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American consumers are growing more confident as the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel becomes brighter. The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, President Joe Biden’s call on states to make shots available to all adults by May 1, and the new $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law Thursday, create a powerful cocktail of

When the pandemic hit, something astonishing happened in the cereal aisle: It cleared out. Beloved brands like Grape-Nuts were suddenly out of stock. Companies once desperate to boost sales swiftly curbed their promotions on products, fearing that they couldn’t meet demand. The early days of the pandemic led to shortages in packaged goods as people

Looking at the stock market, you’d never know that a year ago this week was the Coronavirus Crash. In a matter of days, the S&P 500 dropped 12% and into a bear market. One-day point drops in the Dow and S&P 500 set records, trading curbs were triggered and the history books recorded yet another

Ulta Beauty CEO Mary Dillon, one of only a few dozen female chief executives of Fortune 500 companies, is stepping down after an eight-year run heading the company. Dillon will become executive chair of the company’s board of directors in June, the company said Thursday. She will be replaced as CEO by Dave Kimbell, the

Britain’s exports to Europe collapsed in January as companies grappled with new terms of trade following Brexit. The United Kingdom exported goods worth £8.1 billion ($11.3 billion) to the European Union in its first month completely outside the bloc, a 41% decline compared to December, according to the Office for National Statistics. The drop off

Simon Hu has resigned as chief executive officer of Ant Group, months after the digital payments company was forced to pull its IPO amid a crackdown by Chinese regulators. “The Ant Group Board of Directors has accepted Mr. Simon Hu’s resignation request, due to personal reasons,” said a spokesperson for the Alibaba affiliate. “We are

With no need to house a big engine under a long hood, electric pickup truck designers are getting creative with shapes. There’s Tesla’s wedge-shaped Cybertruck, and Amazon-backed Rivian is planning to put a trunk where the engine would normally go. Now, another California-based electric vehicle startup, Canoo, has revealed a pickup truck with a “cab

Wall Street threw a party as President Joe Biden signed his sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law, giving investors confidence in their projections for a surge of economic activity once the threat of the pandemic recedes. What’s happening: The legislation is expected to boost demand for goods and services, especially as the country’s vaccination

Sharon Osbourne has issued a public apology to the Black community after facing controversy over her impassioned defense of Piers Morgan on panel show “The Talk”. The 68-year-old star came under fire Wednesday after she demanded a definition of racism from Black co-host Sheryl Underwood during a heated discussion about Morgan’s controversial departure from ITV’s

On the audio-based app Clubhouse, people are gathering in virtual rooms to make whale moaning noises or to participate in silent meditation together. Hundreds of people on the popular gaming platform Discord started a server where they just send each other the letter “h” all day every day. And a new Twitter account created this

In an extraordinary rebuke, the Pentagon and several senior members of the US military called out Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday for a sexist segment in which he mocked women serving in the armed forces. Carlson, who is effectively the face of Fox and hosts the top show on the right-wing channel, ridiculed

Coupang, South Korea’s biggest e-commerce company, has pulled off the largest US initial public offering so far this year. Shares of the SoftBank-backed firm ended their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $49.25 on Thursday, a 41% jump over the $35 IPO price. The offering raised nearly $4.6 billion. The

Google Maps is making some social media-inspired updates to encourage more user-generated content in the app. The app on Thursday introduced several new features aimed at making Google Maps more interactive, including one that makes it easier for users to share photos of locations they visit. The changes are just the latest in a string

If you’re using your sister’s boyfriend’s dad’s Netflix account — listen up. The streaming giant is testing a new feature that could help it crack down on password sharing. Netflix is rolling out alerts asking users to verify they are authorized to watch on the account to be able to keep watching. “This test is

The Weeknd is officially boycotting the Grammys, the singer told The New York Times. The pop star said he will no longer submit songs for the music industry’s most prestigious annual awards show after it declined to nominate him for a single accolade for his hit single “Blinding Lights,” which has spent 52 weeks in

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is strongly in favor of rolling back the Trump tax cuts for corporations — despite warnings from the business community that it could disrupt the economic recovery. “It was a giveaway to corporate interests and the richest people in the country,” Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told CNN