Market News
Stocks Edge Higher Despite Monti Shocker; McDonald's Boosts Dow
Stocks inched higher on Wall Street Monday after a November sales report at McDonald's helped offset concerns about the surprise resignation of Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, who has been credited with restoring confidence in Italy's economy.
Continue reading »Investing
Entrepreneur of the Year Allegedly Stole $40 Million From Investors
A Miami businessman whom Ernst & Young once named "Entrepreneur of the Year" has been accused of swindling $40 million from investors, including some NBA stars, to support a lavish lifestyle. Venezuelan-born Claudio Osorio, 54, was arrested Friday and charged with 23 counts of fraud and money laundering .
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Stock Market a Wild Card in Fiscal Cliff Talks
In the political showdown over the fiscal cliff, the stock market's unpredictability is perhaps the biggest wild card.
Continue reading »Labor
Fast Food Labor Strikes: What It'll Mean If Workers Have It Their Way
Fast-food workers are joining the movement to unionize in protest over low pay. More than 200 workers at Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's, and other fast-food restaurants recently went on strike in New York -- and organizers say it was just the start of a larger campaign.
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Can the McRib Save McDonald's?
The McRib is back on the McDonald's menu, and the popular sandwich is returning to the Golden Arches at just the right time. October was a bad month for the fast food giant, and it needs all the pork-fueled help it can get to beef up sales.
Continue reading »Family Money
What Kate's Royal Pregnancy Is Reminding Us About Raising Kids
The announcement of Kate Middleton's pregnancy last week was joyous for the Windsor family and royal-watchers alike. But all the fuss around the story hides an uncomfortable truth: For many of us, having an heir is getting unaffordably expensive and folks feeling the pinch are putting it off.
Continue reading »Holidays
Holiday Gifts That Give Back
When giving presents this year, remember, 'The best things in life aren't things.'
Continue reading »Media
We're Watching Less Network TV: Guess What We're Doing Instead
Fresh data from ratings tracker Nielsen shows an alarming drop in television viewership. ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC have combined for a 9 percent drop in viewers in the coveted 18-to-49 age bracket since the fall season began. Media executives are worried, and rightfully so.
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Why High-Speed Trading Is Still a Huge Flash Crash Threat
On May 6, 2010, the Dow suddenly dropped 600 points and then just as quickly recovered, and high-frequency trading became a new economic bogeyman. But then, without its dangers being addressed, HFT slipped back into the shadows. Now, an upcoming report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission may finally change all that.
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McDonald's November Sales Figure Rises
McDonald's said Monday that a key sales figure rose in November, as U.S. customers snapped up the world's biggest hamburger chain's breakfast offerings and limited-time Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwiches. The increase follows a decline in October.
Continue reading »Banking
9 Questions to Ask to See If Your Bank Is Right for You
The end of the year is a good time to give your financial life a once-over and see what changes need to be made. One item not to forget in that review: your bank. Answering these questions will help you determine whether your money is in the right place, or if it's time for a strategic withdrawal.
Continue reading »Holidays
7 Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Very Weirdest Friends
Let's not pretend we're suggesting gifts for your unimaginably wealthy but weird friend: We admit these are the most bizarre gifts we could think of. Still, even if you don't have a hard-to-please buddy, take a look: You might find some gift-giving inspiration among the oddities.
Continue reading »Credit
U.S. Consumer Borrowing Rises to Record $2.75 Trillion
Americans swiped their credit cards more often in October and borrowed more to attend school and buy cars. The increases drove U.S. consumer debt to an all-time high. The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumers increased their borrowing by $14.2 billion in October from September. Total borrowing rose to a record $2.75 trillion.
Continue reading »Energy
U.S. Energy Sector Fears Missing the Boat on Natural Gas Exports
Global demand for liquefied natural gas is growing rapidly, and the U.S. has it. But what's causing angst in the industry are regulators: Can our government agencies license exports fast enough for U.S. producers to get in on that rising LNG market before before foreign competitors eat their lunch?
Continue reading »Economy
Jobs Report: Despite Sandy, Hiring Is Up and Unemployment Is Down
The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
Continue reading »Shopping
How to Pick the Perfect Gift Cards This Christmas
U.S. shoppers will buy $110 billion worth of gift cards this year, and nobody's complaining about it: Gift cards are the most-desired present of the season. But you still have to pick the right gift card for each recipient, so we asked plastic experts for their best advice.
Continue reading »Features
Arizona Ticket Holder Claims Half of Record $587.5 Million Powerball Jackpot
The holder of a winning lottery ticket bought in Arizona has come forward to claim half of the record $587.5 million Powerball lottery jackpot, the Arizona lottery said on Friday. The unidentified ticket holder shares the huge prize in the November 29 draw with a Missouri couple who claimed their prize a week ago.
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Even Warren Buffett Can't Save the Small Newspaper Business
The problem with the newspaper business is simple: A subscription price barely pays for the paper your papers are printed on, and free media are siphoning off the ad revenues newspapers rely on. Warren Buffet thought he could buck the trend, but not even the Oracle of Omaha can fight math.
Continue reading »Saving Money
The 4 Rules of Regifting: Etiquette Guru Explains When It's OK
Regifting: Lots of us do it, and many of us feel a bit guilty about it, even though polls show people are generally OK with receiving regifts. But does regifting really pass the holiday season etiquette test? We asked Jodi R.R. Smith of etiquette consultancy Mannersmith.
Continue reading »Retirement
Why Retirement Is Like Winning the Lottery
The new retiree has a lot in common with a lottery winner. But there is at least one major difference. If you buy a lottery ticket, you have a miniscule chance of winning. If you contribute to your retirement account, you're bound to win.
Continue reading »Taxes
How Far Over the Fiscal Cliff Could Washington Go?
The dealmakers who warn that a year-end plunge off the "fiscal cliff" would be disastrous don't seem to be rushing to stop it. Why aren't they panicking? Because those master procrastinators know that Washington deadlines are rarely firm, and they know precisely how they can finagle more time.
Continue reading »Taxes
Fiscal Cliff Calculators: How Much More Will You Owe If We Fall Off?
As the fiscal cliff fight between President Obama and congressional Republicans grows more heated, it's starting to look as if we might fall over the cliff. But what would this mean for your 2013 budget? We've rounded up the best fiscal cliff calculators we could find to help you figure that out.
Continue reading »Personal Finance
Getting Paid in Cash? Don't End Up Like Lindsay Lohan
When you get paid in cash, your income is out of sight from the IRS. But as the sad case of tax scofflaw Lindsey Lohan shows, thinking that you can avoid the tax man is not a smart assumption. And while Lohan's issues are extreme, anyone who primarily does business in cash will face the same ones.
Continue reading »Government
Aerospace Industry Increasingly Fearful of Fiscal Cliff Cuts
When the Aerospace Industries Association held its big annual gathering this week, the talk wasn't about America's superior aircraft and spacecraft. The subjects that dominated the event were the fiscal cliff, sequestration, and the potential damage that automatic spending cuts could do.
Continue reading »Technology
Why Pandora Will Never Be Great Again
Pandora's popularity is unquestionable. The leading online music service provider served up 67 percent more hours of music to listeners in 2012's third quarter than it did the year before. But its profit outlook is ugly, and the level of competition it will soon face for our ears is even worse.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: We'll Make Macs in America
Apple CEO Tim Cook opened up to Bloomberg Businessweek about some of the hot button issues facing his company. The man who succeeded Steve Jobs dishes on Maps, executive changes, overall management style, and making Macs in the U.S.A.
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Are Mortgages from Walmart the Future of Lending?
Since the financial crash of 2007, banks have lost their luster and alternative financing options like peer-to-peer lending have grown rapidly. Now, a new study suggests the next phase of lending's transformation will be companies like Walmart and eBay offering big loans at lower rates.
Continue reading »Economy
Initial Jobless Claims Fall by 25,000 as Sandy's Effect Wanes
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a third straight week last week, but still remain too volatile to offer a clear signal on labor market conditions. Initial jobless claims dropped 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000.
Continue reading »Government
New List Reveals the 1,000 Highest-Paid Federal Employees
WikiOrgCharts has put a spotlight on the 1,000 most highly paid federal civil servants. It's a list heavy on doctors, lawyers and bankers, many of whom would do far better in the private sector, which puts an interesting spin into the debate about whether government employees are overpaid.
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Poll Shows 25% Have an Opinion About a Totally Fake Budget Plan
Polls about Americans' views on politics and the economy sometimes return results that baffle the well-informed. Public Policy Polling's latest poll helps explain why that may be: It reveals that a high percentage of people have no problem offering an opinion on topics they know nothing about.
Continue reading »Autos
Ford Resurrects Lincoln: What This Luxury Relaunch Really Means
Ford unveiled a surprise this week: It's relaunching the Lincoln brand, and committing more than $1 billion to the effort. The renewal of the luxury brand is about more than just prestige. It's about big profits, and a push by Ford into one very big foreign market.
Continue reading »Consumer Ally
FTC Warns Hotel Chains to Stop Hidden 'Resort Fees,' 'Drip Pricing'
Frequent travelers know that extra airline fees have become the norm. But resorts and hotels make it even harder to figure out what your final bill is going to add up to. Now, the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection is fighting back on our behalf.
Continue reading »Money and Politics
Is Obama a Socialist? In 2012, Millions Went to the Dictionary to Find Out
Election-year politics evidently put some strain on Americans' vocabularies in 2012. The two most looked-up words of the year in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary were "socialism" and "capitalism," followed closely by "democracy," "marriage" and "bigotry."
Continue reading »Commodities
Double Your Money Selling Old Pennies by the Pound
Benjamin Franklin once said that a penny saved is a penny earned, but if the pennies are older, they can be worth more. At current copper prices, the melt value of older pennies is well over two cents, and you don't even need to melt them down to extract that extra value.
Continue reading »Banking
Citigroup to Eliminate More Than 11,000 jobs
Citigroup says it will eliminate more than 11,000 jobs. The bank says it's looking to cut expenses and improve efficiency.
Continue reading »Food
Starbucks' Big Expansion Plans: Yes, There's Still Room for It to Grow
It may feel like Starbucks shops are everywhere, but apparently there's still plenty of real estate left to conquer. Over the next five years, it will add 3,000 stores in the Americas, 1,500 of them in the U.S. But its global plans are just as ambitious.
Continue reading »Retirement
Retirees: Don't Miss Deadline for Required IRA, 401(k) Distributions
Smart retirees have done everything they could lately to stretch their retirement accounts, but taking too little out of them will get you into big trouble with the IRS. Fail to withdraw your full required minimum distribution, and the penalty you pay to the tax man will be severe.
Continue reading »Economy
Worker Productivity Growth Revised Upward to 2.9 Percent
U.S. workers were more productive this summer than initially thought, while costing their companies less. The Labor Department says productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent from July through September. That's the fastest pace in two years.
Continue reading »When renting a car, you always have the option to pay for insurance, but how can you make sure that you're not getting taken for a ride? Here, our experts explain how to get the best deal on coverage. Watch Video