Money

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN (CNN) — Despite retailers offering holiday discounts earlier than usual this year, US consumers did more shopping on Black Friday than the days leading up to it. In-store and online retail sales saw a 3.4% increase year-over-year on Black Friday, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. “Shoppers are making the most of seasonal

By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to impose stiff tariffs against America’s three biggest trading partners is widely expected to push prices higher, which would set the stage for the Federal Reserve to stop cutting interest rates and possibly raise them instead. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a recent

CNN By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — For Eduardo Sanchez, it is “difficult to vote for a candidate you can’t stomach as a Latino.” But the independent voter cast a ballot for Donald Trump this year, after voting for Joe Biden in 2020, pointing to the sharp rise in the cost of living since

By Bryan Mena, CNN Washington (CNN) — For Eduardo Sanchez, it is “difficult to vote for a candidate you can’t stomach as a Latino.” But the independent voter cast a ballot for Donald Trump this year, after voting for Joe Biden in 2020, pointing to the sharp rise in the cost of living since Biden

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — Beer and liquor may be recession-proof, but they’re certainly not tariff-proof. If President-elect Donald Trump follows through with proposals to impose a 25% tariff on all items from Canada and Mexico, the result would be a stiff penalty on some of America’s favorite libations, not to mention the No.

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN (CNN) — Holiday shoppers got an early jump on Black Friday shopping this year, spending a record $6.1 billion on Thanksgiving, according to Adobe Analytics. Sales on the holiday increased year-over-year by 8.8%, a jump from 2023, which saw Thanksgiving sales climb by 5.5% as consumers looked to keep stretching their

By Hadas Gold, CNN New York (CNN) — Elon Musk’s X is intervening in the bankruptcy sale of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars, in what is believed to be the first time a social media platform has stepped in to a legal dispute over account ownership. Jones’ Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars,

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — The incoming Trump administration could mean big changes in the government’s relationship with tech companies in ways that could affect users, ranging from the content they might see online to whether they could be confronted with discriminatory AI systems. President-elect Donald Trump and many of his allies

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — With Kraft Mac & Cheese’s latest product, the 87-year-old brand is taking a page from hip streetwear companies. The pantry staple is forgoing its usual strategy of a nationwide release at grocery stores for its newest offering. Instead, it’s emulating “drop” culture, often seen in the sneaker

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Even the power of Marie Kondo may not be enough to save the Container Store. In 2019 and 2020, the Container Store got a big boost from “Tidying Up,” the hit Netflix show from the home de-cluttering evangelist. Customers rushed into stores to buy storage bins, pantry

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Many Americans spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones over a home-cooked meal. But some may also remember lining up to score Black Friday deals and discounts on Thanksgiving evening. However, this changed in 2020, when many stores opted to stay closed to limit crowding during the pandemic

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — The makers of weight loss drugs and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are both pushing for Americans to change their diets. But the owner of Twinkies and Uncrustables is predicting that nothing will be able to stop America’s insatiable hunger for snacks. “As it relates to anything in

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — While there’s a lot we don’t know about President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans, at least one thing is pretty certain: Tariffs will go up. If history is any indication, that means price increases will likely follow. Already, Trump announced he will slap a new 25% across-the-board tariff

By Samantha Delouya, CNN (CNN) — The US Department of Justice threw even more doubt into a new way of paying for real estate brokers this week, raising concerns about a recent wide-ranging legal settlement. The DOJ’s objections have left many Realtors—already uncertain about the future of their industry—scratching their heads over how to negotiate

By Juliana Liu, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s top maker of electric vehicles (EV) wants to pay a lot less for car parts in the new year, a demand that signals there is no end in sight to a vicious price war nor economic gloom marked by lower wages and uncertain prospects. BYD, Tesla’s

By Elisabeth Buchwald and Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — Microsoft is set to go under the microscope of the nation’s top antitrust watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission, which is launching a sweeping investigation into the tech giant’s practices. The FTC, in a letter sent to Microsoft, demanded that it hand over information to

By Liam Reilly, CNN New York (CNN) — A federal judge on Wednesday tossed a defamation lawsuit brought by an Arizona man targeted by conspiracy theorists against Fox News, accusing the right-wing network and former primetime host Tucker Carlson of spreading false narratives about the January 6 attack. Following the insurrection, conspiracy theorists baselessly suggested

CNN By Hadas Gold and Rene Marsh, CNN (CNN) — When President-elect Donald Trump said Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would recommend major cuts to the federal government in his administration, many public employees knew that their jobs could be on the line. Now they have a new fear: becoming the personal targets of the