The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge fell in June, as the pace of price growth pulled back amid volatility in energy markets.

The Commerce Department on Thursday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index declined 0.1% on a monthly basis in June and was up 3.7% from a year ago. Both figures were in line with the expectations of economists polled by LSEG.

Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.1% on a monthly basis and 3.3% from a year ago. The monthly figure was cooler than the 0.2% predicted by the LSEG poll of economists, while the annual figure was in line with expectations.

FED POLICYMAKERS LEAVE RATES UNCHANGED AMID ELEVATED UNCERTAINTY

Federal Reserve policymakers are focused on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation. Compared with May’s readings, headline PCE declined from 4.1% to 3.7%, while core PCE fell from 3.4% to 3.3%.

Goods prices were up 3% in June compared with one year ago, while they were up 0.7% from the prior month.

Services prices rose 2.3% from a year ago, while they rose 0.3% on a monthly basis.

US ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS UNEXPECTEDLY IN SECOND QUARTER

PCE inflation eased but remained elevated in June. (Will Newton/Getty Images)

The personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable personal income was 2.7% in June, down slightly from 2.8% in May.

Since the start of 2025, the personal savings rate has declined from a peak of 5.5% in April 2025, and it began this year at 4.4%.

What experts are saying

Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at etoro, noted that “June’s in-line PCE report did not show the same cooling reflected in the CPI report earlier this month.”

“Still, investors may be inclined to look past it. The data predates July’s sharp rebound in energy prices, which could put renewed upward pressure on inflation throughout the summer,” Kenwell explained. “As long as tensions continue driving oil prices higher, consumers could face additional pressure at the pump while markets contend with a more complicated inflation outlook.”

FED CHAIR KEVIN WARSH SAYS CENTRAL BANK HAS ‘NO TOLERANCE’ FOR ELEVATED INFLATION

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and the FOMC left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said that, “Despite moderating inflation, strong domestic activity across consumption and business investment will keep the Fed diligent about the risks overheating could have on the inflation trajectory.”

“We continue to expect the Fed to be patient as it waits for more inflation data,” Zentner added.

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FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is sending notices of intent to 100 agents affiliated with the Obamacare marketplace who allegedly violated the exchange’s standards of conduct by submitting insurance applications without recipients’ Social Security numbers or other identifying information.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), led by Dr. Mehmet Oz, alleged that agents did this “repeatedly.”

A marketplace agent is a professional who helps people shop for healthcare through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange.

More broadly, CMS estimates that “roughly 35% of Marketplace enrollments may be illegitimate.”

TRUMP’S WAR ON FRAUD EXPANDS AS TREASURY LAUNCHES NEW SITE WITH WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES

Administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks about the Trump administration’s anti-fraud initiatives on July 8, 2026. (Mark Schiefelbein-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

If 35% of enrollments by agents are illegitimate, that represents about 5 to 6 million people “whose premiums could be improperly subsidized,” CMS said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The action being taken against the 100 agents comes after a report published by the Health and Human Services Department found that “2.6 million improper or phantom enrollments remain, including more than 1 million enrollments submitted without a Social Security number.”

In response, the CMS has advanced a number of ACA reforms meant to protect taxpayers and patients from alleged fraud, waste and abuse.

The proposed reforms, the CMS said, would have saved $3 billion. The agency accused Democrats in Congress of preventing the full implementation of these provisions.

Vice President JD Vance speaks during a Congressional Tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on July 28, 2026. (im Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)

GLOBAL PARTNERS ARE JOINING FBI TO TAKE DOWN SCAM EMPIRES FOR GOOD

The CMS’s latest action against ACA agents is another step in the agency’s crackdown on fraud.

Oz sent letters in May to Minnesota, California, Florida, New York and Maine about possible medical equipment fraud.

An anti-fraud task force, led by Vice President JD Vance, announced in February that durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers will be targeted through a nationwide moratorium.

That task force revealed new figures in early July that show a drastic 7,100% spike in Medicare claims for skin substitutes in just six years.

Still photo of a manual handbook for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (Yin Yang / Getty Images)

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The staggering increase in claims occurred between 2019 and 2025, surging from $200 million to $14.4 billion, prompting the anti-fraud task force and CMS to identify potentially fraudulent claims and deny 96% of claims made since March.

The CMS identified 4,200 suspicious claims for skin substitutes, known as allografts, totaling $224 million in charges through May of this year.

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Operator

Welcome to the O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. My name is Matthew, and I’ll be your operator for today’s call. [Operator Instructions]

I’ll now turn the call over to Jeremy Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher, you may begin.

Jeremy Fletcher
Executive VP & CFO

Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. During today’s conference call, we will discuss our second quarter results and our updated outlook for the remainder of 2026. After our prepared comments, we will host a question-and-answer period.

Before we begin this morning, I would like to remind everyone that our comments today contain forward-looking statements, and we intend to be covered by, and we claim the protection under the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as estimate, may, could, will, believe, expect, would, consider, should, anticipate, project, plan, intend or similar words. The company’s actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to several important factors described in the company’s latest annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and other recent SEC filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during this call.

At this time, I would like to introduce Brad Beckham.

“It’s just not good enough,” she said.

“Many of the grassroots organisations I represent – churches, YMCAs, vets – have CAF as their bank, but they are slowly losing trust in it.”

Rodgers added that she had received “no reassurance” about the current situation from the bank, while any information had been “very inconsistent”.

“It’s especially sad that this has happened in the summer when lots of extra projects are up and running,” she said.

“People are unable to access their own money and have been left feeling powerless – it makes me really angry.”

In a statement, chief executive Alison Taylor said: “I am very sorry for the disruption this has caused for our customers.

“On Monday we informed them that the online banking service will be unavailable until further notice.

“We are working with external experts to fix an issue we identified with third-party software related to our online banking portal. Importantly, the core bank is not affected.”

Taylor added: “We appreciate how difficult this is for our customers and want this to be resolved as quickly as possible, but we cannot restore access until we are assured the issue is safely resolved.

“We are still able to support as extra teams are available on the phone, and we are prioritising time-sensitive payments such as payroll.”

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, external, X, external, and on Instagram, external and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk, external or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

A British Airways flight issued a “mayday” distress call on its approach to Heathrow Airport earlier this month, according to a statement from France’s accident investigation authority.

The call was made on an Airbus A320 flying from Dusseldorf airport in Germany on 6 July following two stall warnings on the aircraft, before it landed without further incident.

The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was “investigating a serious incident”.

A British Airways spokesperson said the airline was assisting the AAIB with its investigation and was not legally able to comment further at this stage.

The French Air Safety Investigation Authority, the BEA, said that as the plane approached Heathrow, there was a data system failure which triggered a stall warning.

The crew then flew the aircraft in a different mode called “alternate law”, which removes some automated flight protection systems. Another stall warning then occurred at 3,000 feet – which experts say was likely to have been just miles away from the airport.

The urgency call the crew had already made was upgraded to mayday, indicating imminent danger.

The BEA website attributed the statement to the AAIB, but the AAIB would not confirm it was from them.

They issued the following statement: “The AAIB is investigating a serious incident involving a commercial aircraft which occurred on 6 July on approach to Heathrow airport.”

It said the investigation would be a correspondence investigation, meaning that no team would be sent to carry out field investigations.

Aviation safety investigator David Gleave said there are different forms of mayday calls, and to send an urgency message was “not unusual”.

“You could have sick passengers on board who need urgent medical attention… so it’s up to the captains’ discretion as to what they call, but its very unusual for it to be a significant failure on board the aeroplane.”

Michele Fasnacht on Building Character, Confidence, and Compassion Through Education

Walk through almost any school, and you’ll see students learning math, science, history, and language arts. What you won’t always see is how they’re learning to handle disappointment, work through conflict, show empathy, or build meaningful relationships. Yet those skills often shape a person’s future just as much as academic knowledge.

Emotional intelligence has become one of the most talked-about topics in education, and for good reason. As students prepare for an increasingly connected and complex world, qualities like resilience, compassion, communication, and adaptability are becoming just as valuable as traditional academic skills.

For Michele Fasnacht, that’s never been a trend. It’s been the foundation of Solid Rock Community School since she founded the school more than 22 years ago. Her vision was to create an environment where students could excel academically while also developing the character, confidence, and compassion needed to succeed long after graduation. Through hands-on learning, personalised education, and opportunities to serve others, Solid Rock Community School has built an educational model where emotional intelligence is woven into everyday learning.

Many schools are under pressure to improve test scores and academic performance. Why do you think emotional intelligence deserves equal attention?

Academic achievement will always matter, but it isn’t the only measure of success. Every day, students are learning how to communicate, solve problems, work through challenges, and build relationships. Those skills influence every part of their lives long after they leave school. If we focus only on grades, we’re missing an opportunity to help students become resilient, compassionate, and confident adults.

Was that belief what inspired you to start Solid Rock Community School?

Yes. I wanted to create a school where students could receive a strong academic education while also growing as individuals. My goal was never simply to help students perform well in the classroom. I wanted them to develop integrity, responsibility, compassion, and a genuine desire to make a positive difference in the world around them. That vision has guided our school from the very beginning.

How does Solid Rock Community School put those ideas into practice?

We believe students learn best when they’re actively involved in meaningful experiences. That’s why we’ve created opportunities that extend beyond traditional classroom learning. Students care for rescued animals at Sanctuary at Solid Rock, spend time in our Seed-to-Table Garden, participate in service projects, and develop practical skills through our SAVE vocational program. Those experiences teach responsibility, empathy, teamwork, and leadership in ways that feel natural because students are living those lessons every day.

Some people might see those programmes as extras rather than essential parts of education. Why do you see them differently?

Those experiences are part of the education. When students care for an animal, work together to solve a problem, or take responsibility for a project, they’re learning lessons that will stay with them for life. Character isn’t developed through a lecture. It’s built through consistent experiences that encourage students to care about others, take responsibility, and understand that their actions matter.

Education has changed a great deal over the past two decades. Has your philosophy changed as well?

The mission itself has stayed remarkably consistent. The world has changed, but students still need encouragement, guidance, and meaningful relationships. We’ve continued to grow and introduce new programs because we want students to have opportunities to learn in different ways, but our purpose remains the same. We want every child to be known, supported, challenged, and encouraged to become the best version of themselves.

Building a school around a different educational philosophy must have come with challenges. What has leadership taught you over the years?

Leadership has taught me that setbacks are part of every meaningful journey. You won’t always have immediate answers, and not every decision will be perfect. What’s important is staying focused on your mission, learning from those experiences, and continuing to move forward with integrity. Those challenges have strengthened my commitment to the work rather than discouraging it.

What has been the most rewarding part of leading Solid Rock Community School?

Without question, it’s watching students grow. Every child has unique strengths, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see them discover confidence in themselves while developing compassion for others. Some students arrive unsure of their abilities, and over time you watch them become leaders, problem-solvers, and young people who genuinely want to contribute to their communities. Those moments remind us why this work matters.

What advice would you give to parents looking for the right educational environment for their children?

Look beyond academics alone. Strong grades are important, but ask how a school develops character, encourages curiosity, and helps students build healthy relationships. Education should prepare children for life, not just for the next exam. When students feel supported, challenged, and valued, they’re much more likely to grow into confident adults who make positive contributions wherever they go.

Looking ahead, what continues to inspire you about the future of education?

I’m encouraged by the growing recognition that education should develop the whole person. Schools have an opportunity to shape not only what students know, but also how they think, how they treat others, and how they contribute to their communities. If we continue placing value on compassion, resilience, and emotional intelligence alongside academic excellence, we’ll prepare students for success in every area of life.