CNN – Business/Consumer

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Inflation is slowly moving back to what’s considered a more sustainable pace, but for many Americans, it’s hard to take solace: The post-pandemic spike in price hikes drastically increased the cost of living. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have pledged to bring those costs

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — The Canadian owner of Circle K convenience stores has made a bid to buy 7-Eleven in what would be the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese company on record and the largest cross-border acquisition this year. In a statement Monday, Seven & I Holdings, the operator of 7-Eleven,

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — When Dana McMahan sold her home this spring, she decided to try to maximize her take-home profit by skipping out on the help of a full-service Realtor. Traditionally, home sellers in the US have been responsible for paying real estate commissions. The standard 5% or 6% commission was usually

By Shania Baweja and Taylor Galgano, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — After the 2018 Camp Fire – the deadliest wildfire in California’s history – engulfed Michael and Kristy Daneau’s Paradise home, the couple and their four daughters were forced to move 30 miles away to find a home they could afford. They moved to Cohasset to

By Erika Tulfo, CNN (CNN) — Aria Liu, 17, regularly posts shopping haul videos to her YouTube channel, which has 300,000 subscribers. She films her sprees by displaying a live feed of her laptop screen as she buys up to thousand-dollar shopping carts of clothes and makeup. “I shop so much more online,” she told

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — On Saturday, a new set of rules governing how most real estate professionals do business in the US officially take effect — and the changes could potentially upend how Americans buy and sell homes. The rules were agreed to by the National Association of Realtors, the powerful trade association

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — Food prices have surged by more than 20% under the Biden-Harris administration, leaving many voters eager to stretch their dollars further at the grocery store. On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she has a solution: a federal ban on price gouging across the food industry. “My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit

By Liam Reilly, CNN New York (CNN) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the launch of Venu Sports, the forthcoming joint sports streaming venture from Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney and Fox Corporation, dealing a major blow to the effort. The decision follows a request by Fubo, a smaller rival sports streaming service, for

By Liam Reilly, CNN New York (CNN) — For more than a century, Americans have been turning to a trusted and reliable source for local news: the radio. Now, the terrestrial broadcasts are facing an existential threat as listeners and advertising dollars rapidly shift, forcing stations to slash staff and even sign off the air

By Ramishah Maruf, Alicia Wallace, Samantha Delouya and Luciana Lopez, CNN (CNN) — Americans across the political spectrum can agree on this: Rent is expensive, and buying a home can feel nearly impossible. America’s housing affordability crisis has a number of origins, but it largely stems from two key factors that you learned in Econ

By Natasha Chen, CNN (CNN) — Disney recently announced a huge slate of projects for parks and cruises in front of 12,000 of its most loyal fans, who will almost certainly return to Disney’s theme parks to experience those new offerings, no matter what it costs. But whether a frequent visitor or a first-timer, Disney’s

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Renters are gaining the upper hand in the balance of power with landlords. Apartment units are staying on the market for longer. Vacancy rates are rising. And rental growth is slowing. Now, landlords are being forced to offer sweeteners like free parking and free weeks of rent

By Hassan Tayir, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — Xiaotu was looking for a soulmate but the typical routes of meeting people on campus or swiping online dating apps just weren’t cutting it for him. Instead, the 23-year-old decided to go big: paying 999 yuan (about $140) to place a personal advertisement on a gigantic 6.5

CNN, POOL By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — The standard, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% this week, up slightly from the prior week’s level, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But that’s still well below this year’s peak and the two-decade high last fall — and that appears to be enough to entice homeowners to refinance.

By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — The standard, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% this week, up slightly from the prior week’s level, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But that’s still well below this year’s peak and the two-decade high last fall — and that appears to be enough to entice homeowners to refinance. Mortgage applications

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday began allowing users to create AI-generated images from text prompts and post them to X. Almost immediately, people began using the tool to flood the social media site with fake images of political figures such as former President Donald Trump

CNN By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — The backbone of America’s economy remains solid, despite a slowing job market, elevated interest rates and still-high inflation. Sales at US retailers unexpectedly surged in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday, rising by a solid 1% from the prior month, up from June’s downwardly revised 0.2% decline.

By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — The backbone of America’s economy remains solid, despite a slowing job market, elevated interest rates and still-high inflation. Sales at US retailers unexpectedly surged in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday, rising by a solid 1% from the prior month, up from June’s downwardly revised 0.2% decline. That

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Americans are cutting back on Disney parks, Big Macs and Starbucks coffee. But they keep shopping at Walmart. Walmart’s US sales at stores open for at least one year increased 4.2% last quarter and its operating income surged 8.5% during the quarter. Walmart’s US digital sales are

By Matt Egan and Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN (CNN) — Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is stepping down months after protests over the Israel-Hamas war gripped the campus, Shafik announced in a letter sent Wednesday to the Columbia community. Shafik — an Egyptian-born economist and former high-ranking official at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and