Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
See’s Candies, the century-old confectioner synonymous with boxed chocolates and holiday gift-giving, has suddenly closed its longtime headquarters and laid off dozens of workers, according to a filing under California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. For a beloved candy brand that has operated in California since 1921, the abrupt move raises hard questions…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices rose 2.4% over the past year through January 2026, a pace that signals continued cooling from the inflation spikes of recent years. But for many households still paying sharply higher grocery bills and rent compared with 2019, the slower rate of increase offers little relief. The…
A coalition of Democratic lawmakers introduced multiple bills on February 20, 2026, demanding that the federal government automatically refund tariffs paid by small businesses under President Donald Trump’s trade orders, which federal courts have ruled illegal. The push, estimated to involve as much as $175 billion in total refunds, has drawn support from both chambers…
Federal regulators across at least four agencies have now issued warnings about fraudulent messages reaching Americans’ phones through text and messaging apps, with scam losses hitting $470 million in 2024 alone. The concern is no longer limited to individual theft. A growing body of evidence ties the same phone-based misinformation channels to broader financial instability,…
The post-2008 era of near-zero interest rates, when central banks flooded economies with cheap credit, is over. A convergence of sticky inflation, record sovereign borrowing needs, and fragile market plumbing now threatens to expose how deeply governments, corporations, and investors built their strategies around money that no longer comes cheap. The adjustment has barely begun,…
President Donald Trump’s early 2025 executive order calling for a U.S. sovereign wealth fund set off a chain of events that has quietly reshaped the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency originally designed to support overseas development. What began as a 90-day planning exercise for a new national investment vehicle has instead become…
More than 200 factory workers at a Kansas manufacturing plant were laid off as First Brands Group moved through bankruptcy proceedings, after a proposed sale of the facility did not close. First Brands filed for Chapter 11 protection on September 28, 2025, after federal prosecutors charged former executives Patrick James and Edward James in the…
Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. reached a deal with its key creditors on February 24, 2026, clearing a major hurdle in its effort to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The agreement, which targets roughly $2.1 billion in post-emergence debt reduction, sets the stage for the ultra-low-cost carrier to reinvent itself with a leaner fleet, a trimmed…
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are reportedly shopping for a waterfront mansion on Indian Creek Island in Miami, a gated enclave already home to some of the wealthiest people in the country. The reported purchase, with an estimated price range between $150 million and $200 million, comes as California advances a…
Consumer staples prices across the United States have reached levels not seen in a quarter century, stretching household budgets and pushing stock valuations for the sector into territory that has historically preceded sharp corrections. Grocery prices alone have climbed roughly 26% over five years, and packaged food sales in the U.S. have stagnated as shoppers…