U.S. stocks dipped in early trading, taking a breather after the major stock indexes posted the largest daily percentage gain since Nov. 6 since Nov. 6 on Wednesday, amid cooling inflation and strong bank earnings. Investors mostly shrugged off a weaker-than-expected gain in December retail sales and a higher-than-expected jump in weekly unemployment claims. The…
An enormous Blue Origin rocket meant to challenge SpaceX in regularly deploying satellites and other cargo into orbit underwent its inaugural flight test Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The New Glenn rocket, developed by the space technology company owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, had been rolled out days ago to the launch…
With less than one month until TikTok could be banned in the United States, a billionaire is tossing his hat into the ring as a potential buyer. Frank McCourt, founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, announced last week that he is building a group of associates to purchase TikTok in order…
Wall Street clawed back some of Wednesday’s steep losses after the Federal Reserve pulled back its forecast for rate cuts next year. The Fed lowered its benchmark, short-term fed funds rate late Wednesday by a quarter percentage point, as expected, but pared back its forecast for rate cuts next year. It only expects to cut…
China expanded its visa-free transit policy to allow citizens from 54 countries, including the U.S., to visit for up to 10 days without a visa. Travelers must be traveling from China to a third country (region) to be eligible. Those staying longer than 10 days or visiting China as their sole destination will still need…
The stock market swooned Wednesday in response to a piece of news that might not seem all that dire on first read: The Federal Reserve could cut interest rates fewer times than experts had predicted, in 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 2.6%, or 1,123 points, closing at 42,327. The S&P 500 lost nearly…
This is one in an occasional series on Iowa influencers who are finding new ways to tell the story of the state through social media. Taylor Grasso went from suffering from an eating disorder where she was obsessed with restrictive dieting to helping others on social media learn how to add food to their plates…
A California man was sentenced to more than three years in prison after being found guilty of running a “birth tourism” business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the U.S. in order to deliver babies who would automatically have American citizenship. 59-year-old Michael Wei Yueh Liu was found guilty in September of conspiracy and money…
Another day, another rally by mega tech stocks. Shares of iPhone maker Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, electric car maker Tesla and AI-chipmaker Broadcom all rallied to new all-time highs, which helped power the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its own record peak. The Nasdaq closed up 1.24%, or 247.17 points, at a record 20,173.89. The broad S&P 500 index ended up 0.38%,…
Sydney Sweeney has no time for body-shamers. The “Euphoria” star, 27, hit back on Instagram against a series of negative comments about paparazzi photos of her in a bikini. She shared a video compiling many of these comments, some of which called her “chunky” and said she needs to lose weight. The video then cut…