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A total of 178 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed onto a letter cautioning Israel against annexing any land in Judea, Samaria, or Gaza, according to a report from the Jewish News Syndicate.

The initiative was organized by Reps. Brad Schneider of Illinois and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who brought together 176 of their colleagues to endorse the letter.

The message reads: “We are convinced that unilateral steps by either side, including Israeli annexation of territory in the West Bank or Gaza, would move Israelis and Palestinians further away from negotiations and further away from a just, sustainable peace. We are particularly troubled by increasing public calls to unilaterally annex West Bank territory.”

The lawmakers further warned: “Moves toward annexation would undermine Israel’s progress on normalization, prevent international cooperation to rebuild Gaza after this devastating war, risk instability in Jordan and even further strain ties with key European partners.”

Of the Democratic caucus, only 35 lawmakers did not join in signing the appeal. Those who refrained include some of the party’s most outspoken allies of Israel, such as Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York.

Meanwhile, Israeli leaders such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have spoken of asserting sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. These discussions come after several nations, including France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, recognized a Palestinian state despite Hamas still governing Gaza and holding 48 hostages.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Italy’s Corriere Della Sera that Israel has no plans to extend sovereignty across all of Judea and Samaria, but is considering applying it to Israeli towns in the area that are outside the control of the Palestinian Authority.

{Matzav.com}

Merriam-Webster announced on Thursday that over 5,000 new words and expressions have been incorporated into its “Collegiate” dictionary, the first fresh update to the student- and teacher-focused volume in more than two decades.

The latest edition introduces a range of modern slang and cultural terms, including “beast mode,” “dad bod,” and “rizz.”

Merriam-Webster defines “beast mode” as “an extremely aggressive or energetic style or manner that someone adopts temporarily to overpower an opponent in a fight or competition.” The Associated Press offered an example sentence: “He needed to go beast mode to crush the hot dog eating contest.”

Another widely used phrase now officially recognized is “dad bod,” described as “a physique regarded as typical of an average father, especially one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.”

Meanwhile, “rizz” is identified as a reference to a person’s “appeal or charm.” Merriam-Webster illustrates its use with, “‘You come here often?’ Joe’s rizz was way, WAY off.”

Beyond these, the twelfth edition also includes new additions such as “dumbphone,” “farm-to-table,” “petrichor,” “side eye,” and “hard pass.”

The updated version of the dictionary is scheduled to be released on November 18.

{Matzav.com}

In the weeks following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a leftist gun group with a history of political violence is openly celebrating his death — and using it to recruit. Bright red flyers from the John Brown Gun Club appeared this week on Georgetown University’s campus, plastered across activity boards and reading: “Hey fascist! Catch!” The slogan mirrors words allegedly scrawled on a shell casing by Tyler Robinson, the man accused of murdering Kirk at a Turning Point USA event in Utah earlier this month. The flyers, adorned with QR codes linking to a recruitment page, declare the club as “the only political group that celebrates when Nazis die.” Georgetown students say the message goes beyond provocation. “I read this immediately as a threat — not only to me but to every conservative on this campus,” said Shae McInnis, treasurer of the College Republicans. “It’s a direct call for violence.” Education Secretary Linda McMahon condemned the flyers, saying her department had spoken to Georgetown administrators, who ordered the posters removed and launched an investigation. “Allowing violent rhetoric to fester on our nation’s campuses without consequences is dangerous,” she warned. The John Brown Gun Club is listed by extremism watchdogs as a far-left group with a record of armed appearances at protests and connections to recent anti-ICE violence, including the July 4 assault on a Texas detention center where suspects opened fire on federal agents. The controversy underscores rising fears of an “assassination culture” on the far left — one Kirk himself warned about online just months before he was gunned down. Georgetown University confirmed the flyers have been removed and said it is working with police to protect students. “We have no tolerance for calls for violence or threats to the university,” a spokesperson said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to resolve a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which accused the company of deceiving customers into subscribing to Prime and creating obstacles for those who tried to cancel. The settlement, announced today, is the largest of its kind in FTC history.

The tech giant will hand over $1 billion in civil penalties, the biggest fine ever imposed for a violation of an FTC rule, along with $1.5 billion in refunds to customers who were affected. Despite the massive payout, Amazon did not admit fault in the agreement.

Prime, Amazon’s flagship subscription service that provides members with benefits like faster delivery and special savings at Whole Foods, now has a global membership of more than 200 million people.

According to the FTC, the refunds are expected to help roughly 35 million consumers who were charged for Prime memberships they did not want or were unable to cancel easily.

Those eligible for restitution include customers who may have signed up through Amazon’s “Single Page Checkout” between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.

The lawsuit was first filed two years ago in federal court. The FTC argued that Amazon violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 statute aimed at protecting consumers from deceptive online practices.

The agency said Amazon purposely made it difficult for customers to shop without enrolling in Prime.

In its complaint, the FTC further alleged that canceling Prime was intentionally complicated, with company executives often blocking or delaying efforts to simplify the process.

“Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson declared. “The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription.”

In response, an Amazon representative told Newsweek that the company continues to believe it acted within the law but chose to settle to avoid a drawn-out legal battle. The spokesperson said Amazon remains focused on compliance and customer service.

Amazon also issued a statement to Newsweek, saying: “Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers. We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world. We will continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll deliver for Prime members in the coming years.”

FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson added: “Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again. The Trump-Vance FTC is committed to fighting back when companies try to cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay.”

In a legal brief filed last month, Amazon argued: “Occasional customer frustrations and mistakes are inevitable — especially for a program as popular as Amazon Prime.”

As part of the settlement, Amazon must adjust how customers sign up for and cancel Prime. New requirements include a “clear and conspicuous button” to decline Prime, a cancellation process that matches the ease of enrollment, and full disclosure of all terms during the sign-up process.

{Matzav.com}

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained sluggish in August, even as a late-summer slide in mortgage rates brought home loan borrowing costs to a 10-month low. Existing home sales slipped 0.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s the slowest sales pace since June. Sales rose 1.8% compared with August last year. The latest sales figure topped the 3.96 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. The national median sales price increased 2% in August from a year earlier to $422,600. That’s the 26th consecutive month that home prices have risen on an annual basis. The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. Mortgage rates have been mostly declining since late July ahead of the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision last week to cut its main interest rate for the first time in a year amid growing concern over the U.S. job market. The pullback in mortgage rates has given home shoppers more purchasing power, but rates remain too high for many Americans to afford to buy a home following years of skyrocketing home prices. (AP)

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed new details Thursday morning about the ongoing probe into Wednesday’s fatal shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, stressing that the suspect appeared to study past acts of violence in the days before carrying out the assault.

According to Patel, FBI teams in both Dallas and Washington have been working tirelessly to analyze digital devices, written materials, and other items seized from the shooter’s home and possessions.

Among the discoveries, agents learned that the suspect searched online on both Tuesday and Wednesday for information on ballistics as well as for the “Charlie Kirk shot video.” Patel underscored the importance of these findings, saying they provide investigators with insight into the suspect’s intent and preparations.

Officials also found that the gunman had downloaded a file titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management,” which contained a list of Department of Homeland Security locations. Between August 19 and 24, he used mobile apps to monitor ICE agent activity. A handwritten message recovered at the scene read: “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?’”

“The accumulated evidence points to a high degree of pre-attack planning,” Patel said. “We will continue to share timely updates without compromising the investigation.”

The shooting killed one detainee and left two others critically hurt after the assailant fired from a rooftop into a secure entryway and a detainee transport van. The attacker then took his own life. No ICE personnel were physically harmed.

As the inquiry in Dallas progresses, Patel emphasized the FBI’s commitment to maintaining transparency while safeguarding the integrity of the case. The fact that the shooter reviewed material related to the Kirk incident shortly before the assault highlights investigators’ concern that he may have been influenced by, or trying to replicate, politically charged acts of violence.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli police have arrested a man who allegedly threatened to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking the second such case to surface in as many months and underscoring the heightened political volatility surrounding Israel’s embattled leader. The suspect, a resident of Kiryat Gat, was detained on the evening of Sept. 22 — the start of Rosh Hashanah — after walking into a local police station and declaring his intent to purchase a firearm and shoot Netanyahu three times. Officers immediately placed him under arrest, and a court later extended his detention at the request of investigators. Police said Thursday that prosecutors are expected to file an indictment imminently, along with a request to hold the suspect in custody until the end of proceedings. The arrest comes less than two months after prosecutors charged a woman in her 70s with conspiring to assassinate Netanyahu using an anti-tank weapon. That indictment alleged she sought to “sacrifice” her life to oppose the government and had attempted to recruit another activist to help track Netanyahu’s movements. Netanyahu, facing a restive public amid war in Gaza and mounting protests at home, has increasingly condemned violent extremism among his opponents. Earlier this month, he likened anti-government protesters who set fires in Jerusalem to “fascist militias.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary, is under fire from within his own party after remarks suggesting Europe must shoulder more of the burden against Russia — comments that one retiring Republican lawmaker said echoed the appeasement rhetoric of the 1930s. In an appearance on Fox Business Network, Bessent said Moscow’s aggression should be met with tougher sanctions from Europe, but sought to draw a line between threats to Warsaw and Washington. “Putin’s not marching into Boston,” Bessent said, while praising Poland’s defense spending and post–Cold War economic rise. That remark touched a nerve with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a former Air Force brigadier general. Bacon, who is not seeking reelection, fired back online: “This is how we talked in the 1930s, and we learned it did not work. We are in NATO for very good reasons.” The clash spotlights a simmering divide among Republicans over U.S. commitments in Europe. Trump-aligned officials have long pressed for Europe to bear more of the financial and military burden of deterrence. But NATO’s Article 5 pledge — that an attack on one member is an attack on all — leaves little daylight between Warsaw and Boston in terms of U.S. obligations. The spat comes as Trump himself has sent mixed signals about NATO’s role in countering Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, oscillating between praise for allies like Poland and skepticism of U.S. entanglements abroad. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump made it clear that he has no objection to seeing Obama-era FBI Director James Comey and CIA head John Brennan — whom he has repeatedly called one of the “51 spies who lie” — face prison time.

“I don’t know if there’s going to be” arrests, Trump told The Daily Caller in excerpts from an interview set to be released Monday. He then added, “there should be.”

He went on to accuse them of dishonesty and betrayal. “What they did is a disgrace. They cheated, they lied, they did so many bad things, evil things that were so bad for the country, and because they did something to me that should have never been done, nobody thought they’d ever do that.”

According to Trump, investigations meant to target him only uncovered misconduct by his accusers. “They just went crazy,” Trump said. “They’re bad people. They’re sick people. They’re the ones that committed all the crimes.”

Trump insisted he himself did nothing wrong. “We didn’t commit crimes. They committed all the crimes, there should be, I can’t tell you whether or not — because I really I don’t have to stay uninvolved; I’m allowed to stay involved — but I purposely don’t get involved. I can say that they should be arrested.”

When asked about the prospect of his political opponents being seen in handcuffs, Trump replied that such a sight “would not bother me at all.” He continued, “They lied, they cheated, they did everything you can do that’s illegal, and then they accused — it’s amazing, even I see it now with me: They say, ‘He’s actually looking to arrest him.'”

He pointed to his own legal ordeals as an example of hypocrisy. “What the hell did they do with me? You know? And then they’ll say he’s — they make it sound like I’m a bad guy. I had to have a mug shot taken, right?”

Trump added that the media was complicit in the attacks against him. “Yeah, these are bad people. They’re sick people, and, you know, the press plays along with it. But they should be. I mean, I’m probably answering the question more than you think I should. They should be [arrested], because they’re crooked and they got caught.”

Responding to those who claim he is retaliating, Trump argued that he originally sought to avoid politicizing the justice system, citing Alan Dershowitz’s philosophy. But, he said, Joe Biden and Democratic prosecutors in Fulton County, Manhattan, and Washington, D.C., left him no choice. “See, I wouldn’t have answered that question that way four years ago. Do you understand that?” Trump explained. “I wouldn’t, because, well, Hillary’s a good example. We had Hillary cold. I didn’t want to see that. I didn’t want the, you know, the wife of a president to go to jail, but she was stone-cold guilty of things.

“And if you remember, at the, at the big rallies, I’d say, ‘All right, take it easy.’ You know, they’d all say, ‘Lock her up! Lock her up!’ Before I won, just, they could do whatever they wanted. After I won — yeah, I was very gracious.”

In the end, Trump said the decision would rest with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Justice Department, the legal system, and the courts. “Depending on what they find, they’re guilty, they’re guilty,” he concluded. “They’re bad people, and they are very, very sick people, beyond bad. They’re sick.”

Comey and Brennan were central figures in leading America’s intelligence and law enforcement responses to what Trump has long denounced as the Russia “hoax.”

{Matzav.com}

A top South Korean official said Thursday that North Korea is operating a total of four uranium enrichment facilities, adding to outside assessments that it has multiple covert atomic plants along with the widely known site near the capital of Pyongyang. The North’s leader Kim Jong Un has called for a rapid expansion of his country’s nuclear weapons program and recently said he would never make the arms a negotiating point in response to overtures by U.S. President Donald Trump. The South’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said uranium enrichment centrifuges at the four facilities — which would include the known site at Yongbyon, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pyongyang — are running everyday and stressed the urgency to stop the North’s nuclear program. Chung did not elaborate further on the location of the other, undeclared nuclear sites. He spoke about the North with local reporters, according to his ministry. A nuclear stockpile Chung cited an assessment that the North possesses 2,000 kilograms (about 4,400 pounds) of highly enriched uranium. He first said that was based on intelligence but the ministry later clarified it was attributed to civilian experts. If confirmed, the amount would also signal a sharp increase in North Korea’s stockpile of nuclear material. In 2018, Stanford University scholars, including nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker who had previously visited the Yongbyon complex, said the North had about 250 to 500 kilograms (550 to 1,100 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices. Nuclear weapons can be built using either highly enriched uranium or plutonium, and North Korea has facilities to produce both at Yongbyon. Last year, North Korea released photographs of what it said was a uranium enrichment facility, the first such disclosure since it showed the one at Yongbyon to Hecker and others in 2010. The location and other details of the facility in the photographs remain unknown. Foreign experts believe North Korea has built additional uranium-enrichment sites as Kim has been pushing hard to expand his nuclear arsenal. A plutonium plant is typically large and generates much heat, making it easier for outsiders to detect than a uranium enrichment plant, which is more compact and can be easily hidden from satellite cameras. Centrifuges to enrich uranium can be clandestinely operated underground. North’s atomic bombs It’s almost impossible to independently confirm how many nuclear weapons North Korea has manufactured, based on nuclear fissile materials it has produced at Yongbyon and elsewhere. In 2018, a top South Korean official told parliament that North Korea was estimated to have already manufactured 20-60 nuclear weapons, but some experts say the North likely has more than 100. Estimates of how many nuclear bombs North Korea can add to its arsenal every year vary, ranging from six to as many as 18. International diplomacy on ending North Korea’s nuclear program has stalled since 2019, when high-stakes summitry between Kim and Trump fell apart without any agreement. At the time, Kim offered to dismantle the Yongbyon complex if he won extensive sanctions relief. But the American side rejected his proposal, because it would be a limited denuclearization step that would leave North Korea’s other, already built nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities intact. Kim has since shunned any diplomacy with the U.S. and South Korea and focused on running weapons tests and perfecting nuclear missiles that target his rivals. Since […]

Andrew Cuomo sharply criticized Zohran Mamdani’s bid for New York City mayor, branding it “abhorrent” and framing the contest as a “battle for the soul” of the Democratic Party.

“This is a civil war within the Democratic party where the extreme left is pulling the Democratic party and the moderates are afraid,” Cuomo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “The Democratic Party is not anti-business, it’s not anti-police. That’s not who we are.”

At 67, Cuomo is running as an independent candidate, currently in second place behind Mamdani in a four-way race that also includes Republican Curtis Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams, who is seeking re-election.

Cuomo, who previously guided New York through the Covid-19 crisis as governor, criticized Mamdani, a 33-year-old Queens assemblyman, for lacking the necessary experience.

“He’s going to run 300,000 employees, $115 billion budget. You wake up any morning, you could have a terrorist attack, you could have another COVID,” Cuomo said. “It just demeans government and demeans public service in a way that I just find abhorrent and I’m going to do everything I can to stop it.”

A Suffolk University CityView poll released Tuesday showed Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, holding a 20-point lead over Cuomo. In the primary election, Cuomo also lost to Mamdani by more than 12 points.

In response, Cuomo has adjusted his campaign approach, increasing media appearances and public events to strengthen his profile across the city.

During his Thursday interview, he dismissed worries about the crowded field, saying voters would ultimately view the race as a choice between two serious contenders. He also pushed back against Sliwa’s claim earlier in the week that Cuomo’s allies had offered him money to bow out.

“It would happen to be a crime,” Cuomo said of Sliwa’s allegations, pressing him to reveal the names of those he accused. “It’s all malarkey.”

Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, which owns Bloomberg News, backed Cuomo in the primary and has donated to a political action committee supporting his run.

{Matzav.com}

Benny & Friends A Chol Hamoed concert with Benny Friedman featuring a lineup of spectacular guests stars! Sunday, Chol Hamoed Sukkos, Oct 12 Newark Symphony Hall Get Your Tickets Now!! https://t.ly/sing.ywn

Recently, overhanging branches along streets bordering Washington Cemetery and Greenwood Cemetery, located on the outskirts of Boro Park and Midwood, have prevented Kohanim from traveling along these roads. Although they were trimmed in past years, the branches have regrown, forcing Kohanim to use alternate routes because of the halachic issue of tumah. Due to the continued advocacy of Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and under the strict guidance of Rabbi Yitzchok Stein Shlita, Supervisor of Va’ad Mishmeres Kahuna, Rov and Rosh Bais Din of Foltichen, we are pleased to announce that the trees have been trimmed once again and Kohanim will now be able to travel on the following street lanes along the cemeteries: Washington Cemetery: Bay Parkway between East 3rd Street and McDonald Avenue: Outside lane only (cemetery side) Bay Parkway between McDonald Avenue and 57th Street: Outside lanes in both directions 20th Avenue between 54th and 57th Streets: Travel lanes in both directions (not parking lanes or sidewalk) Ocean Parkway between Avenue J and Avenue L: Southbound service lane Greenwood Cemetery: McDonald Avenue between 20th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway: Both driving lanes along the cemetery (not parking lane) Fort Hamilton Parkway between McDonald Avenue and 37th Street: Both lanes Rabbi Stein and Assemblyman Eichenstein extend their gratitude to all those who helped resolve these issues, making travel along these routes more convenient and worry-free for Kohanim, especially Rabbi Wolf Elya Meyer, Rabbi Chaim Moshe Rokach, NYC Parks Department and the leadership of Greenwood and Washington Cemeteries. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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A Florida man has been charged with federal arson after allegedly setting fire to a Chabad Jewish Center in Punta Gorda ahead of Rosh Hashanah. Prosecutors say 31-year-old Blake Richard Hoover ignited the blaze and spray-painted the letter “J” on the synagogue and Hebrew school. Investigators say Hoover had previously expressed intent to burn down the center and was caught on a license plate reader near the scene. Police later recovered a gas can and spray paint from his home.

Two Syracuse University students have been arrested and charged with a hate crime after allegedly throwing a bag of pork into a Jewish fraternity house during Rosh Hashanah. Police say one suspect entered Zeta Beta Tau, tossed the bag against a wall, and fled with the other in a getaway car. Both 18-year-olds now face burglary as a hate crime and criminal nuisance charges. Officials condemned the act as “abhorrent” and “not a prank,” stressing it was a targeted attack on Jewish students. The students also face possible disciplinary action from the university.

U.S. mortgage rates ticked up this week after four straight weeks of declines, with the average 30-year fixed rising to 6.3% from 6.26%, according to Freddie Mac. The increase follows a Fed rate cut last week and signals how bond market shifts and cautious Fed messaging can quickly push borrowing costs higher. While rates remain near 11-month lows — giving many recent buyers a chance to refinance — economists expect 30-year mortgages to stay in the mid-6% range through 2025.

Amazon has agreed to a record $2.5 billion settlement with the FTC after being accused of tricking customers into signing up for Prime and making it too hard to cancel. The deal includes $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest fine in FTC history — and $1.5 billion in refunds for affected customers. The FTC said Amazon used misleading checkout buttons and a cancellation process nicknamed “Iliad” for its length. Amazon denied wrongdoing but said it settled to move forward.

President Donald Trump hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House today for a high-level discussion.

Speaking during their meeting, Trump said: “I had a great meeting with [Middle East] leaders… at UNGA — and I think we’re close to getting some kind of a deal done. We want to get the hostages back. I have to get the hostages back.”

When pressed on whether he and Erdogan were aligned on the situation in Gaza, Trump replied: “Well I don’t know his stance, I can’t tell you about that.”

Erdogan’s agenda includes pushing Washington to overturn its prior refusal to provide Turkey with advanced F-35 jets. That decision followed Turkey’s acquisition of Russian-made missile defense systems, which drew American disapproval. Erdogan is also seeking relief from U.S. sanctions and tariffs that have strained his country’s economy.

Trump, in turn, emphasized that he expects Turkey to halt energy purchases from Moscow while the war in Ukraine persists. “I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues his rampage against Ukraine,” Trump stated.

{Matzav.com}

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage ticked up this week, ending a four-week slide that brought down borrowing costs for homebuyers to the lowest level in nearly a year. The rate rose to 6.3% from 6.26% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.08%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also edged higher. The average rate rose to 5.49% from 5.41% last week. A year ago, it was 5.16%, Freddie Mac said. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.19% in midday trading Thursday, up from 4.16% late Wednesday. Starting in late July, mortgage rates mostly declined in the lead-up to the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision last week to cut its main interest rate for the first time in a year amid growing concern over the U.S. job market. But this week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee, particularly those who were appointed by President Donald Trump, who are pushing for faster cuts. Treasury yields have since moved higher in the bond market as traders pared bets for the number of upcoming cuts to rates by the Fed. That helped push up mortgage rates. The housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. And, so far this year, sales are running below where they were at this time in 2024. This week’s rise in rates could signal a repeat of what happened about a year ago after the Fed cut its benchmark rate for the first time in more than four years. Back then, mortgage rates fell for several weeks prior to the when the Fed cut rates at its September 2024 policy meeting. In the weeks that followed, however, mortgage rates began rising again, eventually reaching just above 7% in mid-January. Like last year, the Fed’s rate cut doesn’t necessarily mean mortgage rates will keep declining, even as the central bank signals more cuts ahead. Still, the late-summer decline in mortgage rates has already encouraged many homeowners who bought in recent years after rates climbed above 6% to refinance to a lower rate. Home loan applications overall rose 0.6% last week from a week earlier as mortgage rates fell, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But applications for home refinance loans accounted for more than 60% of all applications, MBA said. “Even with this week’s uptick, mortgage rates remain near 11-month lows, creating opportunities for both buyers and homeowners considering a refinance,” said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. Mortgage rates will have to go well below 6% to make refinancing an attractive option to a broader swath of homeowners, however. That’s because about 81% of U.S. homes have a mortgage with a rate of 6% or lower, according to Realtor.com. Economists generally expect […]