Business News

(NEW YORK) -- An Elon Musk ally hired to overhaul the U.S. Department of Treasury has a lengthy record of undertaking hardline reforms in the private sector that demoralized staff and made them fear for their jobs, according to interviews with several former employees at his tech firm.Tom Krause, the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Cloud Software Group, oversaw layoffs at his company in each of the last three years while […]

(NEW YORK) -- Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom, known for their surf and skate products, are closing stores in the United States.The parent company of the brick-and-mortar stores, Liberated Brands, filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, which will result in over 100 retail locations across the country being shuttered, according to a filing.The company attributes its financial difficulties to several factors, including inflation demands as well as a significant change […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Housing prices are soaring twice as fast as overall inflation. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage topped 7% in January for the first time since last spring. Observers as disparate as J.P. Morgan and the left-leaning nonprofit Center for American Progress have declared a "housing affordability crisis."The cost crunch could last longer or even worsen, however, as a result of potential tariffs on Mexico and Canada, experts told ABC News.The Trump administration […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Autoworkers, farmers and alcohol distillers are among a set of U.S. workers who risk losing their jobs as a result of potential tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico, experts told ABC News.The U.S. president was expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday putting in place the 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on those from China, according to the White House.Trump announced on […]

lvcandy/Getty Images (NEW YORK) -- The stock market fell on Monday after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, eliciting threats of retaliation and setting the stage for a trade war.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid about 550 points, or 1.25%, in early trading on Monday. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted 2%.Traders demonstrated their jitters with a selloff of U.S. auto companies, […]

(WASHINGTON) -- Tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada that are set to take effect could hike the price of a gallon of gasoline for some drivers by as much as 70 cents and send grocery bills climbing, experts told ABC News.The Trump administration this week reiterated plans to slap 25% tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1. Those countries make up two of the three […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, just days after President Donald Trump called on the central bank to lower them.The announcement put the central bank on a potential collision course with Trump, though a longstanding norm of independence typically insulates the Fed from direct political interference.The decision to maintain the current level of interest rates pauses a series of three consecutive interest rate cuts imposed […]

(WASHINGTON) -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will announce its latest decision setting the level of interest rates, just days after President Donald Trump called on the central bank to lower them.Investors widely expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady, putting the central bank on a potential collision course with Trump. A longstanding norm of independence typically insulates the central bank from direct political interference.A decision to maintain the […]

(NEW YORK) -- The emergence of China-based AI app DeepSeek sent shares plummeting on Monday for many U.S. tech giants, including chipmaker Nvidia and AI-backer Microsoft.Nvidia, which helped catapult market wide gains in recent years, saw its share price plummet by more than 12% in early trading on Monday. Shares of Microsoft, a major stakeholder in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, fell about 4.5%.The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 3% in early trading […]