Author: US

The persistent drought in the U.S. West, including this week’s announcement of the first-ever water shortage for the Colorado River and vital Lake Mead, prompts a fresh look at how much water is wasted in homes across the country — though many homeowners have little idea how much water they actually use or how to […]

NEW YORK (Project Syndicate)—The magnitude of the United States’ failure in Afghanistan is breathtaking. It is not a failure of Democrats or Republicans, but an abiding failure of American political culture, reflected in U.S. policy makers’ lack of interest in understanding different societies. And it is all too typical. Almost every modern U.S. military intervention […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NerdWallet.  Finally, as the country reopens, you’re likely seeing more of your friends. Out with the video chatting and in with the high-fiving, hugging and, well, spending. For every dinner, there’s a check to pay; for every wedding, a gift to buy; and for every concert, a ticket […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. In January, my husband Darnay and I started looking at all the things we needed to do financially to get ready for turning 65 later this year. Back in March, I wrote for Next Avenue about Step 1: cutting expenses. This month, I started wading into the minefield […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NerdWallet.  If you’ve got more bills than money, the usual advice is to trim expenses and find additional income. But some ways of raising cash can be a lot more expensive than others. Here are four that should be avoided, if possible, and what to consider instead. Beware […]

The Biden administration plans to administer 100 million COVID-19 booster shots over the fall and winter in a move that underscores the complexity of the pandemic at the current moment. About 30% of the Americans who qualify for a shot haven’t gotten one. Cases are surging, and hospitalizations and deaths are up, particularly in communities […]

There are those who will forever romanticize the game of baseball, speaking in a reverent tone about its place in American culture . I have never quite bought into the party line. Baseball is just a sport that I have followed since childhood because I like its easy pace and endless statistics. That “Field of […]

Does cryptocurrency belong in a retirement investment account? Should investors trade it in the short-term or buy and hold? How much money is too much to allocate to bitcoin or ethereum?  Cryptocurrencies are becoming an increasingly popular option in alternative investments, leaving many Americans wondering when — if ever — they should include this rising […]

Dear MarketWatch, I am an “elder millennial” living just outside the San Francisco Bay area. I don’t have any kids, nor do I plan to. I would love to purchase a house in this area but have a lot of competition from high-paid tech workers in Silicon Valley living in two-income households wherein each of […]

The Dixie Fire in Northern California, the state’s second largest on record, has raged for more than a month, burning a path across the Sierra Nevada and scorching an area twice the size of the city of Los Angeles. The massive fire comes as about 25% of the Pacific Northwest grapples with exceptional drought conditions […]

A judge late Friday shot down a law that would have allowed app-based companies to continue treating drivers as contractors instead of employees in California, ruling unconstitutional a proposition passed by voters in 2020 after a record-breaking campaign. Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, +0.23%, Lyft Inc. LYFT, -1.92%, DoorDash Inc. DASH, +1.11%, Instacart and other app-based […]

The Food and Drug Administration is expected next week to grant full approval of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.16% and partner BioNTech SE BNTX, +5.08%, according to people familiar with the planning, an action that could spur more vaccination requirements by employers and encourage more people who are hesitant to get vaccinated. […]

Cutting the line at your favorite Disney theme park attractions is now going to cost you. Disney DIS, +1.08% is set to roll out a new planning service, called Disney Genie, for visitors to its theme parks in California and Florida, designed to help guests avoid spending too much time in long lines. The Disney […]

Bath & Body Works Inc. says it is prepared for a fall-off in the soap and sanitizer business following pandemic highs, and after an earnings beat as a standalone business, analysts are upbeat about the company’s prospects. “The market thinks Bath & Body Work’s big CY20 growth was fueled by robust hand sanitizer sales which […]

If you want to see the benefits of saving early for your retirement and saving with regularity, look no further than the latest report from 401(k) giant Fidelity Investments. The average 401(k) account now has a record balance of $ 129,300, the company says. But among workers who’ve held their 401(k)s for at least a decade, the […]

Slumbering markets seemed to have woken up this week, and not in a particularly good mood. It’s true that the S&P 500 SPX, +0.13% on Thursday did manage a rise, barely. Small-caps RUT, -1.22% struggled, the dollar DXY, +0.08% reached a nine-month high (and lodged a new one on Friday), and bonds remain in demand. […]

The Value Gap is a MarketWatch Q&A series with business leaders, academics, policymakers and activists on reducing racial and social inequalities. Innovation holds the promise of economic prosperity for emerging inventors — but for some, seeing their idea come to fruition remains out of reach. “Throughout history, women and underrepresented minorities have not been able […]

Tesla Inc. showcased its artificial-intelligence systems on Thursday amid renewed criticism for Autopilot, its most-talked-about AI-based system, as it unveiled its next big project: a humanoid robot. At the company’s first AI Day, Chief Executive Elon Musk gave a preview of the Tesla Bot, a 5-foot-8-inch robot with a screen for a face, weighing about […]

It was as far from being made in the USA as you can get. A Virginia-based defense contractor has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for selling more than $ 7 million of goods to the U.S. military that were labelled as being made in the USA but were actually manufactured in China, […]

Mortgage rates resisted the temptation to move upward after hitting the highest level in months a week ago. But research suggests that many households won’t manage to take advantage of the potential savings the low-rate environment represents. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.86% for the week ending Aug. 19, down one basis point from the […]