Federal Reserve officials grew more concerned at their most recent meeting about inflation, with members indicating that they lacked the confidence to move forward on interest rate reductions. Minutes from the April 30-May 1 policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee released Wednesday indicated apprehension from policymakers about when it would be time to ease. […]Read More

Amazon is upgrading its decade-old Alexa voice assistant with generative artificial intelligence and plans to charge a monthly subscription fee to offset the cost of the technology, according to people with knowledge of Amazon’s plans.  The Seattle-based tech and retail giant will launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year, potentially positioning it to better compete […]Read More

Sales of previously owned homes fell 1.9% in April from March to 4.1 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. The forecast had been for a slight gain. Sales were also down from April 2023, off 1.9% from last year. These sales are based on closings, so […]Read More

Target said Wednesday that its customers reduced spending on groceries and home goods as concern about high prices persisted last quarter. The retailer said in its latest earnings report that overall customer traffic fell 1.9%, while the average amount that customers spent on those visits also dropped 1.9%. The company’s stock declined Wednesday morning as […]Read More

A dispute between a fintech startup and its banking partners has ensnared potentially millions of Americans, leaving them without access to their money for nearly two weeks, according to recent court documents. Since last year, Synapse — an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup that serves as a middle-man between customer-facing fintech brands and FDIC-backed banks — has had disagreements with several […]Read More