CNN-Business-Consumer

Opinion by Mark Wolfe for CNN Business Perspectives Energy is an essential component of our day-to-day lives. We use it to cook our food, stay warm in the winter and cool our homes in the summer. But home energy prices have risen during the pandemic while more people are struggling to just get by. For

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business Peloton CEO John Foley acknowledged Thursday that the company is “considering all options” — including layoffs and production curbs — after a report that the fitness firm has stopped manufacturing its bikes and treadmills sent shares crashing. His statement did not reference any specific report, but said “rumors that we

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business McDonald’s is selling a dessert that fans haven’t seen in about five years. Roughly 6,800 of its 14,000 US restaurants have begun selling a blueberry and crème pie, which is a sweet pastry that’s filled with blueberries and a vanilla-flavored crème and baked in a pie crust. McDonald’s last sold

By Anna Cooban, CNN Business Champagne houses are celebrating after sales and exports set new records last year even as pandemic lockdowns forced many bars and restaurants to close. Comité Champagne, a trade association representing more than 16,000 winegrowers and 320 Champagne houses, said Wednesday that France exported a record 180 million bottles of bubbly

By Anna Bahney, CNN Business In the third jump of 2022, mortgage rates rose to a high not seen since the early days of the pandemic. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.56% in the week ending January 20, up from an average 3.45% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. It’s the highest since March

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Both American Airlines and United Airlines reported better-than-expected financial results, despite problems brought on by the Omicron surge during the holiday travel period. But both said they expect problems from the variant early this year. American, the nation’s largest airline, lost $921 million in the quarter, excluding special items. That

By Matt Egan, CNN Business If Russia invades Ukraine, inflation-weary Americans will likely pay even higher prices at the pump. Oil prices have already shot up to seven-year highs in recent days. A conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which the White House has warned could be imminent, would have the potential to drive them much

By Anna Cooban and Chris Liakos, CNN Business Major international airlines have resumed normal service after a slew of cancellations on Wednesday over fears the rollout of 5G mobile networks in the United States would compromise safety. British Airways, Lufthansa, All Nippon, Japan Airlines and Emirates all announced cancellations or changes to flights to the

By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Relief from record high auto prices could be coming soon. But that doesn’t mean those prices will go back to where they were before the pandemic. A shortage of necessary parts — primarily computer chips — limited production of new vehicles around the globe. That left car dealers short of

By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business Netflix is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. Typically, Wall Street’s eyes would be set squarely on the streamer’s subscriber growth. But this time, there’s something new for investors and industry observers to look at: Netflix’s sales projections after it raised its prices. The company boosted subscriber fees Friday,

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business Amazon has a new venture outside of e-commerce, cloud computing, content streaming, smart devices, Whole Foods, cashier-less technology or anything else you’ve come to associate with one of the most successful companies in American history. It’s a physical clothing store. Like, you know, a real brick-and-mortar space where you go

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business M&M’s branding is getting a refresh. The candy’s anthropomorphized chocolate characters are being made over, and the logo is also getting a tweak. But the most noticeable change is to the six M&M characters: new shoes. Green has swapped her go-go boots for sneakers. Brown is sporting lower, more sensible

By Brian Stelter, CNN Business A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. With China set to host the 2022 Winter Games in two weeks’ time, Olympic broadcaster NBCUniversal says it will acknowledge the “geopolitical context” of the games, but the athletes will

By Laura He, CNN Business China keeps slashing lending rates as authorities ramp up their efforts to stave off a sharp economic slowdown. The People’s Bank of China on Thursday cut its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points to 3.7%, the second cut to the rate in a month. December’s cut was the

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business Starbucks is no longer requiring employees to get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, following the US Supreme Court’s rejection last week of President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing requirement for large businesses. In a letter published on January 4, the coffee company recommended that its workers get vaccinated by

by Amanda Watts, CNN The biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences announced Wednesday a massive web of seizures across several states of “counterfeit and tampered Gilead HIV medication within the U.S. supply chain.” In a statement on its website, Gilead said “in coordination with the US Marshals and local law enforcement, Gilead has executed seizures at 17

Opinion by Chuck Collins for CNN Business Perspectives The pandemic has shone a spotlight on how inequality kills. As inequalities in income, wealth and access to health care have accelerated, the world’s most economically precarious people have suffered far more than their fair share of death and economic loss. As a new Oxfam report points

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Business It’s going to cost you more to wash your clothes. Procter & Gamble said Wednesday that it was raising prices by an average of about 8% on retail customers next month for its Tide and Gain laundry detergents, Downy fabric softener and Bounce dryer sheets. If retailers decide to pass

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business Microsoft’s massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard is notable for several reasons, not the least of which is that it’s spending nearly $70 billion -— in cash — to make the deal. That means Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is essentially going to write a check for Activision Blizzard. Many

By Charles Riley and Joseph Ataman, CNN Business Major international airlines are canceling flights to the United States over aviation industry fears that 5G technology could interfere with crucial onboard instruments. But it’s business as usual in Europe, where the latest generation of high speed mobile networks is being rolled out without a hitch. “The

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN Business With the trucking industry facing a shortage of qualified drivers, the US government is setting up an apprenticeship program for young truckers. The new program will allow people as young as 18 to drive big interstate semi trucks. The new program is coming on-line as the industry complains of driver