Money

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users. The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking

By David Goldman and Anna Bahney, CNN (CNN) — The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more. In a sweeping move expected to dramatically reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement with groups of homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN New York (CNN) — The average federal tax refund is more than $3,000, according to the latest data from the IRS. Since the majority of tax filers get a refund, there’s a fair chance you could get hundreds if not thousands of dollars back in overpaid taxes, especially if you’re also

By Chris Isidore and Pete Muntean, CNN New York (CNN) — A terrifying plunge on a Latam Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight earlier this week might have been caused by a mistake made in the cockpit, and not any flaw in the Boeing jet, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The Journal

By Olesya Dmitracova, Anna Cooban, Juliana Liu and Michael Nam, CNN London/Hong Kong/New York (CNN) — McDonald’s was hit by a system failure Friday that closed restaurants and disrupted online and app orders around the world, including in the United States, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. At about 1 a.m. ET McDonald’s

By Jake Tapper and Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez are awarding $50 million each to Bill McRaven, a retired Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas System, and actor and entrepreneur Eva Longoria as part of Bezos’ annual prize to individuals who make significant

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — Fox News is the subject of yet another explosive lawsuit. On the two-year anniversary of the attack in Ukraine that claimed the lives of Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and contractor Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, the network was accused Thursday of being culpable for the fatal incident by engaging in “reckless and negligent conduct” that put

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Dollar General is backing away from the self-checkout trend in retail. The company is pulling out self-checkout stands in 300 stores that have the highest levels of shoplifting and merchandise losses. In 9,000 other stores, Dollar General is converting some or all of its self-checkout registers to

By Brian Fung, CNN Washington (CNN) — The US government is cracking down on cable TV “junk fees,” forcing providers to publish a single, comprehensive price — so consumers know up front exactly how much they’ll pay for services inclusive of all extra costs. The junk fees crackdown is part of a series of moves

By Nicole Goodkind, CNN New York (CNN) — Elon Musk’s Tesla once represented the future of automaking. Now the company’s own future is in question. The once red-hot electric vehicle maker — heralded as part of the so-called Magnificent Seven behemoth tech stocks — is currently the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year,

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Mortgage rates dropped for the second week in a row, falling nearly a quarter of a percentage point over the past two weeks in the face of stronger-than-expected employment and inflation data. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.74% in the week ending March 14, down from 6.88%

By Matt Egan, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he believes it’s “vital” that US Steel remain American owned and operated, dealing a blow to the iconic company’s planned sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel. The announcement marks the strongest opposition yet from the White House to a controversial deal that has drawn some

CNN By Elisabeth Buchwald and Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok. This comes a day after the House passed a measure to ban the Chinese-owned social media giant or force a sale to a

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — The European Union launched a probe Thursday into Big Tech’s use of artificial intelligence and its handling of computer-generated deepfakes, ramping up scrutiny of a technology officials fear could disrupt elections. The inquiry is aimed at companies including Meta, Microsoft, Snap, TikTok and X, focusing on how the tech

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Rising energy prices helped to fuel yet another hot inflation reading for February. A closely watched gauge of US wholesale inflation rose at its fastest pace in months, according to new data released Thursday. While a seasonal energy price surge is at the root of the gain, and less-volatile

By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — Spending at US retailers rebounded last month as Americans shelled out more for gasoline. Retail sales at stores, online and in restaurants rose 0.6% in February from the prior month, up from January’s revised 1.1% decline, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That was slightly below economists’ expectations. The figures

By Elisabeth Buchwald and Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok. This comes a day after the House passed a measure to ban the Chinese-owned social media giant or force a sale to a US-operated

By Maisie Linford and Anna Cooban, CNN London (CNN) — Italy’s competition authority has fined TikTok €10 million ($11 million) for failing to control the spread of content that it said threatened the safety of minors and other vulnerable people. The antitrust agency, AGCM, said Thursday that TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, had