CNN – Business/Consumer

By Matt Egan, CNN Business Nearly a dozen Congressional Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to combat high gas prices by not only releasing barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve but by banning US oil exports, according to a letter viewed by CNN. The letter sent Monday to Biden adds to the pressure the

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business Tiffany & Co. just unveiled its newest most-expensive bling ever. “The World’s Fair Necklace,” unveiled in Dubai on Sunday, features a stunning 180 carats of diamonds set in platinum. Its centerpiece is an 80-carat oval, flawless, D-color (highest grade and virtually colorless) “Empire Diamond,” named for the iconic jeweler’s hometown.

Reuters The United Nations on Monday pushed for urgent action to prop up Afghanistan’s banks, warning that a spike in people who are unable to repay loans as well as lower deposits and a cash liquidity crunch could cause the financial system to collapse within months. In a three-page report on Afghanistan’s banking and financial

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business The Chinese economy presents some unique challenges for investors. On one hand, China is home to several of the most dynamic and rapidly growing companies on the planet, such as electric car makers Xpeng and Nio as well as privately held TikTok owner ByteDance. But China’s recent crackdown

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Shares of upstart electric truck maker Rivian plunged as much as 17% on Monday after the company said that it is no longer working with Ford to jointly develop vehicles. Both Ford and Rivian had already signaled they were moving away from earlier plans to work together on EVs. But

By Kerry Flynn, CNN Business Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for gutting local newsrooms, is seeking to buy Lee Enterprises, a publicly traded company with a chain of daily newspapers and other publications that serves 77 markets. In a Monday letter to Lee’s shareholders, Alden proposed purchasing Lee for $24 per share, which

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business Say goodbye to Target runs on Thanksgiving. Target said Monday that it will close all of its stores on Thanksgiving every year from 2021 on. Target closed stores last year on Thanksgiving due to the pandemic and had previously announced it will close this Thanksgiving too. “What started as a

By Reuters Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to the Obama Foundation in honor of Congressman John Lewis, a hero of the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1960s who died last year, the foundation said on Monday. As part of the gift, Bezos has asked that the plaza at the Obama Presidential

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Jerome Powell’s tenure leading the Federal Reserve has been among the most tumultuous in the central bank’s history. And Powell’s second term won’t necessarily be much easier. He and his policies have been the spotlight largely because of a once-in-a-century pandemic that caused the deepest economic downturn since the Great

By Anna Bahney Despite low inventory and rising prices, home sales inched higher in October, marking a second straight month of growth, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. Sales of existing homes, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 0.8% month-over-month. After slowing during the summer, sales reignited in

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business By choosing to stick with Jerome Powell, who Donald Trump selected to be Federal Reserve chairman in 2017, President Biden proved that he learned a valuable lesson from his former boss about continuity over partisan politics during challenging economic times. Just as Barack Obama stayed with Ben Bernanke

By Kaitlan Collins, Kate Sullivan, Betsy Klein and Matt Egan, CNN President Joe Biden on Monday formally announced his intent to nominate Jerome Powell to serve as the chairman of the Federal Reserve for a second term and nominate Lael Brainard to serve as the Fed’s vice chair. Powell’s four-year term is up in February,