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Amex Platinum Terms Updated: Peacock Bundle No Longer Eligible for Digital Entertainment Credit

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Amex Platinum Terms Updated: Peacock Bundle No Longer Eligible for Digital Entertainment Credit


Amex Platinum Entertainment Credit Updated

American Express has quietly updated the terms for the Platinum Card’s Digital Entertainment Credit, and one small but important change could affect cardholders who use the benefit for Peacock.

The updated language now specifies that only standalone Peacock subscriptions qualify for the monthly digital entertainment credit. Peacock subscriptions purchased as part of a bundle are no longer eligible.

For now cardholders have successfully received the credit when Peacock is bundled with Apple TV. This was an easy way to use the credit for Apple TV which is not possible otherwise. With the revised terms, American Express has clarified that those bundled purchases are excluded.

The Digital Entertainment Credit itself remains unchanged. After enrollment, Platinum cardholders can still receive up to $25 in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made directly with participating providers, including Disney+, Disney+ bundles, ESPN streaming services, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock (standalone only), The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV.

Guru’s Wrap-up

This isn’t a major devaluation, but it is still an important update for some cardholders. A small change like this could mean missing out on up to $25 in monthly statement credits if your Peacock subscription is bundled instead of billed directly.

Senators Propose Letting Students Use Financial Aid To Pay For CLEP And Prior Learning Exams

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Senators Propose Letting Students Use Financial Aid To Pay For CLEP And Prior Learning Exams


A new bipartisan Senate bill would let students put federal financial aid toward the cost of prior learning assessments. These include the exams and portfolio reviews that award college credit for knowledge gained on the job, in the military, or through other training outside the classroom.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tim Sheehy introduced the Credit for Prior Learning Act (S. 4897) on June 24. The bill would add an allowance of up to $2,000 per award year to a student’s cost of attendance for “reasonable costs, including test fees,” tied to credit for prior learning assessments.

Why It Matters

Credit for prior learning (CPL) can shave months or years off a degree and thousands off tuition, but the assessments themselves cost money and federal aid generally can’t be used to pay for them today. 

Because the bill works through the cost of attendance formula, students could use Pell Grants and federal student loans they already qualify for toward assessment fees, rather than paying out of pocket.

What Would Be Covered

The bill doesn’t name specific exams. Instead, it defines an eligible assessment as any evaluation of knowledge learned outside a college that tests for evidence of learning (not just time spent), meets standards set by subject matter experts, and results in real academic credit without additional coursework. The major options students use today:

  • CLEP: The College Board’s 30-plus exam lineup is the most widely accepted credit-by-exam program. Exams cost $97 each, plus a test center or remote proctoring fee that varies by site. (Students who complete free online courses through Modern States can get vouchers that cover the exam fee.)
  • DSST: Originally built for the military but open to everyone, DSST offers 30-plus exams at $100 each (plus test site fees), accepted at more than 1,500 colleges.
  • TECEP: Thomas Edison State University’s exams run $53 per credit for lower-level subjects and $80 per credit for upper-level.
  • Portfolio assessments: Faculty review documentation of work and training experience. Costs vary widely by school. URI charges $30 per credit (about $90 for a three-credit course), while Penn State charges a flat $390 whether or not credit is awarded.
  • Challenge exams and training evaluations: Many colleges offer their own faculty-built exams (fees vary by school), and the bill’s definition also covers institutional evaluations of employer and military training, often based on ACE credit recommendations.

A note about AP exams ($99 each in 2026). Yes, they are credit-by-exam, but they’re administered through high schools and paid well before college enrollment — so the financial aid mechanism here wouldn’t help most AP test-takers in practice.

This same issue arises for things like taking CLEP exams in middle or high school. There’s no way to get financial aid to pay for it. It only really would work right before college or while in the early years of college.

Research from CAEL and WICHE shows how much prior learning credit moves the needle: adults who earned 12 or more CPL credits saved 9 to 14 months of time in college and $1,500 to $10,200 in tuition. Adults with CPL credit are 17% more likely to graduate, and that rises to 25% at community colleges and 19% for Pell Grant recipients.

How This Connects

College is expensive, and reducing time in college is one of the simplest ways to reduce total costs.

With the average cost of college rising more than 2.5% last year, testing out of even a semester’s worth of courses is one of the few levers students control. We’ve covered how graduating early can cut total college costs and CPL is often the fastest path to doing it, especially for adult learners returning to finish a degree.

The bill was referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where neither sponsor holds a seat. Most standalone higher education bills stall in committee, but cost-of-attendance tweaks like this one can also end up riding along on a larger appropriations package. If enacted, the changes would take effect July 1, 2027.

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Editor: Colin Graves

The post Senators Propose Letting Students Use Financial Aid To Pay For CLEP And Prior Learning Exams appeared first on The College Investor.

Trump withholds signature on housing bill as midnight deadline looms

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A housing bill with deep industry support

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32, reflecting rare bipartisan agreement on an issue that has shadowed American housing policy for years.

The legislation bundles more than 50 provisions targeting housing supply, construction barriers, large institutional investor activity in the single-family market, and financing access, including a pilot program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages under $100,000.

The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the national median home sales price rose 1.8% year over year in June 2026 to $440,600, an all-time high in data going back to 1999. White House economists estimated earlier this year a shortage of 10 million homes nationally.

A new LendingTree study on starter home affordability published this week found that only 38% of non-homeowner households in the US can afford the average $200,000 starter home, deepening the urgency many in the industry attach to the bill’s fate.

What happens next

Under constitutional rules governing presidential action, a bill becomes law automatically after 10 days — excluding Sundays — if the president neither signs nor vetoes it while Congress remains in session.

Tech shares lift global markets while oil slips as Iran war keeps traders on edge

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Tech shares lift global markets while oil slips as Iran war keeps traders on edge



World shares mostly advanced Friday, helped by buying of technology-related shares, while oil prices slipped as traders watched for developments in the Iran war.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated after President Donald Trump said the Iran war ceasefire agreement was “over” and as the United States and Iran exchanged attacks.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 10,478.98. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.1% to 8,322.31, while Germany’s DAX also gave up 0.1% to 25,082.58.

The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.

In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi gained 2.5% to 7,475.94, recovering some of its losses from earlier in the week. Shares in memory chipmaker SK Hynix, whose debut on the Nasdaq in New York is set for Friday, fell 0.3% in Seoul.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 68,557.73. SoftBank Group, a key investor in OpenAI, jumped 10.7%, while chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron added 2.7%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6% to 24,175.12 and the Shanghai Composite index fell 1% to 3,996.16.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 8,806.00.

India’s Sensex added 1.2%.

Oil prices yo-yoed again on Friday as global oil supplies remained under pressure due to a limited numbers of vessels able to cross the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for energy transport.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.5% to $75.94 per barrel. It was trading near $72 a barrel before the war began in late February.

Benchmark U.S. crude shed 0.5% to $71.71 a barrel.

On Thursday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.8% and the Dow picked up 0.3%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.3% to 26,206.89.

Semiconductors stocks led gains. Micron Technology jumped 4.5% after the memory chipmaker said it would increase its U.S. investments, citing “surging demand for memory in the AI era.”

Shares of AMD, or Advanced Micro Devices, surged 5.7%. Marvell Technology rose 5%, while ON Semiconductor added 4.4%.

In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 161.71 Japanese yen from 162.37 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1432, up from $1.1430.

The yen gained against the dollar after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told a parliamentary committee that the government plans to encourage big pension funds to invest more in domestic, yen-denominated assets.

Brain Scans Reveal the Exact Reason Everyone Hates Open-Plan Offices

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Brain Scans Reveal the Exact Reason Everyone Hates Open-Plan Offices



A new neuroscience study shows that open layouts act as a constant tax on your attention, forcing your brain to work significantly harder just to stay focused.

Purchase $25 In Magnum Ice Cream Products, Get $50 Fanatics Giftcard (Stack With Paze)

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Purchase $25 In Magnum Ice Cream Products, Get $50 Fanatics Giftcard (Stack With Paze)


The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Get a promo code for $50 off your Fanatics order when you purchase $25 of any Magnum Ice Cream Company products at any retail store.

Our Verdict

Reader SDubbs was able to triple stack ($71 worth of stuff for $1, plus the $25 in ice cream products):

I hadn’t really thought of stacking this with paze when I first saw this, but makes this deal significantly better. Safeway is also doing BOGO on some of the eligible items.

Best Watches Tier List #watch #finance #rich

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Best Watches Tier List #watch #finance #rich

source

A Glut of Inventory is on the Way—How Should Investors Prepare?

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Editor’s Note: Thanks for reading! As a special offer for our readers, save $100 on your ticket to BPCON2026—BiggerPockets’ annual real estate investing conference—using code MYRE100 at checkout.

The housing inventory blues could soon be a thing of the past, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) entitled “Implications of a Persistent Slowing Housing Demand,” signaling a new era of lower prices and better deals for investors.

MBA chief economist and senior vice president Mike Fratantoni argues that supply could outpace demand due to changes in population dynamics, construction trends, and affordability challenges. He said in a press release:

“Over the past several years, growth in housing demand has slowed as new housing supply has entered the market in many regions. While affordability challenges remain significant, MBA’s research highlights the importance of looking beyond today’s market conditions to understand the long-term forces shaping housing demand. These findings can help industry participants and policymakers better prepare for future changes in housing and mortgage market dynamics.”

Demographic Shifts Will Lead to a Surplus of Houses

The paper—which was co-authored with several of Fratantoni’s MBA colleagues—found that after the 2008 financial crisis, limited new construction pushed up rents and house prices, resulting in a shortfall of up to 7 million homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic and extremely low mortgage rates further increased demand, driving housing prices and rents higher until a tipping point arrived, when the mass construction of multifamily housing in the Sunbelt slowed the pricing roller coaster.

This increase in new apartment buildings has eased the affordability crisis in some parts of the Sunbelt, though other parts remain woefully unaffordable. However, demographic shifts, specifically an aging population, lower fertility rates, and reduced immigration, could all play a part in slowing demand and increasing inventory in the next decade.

The paper’s authors project that nearly 23 million units will be added over the next two decades, with demand calling for 19.4 million, leaving a surplus.

“If construction remains elevated, supply growth could outpace demand growth, pushing home prices lower,” the report said.

Inventory Is Climbing

Signs of a shift in housing inventory, particularly in new construction, are now evident, according to Reuters. Sales of new single-family homes have fallen for the last two consecutive months, while the number of new houses for sale has increased to levels not seen since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

However, affordability is still keeping prospective buyers on the sidelines. “There are not enough homes on the market, and those that are listed are at mostly unaffordable levels,” Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, told Reuters. “The housing price bubble is still inflating, at a slower rate of advance than it had been, but home prices overall are still moving higher, except for some regional markets that had seen prices run up too high.”

A recent Bank of America Institute report showed that affordability remained the main obstacle for potential homebuyers, with 47% of consumers citing high interest rates as one of the main factors delaying their homebuying, up from 40% in 2025.

Inflation Will Keep Buyers Away

The implications of the increase in new construction homes for sale and the inability for would-be buyers to purchase them are particularly significant for small investors. This is likely to continue, with projects started over the last year yet to come to market, further contributing to a potential housing glut of new construction homes.

“Unfortunately, builders may have jumped the gun in assuming that their inventory problems were over, no doubt penciling in a better spring selling season than what has transpired,” Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets, told Reuters. “We could see a leveling off before the end of the year, but with demand for new homes tepid…it is beginning to look like we may have to wait for 2027 to get to a long-awaited improvement in the housing market.”

As global financial market analyst Fitch Ratings put it, when referring to the U.S. market, “inflation is pushing mortgage rates higher, decreasing affordability and eroding demand.”

What This Means for Small Investors

For investors looking to buy new construction homes at deep discounts, there has never been a better time to strike a deal with builders. According to the latest Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey, 35% of builders cut prices in June, up from 32% in May. The average price reduction was 6%, the same as the previous month.

In addition, 62% of builders used sales incentives to sweeten the pot for buyers (rate buydowns, finished basements, extra rooms, etc.). It marks the 15th consecutive month this share has gone 60% or higher. Rising material costs, high interest rates, and affordability challenges were cited as key reasons builder sentiment remained low about potential sales.

Final Thoughts

Pessimism amongst builders was reflected in May’s new home sales, which fell 7.3% over April’s numbers. According to Census and HUD data shown on HousingWire, 15% of sales were under $300,000, consisting of townhouses and duplexes on smaller lots—although homes with lower price points are less likely to open to negotiation.

Still, lower-priced homes are more likely to cash flow. The added benefit is that new construction is less likely to need ongoing maintenance and will be in high demand from potential renters.

Investors have to calculate cash flow based on potential rents in the area. Higher-priced homes could still work if rents are higher and builders are willing to negotiate. However, investors should be wary of any salesperson who begins a sentence by saying, “When rates come down…”

Warren Buffett’s No. 1 Valuation Tool Recently Made History — and His $187 Billion Warning to Wall Street Echoes Louder Than Ever

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Warren Buffett’s No. 1 Valuation Tool Recently Made History — and His $187 Billion Warning to Wall Street Echoes Louder Than Ever


On Dec. 31, Berkshire Hathaway‘s (BRKA 0.96%)(BRKB +0.13%) CEO of more than half a century, Warren Buffett, called it a career. Even though the Oracle of Omaha is no longer involved in his trillion-dollar company’s day-to-day operations or oversees its $343 billion investment portfolio, his leadership lessons have left a legacy for successor, Greg Abel, as well as everyday investors.

While Buffett will fondly be remembered for his annual shareholder meeting candor, his long-term vision, and trouncing the returns of the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.81%), it’s his unwavering stance on value that really sets him apart.

Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Warren Buffett’s favorite valuation tool recently made history (not the good kind), bringing his $187 billion warning to Wall Street squarely into focus.

The Buffett indicator is a glaring red flag for Wall Street

Whereas most investors rely on the time-tested price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to quickly evaluate public companies, Berkshire’s now-former billionaire boss preferred the market-cap-to-GDP ratio, which is better known as the Buffett indicator.

This valuation tool, arrived at by dividing the cumulative value of all U.S. stocks by U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), was labeled as “probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment” by Buffett in a rare 2001 interview with Fortune magazine.

When back-tested to January 1970, the Buffett indicator has averaged approximately 88%. This is to say that the aggregate value of U.S. stocks has averaged 88% of the value of U.S. GDP. On June 1, 2026, the Buffett indicator reached its highest close in history of 238.5%, or roughly 171% above its 55-year average.

Previous instances when the Buffett indicator catapulted higher were all followed by substantial stock market sell-offs.

A New York Stock Exchange floor trader looking up in disbelief at a computer monitor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Warren Buffett’s warning echoes louder by the day

As a long-term investor, the Oracle of Omaha always spoke highly of the U.S. economy, stock market, and American spirit. But beneath this unwavering long-term optimism, Buffett’s actions occasionally disjoined from his words.

In the 13 quarters (Oct. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2025) leading up to his retirement as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO, Buffett was a persistent net seller of equities. Berkshire’s consolidated cash flow statements show Buffett sold approximately $187 billion more in stock than he purchased over this period.

While some investors have postulated that he was building a war chest for his protégé, Abel, the likely catalyst behind this selling was Wall Street’s otherworldly stock valuations. No matter how much Buffett values a company’s competitive edge, management team, and/or capital-return program, he simply isn’t sticking around if he doesn’t feel he’s getting a good deal.

Warren Buffett is right to be skeptical. According to the time-tested S&P 500 Shiller P/E Ratio, this is the second-priciest stock market on record (dating back to January 1871), trailing only the months leading up to the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

Every previous occasion in which the Shiller P/E has surpassed 30 was eventually followed by a 20% or greater decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.27%), S&P 500, and/or Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.30%).

Buffett’s actions often spoke louder than his words, and his $187 billion warning to Wall Street echoes louder with each passing day.



Harry Styles fans flew to Amsterdam, paid a 21% premium for hotels—and sent inflation soaring

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Harry Styles fans flew to Amsterdam, paid a 21% premium for hotels—and sent inflation soaring



Inflation has remained stubbornly elevated across the United States and Europe, driven by everything from energy costs to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. But in the Netherlands, central bankers pointed to an unlikely contributor: a Harry Styles concert residency that sent thousands of Gen Z and Millennial fans rushing to Amsterdam.

The pop superstar’s Together, Together tour made Amsterdam its only mainland European stop, with a 10-day residency between May 16 and June 5. The concerts drew fans from across Europe—and even the United States—fueling a surge in demand for hotel rooms.

In May alone, hotel prices in the Netherlands surged 21% on average, contributing 0.4 percentage points to the country’s monthly inflation rate—more than half the increase from April, according to Bas ter Weel, director of monetary affairs at the Dutch central bank. Overall inflation rose from 2.8% in April to 3.5% in May.

The spike was notable enough that the European Central Bank, led by Christine Lagarde, cited “concert-related hotel prices in the Netherlands” when discussing the acceleration in services inflation, though it did not mention Styles by name. The comments came ahead of the ECB’s June decision to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.4%.

Other blockbuster tours—including those by Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift— have delivered noticeable boosts to local economies across Europe. But ter Weel said Styles’ residency produced one of the largest tourism-driven price spikes the Netherlands has seen in years. 

“Harry Styles really breaks everything,” ter Weel told Dutch radio outlet BNR.

Gen Z spent thousands on hotels—and even houseboats—but proved their economic might

The surge in hotel prices was most apparent to young fans scrambling to find affordable places to stay. Some concertgoers, lured by some ticket prices dropping to as low as €50 ($57), quickly discovered that getting into the show was far cheaper than finding a place to sleep.

One TikTok user said she and her friend ended up spending 10 days on a canal houseboat—and were forced to shower offsite—after hotel prices climbed beyond her budget.

“When you secured the Harry opening night tickets but couldn’t afford an Amsterdam hotel,” she wrote.

Another fan posted on TikTok that she paid €900 (about $1,030) for five nights in what she described as a tiny “box” of a room.

The sticker shock reflects a broader spending pattern among younger consumers. One-third of Gen Z have said they believe they’ll never own a home—and many expect to delay or forgo other traditional milestones—but they’ve continued to prioritize experiences such as travel and live music, even as costs rise. At the same time, the generation has struggled significantly with financial literacy, scoring the lowest among all age groups in TIAA’s most recent financial literacy report.

Still, splurging on a concert trip doesn’t necessarily mean young people are neglecting their finances outright. Separate research has found the average Gen Zer began saving for retirement roughly 15 years earlier than baby boomers, suggesting many are balancing long-term financial planning with spending on experiences they value. 

Ter Weel said there are two sides to the story from an economic standpoint. While the surge in hotel prices temporarily lifted inflation, it also boosted economic activity. Likewise, while many fans may have spent more than planned on the trip, the episode underscores how Gen Z’s spending power can have an outsized impact on the broader economy.



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