Elon Musk reaches deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion
Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the platform where he promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers.
Ships are sitting offshore containing items that we desperately need -- what can be done?
If you’re in the Jacksonville, Florida area, you’ve likely seen the logjam of container ships sitting idly offshore. The vessels are packed with items destined for store shelves -- and they’re things business owners and consumers desperately need delivered.
Iowa, Texas Republicans hail benefits from Biden infrastructure bill they opposed
“Since the bill was signed into law, this money was going to be spent regardless. If there’s federal money on the table she is, of course, going to do everything she can to make sure it is reinvested in Iowa,” Seid said in a statement. “That’s why she worked with a bipartisan group of her colleagues in asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize NESP construction along the Upper Mississippi River.”
washingtonpost.comSeminole County commissioners to approve nearly $3 million to help homeless shelter
Seminole County homelessness Commissioners are set to vote on spending nearly $3 million of American Rescue Plan money to help the homeless. (wftv.com)SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Commissioners are set to vote on spending nearly $3 million of American Rescue Plan money to help the homeless. County officials said the number of people who are out on the streets was made worse by the pandemic. The only emergency homeless shelter in Seminole County has about 115 beds for men, women and children in Seminole County. Commissioners are expected to approve that $2.8 million for the shelter next Tuesday at their meeting.
wftv.comVote? Not yet. Invest? Yes. Fidelity launches teen accounts
Teenage Investing Fidelity FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2019 file photo a Fidelity Investments logo is attached to a building, in Boston. Fidelity is launching a new type of account for teenagers to save, spend and invest their money. The teens can make their own trades through a simplified experience on Fidelity's mobile app, with zero account fees or minimum balances, though the youth account requires a parent or guardian to have their own Fidelity account as well. Fidelity began a pilot of the youth account program in the middle of 2020. "This is positioned as a way for parents to have good conversations with their children," Dintenfass said of the new youth account.
wftv.comFTC shuts down savings app Beam under tentative settlement
Beam aimed to let users earn higher interest rates on their money by engaging with its mobile savings app. Beam — the mobile savings app that imploded last year after a CNBC investigation revealed dozens of customers were unable to get their money out — has been shut down for good under a tentative settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. As part of the settlement, Beam is banned from operating a mobile banking app or any other product or service that can be used to deposit, store, or withdraw funds. Under the settlement, neither Beam nor Du admit wrongdoing. Beam, which launched in 2019, billed itself as "the first mobile high-interest savings account for the 99%."
cnbc.comThe new $1,400 stimulus checks would cost over $400 billion. Here's how Congress plans to get the funds
President Joe Biden's Covid relief plan is making its way through Congress. The $1.9 trillion bill includes money for a myriad of programs, including enhanced unemployment benefits, vaccination efforts and $1,400 stimulus checks. Funding new relief spending involves an interesting way of borrowing and figuratively printing money, according to Sahil Bloom, a financial educator and vice president at Altamont Capital Partners. Bloom said the government can create money without actually printing physical currency. Check out this video to see who actually "clicks the button" and to learn how the process can backfire.
cnbc.comChicago spent $367 million on overtime in 2020, double what Mayor Lori Lightfoot budgeted
“I don’t think they got their money’s worth. I think most of our statistics, particularly those related to crime show that doling out overtime like drunken sailors didn’t make our city safer. As we’ve seen twofold increases in carjackings, violent crime ... significantly higher than the year previous and in some cases the highest it’s been in five years, all that extra money was spent with nothing to show for it,” Lopez said.
chicagotribune.comThe best free resources to help you learn how to manage your money
There are so many ways to earn, manage and invest your money that it really takes some preparation to get it right. Here is a list of some great free resources to learn more about managing your money. Government ResourcesSeveral government agencies offer free learning resources for new investors. Here are some of my favorite resources:The IRS' Interactive Tax Assistant program offers a plethora of answers to common tax issues and questions. The Social Security Administration also offers excellent resources for mapping out any benefits for which you might qualify - how much you can anticipate to receive in Social Security or SSDI benefits; Medicare; and more.
cnbc.comRetired motorcycle cop gives $5,000 to unemployed preschool teacher after News 6 report
Just hours after the single moms story was broadcast on News 6 at 7 p.m., retired officer Larry Saxon contacted News 6 to offer DaCosta help. [PREVIOUS: Florida preschool teacher caught in unemployment red tape]I did 25 years in law enforcement, 22 of them with the city of Coral Springs," Saxon said. Ive driven up and around that school in Coral Springs.Christ Church Coral Springs furloughed teachers as students stopped attending because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine weeks after being furloughed on March 23, the single mother of two girls -- ages 11 and 13 -- has not received an unemployment check. News 6 found that while working at the nonprofit school, administrators never paid the payroll deduction for unemployment.
US economy shrank at 5% annual rate in Q1
It was the biggest quarterly decline since an 8.4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis. The downward revision to first quarter GDP reflected weaker investment by businesses in their inventories which was partially offset by slightly stronger consumer spending. Economists believe the lockdowns that shut wide swaths of the economy and triggered the layoffs of millions of workers will send the GDP sinking at an annual rate of 40% in the current quarter. That would be the biggest quarterly decline on records that go back to 1947. Many forecasters believe growth will rebound sharply in the July-September quarter with the Congressional Budget Office predicting GDP will rise at an annual rate of 21.5%.
Many more likely sought US jobless aid even as layoffs slow
WASHINGTON The U.S. government is set to sketch its latest picture Thursday of the layoffs that have left tens of millions of people unemployed but have slowed as states increasingly allow businesses to reopen. Even with companies calling some laid-off employees back to work, millions more likely filed for unemployment benefits last week after nearly 39 million sought aid in the previous nine weeks as the coronavirus paralyzed the economy. The pace of layoffs has declined for seven straight weeks, a sign that the cratering of the job market may have bottomed out. The job cuts reflect an economy that was seized by the worst downturn since the Great Depression after the virus forced the widespread shutdown of businesses. The economy is thought to be shrinking in the April-June quarter at an annual rate approaching 40%.