U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in July as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and clothing, suggesting the economy remained strong early in the third quarter. READ MORE
Meredith Corporation hopes to sell Sports Illustrated by end of year
Sports Illustrated's owner said Friday that it is hoping to complete its sale of the magazine by the end of December.
The announcement comes as former University of Louisville and NBA basketball star Junior Bridgeman explores an acquisition of Sports Illustrated, which was recently acquired along with other Time Inc. properties by Iowa-based Meredith Corp. READ MORE
Genetics taking corn to new heights
On a mid-July morning, Matt Splitter walked deep into his dryland corn crop on the central Kansas plains and plucked an ear from the stalk.
It’s not a perfect cob. Not all the yellow kernels develop, Splitter said, pointing to the ear tip back. He kicked at the ground between the rows. READ MORE
Employers are finding new ways to cut health care costs
A growing number of companies are contracting directly with hospitals and providers to take care of their employees, according to an annual survey released Tuesday by the National Business Group on Health, an industry organization focused on large companies. Some 11% said they will do this in 2019, up from 3% this year. READ MORE
Top 25 Hotspots for Data Science Jobs
The top 25 cities for data science jobs show how widespread the demand for data skills has become, branching out from major tech hubs into cities around the country. READ MORE
Wells Fargo says hundreds of customers lost homes after computer glitch
Hundreds of people had their homes foreclosed on after software used by Wells Fargo incorrectly denied them mortgage modifications. READ MORE
Amazon is primed for rapid growth
The company accounts for nearly half of all online retail sales in the United States. It continues expanding its brick-and-mortar retail footprint through Whole Foods, Amazon bookstores and new checkout-free convenience locations. And every new venture, from advertising to cloud computing to, perhaps soon, healthcare, almost invariably becomes a billion-dollar business. READ MORE
GDP report shows booming 4.1 percent growth
The U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018, marking the fastest economic expansion in nearly four years, according to a highly anticipated estimate released Friday by the Commerce Department. READ MORE
Facebook shareholders try to fire Mark Zuckerberg
Trump announces trade concessions from EU officials on soybeans, energy, tariffs
President Trump announced Wednesday that he has secured major trade concessions from European Union officials as part of an effort to head off a trade war between the U.S. and the E.U. READ MORE
How the US economy is doing
Economists are projecting the gross domestic product will have grown between 4.1% and a whopping 4.9% when the second quarter estimate is released, up from 2% in the first quarter. READ MORE
Hiring Hot Spots in the Silicon Prairie from Des Moines to the Twin Cities
Iowa: Des Moines to Ames
A combination of tax breaks, cheap green energy, and vast expanses of open land has attracted the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Facebook to plant data centers in and around the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa’s capital and largest city. In fact, Des Moines ranked 8 among the top 12 cities for tech hiring in 2018, according to a Robert Half Technology report. Apple is the most recent tech giant to enter the region, with plans to build a $1.3 billion data center in Waukee already underway. The presence of these tech giants have kick-started a whole ecosystem of smaller, homegrown data center companies such as LightEdge Solutions and Involta. Iowa University in Ames serves as a steady pipeline of top tech talent. READ MORE
Trump says US economic growth nears 5%; time to celebrate?
White House economic advisers are spreading the word that second-quarter GDP, out Friday, may surpass 4% - the first time growth has hit or exceeded that number since the third quarter of 2014, FOX Business has learned. READ MORE
Vermeer Corporation “Takes a Direct Hit” From Tornado
At approximately 4 p.m. today, Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa was in the direct path of a tornado. The company suffered significant damage to several plants and the waste management facility on the campus is a complete loss.
During the tornado, more than 400 dealers and customers were onsite to celebrate the company's 70th anniversary. Vermeer CEO Jason Andringa says that as the storm approached employees, dealers and customers were guided to several tornado shelters on the campus. Still, seven people were taken to Pella Regional hospital for minor injuries, according to local emergency officials. READ MORE
Surprisingly, Wells Fargo Has Been Good To Investors This Month
Wells Fargo (WFC) is still in the middle of its long-journey amid government-supervised restructuring and has seen little interesting activity as of late. However for investors, as the financial services sector (XLF) this past month has seen a significant downturn, Wells Fargo surprisingly has been at the topic of the pack in terms of return. READ MORE
Wells Fargo's $33 Billion Capital Return Plan Is A New Record For U.S. Banks
Wells Fargo is looking to return almost $33 billion in cash to shareholders over the next twelve months – a record for any U.S. bank, and slightly better than the $31.5 billion capital return plan posted by its larger peer JPMorgan after the Fed released results for the annual stress test for banks late last week. Wells Fargo will hike its quarterly dividends from the current level of 39 cents a share to 43 cents a share, which works out to total dividends of ~$8.3 billion assuming average outstanding shares of 4.85 billion. Taken together with the new $22 billion share buyback program, this equals the record $32.8 billion payout. Notably, this represents a 73% jump compared to the bank’s plan to return $19 billion last year. READ MORE
Crying migrant girl on TIME magazine cover was not separated from mother, family says
A little girl shown in a viral photo crying as a U.S. Border Patrol agent detained her mother – and used by TIME magazine to symbolize the Trump administration's family separation policy – reportedly was never separated from her mom. READ MORE
Here’s What Meredith Is Doing With Some of the Time Inc. Titles It Inherited
Months after Meredith completed its acquisition of Time Inc., the company is narrowing down finalists among dozens of bids submitted for four of the brands it looks to sell. The company then plans to invest in other titles more closely aligned with its portfolio of lifestyle, celebrity and entertainment brands. READ MORE
Wells Fargo is retreating from the Midwest.
he bank, scrambling to cut costs and dealing with a wave of scandals, announced plans Tuesday to sell all of its branches in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Wells Fargo, the second-largest bank in the country, will no longer have a retail presence in those states. READ MORE
Retirement readiness a worldwide issue, Aegon survey finds
Most online quizzes are relatively mindless, promising to reveal what vegetable, sandwich or rock band best represents your personality. That was not the case for a short online test given to more than 14,000 people in 15 countries this year. It revealed just how unprepared a good chunk of the world is for retirement. READ MORE