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Taxes already?! Five things you can do now to get ready for 2014 filing.Taxes aren't due for another six months, but you don't have to wait until the last minute to get the ball rolling.聽Here are five things to consider doing now to make tax season easier.聽
Stocks plunge, but don't say 'crash' just yetStocks took a hammering Wednesday, wiping out most of the gains made in 2014 and briefly touching eight-month lows. But don't let the current swoon in stocks 聽scare you into making rash investment decisions.聽
Mortgage rates dip to a 16-month lowMortgage rates for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell to 4.08 percent since last week, the lowest in nearly a year and a half. In addition to falling mortgage rates, the聽the purchase application volume聽decreased 1 percent and the refinance application volume increased 11 percent over the same period.
Toyota recalls 1.75 million vehicles to repair faulty brakes and fuel systemsToyota is issuing three large recalls that affect 1.75 million car聽owners worldwide. The Toyota聽recalls are meant to fix problems related to brakes and fuel systems on cars built between 2007 and 2014.
Retail sales stumble in September. A bad sign for the holidays?Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in September,聽stoking worries about the strength of the economy in the early run-up to the ever-important holiday shopping season. The disappointing retail sales report once again raised questions about American consumers' spending power in the face of stagnant wage growth.聽
HBO offers stand-alone streaming service. The end of cable?HBO聽plans to offer a stand-alone version of its popular video-streaming service in 2015, avaialble for the first time to viewers without cable subscriptions. The HBO announcement comes as聽Americans increasingly prefer to stream movies and TV shows digitally on an a la carte basis.
Whole Foods to start ranking its produce. Squash beats spinach?Whole聽Foods聽plans to start rolling out a system that ranks fruits and vegetables as 'good,' 'better' or 'best' based on the supplier's farming practices. The Whole Foods rankings will prohibit the use of several common pesticides and take into account factors such as water and energy use.
BMW cars: M2 will debut at 2015 Detroit Auto ShowBMW cars' highly-anticipated model, the M2 will debut at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January. There is much debate over where the M2 will fit into the lineup of BMW cars.
Oil prices plunge. Why they will go even lower.Oil prices plunged more than $3 a barrel yesterday, and many analysts think oil prices may have farther to fall. The impact of super-low oil prices on the economy, however, remains unclear.聽
Silicon Valley's latest job perk: Up to $20,000 in infertility coverageFacebook and Apple, long known for cushy perks such as free meals, laundry service and massages, are now eyeing reproductive expenses as the next batch of benefits.
Thanksgiving will top Black Friday for the best deals this yearThe best Black Friday deals of 2014 won't be on Black Friday. As more stores move their openings further into Thanksgiving, they're moving their best bargains there, too.聽
Mitt Romney's retirement in jeopardy? IRS looks to regulate 'supersize' IRAs.The IRS is taking a hard look at 'supersize' IRAs, or Mitt Romney-esque retirement accounts valued in the multimillions. According to regulators, the holders of these IRAs probably聽didn鈥檛 end up with huge accounts merely by making maximum contributions each year and investing wisely.
Macy's starts the Thanksgiving wars with a 6 p.m. openingMacy's on Tuesday announced that it will open the doors to its full-line department stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year.聽Although Macy's is the first to announce its Thanksgiving plans, it won't be the last 鈥� Wal-Mart, Target,聽and others also opened their doors on the holiday last year.
Google Express takes on Amazon in the 'on-demand' delivery battleGoogle expanded its on-demand delivery service, Google Express, to more cities Tuesday, offering deliveries from merchants like Barnes & Noble, Costco, and more for a $95 annual fee. Google Express will compete with Amazon and other e-retailers to聽to聽have online goods available at the ready.
Chrysler recalls 184,000 Dodge, Jeep SUVs with faulty safety systemsChrysler has issued a recall for 2014 models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango due to an聽electrical glitch that may wreak havoc on those vehicles' safety systems, potentially disabling airbags聽and safety belts. Over 184,000 Jeep and Dodge vehicles are affected by the Chrysler recall.聽
How the government spends more per student at elite private universities than publicPrivate university endowments are now around $550 billion,聽centered in a handful of prestigious institutions. Public universities, by contrast, have little or no endowment income. They get almost all their funding from state governments, and those subsidies have been shrinking.
JPMorgan Chase returns to profit as bank earnings lift stocksJPMorgan聽Chase, the largest US banks by assets, on Tuesday reported a third-quarter profit after booking a loss in the same period a year ago.聽Speaking on a conference call , CEO Jamie Dimon also addressed the massive data breach that affected JPMorgan Chase customers last week.聽
JPMorgan, Wells Fargo report earnings. Can banks stop Wall Street's free fall?Corporate earnings on Tuesday from major banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase聽and Wells Fargo聽couldn't come soon enough for a stock market that lately has fixated on breached technical levels, signs of a softening global economy and Ebola.
Fiat Chrysler Automobile's NYSE debut is an important stepFiat Chrysler Automobiles started trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, marking an important step in CEO Sergio Marchionne鈥檚 efforts to turn the company into one of the world's leading automakers. Fiat Chrysler shares fell 聽slightly in their first day of trading.聽
Black Friday 2014 toy guide: Where to find deals on 'Frozen' toys, video gaming, and moreBlack Friday 2014 will be among the strongest weeks of the year for toy deals. 'Frozen' toys that don't sell out will be steals, and video gamers will have a lot to cheer about during Black Friday.聽
