Money

China bucked the global recession in 2020, and in doing so narrowed the economic gap with the United States. Now it says it needs to pick up the pace this year. Premier Li Keqiang on Friday announced that China would target growth of more than 6% in 2021. While China emerged from the global downturn

China bucked the global recession in 2020, and in doing so narrowed the economic gap with the United States. Now its leaders are about to reveal how they plan to accelerate the pace of growth this year. The “Two Sessions” meeting, China’s biggest political gathering of the year, kicked off this week. On Friday, all

T-Mobile has been popular with consumers, but an underdog when it comes to serving businesses. The “Uncarrier” wants to change that with the rollout of 5G. The company announced Thursday a series of of new offerings for business customers: corporate wireless plans with unlimited data and 5G access, cloud-based workplace communication tools and a “Home

Jay-Z has 99 problems but figuring out a buyer for his struggling music streaming service is no longer one. Square, the payments company founded and run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Jay-Z’s Tidal platform. In a press release, Square said it expects to pay

A group of major oil producers has agreed to extend production cuts for another month despite a recent price surge, choosing to limit supply until the global economic recovery is more firmly established. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers said on Thursday that they would largely roll over production cuts

The repo market, a murky yet crucial corner of Wall Street, is acting weird again. And the turmoil suggests the Federal Reserve may need to come to the rescue once more. The Dow, GameStop and bitcoin steal a lot of headlines, but the repo market is vital to the functioning of modern finance. Trillions of

Last year, people were stockpiling food and essentials at stores and ordering a lot more groceries online. That was great news for America’s biggest grocery chains. Now companies say the pandemic-time boom is over. Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in this country, said Thursday that it expects comparable sales, or sales at stores open for

Oh, the places Dr. Seuss books will go after they ignite controversy. This week, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that six books penned by the children’s author will no longer be published because of the “hurtful and wrong” ways characters of color are portrayed. Now, Dr. Seuss books have soared to the top of Amazon’s bestseller

Arriving late to the streaming wars is apparently better than never getting involved in them at all. That’s what investors seem to think, at least. Just look at the huge stock gains for ViacomCBS and Discovery so far in 2021. The Paramount+ streaming network finally launched Thursday after a lot of fanfare, including investors sending

The South Side of Chicago isn’t typically a place where major companies look to open corporate offices. Most of the city’s Fortune 500 firms are located downtown — with views of the Chicago River or Lake Michigan — or in the nearby suburbs. Then there’s Discover, the credit card and financial services company based in

Central banks are usually tasked with keeping inflation in check, while promoting economic growth and employment. Now, add fighting the climate crisis to the list. On Wednesday, the Bank of England was given a new mandate to support the UK government’s ambition to become a net zero economy by 2050. “I am today updating the

Paramount is one of the most iconic studios in Hollywood, but can the name “Paramount” translate to streaming? ViacomCBS is banking on it. Paramount+, the rebranded service from ViacomCBS, launches Thursday with a lot of content from the company’s biggest brands, including TV shows and movies from Paramount Pictures, CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV as well

The Disney Store, once a mall mainstay, is drastically reducing the number of locations it has in the United States and Canada. Disney said it’s closing at least 60 stores in North America, amounting to about 35% of its locations in the region. Moving forward, Disney is placing a larger emphasis on its e-commerce business