CNN – Business/Consumer

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez are pledging $100 million dollars to recovery efforts in Maui, Sánchez announced Friday on her Instagram account. “Jeff and I are heartbroken by what’s happening in Maui,” Sánchez wrote. “We are thinking of all the families that have lost so

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN New York (CNN) — It’s Barbie’s world and you’re not escaping it. Pink, in all its rosy hues, has seeped into seemingly every aspect of our lifestyle — from shoes, clothing, candles and furniture to burgers, pasta and even Barbie sushi. Just this week, a restaurant in Los Angeles debuted a

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — X CEO Linda Yaccarino, leader of the platform formerly known as Twitter, said the company is keeping an eye on new competitor Threads, despite the sharply slowing growth of the rival app from Meta. “Threads did jump in with a ton of hype and a launch pad

By Nathaniel Meyersohn and Ellie Stevens, CNN New York (CNN) — The catastrophic wildfires in Maui have destroyed homes, churches, businesses and key cultural sites on Hawaii’s second-largest island. At least 36 people have died. The fires also threaten to derail Maui’s economy, just as it was rebounding from the pandemic. Maui’s economy depends heavily

CNN By Nathaniel Meyersohn and Ellie Stevens, CNN New York (CNN) — The catastrophic wildfires in Maui have destroyed homes, churches, businesses and key cultural sites on Hawaii’s second-largest island. At least 36 people have died. The fires also threaten to derail Maui’s economy, just as it was rebounding from the pandemic. Maui’s economy depends

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — US mortgage rates remained elevated this week, rising for the third week in a row, but stayed just under the market’s 7% threshold. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.96% in the week ending August 10, up from 6.90% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — Grocery prices ticked up 0.3% in July, after staying flat in June, driven largely by rising beef prices. From June to July, adjusted for seasonal swings, the price of uncooked beef roasts spiked 6.5%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday. Uncooked beef

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — More Americans are failing to make payments on their credit cards and auto loans, another sign of rising financial pressure on consumers. New credit card and auto loan delinquencies have now surpassed pre-Covid levels, according to a Wednesday report issued by Moody’s Investors Service. The rate of

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — The latest Consumer Price Index shows that shelter costs contributed 90% of total inflation last month — but there’s a sharp turnaround ahead, say economic researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Housing makes up the largest chunk of CPI, and that measurement, known as

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — An author is raising alarms this week after she found new books being sold on Amazon under her name — only she didn’t write them; they appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence. Jane Friedman, who has authored multiple books and consulted about working in the

By Olesya Dmitracova, CNN London (CNN) — Natural gas prices have spiked again this week, just as Europe prepares for the heating season. The price of Dutch natural gas, the European benchmark, has jumped 24% to €40 ($44) per megawatt hour since Tuesday on news of potential industrial action at liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants

By Alicia Wallace, CNN Minneapolis (CNN) — For the first time in more than 12 months, the pace of consumer price hikes accelerated on an annual basis. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.2% for the year through July, up from June’s 3% annual increase, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Michael Kors and Kate Spade are about to become siblings. Tapestry Inc., which owns Kate Spade and Coach, announced Thursday that it’s acquiring Capri Holdings, the parent company of Michael Kors and Versace. The $8.5 billion deal could help them better compete against their higher-end European rivals.

By Pete Muntean, CNN New York (CNN) — The federal government is allowing airlines to continue to run reduced flight schedules to major airports serving New York City and Washington in hopes of curbing flight cancellations and reducing the burden on short-staffed air traffic controllers. The Federal Aviation Administration is extending the relaxed requirements it

CNN, CNN BUSINESS By Donie O’Sullivan, CNN Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) — Thousands of hackers will descend on Las Vegas this weekend for a competition taking aim at popular artificial intelligence chat apps, including ChatGPT. The competition comes amid growing concerns and scrutiny over increasingly powerful AI technology that has taken the world by storm,

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Rents in Manhattan hit another all-time high in July, the third record high in the past four months, even as rents are cooling in other parts of the country. In New York City, rental activity typically builds from spring to a peak in late summer. This year,

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Yang Huiyan, the chair of real-estate giant Country Garden and one of China’s richest women, has lost more wealth than any billionaire in the world in the past two years, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, as her building conglomerate sits on the edge of default. Her net worth has

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — Orange juice futures are hitting record highs because of bad weather and a nasty citrus disease. That could mean higher prices at the grocery store. In recent weeks, prices in the OJ futures market have topped $3 per pound. Around this time last year, prices were hovering

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — The Walt Disney Company is hiking prices for its Disney+ streaming service again, as its third-quarter earnings report showed revenue struggles almost everywhere but international parks. The streaming service’s ad-free subscription will cost $13.99 beginning October 12, an increase of $3 per month. This is the second time in

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN (CNN) — Thousands of people in Maui are without cell service as the wildfires continue to rage out of control on the island, preventing people from calling emergency services or updating loved ones about their status. It could take days or even weeks to get the networks back up and