The financial news that actually matters
Wendy’s is moving to shrink its U.S. restaurant base after a stretch of weaker sales, signaling that one of the country’s biggest burger chains sees a real need to cut underperforming stores rather than wait for demand to snap back. The company has already told investors that a mid-single-digit percentage of its domestic footprint could…
Electric vehicle sales in the United States lost momentum fast after the federal government’s $7,500 clean vehicle tax credit went away at the end of September. After a rush of buyers moved to lock in the incentive before the deadline, the market cooled sharply in the final months of the year. By the fourth quarter…
UPS and FedEx are both shrinking parts of the sprawling delivery systems they built up during the e-commerce surge, but they are doing it in different ways and on different timelines. UPS has already disclosed deep workforce and facility cuts tied to a reset in package volume, especially from Amazon. FedEx, meanwhile, is pushing ahead…
The average effective U.S. tariff rate has surged since early 2025, yet the broad inflation picture has remained relatively subdued. Consumer prices rose 2.4% over the 12 months ending in January 2026, according to the latest federal data, down from 2.7% in December. That has created an unusual split in the economic debate. One camp…
The U.S. dollar’s slide into early 2026 is not just a market story for traders. It has real consequences for American households, because when the dollar buys less abroad, many of the goods, parts, and raw materials that make their way into the U.S. economy become more expensive over time.That does not mean every price…
U.S. employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, giving the month its highest layoff total for that point in the calendar since 2009. That headline alone is enough to rattle readers, but the number carries even more weight because it arrives as hiring plans shrink and job openings continue to cool across the economy. The…
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 for the first time in its history on Friday, finishing at 50,115.67 after a powerful one-day rally that added 1,206.95 points. The move gave Wall Street its strongest session since May and handed investors one of those rare round-number moments that instantly becomes part of market lore….
America’s federal debt has already crossed the $38 trillion threshold, and the bigger warning sign is no longer the round number itself. It is the direction of travel. Federal borrowing is still running at a pace that would be striking even in a weaker economy, while official long-term projections show the debt burden growing faster…
U.S. wholesale inflation ended 2025 on a hotter note than many economists expected, with producer prices posting their biggest monthly increase in five months. The December jump did not come from a broad spike in factory-gate goods prices. Instead, it was driven largely by services, a sign that inflation pressure is still moving through the…
Corporate America entered 2026 with a message many office workers did not want to hear: growth plans no longer guarantee hiring plans. Across large employers, the mood has shifted from expansion to restraint. Open roles are taking longer to fill, backfills are getting delayed, and cost cuts are reaching functions that once seemed insulated from…