February 16, 2024
What's New With FAFSA?
It’s been a multi-year process, but the FAFSA Simplification Act (FSA) passed back in 2021 is finally showing results, and the new FAFSA has been promised to be rolled out online by December 31, 2023.
Even with a new, simpler version available, some families choose not to submit a FAFSA as part of their plan for paying for college.
The new FAFSA will hopefully make the process easier. There are changes to the number of questions, and the tech has been upgraded a bit. But there are also some changes to the way eligibility is calculated, how much income is sheltered, and who fills out the form.
Even if your family has a high enough income that you think won’t qualify for aid, it makes sense for every family to include the FAFSA in college funding plans.
Headlines We're Tracking
Amazon and Meta: Nothing Artificial About These Results
Wall Street Journal
Amazon and Meta pPatforms showed their big tech peers one way to navigate a market beset with artificial intelligence hype—make sure everything else is really humming.?
The e-commerce titan and social networking giant both posted strong fourth-quarter results late Thursday. The two beat Wall Street’s consensus targets for both revenue and operating income by wider margins than Microsoft and Google did with their respective December quarter reports earlier in the week. That contributed to Meta and Amazon shares surging 15% and 7% respectively in after-hours trading, despite already enjoying major run-ups over the past 12 months. Microsoft and Alphabet fell 2.7% and 7.5%, respectively, the day after their reports.?
Not just NYCB: Japanese bank issues warning on U.S. offices, as Deutsche Bank increases provisions
Market Watch
On the heels of a profit warning from New York Community Bancorp that was at least partly due to the deteriorating office-loan market, a Japanese bank cut the value of some of its own U.S. office loans by more than 50%.
Aozora Bank’s stock slumped 21%, making it the worst performer in the Nikkei 225 on Thursday, after cutting its annual profit forecast by 52% and its revenue forecast by 35%.
Aozora said the U.S. office market faces adverse conditions due to higher U.S. interest rates and a shift to remote work. It cut the value of its nonperforming office loans by 58%, including a 63% reduction in Chicago and reductions of between 51% and 59% in New York; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; and San Francisco.
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-Grant