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The US federal government should spend more money, and fast, to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, rescue hard-hit families and help states, cities and small businesses. But it should also strive for a relief package built on some degree of bipartisan consensus. The first step to this package? Acknowledging that in this emergency there is nothing

The last time Southwest Airlines posted an annual loss was 1972, when it was a small upstart airline flying a handful of planes on Texas-only routes. Since then, it has grown to become the nation’s fourth largest airline, reporting 47 consecutive profitable years while its largest rivals flew into and out of bankruptcy during the

Dating app Bumble has been known for setting its own standards for how people should behave on the internet — from banning shirtless and underwear mirror selfies to photos of guns. Now, the company is making clear that there is no place for body shaming of any kind on its platform. “Find something else about

Facebook’s court-like Oversight Board overturned several of the company’s decisions to remove content in its first set of decisions since the independent body began hearing cases last fall. The board, which has been called Facebook’s version of a Supreme Court, announced Thursday that it overturned Facebook’s decisions in four out of the five cases before

Commerzbank plans to slash its workforce by 10,000 and close 340 branches by 2024 as part of a strategic overhaul. The bank has roughly 48,500 employees around the world. But it indicated in a statement on Thursday that its home market would be heavily affected, with one out of every three jobs in Germany being

America has been the king of the box office for, well, forever. Not anymore. In 2020, China overtook the United States to become the top movie market in the world. The country, perennially the second-largest movie market, brought in $3.1 billion at the box office in 2020, according to Comscore — nearly $1 billion more

McDonald’s US sales popped in the fourth quarter as guests spent more per order, but international sales took a hit from lockdowns related to Covid-19. The company said Thursday that sales at US restaurants open at least a year rose 5.5% in the three months ending on December 31. It said its marketing investments, especially

From Wall Street to the White House, everyone is watching GameStop shares. What’s happening: Stock in the left-for-dead video game retailer shot up an astonishing 135% to $347.51 on Wednesday, bringing gains since the start of January to 1,745%. In the battle between day traders coordinating on Reddit and legacy hedge funds betting GameStop shares

The US economy grew at an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, just as economists had predicted, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. But that didn’t make up for a bad first quarter and an historically awful second quarter. For 2020 as a whole, GDP decreased by 3.5% from

America’s unemployment crisis is now President Joe Biden’s problem, and jobless claims in his (partial) first week as president show how far the economy has to go to get back to normal. Another 847,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Department of Labor. It was

The Reddit message board that’s breaking the internet by sending Wall Street into a frenzy was briefly taken private by its moderators on Wednesday, adding further confusion to a wild day. “We are experiencing technical difficulties based on unprecedented scale as a result of the newfound interest,” said a message on the WallStreetBets subreddit, adding

GameStop traders sent the stock on a wild ride Thursday. The stock was up about 13% Thursday morning after tumbling about 15% earlier. Sending it on a roller-coaster ride, Robinhood said it was restricting trading in the red hot stock as well as others. “We continuously monitor the markets and make changes where necessary. In

The European Union has been locked in a very public and acrimonious fight with AstraZeneca over vaccine delays. The temperature may have cooled slightly after a meeting late Wednesday, which both sides said was constructive, but the problem hasn’t been fixed yet and the stakes for EU countries are high. These are the battle lines:

So much for what goes up must come down. GameStop continued to defy gravity Thursday. Shares soared another 30% in premarket trading thanks to massive support from individual investors on Reddit. GameStop shares are now up nearly 2,500% this year — surging from just under $20 at the end of 2020 to a current price

Chipotle is testing curbside pickup at 29 locations in California to give customers a way to get their tacos and burritos without having to go inside restaurants. Here’s how it works: Customers who order from participating restaurants through the Chipotle app will see a “curbside pickup” option before they check out. Once the order is

Toyota is back on top. The Japanese company has reclaimed its place as the world’s best-selling automaker, with its latest results showing an edge over Volkswagen Group. Toyota sold 9.5 million vehicles around the world in 2020, according to figures released on Thursday that include its Daihatsu and Hino lineups. That’s compared with the 9.3

Economists are grading on a curve. That’s not a good thing if you’re former President Donald Trump. US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, is forecast to have grown at an annualized rate of 4% between October and December. In a normal year, that would be something to celebrate — an A+