US Economy

Budget Battles

  • How Obamacare Could Be Squeezing Consumer Spending

    By Anthony Mirhaydari

    A bevy of recent data suggests American shoppers — long the buy-it-now drivers of global economic growth — have lost the spring in their step. It wasn't supposed to be this way: Winter's chill has...

  • McDonald’s Turns 75: The Beefy Numbers Behind the Fast Food Empire

    By Yuval Rosenberg

    Dick and Mac McDonald opened their original Bar-B-Q restaurant opened in San Bernardino, Calif. on this date in 1940. A drive-thru offering a broad menu and car hop service, the restaurant was very...

  • A Bull Market for the Escort Business

    By Turney Duff, CNBC

    When speaking about escorts, Charlie Sheen once said, "I don't pay them for sex, I pay them to leave." And, like Sheen, a lot of Wall Street guys don't need to pay for sex either, but they'd rather...

  • What El Niño Could Do to Your Grocery Bill

    By Marcy Nicholson and Chris Prentice and Luc Cohen and David Adams, Reuters

    The El Niño climate phenomenon is almost certain to last through the Northern Hemisphere summer, the U.S. weather forecaster said, raising the chance of heavy rain in the southern United States as...

  • The Housing Market Finally Has Some Traction

    By Nicholas Atkeson and Andrew Houghton, AdviceIQ

    The housing comeback from the Great Recession has been long and slow. Now, finally, it looks as if we are finally getting some traction. Mortgage lending is strong, and that’s a good sign for both...