Category: United States

If you’re a child of the ’80s, you likely remember Nerds, the pebble-shaped novelty candy that came colorfully packaged with two separate flavors per box. This was far from your typical sweet: It wasn’t chocolatey, nor was it quite like other oddball creations of the era, such as Pop Rocks. It had a nerdish vibe […]

A change in strategy has helped transform the GoodHaven Fund from a long-term underperformer into an outperformer since the end of 2019. The fund follows a concentrated-value approach and now has a four-star rating (out of five) in Morningstar’s Large Blend fund category. Larry Pitkowsky, managing partner of GoodHaven Capital Management, based in Millburn, N.J., […]

Dear MarketWatch,  I spent five years as a teacher in Missouri, which made me eligible for a tiny pension (under $ 400 per month). Teaching didn’t work out for me, and since I will never be able to return to the profession and increase my pension, I decided to cash in my pension and reallocate […]

Big life changes often go hand in hand with cleaning out a home — but it doesn’t mean it’s the same every time. Downsizing a home for retirement is a different process than decluttering after someone dies. How a person cleans space for the next chapter should be known as “rightsizing,” one author said.  In […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. At the end of every year in the past, I anxiously waited to crack open my new daily planner for the coming new year so I could jot down resolutions. I like a clean slate. Every year those resolutions tumbled to the bottom of my to-list before I’d […]

What was novel four decades ago suddenly looks relevant again for the reeling U.S. commercial-real-estate industry. Regional banks and their exposure to commercial real estate were thrust back into the spotlight in February after New York Community Bancorp Inc. NYCB, +16.95% reported a surprise loss from its large book of property loans. The lender, like […]

“The risks to global growth are tilted to the downside.” Several weeks into 2024, the consensus forecast for the global economy remains cautiously optimistic, with most central banks and analysts projecting either a soft landing or potentially no landing at all. Even my colleague Nouriel Roubini, famous for his bearish tilt, regards the worst-case scenarios as the least likely to materialize. […]

Michael Cembalest, chair of market and investment strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management, likes to periodically take aim at gloomy investment predictions, and to be fair the media outlets like this one which publicize them. He’s at it again, with an update to a chart showing notable gloomster predictions, and the impact of shifting $ 1 […]

U.S. stocks have just accomplished something that hasn’t been done since President Richard Nixon was still occupying the White House. The S&P 500 SPX has risen for the 14th week out of 15 on Friday. According to Dow Jones Market Data, the last time the large-cap index recorded a comparable stretch of weekly gains was […]

Amazon.com Inc. shares continued their charge higher Friday, securing their highest close in more than two years. The e-commerce giant’s stock advanced 2.7% in Friday’s session to finish the day at $ 174.45. That was the best ending level since Dec. 9, 2021, when Amazon’s stock AMZN, +2.71% closed at $ 147.17, according to Dow […]

Etsy Inc., once known as a quirky marketplace for handmade, artisanal and vintage items, seems to be moving further away from its origins amid a much tougher e-commerce landscape and the impact of AI. Etsy ETSY, +4.83% will be marketing to a whole new audience on Sunday, when its first Super Bowl commercial will run. […]

The IRS is writing smaller refund checks, on average, at the start of this year’s income-tax-filing season, according to new numbers from the tax agency. Federal income-tax refunds are averaging $ 1,395 so far, according to Internal Revenue Service numbers released Friday on the filing season that started less than two weeks ago. That’s an […]

The cost for a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl has reached a record high this year: $ 7 million. Some advertisers are even paying $ 4 million for a pregame ad. Since the first Super Bowl in 1967, the cost of a 30-second ad has gone up 185x, according to a research paper from […]

New York Community Bancorp. lost ground but remained above its 52-week intraday low as the hard-hit stock fell on Friday. The stock NYCB, +5.85% has lost about 60% of its value since announcing a surprise loss on Jan. 31 and then following up with a statement on its ‘ample’ liquidity and a new executive chairman […]

Ubisoft Entertainment shares surged on Friday after the Assassin’s Creed maker said it is on track to achieve record sales for the financial year ending in March, in an announcement that assuaged investors’ fears that it would cut its guidance for the full-year 2024. In results published late on Thursday, Ubisoft confirmed its outlook for […]

Hermes on Friday beat analysts’ expectations in posting record sales for the full-year 2023, as the French firm successfully weathered the slump in the luxury goods market that has pummeled the world’s top fashion houses in recent months.  The Parisian company saw its full-year revenue increase 20%, to €13.42 billion ($ 14.45 billion), with sales […]

Cloudflare Inc. shares surged 8% in Thursday’s regular session and were poised to tack on substantial further gains after the company topped expectations with its latest financial results. The stock jumped 24% in Thursday’s extended session on what Cloudflare NET, +8.35% deemed “exceptionally strong” results for the December period. The cybersecurity and software company posted […]

The ever-popular chicken wing — also America’s go-to dish on Super Bowl Sunday — is apparently having an identity crisis. The classic finger food has long been a restaurant staple, often featured on the appetizer side of menus. But over the years, it has increasingly morphed into a main dish. Think of the many wing-centric […]

Shares of Bill Holdings Inc. seesawed in after-hours trade on Thursday, as strong quarterly results ran up against questions about the business-assistance software platform’s more upbeat profit outlook following steep cuts two months ago, amid continued caution on spending among its small-business customers. Shares fell about 3% in extended trading, after initially jumping 15% following […]

Affirm Holdings Inc. shares ran up Thursday in the lead up to the company’s earnings report, but they pulled back sharply once the results came out, even as the company beat expectations. Shares of Affirm AFRM, +10.33% were down 13% in after-hours trading after soaring 10% during the regular session. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev called […]