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By CORA LEWIS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Tax filing season is underway, and the IRS expects 164 million people will file returns by April 15.

The average refund last year was $3,167. This year, analysts have projected it could be $1,000 higher, thanks to changes in tax law. More than 165 million individual income tax returns were processed last year, with 94% submitted electronically.

People with straightforward returns should not encounter delays, but because of an exodus of IRS workers since the start of the Trump administration, the national taxpayer advocate has cautioned that the 2026 tax filing season is likely to present challenges for those who run into problems filing.

While last year IRS employees were not permitted to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline, many of those customer service workers have now left. The IRS started 2025 with about 102,000 employees and finished with roughly 74,000 after a series of firings and layoffs led by the Department of Government Efficiency. read more

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate edged up for the second week in a row, but remains just above its lowest level in more than three years.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.1% from 6.09% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate inched up to 5.49% from 5.44% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.12%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.24% at midday Thursday, just below where it was a week ago.

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The first holiday season of Epic Universe helped propel fourth-quarter theme-park revenue of Comcast, the company reported Thursday.

Revenue for October-December 2025 was $2.89 billion, an increase of 21.9% over the same period of 2024.  The numbers helped bring the Content & Experiences segment — including the company’s film studios and media businesses — up 21.9%.

“We’re really pleased with what we’re seeing from Epic, which continues to drive higher per-cap spending and attendance across the entirety of the resort while we are not yet operating at full run-rate capacity,” said Jason Armstrong, chief financial officer, in a conference call with market analysts after the earnings report was released. The theme park debuted in May.

“We have made meaningful progress expanding ride throughput, and we remain focused on scaling further over the next several quarters with higher attendance, stronger per-caps and additional operating leverage over time,” he said.

New Universal Studios coaster will be Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift read more

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst day for Microsoft in years is pulling the U.S. stock market away from its record heights on Thursday. Gold’s price, meanwhile, keeps ripping to more records in its astounding run as investors look for safer places to park their money.

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The S&P 500 sank 1% after flirting earlier in the morning with its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 174 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% lower.

Microsoft was the heaviest weight on the market by far, and it sank 11.5% even though the tech giant reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors honed in instead on how much Microsoft is spending on investments, whether growth in its Azure cloud business will slow and how long its push into artificial-intelligence will take to turn into big profits. read more

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

January offers a fresh start for our finances — but it begins with a look back.

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Before setting goals or intentions for the new year, step back to reflect on what went right (and wrong) in 2025, suggests D’Andre Clayton, co-founder of Clayton Financial Solutions in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Take out your credit card and bank statements, and really take a look at them,” he says. read more