Category: United States

The stock of iRobot Corp. fell on Monday after the company and Amazon.com Inc. terminated their acquisition agreement, casting a shadow over the future of the company best known for the Roomba self-driving vacuum cleaner. The companies said they are terminating the $ 1.7 billion deal, announced in August, because they believe there’s no path […]

Nvidia Corp. dominates the market for chips used to power the artificial-intelligence frenzy, but Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is jockeying for a bigger piece of that pie. The company got an endorsement of sorts late Friday from a high-profile figure, as Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk followed up to a post about his Nvidia […]

The disruption caused by the Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea could result in incremental costs for food retailers, according to BMO Capital Markets. “This adds an element of uncertainty for retailers (DLTR, TGT, WMT, COST, DG) as it relates to guidance/visibility in 2024, and if temporary, could add some incremental costs […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. If there is one conversation that encapsulates who my father was, it’s him explaining to me why it would be fiscally irresponsible to give me a dollar so I could get in line at the ice cream man’s truck on a summer day in New Orleans. “But ‘Turah […]

Dear Quentin, I have been in a committed, long-term relationship for 14-plus years. My partner does not want to marry and believes he is taking care of me legally and financially should he precede me in death. He is a loving and generous partner and I do trust him, but I know his arrangements are […]

Troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande faces liquidation after failing to reach a restructuring deal with its creditors, according to multiple reports Sunday night. The Wall Street Journal reported that talks between Evergrande 3333, -20.87% and its creditors began last week with the hope of reaching a deal that would let the company continue to operate, […]

Detroit native Renise Taylor has been looking to buy a bigger house, having outgrown her current home — and her neighborhood — in the city. But Taylor, who works in the finance industry, is facing a tight and increasingly expensive market, especially in the neighborhoods she finds attractive. “It’s pricing a lot of people out,” […]

A drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in northern Jordan, blamed by the White House on Iran-backed militants, marks a major escalation of tensions in the Middle East and appeared likely to draw a reaction when financial and commodity markets open for the week. Oil prices are likely to rise when futures trading […]

Stock-market investors may take their cues from a series of important events in the week ahead, including the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy meeting, a closely-watched December employment report and an onslaught of earnings from megacap technology names, which all promise insight into the state of the economy and interest-rate outlook.  U.S. stocks got a boost over […]

The heaviest stretch of the fourth-quarter earnings storm hits this week, with 106 companies set to report results. But results from only five — all part of the gang of tech behemoths known as the Magnificent Seven — will play an oversized role in steering collective corporate profit growth into positive territory for the period. […]

The question of whether to buy a house or continue to rent is one that Cicely Jones had heard so many times that she ended up devoting an entire chapter to why it’s OK to rent forever in her book on financial planning for young couples. “So many people experience so much stress and anxiety […]

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. You and your partner may be a pair but your retirement savings aren’t in sync. You may have established some steady savings and are in good shape but your partner is not. He or she may have very little saved or hasn’t got started at all, focusing on […]

The bottle Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend Bourbon, $ 199.99 The back story Americans continue to love their bourbon and other domestic-made whiskeys. Sales have soared for the category in recent years, with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States reporting that they reached nearly $ 5.1 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, many Americans have also […]

Dying is expensive. Whether you opt for a formal burial or direct cremation, there are unavoidable costs involved in dying. The median cost of a burial in 2023 was $ 9,995 — a 6.1% increase since 2021, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That figure included the costs for everything prior to burial, including […]

Andrew Biggs, a conservative economist with the American Enterprise Institute, and I are usually opponents.  Our disagreements go back decades: including privatizing Social Security, adequacy of retirement income, and compensation of state and local government employees. Just a few weeks ago I thought he was really off base arguing that workers do not pay for […]

Dear MarketWatch,  I’m 72 and married to my spouse, 71. We have one son, 45, who lives in California. We give him and his family $ 20,000 a year. Between us, with pension income and Social Security, we’re now receiving a little over $ 100,000 a year (gross) living in Florida. We own a $ […]

Dear Big Move, My husband is 66 and I am 61, and we have a 30-year mortgage at 4.99% with a current balance of $ 306,000. We have several Certificate of Deposits totaling $ 90,000, and savings of $ 100,000.  Our only debt is the mortgage; we own our cars and pay our only credit […]

Not everyone believes they will retire one day: 15% of Americans overall said they don’t plan to retire at all, and younger people as a group were less confident than their fellow workers, a new study found.  More than one in five younger Americans have no plans to retire, and 21% of Hispanic participants said […]

A number of retail stocks could be exposed to the fallout from the Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea, say analysts.  Investor anxiety is “brewing” over ocean shipping rates, according to Wells Fargo. “Concerns around freight costs are rising as Red Sea instability bleeds into the broader shipping complex,” wrote Wells Fargo […]

Dear MarketWatch,  I am 72 with total assets of $ 3 million. I was a single mother, and my son is now 26, works for the government and has a serious girlfriend. I stay with my son when I visit him, although I hate D.C., and I miss him when I am in my apartment […]