America’s hottest housing markets aren’t in flashy coastal cities — they’re in communities across the Midwest and South.

Even as the national market cools, areas in states like Missouri and Kentucky are seeing double-digit price growth while remaining within reach for middle-income buyers.

Recent data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) ranked the top five single-family metro areas with the highest home price appreciation last quarter.

Missouri’s Cape Girardeau held the top spot with a nearly 20% yearly increase and a $275,000 median home price, followed by Cumberland, Maryland, up 17.1% with a $174,900 median home price; Owensboro, Kentucky, up 15% with a $264,000 median home price; Anniston-Oxford, Alabama, with a 14.9% increase and $175,103 median home price; and Mobile, Alabama, which appreciated 13.7% at a median home price of $216,235.

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The numbers signal strength in smaller, more affordable pockets of American cities and that housing opportunities remain highest outside expensive urban cores. Migration toward lower-cost regions also continues to shape market dynamics.

In contrast, the bottom five single-family metro areas that had the slowest price appreciation were Elmira, New York; Farmington, New Mexico; Boulder, Colorado; Pueblo, Colorado; and Cleveland, Tennessee, with NAR noting that some overheated markets are correcting and higher-cost Western markets show pressure.

Additionally, America’s national median home prices rose 1.2% year-over-year to $414,900, signaling market resilience despite economic headwinds, while monthly mortgage payments fell 5.7% – to $2,057 – from the previous year.

The housing market has cooled this winter with the annual pace of home price growth easing to levels unseen since the nation was recovering from the Great Recession. While some areas continue to see strong price growth, others, like Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida, have seen notable declines.

As of last week, mortgage affordability was at a four-year high after rates fell in January, with the White House touting President Donald Trump’s economic policies and maintaining his promise to “unlock” the opportunity of homeownership for American families.

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As of Tuesday afternoon, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.09%, down from last week’s 6.11%, Freddie Mac reports. This time last year, the 30-year rate was at 6.87%.

“Joe Biden’s inflation crisis crushed the dream of homeownership for millions of Americans — but President Trump is bringing it back,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told Fox News Digital. “Thanks to the President’s successful economic policies, unnecessary red tape is being cut at a historic pace, borrowing costs are easing, and income growth is outpacing home price gains — finally making housing more affordable again.”

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FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

India’s IT services sector continues to inspire confidence on the strength of its business models even as investors weigh valuations and long-term growth prospects in an AI-driven world. Insights from Infosys’ recent AI Day and investor interactions have helped clarify many concerns.

Speaking to ET Now, Sandip Agarwal, Sowilo Investment Managers said the company’s presentations addressed confusion among investors. While he remains cautious on valuations, he sees the sector’s fundamentals as robust.

“I do not think there is any confusion that the business models are very robust, built over four-five decades. We are the software factory of the world, no one can execute at our pace, scale, and price. Business model-wise they are doing a great job. The opportunities they spoke about, the legacy that needs reskilling and AI alignment, are very big.”

“My only issue has been with valuations. Stocks have corrected 30-40% in the past year, so there is some comfort, but I would wait for more numbers before changing my view.”

Business models evolving with disruption

Agarwal highlighted that Indian IT firms have historically adapted to technological disruption through reskilling and aligning with client needs — a pattern he expects to continue with AI adoption.
“Our business model is simple. We serve top Fortune 500 clients, recruit from campuses, train at scale, and reskill to client requirements. Every disruption slowed growth temporarily, then pent-up demand came back. The only change now is client effort may drop 20-30% due to AI.”
“If IT services growth continues despite reduced effort, my low-growth view may be wrong, and we could see a massive rerating. But structural changes — broader market participation and smaller deals — keep me cautious.”
Strong preparedness across peers
On other major IT players, Agarwal expressed confidence that the industry is well placed for AI implementation and services.

“We may not be in hardware or LLM development, but implementation of AI, building agents, and services — we are the best. Large and mid-sized companies are doing phenomenal work. In 2–3 years, AI revenue could drive 30-35% for these firms.”

The road ahead
While optimism around AI-led opportunities remains, investors are closely watching how quickly demand materialises and whether valuations reflect potential slower growth and increased competition. For now, the sector appears resilient, but conviction may depend on clearer revenue evidence in upcoming quarters.

A critical trust fund that helps finance Social Security benefits is on track to reach insolvency in 2032, when automatic benefit cuts would occur without action from Congress, a new report finds.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its 10-year budget and economic outlook which projected that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund will be depleted in 2032 as spending outpaces the trust fund’s income – with the gap growing over time.

CBO estimates that spending from Social Security’s OASI trust fund will rise from $1.5 trillion this fiscal year to more than $2.5 trillion in 2036. After accounting for tax receipts and interest income, the projected deficit for the trust fund rises from $207 billion this year to $525 billion in 2032, when the trust fund is depleted, and continues to rise to $691 billion in 2036, assuming full benefits are paid out.

Social Security benefits are funded by payroll tax receipts along with the OASI trust fund, and once the trust fund is tapped out, the federal government would only be able to pay out in benefits what it receives from payroll taxes under the law – meaning benefits would face cuts without action by Congress.

US DEBT SET TO CRUSH WORLD WAR II RECORD AS ANNUAL DEFICITS EXPLODE TO $3T WITHIN DECADE

The CBO explained that “the government would continue to collect excise and payroll taxes designated for the funds, and the funds would continue to make payments. But because the government would not have the legal authority to make payments in excess of receipts, it would no longer be able to pay the full amounts scheduled or projected under current law.”

An illustrative scenario examined by the CBO finds that benefits paid to beneficiaries would be cut by 7% in 2032 and by an average of 28% per year from 2033 to 2036. It also notes that the process for cutting benefits isn’t outlined in federal law, and that different ways of cutting Social Security benefits to match incoming tax revenue would have different implications for the economy and budget.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan think tank, previously estimated based on a 24% benefit reduction that a typical couple aged 60 today who retires at the time of insolvency would face an $18,400 cut to their annual benefits. 

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The threat of insolvency looming over Social Security’s key trust fund comes as spending on the entitlement program is surging amid the aging of America’s population.

Social Security spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) averaged 4.5% from 1976 to 2025. It’s projected to rise from 5.2% of GDP this year to 5.9% in 2036. In dollar terms, Social Security spending is estimated at over $1.6 trillion in 2026 and is projected to rise above $2.7 trillion a decade from now.

Mandatory spending programs, including Social Security and Medicare, are key drivers of the rise in federal spending and budget deficits. For the 1976-2025 period, mandatory spending accounted for 11.2% of GDP, but it’s projected to reach 14.2% of GDP this year and rise further to 15% by 2036. 

NATIONAL DEBT SURPASSES $38 TRILLION MILESTONE FOR FIRST TIME IN US HISTORY AS SPENDING SURGES

Expenses from mandatory programs are projected to total $4.5 trillion in 2026, making up the bulk of the federal government’s more than $7.4 trillion in spending this year. A decade from now, mandatory spending is projected to account for over $7 trillion of the $11.4 trillion federal budget.

Discretionary spending, which covers federal agencies through the annual appropriations process in Congress, is expected to total nearly $1.9 trillion in 2026 and rise to $2.2 trillion over the next decade.

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Interest expenses incurred from servicing the national debt are also projected to increase from $1 trillion in 2026 to more than $2.1 trillion in 2036.

Buffalo Wild Wings can keep calling its menu item “boneless wings” as such, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, dismissing a lawsuit that claimed the name amounted to false advertising.

U.S. District Judge John Tharp in Illinois issued a 10-page ruling allowing the sports bar chain to continue calling its menu item “boneless wings,” after a Chicago man filed a lawsuit accusing the restaurant of false advertising, saying the boneless wings were overpriced because they are essentially chicken nuggets.

While Aimen Halim argued in the lawsuit that Buffalo Wild Wings should call the product something different, like “chicken poppers,” Tharp said the argument had no meat on its bones.

“Halim did not ‘drum’ up enough factual allegations to state a claim,” Tharp wrote. “Though he has standing to bring the claim because he plausibly alleged economic injury, he does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are fooled by BWW’s use of the term ‘boneless wings.’”

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Halim sued Buffalo Wild Wings shortly after he visited the restaurant in January 2023, claiming he was deceived by the chain’s marketing.

Halim alleged that the boneless wings are just “slices of chicken breast meat deep-fried like wings,” and that customers would either pay less for the boneless wings or not purchase them at all if they knew what was in the product.

Halim said he later regretted buying the item after learning how it was made, which he claimed caused him to suffer “a financial injury as a result of defendants’ false and deceptive conduct.”

In his ruling, Tharp said that while boneless wings are “essentially chicken nuggets,” the product concept was not new, noting that Buffalo Wild Wings had sold them since 2003.

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“Boneless wings are not a niche product for which a consumer would need to do extensive research to figure out the truth,” he wrote. “Instead, ‘boneless wings’ is a common term that has existed for over two decades.”

Halim accused Buffalo Wild Wings of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, breach of express warranty, common law fraud and unjust enrichment.

Tharp also cited an Ohio Supreme Court ruling from 2024, where the court ruled that “[a] diner reading ‘boneless wings’ on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating ‘chicken fingers’ would know that he had not been served fingers.”

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Tharp added that a “reasonable consumer” would not think that the food chain’s boneless wings were “truly deboned chicken wings, reconstituted into some sort of Franken-wing.”

The court is allowing Halim to submit an amended complaint by March 20, although Tharp noted that it “is difficult to imagine” that he can provide additional facts that would demonstrate that Buffalo Wild Wings “is committing a deceptive act.”

FOX Business’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.

Indonesian emerges as the top visa on arrival destination for Indian travelers, alongside Thailand and Malaysia, highlighting a trend towards easy entry and diverse cultural experiences in Asia.

Key Highlights

• Top Visa-Free Destinations for Indians
  • Thailand and Malaysia are the most preferred visa-free destinations.
  • Indonesia leads as the top visa-on-arrival (VOA) destination.
• Travel Trends (Jan 2026 Data)
  • Agoda analyzed Indian accommodation searches for Feb–Mar 2026.
  • Top five destinations: Thailand (visa-free), Indonesia (VOA), Malaysia (visa-free), Sri Lanka (VOA), Maldives (visa-free).
• Growth in Emerging Destinations
  • Sri Lanka saw a 61% increase in searches year-on-year.
  • Philippines (visa-free) ranked sixth with 73% growth, driven by beach and adventure tourism.
  • Laos (VOA) recorded the strongest growth at 97%, positioning itself as a culturally rich alternative.

Indonesia Emerges as the Top Visa on arrival Destination Based on Accommodation Search Data

The latest accommodation search data from digital travel platform Agoda reveals Thailand and Malaysia as the most preferred visa free international destinations among Indian travellers. Indonesia continues to lead among visa on arrival (VOA) markets. The data reflects an uptick in interest compared to last year toward destinations across Asia that combine easy entry requirements with diverse leisure and cultural experiences.

Agoda analysed accommodation search data generated in India for visa‑free and VOA destinations, between 1 and 18 January 2026, for check‑in dates between February and March 2026.

Among the combined top five destinations searched with visa free or VOA status, Thailand ranked first, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Thailand (visa free) and Indonesia (VOA) remain firm favourites, offering diverse mix of beaches, culture, and adventure, while Malaysia (visa free) combines urban and natural experiences.

Sri Lanka (VOA) recorded notable growth in accommodation searches, registering a 61% increase compared to last year, supported by its proximity and diverse offerings. Maldives (visa free) continues to draw Indian travellers seeking premium island escapes and short haul luxury stays. Together, these destinations underscore how Indian travellers are choosing destinations that offer strong value and simplified entry.

Beyond the top five, Philippines (visa free) ranked sixth and recorded 73% year-on-year search growth, driven by interest from beach loving and adventure-oriented travellers, with water sports remaining a key draw. While Nepal (visa free) ranked seventh. Kazakhstan (visa free) ranked eighth and is seeing interest for its distinctive Central Asian landscapes, while Bhutan (visa free) ranked ninth and attracts travellers drawn to wellness and cultural immersion. Laos (VOA) ranked tenth and recorded the strongest search growth among all top destinations with a 97% increase, positioning itself as a culturally rich alternative within Southeast Asia, aided by simplified visa access and growing awareness among Indian travellers.

Travellers planning their upcoming getaways can browse Agoda’s wide range of offerings, spanning over 6 million holiday properties, more than 130,000 flight routes, and 300,000+ activities worldwide. The latest deals are available on the Agoda app or at agoda.com/deals.

Source : Thailand and Malaysia Lead as Top Visa‑Free Destinations for Indian Travellers – Agoda

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Hapag-Lloyd

HLAG

5.07%

increase; green up pointing triangle is buying Israeli competitor Zim Integrated Shipping Services ZIM 25.00%increase; green up pointing triangle for $4.2 billion as the shipping firm looks to bolster its capacity.

Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd said Monday that it signed a deal to buy Zim for $35 a share in cash, a 58% premium to Zim’s closing price of $22.20 on Friday. The total deal price of around $4.2 billion will be funded from cash reserves and external financing of up to $2.5 billion.

Thailand’s gold traders plan to promote US dollar transactions to reduce the baht’s strength, countering potential taxes and economic shocks impacting exports and tourism. System upgrades aim to facilitate this shift.

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Key Points

• Thailand’s gold traders plan to promote US dollar-denominated transactions to combat the local currency’s strength and avoid punitive taxes, enhancing online trading systems within three to six months. The Bank of Thailand will assist with easier currency conversions.
• The baht’s recent appreciation disrupts export competitiveness and tourism, with gold-related transactions significantly contributing to US dollar trading in Thailand. Traders believe adopting US dollar trading is vital for economic stability.
• Industry leaders voice concerns against a proposed special tax on gold, arguing it could damage the gold sector, which is considered a crucial part of savings for many Thais.

Economic Implications of Thailand’s Gold Trading Shift

Thailand’s leading gold traders are pivoting toward US dollar-denominated transactions to mitigate the impact of a strengthening baht, which has reached its highest level since 2021. This move aims to counteract potential punitive taxes introduced to limit speculative gold trading and address economic concerns stemming from the currency’s appreciation. The initiative, led by 14 bullion dealers, involves an upgrade of online trading platforms in collaboration with the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The country’s economy is currently grappling with challenges, including diminished export competitiveness and reduced tourist spending, exacerbated by the baht’s 8% gain last year.

Strategic Adoption of US Dollar Trading

Daily gold trading in Thailand has reached volumes comparable to the local stock market, highlighting the significant role of gold in the economy. At peak times, gold-related transactions comprised up to 60% of total US dollar trading. Despite the BOT’s encouragement, the shift to US dollar trading has been slow, as many traders remain accustomed to the baht and find foreign currency deposit processes cumbersome. If financial incentives for adopting US dollar transactions do not gain momentum, the BOT may resort to implementing a capital-gains tax on baht-denominated trades to encourage this transition.

Industry Concerns and Future Outlook

Industry leaders, including Kritcharat Hirunyasiri of MTS Gold Group, believe this change will transform the gold trading landscape in Thailand. The three largest gold traders, who dominate 90% of the market, are expected to adapt their systems swiftly. However, there are substantial concerns about the potential introduction of a special tax on gold, which could threaten the sustainability of the industry. Jitti Tangsithpakdi, president of the Thai Gold Traders Association, emphasizes that taxing gold—which is viewed as a form of savings by many Thais—could be detrimental. The total bullion trading volume, estimated at 10 trillion baht, reflects gold’s critical role in Thailand’s economic fabric.

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