Personal Money · Friday, 9 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

E.ON Next completes its takeover of Ovo Energy, and three suppliers now serve almost three in four homes in Great Britain

Personal Money 45 sources

E.ON Next takes on Ovo's 4 million households after Britain's competition watchdog cleared the deal without a deeper look. Also today, a New York Fed study finds tariffs raised everyday US prices, and UK government borrowing costs hit a 19-year high.

4 million

households that Ovo supplied, now moved to E.ON Next

E.ON Next already supplied 5.6 million homes before the deal. [1]

almost 3 in 4

homes in Great Britain now supplied by just three firms

Octopus, E.ON Next and British Gas, in that order by accounts. [1]

about 90%

of household energy supply now held by five firms

In 2016 the six biggest held about 85%. [1]

+4%

rise in the capped price for a typical household from 1 October

Ofgem blames higher wholesale gas prices from the Middle East conflict. [8]

The lead story — what happened

E.ON Next completed its purchase of Ovo Energy on 8 October, taking on the 4 million households Ovo supplied. [1]
E.ON Next already supplied 5.6 million households. It now holds 25% of the household market, or 13.45 million gas and electricity accounts. [1]
Octopus Energy holds 26% and British Gas about 23%, so three suppliers now serve almost three in four households in Great Britain. [1]
The Competition and Markets Authority, Britain's competition watchdog, cleared the deal on 1 October without an in-depth investigation. [2][3]
Ovo customers keep their tariffs, including fixed deals until they end, and their credit balances move across automatically. [5][6]
In 2016 the six biggest suppliers held about 85% of the market. The watchdog found then that customers were overpaying by 1.4bn to 1.7bn pounds a year. [1]
Ovo was founded in 2009 to take on those six. It later failed Ofgem's new money tests, brought in after about 30 suppliers collapsed in 2021-22. [1][4][7]
Homes on a default tariff pay unit prices and daily charges no higher than Ofgem's price cap. The cap rose 4% for a typical household on 1 October, because wholesale gas got dearer. [8]
Ofgem splits a typical capped bill like this: 37% wholesale energy, 23% networks, 15% policy costs, 13% running costs, 9% other costs and 3% customers' unpaid debts. [9]
Unpaid energy debts reached a record 4.48bn pounds in 2025, and Ofgem says they push up prices for all customers. [9]
Tom Goswell of Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy, warns that fewer suppliers can mean less pressure to keep prices low. [1]
Chris Norbury, the head of E.ON UK, calls the market fiercely competitive and says the bigger firm can serve customers better. [1]

Octopus Energy26%
E.ON Next25%
British Gas23%
All other suppliers26%

Shares of household gas and electricity accounts in Great Britain after the deal. All other suppliers is what is left of 100%.

Who is involved

E.ON Next

the British household arm of E.ON, a German energy group; it bought Ovo and now supplies about 9.6 million homes
Ovo Energy

a supplier set up in 2009 to compete with the big six; it struggled for money after the energy crisis and was sold
Competition and Markets Authority

Britain's competition watchdog; it cleared the deal without an in-depth probe
Octopus Energy

Britain's biggest household energy supplier by accounts, with 26% of them
Ofgem

Britain's energy regulator; it sets the price cap on default tariffs every three months

How it unfolded

2016 The watchdog finds households overpaying by 1.4bn to 1.7bn pounds a year [1]
2019 Ovo buys SSE's household supply business for 500m pounds [4]
2021-22 About 30 suppliers collapse in the energy crisis [1]
11 May 2026 E.ON agrees to buy Ovo [4][5]
1 Oct 2026 The watchdog clears the deal without a deeper probe [2][3]
8 Oct 2026 The deal completes [1]

Where this points

Ofgem sets the next price cap on 25 November [8], and the gap between the cap and the cheapest fixed deals, about 265 pounds in October 2025, shows whether the three biggest suppliers still undercut each other. [9]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Energy and fuel bills rising High↑

Ofgem's cap on a typical British household's energy price rose 4% on 1 October. [8] Heating oil in Massachusetts averaged $6.12 a gallon last week, nearly 75% more than a year ago. [23] Pakistan's power regulator added 1.11 rupees a unit to October electricity bills. [31]

Borrowing getting dearer High↑

The UK government's 10-year borrowing rate reached 5.515%, the highest since July 2007. [14] The average 30-year US home loan rose for a fourth week, to 7.41%. [15] The US central bank's September minutes show it expects one more rate rise this year. [16]

Costs moved onto customers Building↑

A New York Fed study found tariffs left 67 kinds of US goods 2.9 percentage points dearer by February. [10] Shared owners in Somerset saw a building's repair fund added to their service charges. [35] Australia's tax office said it could no longer pass card fees on to people paying by card. [27]

Scams and stolen data Building↑

Britain's data watchdog logged more than 3,600 complaints about automated calls in September, a five-year high. [36] Hackers took the names, addresses and dates of birth of Asos customers. [37] The US central bank said American Express failed to spot and report some suspicious activity linked to money laundering. [24]

The rest of the day

24 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Tariffs raised prices of everyday US goods

Researchers at the New York Fed, a branch of the US central bank, found that tariffs had made 67 kinds of goods 2.9 percentage points dearer by February. [10] Without the tariffs, their prices would have fallen by almost 1%. [10] About two-thirds of the rise came from the tariffs themselves, the rest from US firms using imported parts. [10] The US Supreme Court struck down many of the tariffs in February, and imports from many countries now face about 10%. [10] The team found that about 26% of last year's tariff rises had reached shop prices so far. [10]

Why it matters — An earlier New York Fed study put 90% of the tariffs' cost on US firms and shoppers rather than on foreign sellers. [11] The Trump administration says foreign exporters pay for the tariffs. [10]
03
UK borrowing costs hit a 19-year high

The interest rate on the UK government's 10-year bonds rose to 5.515% on 8 October, the highest since July 2007. [14] Rates on 20-year and 30-year bonds reached levels last seen in 1998. [14] Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, urged the chancellor, John Healey, to set a budget that investors find believable. [14] Healey presents his budget on 28 October, and the Bank is widely expected to raise interest rates in November. [14]

Why it matters — Higher government borrowing rates feed through to what homeowners and businesses pay to borrow. [14] Economists think about half of the 24bn-pound cushion kept against the UK government's borrowing rules has gone, and Healey is expected to raise taxes to rebuild part of it. [14]
04
US home loan rates rise a fourth week

The average 30-year fixed US home loan rose to 7.41% in the week to 8 October, by Zillow's figures given to NerdWallet, a personal-finance website. [15] It was the fourth weekly rise in a row, and rates are up 0.67 points in a month. [15] Minutes of the US central bank's September meeting show its policymakers expect one more rate rise this year. [16] Christopher Waller, one of its governors, said he expects several rises if the data come in as forecast. [16]

Why it matters — A buyer who can pay $3,000 a month could afford a $463,000 home a month ago and about $432,900 now. [15] That is more than $30,000 of buying power lost in four weeks. [15]
05
Trump Accounts pass 70 million

Nearly 70 million Trump Accounts, US government-backed investment accounts for children, now exist, and more than 60 million were opened automatically this month. [21] Children born from 2025 to 2028 can claim a $1,000 starting deposit from the US Treasury. [21] President Trump said more than $4.5bn has gone in, counting that money, family gifts and donations. [21] New Treasury rules let the accounts hold donated shares in single companies, which must usually be kept for five years. [21]

Why it matters — A donor who gives shares instead of selling them first avoids the tax on the gain, a financial planner told CNBC. [21] The US tax agency's chief said the shares add no extra risk. [21] The US Treasury's own rules say account holders will carry more risk from holding fewer companies. [21]
06
US petrol expected to stay above $4

The average price of a gallon of petrol in the US was $4.36 on 8 October. [22] Traders on Kalshi, a betting market, give an 87% chance it stays above $4 on election day, 3 November. [22] Petrol peaked at $4.56 in late May, after the Iran war began and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, then fell to $3.79 in early July. [22] Diesel hit almost $6.53 on 22 September and is now $6.28. [22]

Why it matters — Diesel costs land hardest in farm states such as Iowa and Kansas, and in Alaska, which burns diesel for electricity. [22] CNBC, which reported the odds, has a business tie with Kalshi. [22]
07
Trump backs a bill to cut card fees

President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other officials campaigning for the midterms have endorsed the Credit Card Competition Act, the Wall Street Journal reports. [17] The bill would let shops pick a different card network to process a credit card payment, instead of Visa or Mastercard. [17][18] Senators Roger Marshall and Dick Durbin brought it back in January, after it stalled in a Senate committee. [18] Trump first backed it that month, and Visa and Mastercard shares fell 4.5% and 3.8%. [18] He also called for card interest to be capped at 10% for a year. [20]

Why it matters — Shops pay a fee on every card purchase, and banks spend part of those fees on points and air miles for cardholders. [18][19] The fees are built into shop prices whether a buyer uses a card or not, Bankrate notes. [19] A cheaper network would cut what banks earn on each purchase, the money that pays for those rewards. [17][19]
08
Massachusetts declares a heating emergency

Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, declared an energy emergency by executive order. [23] Home heating oil in the US state averaged $6.12 a gallon last week, nearly 75% more than a year earlier. [23] The order tells state agencies to use money from the state's clean-energy rules, called alternative compliance payments, to top up federal heating help for poorer homes. [23] It also creates a one-off payment for middle-income households that heat with oil but do not qualify for that help. [23]

Why it matters — Halving what electricity customers pay towards one clean-energy programme adds about $20m of relief, the governor's office said. [23] This winter's heating help is being paid for with money first raised for cleaner power. [23]
09
Pakistan raises petrol and power bills

Pakistan's government raised petrol by 2.31 rupees to 398.96 rupees a litre from 9 October. [30] Taxes and duties make up 114 rupees of each litre. [30] Petrol had climbed from 266 rupees in early March to a peak of 458.41 rupees on 3 April, after the war between the US and Iran began. [30] Separately, Nepra, the power regulator, let electricity companies add 1.11 rupees a unit to October bills to cover August's fuel costs, 16bn rupees in all. [31]

Early March266 rupees
3 April458.41 rupees
9 October398.96 rupees
Price of a litre of petrol in Pakistan in 2026, placed by date.

Why it matters — Homes on the smallest lifeline connections and prepaid meters are spared the power charge. [31] Other households pay on their October bills for fuel burned in August. [31]
10
Portugal's budget lifts tax bands less than pay

Portugal's government sent its 2027 budget to parliament on 8 October. [28] It raises the income tax bands by 3.88%, while private-sector pay is set to rise 4.5% under a deal with employers and unions. [28] Workers whose pay rises faster than the bands can move into a higher tax rate and lose part of the raise. [28] The budget also cuts rates in the six lowest bands by 0.3 to 0.5 points, and raises the minimum wage from 920 to 970 euros a month. [28]

Why it matters — People under 35 buying a first home keep a state guarantee covering up to 15% of the loan, so they can buy with no deposit. [28] The Socialist Party plans to abstain in the first vote on 28 October, which lets the budget pass. [28]
11
Asos hackers took customer profiles

Hackers who broke into Asos, a British online clothes shop, took names, home addresses, phone numbers, emails, dates of birth and past searches, the BBC found. [37] Asos had first said only basic contact details might have been taken. [37] The hackers got in by pretending to be a trusted contact and tricking an employee out of login details. [37][39] On Tuesday they used Asos's own app to tell customers the company had been hacked. [38][39]

Why it matters — Asos says no bank details or passwords were taken. [37] With this much personal detail, criminals can write convincing fake emails or calls, and Asos is warning customers about impersonation scams. [37]
12
UK watchdog probes 'add me on WhatsApp' calls

The Information Commissioner's Office, Britain's data watchdog, is investigating recorded calls that ask people to add a number on WhatsApp. [36] It received more than 3,600 complaints about automated calls in September, a five-year high and nearly three times July's number. [36] A telecoms anti-fraud group thinks the calls lead to fake job offers, which can be used to pass criminal money through a victim's bank account. [36] The calls appear to come from UK mobiles, but the numbers are faked. [36]

Why it matters — The watchdog's head of criminal investigations thinks millions of people are getting the calls, and that they come from abroad. [36] The UK government promised last November to end faked caller numbers within a year. [36]
13
Australia keeps card payments for tax

Jim Chalmers, Australia's treasurer, overruled a plan by the tax office to stop taking credit cards for tax bills from 1 December. [27] The office will now take card payments until the end of June 2027, with extra money from Australia's government to pay the card fees. [27] It had said cards would cost it almost 200m Australian dollars a year. [27] Australia's central bank is banning surcharges, so the card fee can no longer be charged to the person paying by card. [27]

Why it matters — About 5% of small businesses pay tax by credit card, often to manage their cash. [27] The tax office says it cannot add the card cost to tax bills, because the amount of tax is set by parliament. [27]
14
UK property funds may need 90 days' notice

The Financial Conduct Authority, Britain's financial regulator, proposed that savers in funds holding property and other slow-to-sell assets give 90 days' notice to take money out. [25] Some of these funds now let people withdraw every day. [25] When many ask at once, a fund can run short of cash and freeze all withdrawals, or sell buildings in a rush at lower prices. [25] Existing funds would get two years to change, and must give investors at least a year's notice. [25][26]

Why it matters — Rushed sales hurt the savers who stay in a fund, the regulator says. [25] It wants comments by 11 December and expects final rules in the first half of 2027. [26]
15
US regulators act against American Express

The US central bank announced action against American Express on 8 October for failing to spot and report some suspicious activity linked to money laundering. [24] It said the company's anti-money-laundering programme had serious weaknesses, especially at its national bank. [24] The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which supervises US national banks, took separate action against that bank. [24] The US central bank's notice named no fine. [24]

Why it matters — The action is meant to make American Express follow all US laws and rules, the US central bank said. [24] The bank supervisor's own order covers the national bank, which the US central bank singled out. [24]
16
AI boom pushes San Francisco rents up a quarter

The average one-bedroom flat in San Francisco now rents for $4,400 a month, more than 25% up on last year, the Guardian reports. [40] That is nearly three times the US average. [40] Eviction notices in the city are up 44% on last year, by the rent board's figures. [40] In September the mayor, Daniel Lurie, declared a rent emergency and blamed costs driven by the AI boom. [40]

Why it matters — Rent control covers more than 160,000 of the city's 250,000-plus rental homes, but newer buildings are exempt. [40] A state law, the Ellis Act, also lets an owner evict every tenant in a building if the owner stops renting homes out. [40]
17
US weakens airline passenger protections

The US Transportation Department, under Sean Duffy, is working to water down protections for airline passengers, the New York Times reports. [32] It wants to change how prominently airlines show prices in adverts and to limit compensation for disrupted flights. [32] In November 2025 it dropped a plan that would have made airlines pay $200 to $300 for domestic delays of three hours or more. [33] US airlines must refund cancelled flights but need not pay anything for delays. [33]

Why it matters — The European Union, Canada, Brazil and Britain all have rules on delay compensation. [33] Paul Hudson of FlyersRights, a passenger group, calls the US changes a wholesale reversal of consumer protection. [32]
18
Los Angeles hospitals to check patients for aid automatically

Every hospital in Los Angeles County will be able to check patients for financial aid automatically, through a system the Hospital Association of Southern California is buying in bulk. [34] The check uses public information, such as credit history, so patients do not have to apply. [34] L.A. Care, a non-profit health plan for more than 2.5 million low-income residents, put in $2m. [34] About 800,000 county residents have medical bills they cannot pay, officials estimate. [34]

Why it matters — Hospitals using such checks report giving up to 50% more aid. [34] A California law requires every hospital in the state to do this by next July, but only about one in five county hospitals did it before. [34]
19
Shared owners win a service charge cut

Nine families in shared-ownership flats in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, saw their monthly service charge rise from about 70 pounds to more than 300 pounds. [35] Shared ownership means buying part of a home and paying rent on the rest. [35] Curo, the housing association, said most of the rise was to fill the building's repair fund. [35] After the residents took it to a tribunal, Curo agreed to cap the charge at just over 100 pounds and repay what they had overpaid. [35]

Before the rise70 pounds
After the rise300 pounds
After the tribunal100 pounds
Monthly service charge at Coombe Lodge, rounded: about 70 pounds before, more than 300 after the rise, just over 100 after the tribunal.

Why it matters — UK law puts no limit on how much a service charge can rise. [35] A 2024 law promising clearer bills is not yet fully in force, and another Curo resident in Bath faces a yearly charge up from 990 to over 6,000 pounds. [35]
20
One in five Britons short of hygiene basics

One in five UK adults (18%) said they, or someone at home, could not afford things they need to keep clean in the last six months. [42] The survey of 3,042 adults was run by two charities, The Hygiene Bank and In Kind Direct. [42] Of those affected, 41% said this year was the first time it had happened to them. [42] The Hygiene Bank says working families who used to feel secure are now among them. [42]

2 of 10
about 2 in 10 adults
About one in five: 18% of the 3,042 UK adults surveyed went short of hygiene products, or lived with someone who did.

Why it matters — The items include toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, sanitary pads and washing powder. [42] The charity says going without them affects health, confidence, schooling and work. [42]
21
Lewisham plans free land for social homes

Lewisham council in south-east London plans to give community groups public land worth up to 2m pounds a plot if they build social housing on it, according to council papers. [41] It may put the land into community land trusts, which keep homes affordable for good. [41] It may also offer cheap loans and approve planning in advance. [41] The council hopes the plans take effect within a year. [41]

Why it matters — Three in four new British homes are built by private developers, who often bargain down how many social homes they provide. [41] Lewisham's housing chief says councils cannot rely on that bargaining to get enough built. [41]
22
Spanish think tank puts tax at 53% of pay costs

The Juan de Mariana Institute, a free-market think tank critical of Spain's government, says taxes take 53.60 euros of every 100 euros an employer spends on a worker. [29] It counts the employer's social security payments, income tax and taxes such as VAT. [29] On its figures, 21,144 euros of an average 39,481-euro labour cost goes to the state. [29] It also finds the median rent, 1,080 euros, is higher than a young worker's median pay of 1,048 euros. [29]

Why it matters — The count starts from what the employer pays, not from the wage on the payslip, which makes the share larger. [29] Spain faces a snap election, called by Pedro Sanchez after his government's measures were voted down. [29]
23
Big sports events raise ticket prices

The cheapest ticket for a day of the 2027 Ashes cricket at Edgbaston is 115 pounds, against 65 pounds in 2023, BBC Sport found. [43] General admission to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on race day is 289 pounds, up from 189 pounds in 2021. [43] The dearest standard seat at the Wimbledon singles finals will be 400 pounds, more than double 2017. [43] Crowds at most sports are as big as ever. [43]

Silverstone race day, 2021189 pounds
Silverstone race day, 2027289 pounds
Cheapest general admission to the British Grand Prix on race day.

Why it matters — Organisers say people now pay more to be part of a live event. [43] Fans watching at home face several television subscriptions, which the BBC says can also keep people out. [43]
24
Funds that bet on one sports team filed

Fund firms have asked the SEC, the US markets regulator, to approve hundreds of exchange-traded funds that each track one sports team's season. [44] They would follow futures, contracts listed by CME Group that rise or fall with a hockey or baseball team's statistics. [44] None trades yet. [44] Baseball team futures are due to start trading on 12 October. [44]

Why it matters — Robert Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University, says the line between gambling and investing has been erased. [44] A buyer would own a bet on one season, not a share in the club. [44]
25
Martin Lewis asks for small fixes to UK life

Martin Lewis, a British money journalist, has started the Small Ideas Initiative to collect cheap, non-political fixes for everyday problems. [45] A cross-party panel will choose about 50 ideas to take to the UK government, councils and regulators. [45] Ideas can be sent in until 12 November. [45] The project is run with two charities, Nesta and Involve. [45]

Why it matters — An earlier campaign by Lewis's money and mental health institute ended doctors charging 80 to 150 pounds for forms that people in debt needed. [45] The law changed in 2019, two years after that campaign began. [45]

02 Lesson why it matters

A cost charged to a seller usually lands on its customers

A business billed for a tax, a fee or fuel usually adds it to its prices, so its customers pay it without ever seeing a separate bill.

The twist

A rule that stops a seller charging the customers who cause an expense does not make that money disappear. The seller spreads it across everyone's prices, or stops serving them.

The picture

Wholesale energy37%
Networks23%
Policy costs15%
Running costs13%
Other costs9%
Customers' unpaid debts3%

Where a typical capped energy bill in Great Britain went in early 2026, by Ofgem's split. Most slices are costs other bodies bill the supplier for, which it passes into the bill.

How it works

A government or supplier sends a business a bill for a tax, a fee or fuel
The business adds the cost into its prices
Every customer pays a share, including people who never caused it
If a rule blocks adding it, the business pays it itself or stops selling

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Tariffs raised prices of everyday US goods

Importers were billed the tariff, and by February the shop prices of 67 kinds of goods were 2.9 points higher.
Pakistan raises petrol and power bills

Power companies paid for August's fuel, and the regulator let them add it to most October bills.
Shared owners win a service charge cut

The housing association had to fill a repair fund, and it added the cost to nine families' monthly charges.
Australia keeps card payments for tax

A ban on surcharges stopped the tax office passing card fees on, so it planned to stop taking credit cards.

Where you've seen this

Rented homes

a rise in a landlord's mortgage or tax bill often turns up in the rent at renewal

Air fares

an airline's fuel bill is added to tickets as a fuel charge

Restaurant menus

the fee a restaurant pays on card payments sits inside every dish's price, and cash diners pay it too

The catch

Not every cost is passed on in full: the New York Fed found about 26% of last year's tariff rises reached US prices, and a seller afraid of losing customers keeps more of a cost itself.

And the whole of it

Most people sit in these chains twice: their employer passes its costs on to its own customers, and at the till they pay the costs other firms passed on. Each business sees its own bill, and the shopper sees one price with all of them inside.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Britain's competition watchdog let E.ON buy Ovo without an in-depth check, so three companies now supply almost three in four homes in Great Britain. [1][2] Across the day, costs billed to businesses turned up in household prices: tariffs in US shop prices, August's fuel in Pakistan's October power bills, and a building's repair fund in Somerset service charges. [10][31][35]

Why it works on us — A cost folded into a price never arrives as a separate bill, so the people paying it rarely know it is there.

Who gains

E.ON Next — It adds Ovo's 4 million households and becomes Britain's second-biggest supplier, with 25% of accounts. [1]
Wealthy donors to Trump Accounts — Giving shares instead of selling them first avoids the tax on the gain, and the new rules allow it. [21]
Australian small businesses that pay tax by card — Australia's government is paying the card fees, so they can keep paying by card until the end of June 2027. [27]
Hospitals in Los Angeles County — Many were wasting money chasing bills patients could not pay, and their association now sees automatic aid checks as good for hospitals. [34]
US shops, if the card bill passes — They could send card payments over a cheaper network than Visa or Mastercard. [17][18]

Who pays

Households who shop around for energy — Fewer suppliers can mean less pressure to keep prices low, Cornwall Insight warns. [1]
US shoppers — Tariffs left 67 kinds of goods 2.9 percentage points dearer by February. [10]
Electricity users in Pakistan — They pay 1.11 rupees a unit more on October bills for fuel burned in August, 16bn rupees in all. [31]
Curo's shared owners — A repair-fund top-up was added to their service charges, and one Bath resident's yearly bill rose from 990 to over 6,000 pounds. [35]
UK borrowers — Government borrowing rates at a 19-year high feed into what homeowners and businesses pay. [14]
Workers in Portugal whose pay rises more than 3.88% — Tax bands rise by less than pay, so part of a raise can be taxed at a higher rate. [28]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Whether three big suppliers will compete as hard on price as more firms did.

The watchdog cleared the deal without a full investigation. [2] Cornwall Insight says the test is whether households who shop around still find a real range of deals over the next few years. [1]
02

Which energy supplier is the biggest.

Counted by gas and electricity accounts, Octopus has 26% and E.ON Next 25%. [1] Counted by customers, E.ON and Ovo together have about 9.6 million against Octopus's almost 8 million homes. [4] The BBC notes that the answer depends on whether a home with both gas and electricity counts once or twice. [5]
03

How much of a tariff shoppers end up paying.

The New York Fed team says about 26% of last year's tariff rises have reached prices so far. [10] A Federal Reserve note found that, seven months on, core goods prices had risen by the full amount of the tariffs. [13] Another found at least 30% passed on for goods from China. [12] The studies cover different goods over different periods, so the figures cannot simply be compared.
04

Which 67 kinds of goods the New York Fed studied.

The researchers did not name them. [10]
05

How large any penalty on American Express is.

The US central bank's notice named no fine, and the bank supervisor's separate order is not in the material we read. [24]
06

Whether donated single-company shares add risk to children's Trump Accounts.

The US tax agency's chief said there would be no concentration risk at all. [21] The US Treasury's own rules say account holders will bear some extra risk from holding fewer companies. [21]
07

Whether a cheaper card network would lower shop prices, or only shrink card rewards.

Banks pay for rewards out of card fees, and those fees are built into prices. [19] Nothing in today's material measures what happened to shop prices where card fees were cut.
08

How many Asos customers had their details taken.

Asos has not said, and did not answer the BBC's questions about the scale. [37][39]

04 Hope carry this

Every hospital in Los Angeles County will be able to check patients for financial aid automatically, using a system the hospitals' association is buying in bulk. Hospitals that already run such checks report giving up to 50% more aid.

Also true today

Nine shared-ownership families in Weston-super-Mare won a cut in their service charge, from more than 300 pounds a month to just over 100, and will be repaid what they overpaid.
Massachusetts will top up winter heating help for low-income homes, and pay a one-off benefit to middle-income families who heat with oil.