Money
Fired Fox News political editor calls out ‘hype men in the media’ who helped Trump attempt to ‘steal an election’
A longtime Fox News politics editor, who was fired by the network earlier this month after angering former President Donald Trump, rebuked the current state of American media and skewered right-wing propagandists in a candid opinion piece published Thursday. Chris Stirewalt, who drew scorn from Trump and his supporters after calling the state of Arizona
Continue ReadingInside Robinhood, the free trading app at the heart of the GameStop mania
Robinhood’s free-trading revolution helped pave the way to the recent Reddit mayhem on Wall Street. The rise of Robinhood means that the ability to buy stocks, on a whim, is now at everyone’s fingertips. Robinhood has opened investing up to the masses. Rival online brokerages were forced to mimic Robinhood’s zero-commission business model, and some
Continue ReadingParson backs tax breaks for Missouri stores ordered closed
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says businesses forced to temporarily shut down because of local COVID-19 mandates should get tax breaks. Parson on Thursday told Missouri Press Association members and reporters that restaurants and other businesses shouldn’t have to pay property taxes for times when they were ordered closed because of
Continue ReadingRobinhood shuts down GameStop trades, sending stock into a tizzy
GameStop traders sent the stock on a wild ride Thursday. The stock plunged more than 40% Thursday after surging nearly 40% at one point earlier in the day. Adding to the drama? Robinhood said it was restricting trading in the red hot stock as well as several others. “We continuously monitor the markets and make
Continue ReadingInternational police effort takes down ‘world’s most dangerous’ malware network
Law enforcement authorities across several countries have taken down a network of what they describe as the “world’s most dangerous malware.” The malware, Emotet, gained access to users’ computers through infected email attachments, including documents purporting to be “invoices, shipping notices and information about Covid-19,” European police agency Europol, which coordinated the effort, said in
Continue ReadingABC News president James Goldston is stepping down
ABC News president James Goldston, who has led the network news division for the past seven years, is stepping down at the end of March. Goldston announced the decision in an internal memo on Thursday afternoon. “I’ve decided this is the right moment to move on as this incredible era of news ends and another
Continue ReadingAmanda Gorman’s three books will get one million first prints due to overwhelming demand
To meet the demand for Amanda Gorman’s unreleased books, her publisher announced it will print one million copies of each of her three titles. Gorman 22, turned heads and stole hearts when she delivered a powerful inauguration poem at the US Capitol on January 20, challenging Americans to unify and “leave behind a country better
Continue Reading2021 just got worse: Now there’s a Grape-Nuts shortage
If you’re having a hard time finding Grape-Nuts at your local supermarket, you are not alone. The pandemic has come for Grape-Nuts. Supply chain constraints and higher demand for cereal have led to shortages of the product, Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts Brand Manager, said in an emailed statement. Grape-Nuts should be “fully back” on shelves in
Continue ReadingTax season could expose unemployment fraud cases
This tax season experts are warning the public about signs that they’ve been victims of identity or tax fraud with a pandemic-related twist.
Continue ReadingBiden’s most important stimulus measure
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
Continue ReadingSouthwest Airlines reports first loss in 48 years
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
Continue ReadingBumble bans body shaming: ‘Find something else to talk about’
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
Continue ReadingFacebook’s ‘supreme court’ just ruled against Facebook
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
Continue ReadingCommerzbank to slash 10,000 jobs and close hundreds of branches
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
Continue ReadingWhat if China no longer needs Hollywood? That’s bad news for the film industry
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
Continue ReadingMcDonald’s sales took a hit from Covid-19 restrictions
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
Continue ReadingWhere does the GameStop mania end?
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
Continue ReadingLast year’s American economy shrank the most since 1946
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
Continue ReadingAnother 847,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in Joe Biden’s first week as president
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
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