By Jackie Wattles, CNN Officials at NASA have signed a Space Act Agreement with SpaceX to investigate the benefits and risks of having a private mission provide service to NASA’s nearly 33-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, boosting it to a higher orbit to extend its life, the space agency announced Thursday. “Hubble is amazingly successful. …
Continue Reading By Jackie Wattles, CNN Officials at NASA have signed a Space Act Agreement with SpaceX to investigate the benefits and risks of having a private mission provide service to NASA’s nearly 33-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, boosting it to a higher orbit to extend its life, the space agency announced Thursday. “Hubble is amazingly successful. …
Continue Reading By Matt Egan, CNN Business US officials are increasingly troubled by the United Kingdom’s proposal to slash taxes at a time of crushing inflation, a plan that has ignited turbulence in financial markets. UK Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax-cut plan has drawn criticism from economists and investors and prompted the Bank of England to calm
Continue Reading By Anna Bahney, CNN Business Think mortgage rates are high now? Connie Strait remembers when she was starting her career in real estate in the early 1980s and buyers were contending with rates three times higher. Strait recalled one couple who were actually relieved when they locked in a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 19% in
Continue Reading By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Maybe that October market rally has some legs after all? Stocks were mostly unchanged Wednesday, even as a fresh batch of economic data revealed continued strength in the job market and America’s services sector. That’s led to new worries that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes, meant to
Continue Reading By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business So much for impulse buying at H&M. The next time you shop there, specifically online, and then regret bagging that crop top or cheap ripped flared jeans, you might have to pay to return it. The Swedish fast-fashion seller said it is gearing up to test return fees on merchandise
Continue Reading By Reuters and Anna Cooban, CNN Business The German government announced plans to borrow €200 billion ($195 billion) to cap natural gas prices for households and businesses. That’s a bigger price tag than the £150 billion ($165 billion) the UK government is expected to borrow to finance its own price cap. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy,
Continue Reading By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business Bed Bath & Beyond is losing shoppers and money at a rapid clip, and the company will need to quickly reverse course to avoid bankruptcy. The struggling chain announced Thursday that sales at stores open for at least a year plunged 26% during its latest quarter ending August 27. The
Continue Reading By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business The third quarter is about to end — and investors are wishing the past nine months good riddance. Stocks fell Thursday, giving up much of Wednesday’s big gains. The Dow fell nearly 460 points, or 1.5%. The Dow is now back in a bear market, more than 20%
Continue Reading By Anna Bahney, CNN Business Mortgage rates surged for the sixth week in a row, moving closer to 7%. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70% in the week ending September 29, up from 6.29% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the highest level since July 2007. Mortgage rates have more than doubled since
Continue Reading By Chris Isidore, CNN Business High prices and rising interest rates are putting used cars out of reach for a growing number of car shoppers. That’s bad news for CarMax, the nation’s largest used car dealer. CarMax reported Thursday that its earnings plunged 54% as the number of cars it sold in the quarter fell
Continue Reading By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business You may not be anywhere close to ready for the holidays — but retail chains certainly are. Christmas trees are already on sales floors at Costco and Lowe’s, Walmart’s year-end holiday sales start October 1 and Target is offering its “earliest access ever” to holiday deals beginning October 6. Amazon
Continue Reading By Alicia Wallace, CNN Business The number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped considerably last week, underscoring how employers are holding on tightly to workers as the labor market remains full of opportunities for job hunters. Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 193,000 for the week ended September 24, down 16,000 from a downwardly
Continue Reading By Alicia Wallace, CNN Business The US economy shrank by 0.6% during the second quarter of the year, according to the latest gross domestic product estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Thursday. That matches the most recent GDP estimate and shows the economy was in contraction for the entire first half of the
Continue Reading By Nicole Goodkind, CNN Business The global bond market is having a historically awful year. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond, a proxy for borrowing costs, briefly moved above 4% on Wednesday for the first time in 12 years. That’s a bad omen for Wall Street and Main Street. What’s happening: This hasn’t
Continue Reading By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business We have all heard of Band-Aid, Tylenol, Benadryl and Johnson’s baby powder. We have never heard of the new made-up word Kenvue. But Kenvue will be the new corporate parent of these familiar consumer health brands next year. Johnson & Johnson, the owner of these labels, is in the process
Continue Reading By Michelle Toh, CNN Business Hong Kong has finally secured commitments from some of the world’s biggest banks to participate in a long-awaited summit, as it seeks to reaffirm its status as a global financial hub. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced Thursday that it would welcome executives including Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon,
Continue Reading By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Stocks kicked off October with more treats than tricks for investors. The market rallied to begin the fourth quarter, despite growing worries about the financial health of European banking giant Credit Suisse and weak economic data. The Dow rose 765 points, or 2.7%. That was its biggest gain
Continue Reading By Laura He, CNN Business China’s yuan hovered near record lows against the US dollar on the offshore market on Thursday, as major currencies around the world continue to tumble after the Federal Reserve’s aggressive hikes. The yuan — also known as the renminbi —has been declining for months despite interventions by China’s central bank.
Continue Reading By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business Donald Trump berated ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, descending into a profanity-laced tirade after the journalist asked him in a 2016 interview about Russia, according to a forthcoming book set for release next week. The book, “Confidence Man” by Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, details the stunning behind-the-scenes
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