The U.S. economy added a robust 312,000 jobs in December, well above expectations, as the labor market continues to expand even as worries grow about an economic slowdown and turbulent stock markets. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent as the labor force expanded by 419,000, the Labor Department reported on […]
Category: Business
US Stock Market Posts Worst Year In A Decade
Wall Street concluded a tumultuous 2018 on Monday as the major stock indexes posted their worst yearly performances since the financial crisis. After solid gains on Monday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 6.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, for 2018. Both indexes logged in their biggest annual losses since 2008, […]
Sears Receives Temporary Last Minute Reprieve
Department store chain Sears won a reprieve from liquidating Friday after its chairman, Eddie Lampert, submitted a $4.4 billion bid in an effort to buy the retailer and keep it alive. Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments, put forward the tentative proposal for the parent of Kmart and Sears earlier this month, with his formal submission […]
Sears Facing Critical Deadline That Could Close Chain Forever
Friday is a big day for former retail icon Sears, which could potentially be forced to liquidate if its former CEO, Eddie Lampert, does not submit an official buyout bid by the end of the day. Lampert, who is still the company’s chairman, proposed buying the struggling retailer in full for $4.6 billion through his […]
Tariffs Are Killing Farmers
Rives Neblett has farmed grain, soybeans and corn in the Mississippi Delta for decades, but after the past year he’s asking himself how much longer he can keep his operation going. The longtime farmer owns 6,000 acres on which he produced approximately 450,000 bushels this past year. But, because of falling prices directly driven by […]
Dow Drops 400 Points To End Worst Week In Ten Years
Stocks plunged again on Friday, bringing the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s losses for the week to nearly 7 percent and ending its worst week since the financial crisis in 2008. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell into a bear market and the S&P 500 was on the brink of one itself, down nearly 18 percent from […]
Fed Raises Interest Rates For 4th Time This Year
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday hiked the nation’s benchmark borrowing rate by 0.25 percent for the fourth time this year, despite months of objections from President Donald Trump, who fears higher interest rates will take the steam out of the nation’s booming economy. The move, announced at the conclusion of the central bank’s December monetary […]
New Farm Bill A Boon For Hemp Industry
The U.S. hemp industry is expecting business to expand and investors to beckon after Congress on Wednesday passed farm legislation that included a provision to legalize and regulate the plant under the Department of Agriculture. “This is a monumental bill for hemp farming,” said Lauren Stansbury of the Hemp Industries Association. The bill, awaiting President […]
Here’s How To Block Robocalls On Your Cellphone
Unwanted calls are often harmless but some are after your credit card information, IDs or passwords. All are a distraction and a waste of your time. Robocallers have gotten more devious by masking their calls with phone numbers that use the first three or first six digits of your phone number. But the scams are […]
China Suspends Tariff Hikes $126B Of American Goods
China has announced a 90-day suspension of tariff hikes on $126 billion of U.S. cars, trucks and auto parts following its cease-fire in a trade battle with Washington that threatens global economic growth. The tax agency said the suspension that takes effect Jan. 1 is intended to carry out the agreement reached by Presidents Donald […]
Dow Plummets Triple Digits During Up And Down Day
U.S. equities plunged Thursday — putting the main stock index in negative territory for the year — after Canadian authorities arrested the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at the request of U.S. authorities. The arrest Wednesday in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States, raises the stakes for, and possibly threatens, the […]
Well Fargo Foreclosed On Homes Due To Computer Glitch
Financially strapped, Jose Aguilar said it felt as though he’d let his family down in 2015 when Wells Fargo foreclosed on his mortgage, but his disappointment redoubled earlier this year when the bank sent him a letter that said a system glitch that he says caused him to lose his home of four years. Aguilar […]