48. Total…

Live cattle futures closed the Tuesday session with gains of $1.05 to $2.90 across the board. Open interest was up 2,043 contracts. Last week’s cash trade was at $246-249 in the South, with some northern action near $249-250. Monday had some cleanup trade at $248 in KS. Feeder cattle futures were $1.40 to $2.50 higher at the close. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.08 to $375.02 on April 13. The OKC feeder cattle auction from Monday had sales on 4,859 head, with feeders steady to $5 higher for steers and heifers up $10-15. Calves were steady to $25…

Trump threatens to fire Powell if he doesn’t leave Fed board; probe to continue

The city of Ames has received a $500,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program to support the next phase of downtown transportation and infrastructure planning. The grant will fund planning and preliminary design work for the “Multi-Modal Downtown Transit Hub” project. This effort, aimed at enhancing downtown access, safety and connectivity, aligns with the city’s “Downtown Ames: A Guiding Vision” plan to strengthen redevelopment and economic vitality in the urban core. Ames was one of 49 cities selected from nearly 800 applicants to distribute $54.2 million in federal investment promoting rural infrastructure…