CNN – Business/Consumer

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Homebuilder confidence improved in December as mortgage rates continued to fall, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose for the first time in four months, climbing to 37 on the

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — A cyberattack last week at VF Corp., which owns a number of clothing brands including the North Face, Vans and Timberland, is hampering its ability to fulfill orders ahead of Christmas. The company had said it “detected unauthorized occurrences” on its information technology systems, which disrupted its

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — Oil and natural gas prices rose sharply Monday after BP (BP) said it would pause all shipments through the Red Sea because of increased attacks on commercial vessels by Houthi militants from Yemen. The decision by one of the world’s biggest oil companies follows similar moves by major

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — US Steel has agreed to be bought by Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, in a $14.1 billion deal. The deal marks the latest step in a gradual decline for the iconic 122-year old company, which was once the largest company on the planet. It was one of

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — Certainly, Young Liu has heard the auto industry cliche that modern vehicles are “iPhones on wheels.” Cars and SUVs are packed with computer chips, sophisticated sensors, touchscreens and data connections. Liu knows a lot about iPhones. As a manufacturer for Apple, the company he runs as CEO, Hon Hai

By Pete Muntean and Chris Isidore, CNN Washington (CNN) — The federal government is fining Southwest Airlines $140 million for last year’s historic, 10-day-long holiday meltdown that stranded more than 2 million travelers. The Department of Transportation’s announcement of its largest-ever civil penalty comes about one year after cascading issues at Southwest led to the

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — “Wonka,” the whimsical origin story of the fictional chocolatier, secured the top spot in domestic theaters this weekend with an estimated $39 million in sales. The musical fantasy film beat out another prequel, “Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” for the No. 1 slot and

By Nicole Goodkind, CNN New York (CNN) — Shares of ride-hailing app Uber reached a new 52-week high last week as the San Francisco-based firm prepares to make its S&P 500 debut in Monday trading. “Super proud of the Uber team for S&P 500 inclusion,” wrote CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on X. “Great way to head into

By Chris Isidore and Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — About 5,000 Teamsters working at Anheuser-Busch voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a new contract cannot be reached before the current one expires on February 29. The union members, who work at 12 US breweries, represent more than a quarter of Anheuser-Busch’s US

By Sarah Engel, CNN (CNN) — Christmas came early for 21 Kentucky coworkers whose boss bought them lottery scratch-off tickets as a last-minute holiday gift. ‘Tis the season for giving, right? So Sheila Colter, a shift supervisor at the Medical Center at Bowling Green, had ordered gifts for her coworkers online before their office Christmas

By Nicole Goodkind, CNN New York (CNN) — It’s every pharmacist’s worst fear: To come home from a busy day at work and realize that they failed to consult with a patient about a potentially dangerous interaction, or filled a prescription incorrectly. Workers at chain pharmacies across the US have told CNN that increased demand

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — You can’t get here from there. That’s the increasing problem facing around 60 million people who depend on intercity buses. Intercity bus lines like Greyhound, Trailways and Megabus, an overlooked but essential part of America’s transportation system, carry twice the number of people who take Amtrak every

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN (CNN) — Would you like a $2,000 gold bar at Costco with your $4.99 rotisserie chicken? Yes, Costco sells more than just toilet paper, office supplies and food items, and the company is quite effective at it. A 24-karat 1 oz. Gold Bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan was listed as

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — Quaker Oats on Friday recalled more than 40 granola bar and cereal products because they could be contaminated with salmonella. The affected foods include the classic Chewy granola bar variety pack, the chocolate-covered Chewy Dipps bars, puffed and protein cereals, and even granola bars that are included

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — When TikTok took off in 2020 — with short dancing or comedy clips providing much-needed entertainment to many users at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic — it launched a short-form video arms race. Suddenly, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms were rushing to roll out

CNN By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — When TikTok took off in 2020 — with short dancing or comedy clips providing much-needed entertainment to many users at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic — it launched a short-form video arms race. Suddenly, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms were rushing to roll

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN New York (CNN) — In the past two and half months, Harvard University President Claudine Gay has faced an onslaught of backlash from donors, politicians and business leaders over concerns of antisemitism at the nation’s oldest higher education institution. Barely three months after her historic inauguration as Harvard’s first Black woman

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — Of all the bargaining goals set out by the United Auto Workers union in the just completed talks, none was more ambitious, or gained less traction in negotiations, than the idea of a four-day, 32-hour work week. Without a cut in pay, too. That didn’t happen, at

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Real estate agents’ fees are always negotiable. But it doesn’t always feel that way to the homeseller, who typically pays the commission. That fee, which is usually between 5% and 6% of the final sales price in the United States, is typically split evenly between the homeseller’s

By Samantha Delouya, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — In March 1973, electronics manufacturer RCA Corporation touted its “new low-price color TV” in the New York Times. The cost was $379.95 for a 15-inch model ­— the equivalent of a $2,694.32 splurge in current dollars. These days ­— in an era of above-average inflation ­— it