VOL. 47 | NO. 30 | Friday, July 21, 2023
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
A former Tennessean colleague 20 or so years my senior had a comically pessimistic view of his life expectancy: “Man, I don’t even buy green bananas,” he used to say.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The house located at 1929 Greenwood Avenue in East Nashville was listed by The Beacon Group of FC, a collection of agents led by the wildly successful Megan Garrett and her associate, Katie Valle, whom her managing broker Sean Simons describes as “a rising star.”
REAL ESTATE
Top Davidson County residential real estate sales for June 2023, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
Top Davidson County commercial real estate sales for June 2023, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week to the lowest level in four weeks, a boost for house hunters facing a market held back by persistently high prices and a near-historic low number of homes for sale.
NEWSMAKERS
Nashville School of Law honored distinguished alumnus and board member Tom Cone at its annual Recognition Dinner.
BRIEFS
The Metro Nashville Police Department is finalizing a state grant request for at least $3.375 million to help fund school resource officers in the 45 Nashville public middle and high schools that have full time SRO positions in the 2023-24 school year.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
In the new car market, there exist some hidden gems – excellent vehicles with much to offer that are overlooked by many shoppers.
CAREER CORNER
When you’re interviewing for a job, a company might want to meet with you from two to 10 times before making a final decision. But through all of these interviews, it could be argued that one of the most important conversations happens in the very first interview.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
It was supposed to be the job you always wanted, the job of your dreams. The work was interesting, with an easy learning curve. The hours perfectly fit your lifestyle and goals, and you could work remotely, if you wanted. The pay was more than you imagined.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
In the past year, streaming service Netflix has released two financially focused offerings: the film “Get Smart with Money” and the series “How to Get Rich.” Both feature powerhouse financial influencers who help people reevaluate their approaches to money to educate and empower them.
PERSONAL FINANCE
When Giovanna “Gigi” Gonzalez wanted to cut back on her food spending, the finance expert and money coach applied what is known as the “cash-stuffing” method of budgeting. She put the cash she allotted to food for the week into an envelope and limited her spending to that amount.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A school field trip to the National Civil Rights Museum was replaced with a trip to a baseball game. A choir director was terrified of teaching the history behind spirituals sung by enslaved people. A teacher spent months in administrative proceedings over objections to state-approved curriculum.
COURTS
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The plea deal in Hunter Biden's criminal case unraveled during a court hearing Wednesday after a federal judge raised concerns about the terms of the agreement that has infuriated Republicans who believe the president's son is getting preferential treatment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A high school student who stormed the U.S. Capitol, assaulted a police officer and sat in a Senate floor chair reserved for the vice president was sentenced on Wednesday to one year in prison.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve's expected move Wednesday to raise interest rates for the 11th time could once again send ripple effects across the economy.
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan plans to invest 600 million euros ($663 million) in Ampere, Renault's electric vehicle and software entity in Europe. The two companies also plan to establish more equal cross-shareholdings in the French-Japanese auto alliance, they said Wednesday.
MILAN (AP) — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares on Wednesday dangled a potential relaunch of a shuttered Illinois factory if it can be made more competitive as the United Auto Workers Union says a strike is possible.
HEALTH CARE
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal lawsuit alleges that health insurance giant Cigna used a computer algorithm to automatically reject hundreds of thousands of patient claims without examining them individually as required by California law.
MEDIA
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The pan-Arab news network Al Jazeera has condemned a recent decision by Egyptian authorities to brand some of its journalists as terrorists.
WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Months after Missy Nester ended The Welch News' 100-year run, she can barely stand to walk through the office doors of the newspaper her mother taught her to read with growing up in West Virginia's southern coalfields. It's still too painful.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules Wednesday to require public companies to disclose within four days all cybersecurity breaches that could affect their bottom lines. Delays will be permitted if immediate disclosure poses serious national security or public safety risks.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled two foldable smartphones as it continues to bet on devices with bending screens, a budding market that has yet to fully take off because of high prices.
BANKING
LONDON (AP) — The chief executive of NatWest, one of Britain's biggest banks, left her job on Wednesday after discussing personal details of a client — the populist politician Nigel Farage — with a journalist amid a furor over financial institutions' power to refuse customers for their political views.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday that economic and job growth so far this year has been stronger than forecast in February, but an updated outlook sees parts of the economy as weakening through 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday for the 11th time in 17 months, a streak of hikes that are intended to curb inflation but that also carry the risk of going too far and triggering a recession.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks held steady Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to their highest level in more than two decades, just as Wall Street expected.
Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump.
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Lewis, the British billionaire who owns the Tottenham soccer team, was taken into U.S. federal custody in New York City on Wednesday, where he awaited an initial court appearance on insider trading charges alleging that he fed corporate secrets to romantic partners, personal assistants, friends and his pilots, earning them millions of dollars illegally.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gap has tapped a top Mattel executive who re-energized Barbie and Hot Wheels to be its next president and CEO.
Boeing flipped to a $149 million loss in the second quarter despite higher revenue, as the plane maker struggled with higher costs in both its airline and defense business.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia, the new home of some of soccer's biggest stars and a co-owner of professional golf, is proving to be no less ambitious when it comes to another global pastime – the $180 billion-a-year video game industry.
NEW YORK (AP) — Visa Inc. said its adjusted third-quarter profits rose by nearly double digits, as the global payments company continues to benefit from the broad shift by consumers to using credit and debit cards instead of cash.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell briefly left his own press conference Wednesday after stopping his remarks mid-sentence and staring off into space for several seconds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley to lead the Social Security Administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has nominated a career air mobility pilot with key deployments in Afghanistan and Europe to serve as the Air Force's next top general.
TUESDAY, JULY 25
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — DeAndre Hopkins has had a good relationship with Mike Vrabel since their Houston days, a man who was one of the first to congratulate the three-time All-Pro receiver on being traded to Arizona and also the first to call him out for not making a catch for the Cardinals.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason Aldean 's "Try That in a Small Town" is experiencing exponential growth following controversy over its music video.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — In Tennessee, a request for police to release a school shooter's private writings has morphed into a complex multiparty fight that pits the parents of traumatized students against a coalition of local news outlets, nonprofits, and a Republican lawmaker — with both sides claiming their position is in the public interest.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was involved in a multi-car accident on Tuesday in Tennessee but was uninjured as he traveled in a motorcade to a campaign stop for his 2024 presidential bid.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt University Medical Center is being sued by its transgender clinic patients, who accuse the hospital of violating their privacy by turning their records over to Tennessee's attorney general.
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma can start executing a settlement that protects members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids, a court ruled Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a rule that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. But the judge delayed his ruling from taking effect immediately to give President Joe Biden's administration time to appeal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida couple pleaded guilty Monday to participating in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that his administration is moving forward with new rules meant to push insurance companies to increase their coverage of mental health treatments.
MEDIA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Pulitzer Prize-winning Santa Barbara News-Press, one of California's oldest newspapers, has ceased publishing after its owner declared the 150-year-old publication bankrupt.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Despite taking on a huge chunk of an expensive electric vehicle recall, General Motors posted $2.54 billion in second-quarter net income, a 52% increase over a year ago.
ENVIRONMENT
BANGKOK (AP) — Countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to drastically increase their investments in disaster warning systems and other tools to counter rising risks from climate change, a United Nations report said Tuesday.
BANKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers intent on reducing China 's influence on the U.S. economy are pushing the Treasury Department to help curb the outsized role of Beijing at the Inter-American Development Bank, which supports economic and social development in Latin America and Caribbean.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Global growth will see a slight improvement compared to previous International Monetary Fund projections but "many challenges still cloud the horizon, and it is too early to celebrate," the organization's chief economist said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence shot to the highest level in two years this month as inflationary pressures eased and the American economy continued to show resilience in the face of dramatically higher interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed higher as Wall Street waits to hear from some of its most influential companies, and whether their huge rally this year was justified.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google snapped out of an unprecedented advertising slump during its latest quarter, signaling a return to growth cycle needed to fuel investments in artificial intelligence technology that expected to reshape the competitive landscape.
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $20.1 billion, or $2.69 per share, beating analyst expectations for $2.55 per share.
NEW YORK (AP) — SAG-AFTRA held its largest and most star-studded rally yet Tuesday in Times Square in a picket sign-waving show of solidarity 12 days into the actors strike.
NEW YORK (AP) — UPS has reached a tentative contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union, potentially averting a strike that threatened to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike.
LONDON (AP) — European Union member states gave final approval Tuesday to the bloc's master plan to expand semiconductor production, clearing the path for its massive effort to slash reliance on Asia for computer chips vital for everything from washing machines to cars.
PARIS (AP) — The world's biggest luxury group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, announced a sponsorship deal Monday with the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, joining the ranks of top-tier French sponsors such as banking group BPCE, pharmaceutical maker Sanofi and supermarket operator Carrefour.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is threatening to hold Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress for failing to supply documents related to an investigation into supposed censorship by tech companies of conservatives.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting far more campaign staff than previously thought as he works to reset his stumbling campaign amid unexpected financial trouble.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Republicans may consider an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden over unproven claims of financial misconduct, as he faces enormous GOP pressure to demonstrate support for Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The lead prosecutor in the case against President Joe Biden's son Hunter says he is willing to testify publicly this fall, setting up a clash with House Republicans who have demanded he come in soon for a closed-door interview.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is sending up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, including a variety of munitions for advanced air defense systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, U.S. officials said Monday, as attacks in the war escalated to include strikes in Moscow and Crimea.
MONDAY, JULY 24
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are going back to their Oilers days for throwback uniforms this season.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Monday to more than four years in prison.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The fate of a controversial natural gas pipeline in West Virginia may rest with the U.S. Supreme Court, as the state appealed a lower court's ruling that temporarily blocked construction despite a Congressional order clearing the way for the project.
MEDIA
LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk has unveiled a new "X" logo to replace Twitter's famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.
ENTERTAINMENT
"Barbie" didn't just break the opening weekend record for 2023; It also shattered the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman.
"Barbenheimer " didn't just work – it spun box office gold. The social media-fueled fusion of Greta Gerwig's " Barbie " and Christopher Nolan's " Oppenheimer " brought moviegoers back to the theaters in record numbers this weekend, vastly outperforming projections and giving a glimmer of hope to the lagging exhibition business, amid the sobering backdrop of strikes.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Chair Jerome Powell and other Federal Reserve officials gather this week for their latest decision on interest rates, they will do so on the cusp of achieving an elusive "soft landing" — the feat of curbing inflation without causing a deep recession.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street ticked higher Monday to start a week full of updates on where interest rates and profits for some of the stock market's most influential companies are heading.
NEW YORK (AP) — Swiss banking giant UBS will pay nearly $400 million in fines to U.S., Swiss and U.K. banking authorities for the management failures of Credit Suisse, which UBS bought in June, related to how Credit Suisse handled its relationship with collapsed hedge fund Archegos Capital Management.
NEW YORK (AP) — The clock is ticking. As the deadline to reach a new contract nears, a potential UPS strike feels closer than ever.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Kravits gets a lot of this: People recognize him — they're just not sure how. "I'm that guy who looks like the guy you went to high school with," says Kravits. "People think they've just seen me somewhere."
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says it does not plan to sell any shares in its one-third shareholding in financial technology company Ant Group because it wants to retain its stake in an "important strategic partner."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Anchor Brewing is open to a purchase offer from its employees but warned that time is running out as the 127-year-old trailblazer of craft beers prepares to cease operations, the San Francisco company said in a statement over the weekend.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service said Monday it is ending its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits, in an effort to help keep its workers safe and to combat scammers who pose as IRS agents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is tapping Shuwanza Goff — a veteran congressional aide who also served as his main point of contact to the House at the start of the administration — as his new director of legislative affairs, making her the first Black woman to be the White House's chief emissary to Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has represented her country at the Olympics in Tokyo, a king's coronation in London and a royal wedding in Jordan. She gets another chance to put her ambassadorial skills to work this week when the United States formally rejoins a United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture around the globe.
FRIDAY, JULY 21
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.
UT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Josh Heupel made clear when hired at Tennessee he saw the NCAA investigation hanging over the program as a mere speed bump.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Two-time defending national champion Georgia is the overwhelming preseason pick to win the 2023 Southeastern Conference title.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Pausing at the microphone, 6-year-old Noah took a breath and softly stated, "I don't want any guns today or any day in my school."
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's company and his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen have settled a lawsuit over Cohen's claims that he was unfairly stuck with big legal bills after getting entangled in investigations into the former president.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Florida has scheduled a trial date for next May for former President Donald Trump in a case charging him with illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI employees wrongly searched foreign surveillance data for the last names of a U.S. senator and a state senator, according to a court opinion released Friday. The disclosure could further complicate Biden administration efforts to renew a major spy program that already faces bipartisan opposition in Congress.
NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is harassing a key witness against him at his upcoming trial by giving a newspaper personal things she wrote while she was the chief executive of his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm, prosecutors say.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who worked as a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trump's administration was convicted Thursday of charges that he attacked police officers during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
CRIME
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homicides are declining in a cross-section of American cities, though their numbers remain higher than before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, according to a new report analyzing data from 30 U.S. cities.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil and gas companies would have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells under a new rule announced Thursday by the Biden administration.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology have agreed to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by President Joe Biden's administration.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has chosen Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, an unprecedented choice that, if she is confirmed, will make her the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted to a mixed closed but still marked another weekly gain. The S&P 500 eked out a gain of less than 0.1% Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The clock is ticking. As the deadline to reach a new contract nears, a potential UPS strike feels closer than ever.
American Express saw its profit and revenue climb in the second quarter and credit card use is rising, but the company's stock slipped before the market open as it set aside more money for possible defaults on payments.
Lottery dreamers are setting their sights on the growing Mega Millions jackpot drawing on Friday after a ticket worth more than $1 billion was sold for the Powerball lottery. Here's a look at how this drawing compares to other jackpots and why these winnings have become so high.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, has slashed the price of its online subscription service in half for those on government assistance, a move that should help perk up membership.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The combined strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters is entering its second week with no sign that a swift ending will be achieved.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fewer shipping container deliveries this spring hurt CSX railroad's second-quarter profit and offset a sharp increase in shipments of automobiles, but executives remain optimistic about the economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is making a last-minute trip to Florida on Friday to tackle changes to the state's education standards that critics say play down the horror of slavery.
For eight years, Donald Trump has managed to secure the support of many evangelical and conservative Christians despite behavior that often seemed at odds with teachings espoused by Christ in the Gospels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is staking his reelection bid on the political and financial muscle of the Democratic National Committee.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending additional warships and thousands of Marines to the Middle East to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley released an unclassified document Thursday that Republicans claim is significant in their investigation of Hunter Biden as they delve into the financial affairs of the president and his son, and revive previously debunked claims of wrongdoing.
THURSDAY, JULY 20
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Country music star Jason Aldean 's latest music video for "Try That In A Small Town," lasted just one weekend on Country Music Television before the network pulled it in response to an outcry over its setting and lyrics.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court would have to abide by stronger ethics standards under legislation approved on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, a response to recent revelations about donor-funded trips by justices. The bill faced united opposition from Republicans, who said it could "destroy" the court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hush-money payments. Classified records. And now, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that led to the Capitol attack. Already facing criminal cases in New York and Florida, Donald Trump is in increasing legal peril as investigations into his struggle to cling to power after his election loss appear to be coming to a head.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration argued Wednesday that its new asylum rule is different from versions put forward under President Donald Trump in a court hearing before a judge who threw out Trump's attempts to limit asylum on the U.S.-Mexico border.
HEALTH CARE
The fallout from a Pfizer factory being damaged by a tornado could put even more pressure on already-strained drug supplies at U.S. hospitals, experts say.
ENERGY
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The first auction of offshore leases for wind power development in the Gulf of Mexico will take place Aug. 29 for tracts off the Louisiana and Texas coasts, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is proposing new rules for the nation's oil and gas leasing program that would raise costs for energy companies to drill on public lands and strengthen requirements for cleaning up old wells where drilling is completed or abandoned.
TECHNOLOGY
HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia on Thursday reported a fall in second quarter profit as clients especially in North America postponed investments due to a slowdown in economic growth and rising financing costs.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Tesla is recalling nearly 16,000 of its 2021-2023 Model S and Model X vehicles because some front-row seat belts may not have been reconnected properly after being repaired.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Auto parts manufacturer Magna plans to invest more than $790 million to build two facilities to supply Ford Motor Co. with parts at Ford's new electric truck factory in Tennessee, officials said Thursday.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk's big bet that Tesla price cuts could boost sales and profits amid increasing competition and poor economic sentiment appears to be yielding mixed results. Sales jumped and the company beat analyst expectations for net income in the April-June quarter, although the company's profit margins declined. Tesla shares followed suit in after-hours trading.
ENVIRONMENT
Travelers, considered a bellwether for the insurance industry due to its size, said catastrophe losses doubled in its most recent quarter and the company swung to a loss as severe wind and hailstorms in a number of regions led to rising coverage claims.
DENVER (AP) — Back in 2015, California's dry earth was crunching under a fourth year of drought. Then-Governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25% reduction in home water use. Farmers, who use the most water, volunteered too to avoid deeper, mandatory cuts.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Google says it is in the early stages of developing artificial intelligence tools to help journalists write stories and headlines, and has discussed its ideas with leaders in the news industry.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix enjoyed its biggest springtime spurt in subscribers since the early days of the pandemic three years ago, providing the latest sign that a recent crackdown on password sharing and the rollout of a cheaper subscription option are paying off.
PERSONAL FINANCE
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve launched a new instant payment service Thursday. FedNow allows banks and credit unions to sign up to send real-time payments so they can offer customers a quicker way to send money between banks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An IRS plan to test drive a new electronic free-file tax return system next year has got supporters and critics of the idea mobilizing to sway the public and Congress over whether the government should set up a permanent program to help people file their taxes without needing to pay somebody else to figure out what they owe.
NEW YORK (AP) — There's no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim — even as more and more eye top prizes soaring to jaw-dropping heights.
ECONOMY
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with the labor market continuing to cruise along despite higher interest rates intended to cool hiring.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Drops for Tesla, Netflix and other big tech-oriented stocks are clamping the brakes on Wall Street's torrid rally.
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines is reporting a $1.34 billion profit for the second quarter, boosted by strong ticket sales and a huge drop in the price of jet fuel and the airline raised its profit expectations for the year.
China does not want a trade war with the United States but will retaliate against any further U.S. restrictions on technology and trade, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration would get more money to hire air traffic controllers and the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots would be raised under a bill approved Thursday by the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is courting unions as a cornerstone of the country's economic future with a speech at a Philadelphia shipyard on Thursday — just as some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth he wants to campaign on in 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Pink sauce on that Burger King burger? What about "Barbie-fying" your pet with sweaters and beds with Barbie motifs? If that's too low-brow, perhaps you'd be interested in hot pink Barbie monogrammed knit leggings by luxury designer Balmain instead, selling at Neiman Marcus for a cool $2,150.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flanked by cranes and shipyard workers, President Joe Biden made the pitch Thursday that unions will be building America's renewable energy future — a courtship of organized labor at a moment when some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth he wants to campaign on in 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people from Russia to the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan in an effort to choke off Moscow's access to products, money and financial channels that support its invasion of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. worked to defend himself Thursday against accusations that he traffics in racist and hateful online conspiracy theories, testifying at a House hearing on government censorship despite requests from outside groups to disinvite the Democratic presidential candidate after his recent antisemitic remarks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans raised unsubstantiated allegations Wednesday against President Joe Biden over his family's finances as they summoned IRS whistleblowers to testify publicly for the first time about claims the Justice Department improperly interfered with a tax investigation into Biden's son Hunter.