Money

The pandemic drove Target to a record year of sales growth, as shoppers stocked up at its stores and bought online. Target’s 2020 sales increased 19.8% to $93.6 billion from $78.1 billion last year, the company said Tuesday. Digital sales, which include home delivery and in-store pickup, increased 145%. Target’s sales growth of more than

For the second time since the the pandemic began, Instacart has doubled its valuation as a privately-held startup. The on-demand grocery delivery service said Tuesday that it is now worth $39 billion after raising $265 million in financing from some of its existing investors. Instacart was previously valued at $17.7 billion in October after raising

The United Kingdom is banking on a rapid vaccine rollout to bring its economy back to life this summer, while the United States is pinning its recovery hopes on another giant stimulus package. Europe won’t have either, and it could be left behind. The European Union’s vaccination campaign has been plagued by manufacturing delays, supply

Two investment firms have agreed to pay a combined $4.2 billion to buy Hertz and take it out of bankruptcy by the early to mid-summer, another sign of growing hopes of a recovery in travel. Hertz, which operates numerous other brands including Dollar and Thrifty, was among the flood of high-profile bankruptcies early in the

One of China’s most powerful financial officials is sounding the alarm over a bubble in global markets. Guo Shuqing, the Communist Party boss at the People’s Bank of China, told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that confidence in Chinese markets could be hit by volatility around the world. “We are really afraid the bubble for

Earlier this year tensions between ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir boiled over to the point that Stephanopoulos threatened to walk to a rival network, according to sources close to the matter. In an unusual intervention, Disney executive chairman Bob Iger flew across the country to broker peace at ABC News. Iger smoothed

Nordstrom and at-home fitness startup Tonal, which sells a $2,995 smart home gym, have teamed up to launch a handful of Tonal mini shops inside Nordstrom stores. Tonal-branded mini shops will debut in March in 40 Nordstrom locations across 20 states, Nordstrom said on Monday. The 50-square-foot shops will be located in the women’s active

The Dow rallied a little more than 600 points Monday, as US Treasury yields pulled back and took a breather from their recent ascent. All three major stock indexes opened sharply higher and continued their rally as the trading session went on. The Dow ended the day up 2% — its best day since November.

Over the past few weeks, progressive activists have lit up Twitter over the media’s criticism of President Joe Biden. There have even been loud complaints that the White House briefing is no longer consistently covered live by the cable networks, as if the media is somehow trying to silence the President and his spokesperson. I

Donald G. McNeil Jr., the star New York Times reporter who resigned amid uproar over his 2019 use of a racial slur, broke his silence on Monday, leveling criticism against some of the newspaper’s top brass and offering his own explanation for the events that ended his decades-long career at the outlet. McNeil, who was

The Dow rallied nearly 700 points in early afternoon trading Monday, as US Treasury yields pulled back and took a breather from their recent ascent. All three major stock indexes opened sharply higher and continued their rally as the trading session went on. The Dow was up 2.3%, or nearly 700 points, in the early

Facebook is launching its news product in Germany without media giant Axel Springer, which publishes the country’s most popular daily newspaper and says it won’t participate due to the “inappropriately low remuneration” offered for journalistic content. The social media platform said Monday that Facebook News will launch in Germany in May. The product, which Facebook

United Airlines disclosed Monday one of its largest orders for the Boeing 737 Max jet since the aircraft was grounded in March 2019, agreeing to buy an additional 25 planes. The airline also accelerated the delivery timetable for 45 other 737 Max jets it had previously ordered. United said the decision was based on its