CNN – Business/Consumer

By John Towfighi, CNN (CNN) — US stocks had a stellar 2025, but global markets stole the show. A major index tracking stocks outside the US, the MSCI All Country World ex-USA, gained 29.2% in 2025, handily outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of 16.39%. The artificial intelligence boom has benefited markets in Asia, where tech

By David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump on Saturday said the US would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves and recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars to refurbish the country’s gutted oil industry. Venezuela is sitting on a massive 303 billion barrels worth of crude — about a fifth of

By Chris Isidore, John Liu, CNN (CNN) — In 2011, Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD as a competitor. But some 14 years later, BYD beat the American EV pioneer at its own game. The Chinese car giant has overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest seller of EVs, according to 2025

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN (CNN) — The United States Commerce Department is poised to significantly reduce the tariffs set to take effect on over a dozen Italian pasta makers’ products later this year. Most products from the European Union are already subject to tariffs of at least 15%. The pasta-specific tariffs, initially proposed in October

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — In New York City, the typical household spends more than half of its income on rent and 100,000 people sleep in homeless shelters every night. “This is what a full-blown affordability crisis looks like,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine in a December report. Median rents in

By John Liu, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump has delayed new tariff increases on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities for a year, pushing their implementation to 2027, according to a White House statement. Trump signed a proclamation hours before the end of 2025, postponing the tariff hikes on these items, which were originally

By John Towfighi, CNN New York (CNN) — The S&P 500 just completed a three-peat of double-digit gains. Will 2026 be a four-peat? After three years of stellar gains, Wall Street widely expects the good times to keep rolling in 2026 — but with varied views on how much stocks will rally. Wall Street forecasts

By John Towfighi, CNN New York (CNN) — The US stock market just achieved something so rare that it’s only happened six times since the 1940s: three consecutive years of double-digit gains. The S&P 500 rose 16.39% this year, after rising 23% in 2024 and 24% in 2023. That gain comes despite concerns about tariffs,

By Lisa Eadicicco, Hadas Gold, Clare Duffy, CNN (CNN) — Hundreds of billions of dollars spent, a surge in mental health concerns and thousands of jobs lost. The link between it all? Artificial intelligence, the buzzy yet controversial technology being depicted as the future or the stock market’s next bubble, depending on who you ask.

By Hadas Gold, CNN (CNN) — One week ago, 23-year-old Nick Shirley was relatively unknown in the public sphere. But in recent days, he has gained hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views, amplified by Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance and FBI Director Kash Patel. The MAGA leaders promoted Shirley’s video of

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — Lululemon’s former CEO Chip Wilson is once again slamming the struggling company he founded, and he’s launching a campaign to shake up its board. Wilson, Lululemon’s controversial founder and second largest shareholder, announced Monday that he nominated three new directors, including former executives from ESPN and Activision,

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Starbucks spent years trying to become an inescapable storefront on the streets of New York, Los Angeles and other big cities in America. Now that’s coming to an end. Its expansion once seemed limitless. It was even a joke. In 1998, an Onion headline read “New Starbucks

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN (CNN) — Moviegoers flocked to theaters for Disney’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” on the last weekend of the year, solidifying the sci-fi adventure film’s place as one of the biggest blockbusters of 2025. The third installment of director James Cameron’s “Avatar” films raked in another $64 million domestically Friday through Sunday,

COLUMBIA PICTURES, LIONSGATE, A24, WALT DISNEY PICTURES, 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, CNN By Auzinea Bacon, CNN (CNN) — Moviegoers flocked to theaters for Disney’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” on the last weekend of the year, solidifying the sci-fi adventure film’s place as one of the biggest blockbusters of 2025. The third installment of director James Cameron’s

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — For more than three decades, lifelong New Yorkers and tourists visiting the Big Apple have shared the experience of a MetroCard swipe gone wrong. Swiping the transit card too fast or too slow, with the stripe facing the wrong side, or having insufficient fare all led to

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Warren Buffett became the the world’s most famous investor because of his sage investment wisdom at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway. That wasn’t his only job: He’s also the company’s best pitchman. Take the company’s annual meeting – the place to be if you want financial advice

By David Goldman, CNN (CNN) — A soaking wet George Bailey and Clarence, warming up by the fire in the toll house on the bridge, discuss why Clarence jumped into the freezing water. It was to help George, Clarence tells him. “Only one way you can help me,” George says sarcastically. “You don’t happen to