Business

 Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale breaks down housing affordability on 'Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street.' The number of homes for sale on the market rose for the second straight month in December as a severe housing shortage finally begins to ease. A new report from Realtor.com shows that the total number of homes for sale, including homes that were under contract but not yet sold, rose by 4.9% in December compared with the same time a year ago.It marked the second month since June 2023 that would-be homebuyers were able to see a larger number of unsold homes than compared with the same time last year. "Across the U.S. we’re seeing improvements in inventory levels, especially in the South," said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com chief economist.  MORTGAGE CALCULATOR: SEE HOW MUCH H...

Cyber Monday buy now, pay later (BNPL) app usage hit $9.4 million this year, up 42.5%. (iStock) Consumers have moderated their spending in recent years as inflation takes hold, and the economy slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. While they’ve cut back on certain non-essentials, it is also clear that Americans are turning to alternative payment methods like buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps to make ends meet. The end of last year saw the largest use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) apps on record, according to an Adobe Analytics report. Cyber Monday alone saw $940 million in purchases using BNPL apps. That’s up 42.5% year-over-year.Consumers are also using BNPL options to pay for larger orders. The number of items in the average shopper’s cart rose by 11%, according to Adobe. Co...

The Ramsey Show co-host George Kamel reacts to Guy Fieris stance on leaving his fortune to his kids and how to avoid overspending and credit card debt. American households racked up a record $17.29 trillion in debt last year, driven by mortgage, credit card and student loan balances, according to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Now, fresh data indicates an alarmingly high percentage of consumers began falling behind on their payments at the same time. A new study released by LendingTree found 29.6% of residents in the nation's 100 largest metros were behind on at least one debt payment during the third quarter of 2023, and 27.3% had serious delinquencies that were over 90 days past due or more. More than a quarter, 26.2%, had debt in collections. A...

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti details his lawsuit against Blackrock on ‘Varney & Co.’ BlackRock, the world's largest money management firm, plans to announce layoffs in the coming days of about 3 percent of its global workforce, Fox Business has learned. The job cuts of around 600 employees, which have yet to be reported, are being described internally as routine, according to a source familiar. Last year, BlackRock did a similar round of layoffs gauged on employee performance metrics, the source added.Shares of BlackRock rebounded in 2023, up 6 percent after falling 21 percent in 2022. New customer money into BlackRock's solid Exchange Traded Fund business exploded last year with $187 billion of inflows into the products that follow a basket of securities and tr...

Circle Squared Alternative Investments founder Jeff Sica reveals Hollywood’s biggest winner and loser in 2023 on ‘Varney & Co.’ 2023 marked Disney’s 100th anniversary of making movie magic. It also marked a disastrous year at the box office.  Out of eight major theatrical releases from Disney this year, seven of them significantly underperformed with audiences not just in the U.S. but overseas as well.  A look back at the rough year for the House of Mouse: Superhero slump Superhero fatigue was evident this year as Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels” struggled at the box office. (Disney / Fox News) One of the most popular film franchises in the 21st century has been the Marvel Cinematic U...

Experts have slammed the Bank of England for being “out of touch” as the revised GDP figures show that the UK economy is in serious danger of heading into a recession. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a revised 0.1 percent against the zero growth initially estimated, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It also flatlined during the second quarter of the year, after prior estimates showed 0.2 percent growth, painting a bleaker picture for the economy. There have been concerns over the UK’s weak economic growth for some time, but the country has managed to avoid a recession so far. However, Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics, said that the revised figures “may mean that the mildest of mild recessions started” in the third quart...

Ken Rusk, ‘Blue Collar Cash’ author and former construction worker, discusses survey data indicating employers value blue collar workers’ experience and skills more than a college education. The phenomenon of “shift shock,” a viral career trend, is when a new hire realizes that the job he or she just accepted or the business the person has chosen to join is different than expected or what was portrayed during the interview and hiring process.  The attitude is trending, as revealed in a recent study by The Muse, an online career platform, of more than 2,500 Gen Z and millennial job seekers.  Almost three quarters of those surveyed (72%) stated they experienced a form of shift shock, based on either regret or surprise regarding their new job or emp...

Auto expert Mike Caudill argues Elon Musks design of the Tesla Cybertruck will push potential buyers away on Cavuto: Coast to Coast. Electric vehicle maker Tesla is planning to give hourly workers at its Nevada Gigafactory a roughly 10% raise in January, according to a report from CNBC. According to internal documents reviewed by the outlet, Tesla will raise the pay for hourly workers from $20 to $22 an hour on the low end of the pay scale and up to $34.50 an hour from $30.65 on the high end.  The CNBC report added that the raise can add anywhere from $2 to $8.30 an hour to the hourly workers’ pay, while Tesla is also streamlining its employment levels so that workers currently making between $26.20 and $30.65 an hour will be paid $34.50 an hour after the raise takes effect. ...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discusses the Department of Transportation fining Southwest for its Christmas meltdown and the administration’s electric vehicle goals. Once you go electric, there’s no going back, says Biden’s transportation secretary. “You’re not going to meet a lot of people who ever go back after they’ve gone electric, and I think that really tells you something,” Pete Buttigieg said. During his appearance on “Varney & Co.” Monday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touted the Biden administration’s electric vehicle (EV) push and the positive impact it will have on Americans.  “I don’t know a lot of people who think that Americans in 2050 are still going to be driving that old technology...

Rep. Ro Khanna, R-Calif., discusses the Los Angeles school strike, fallout from Silicon Valley Bank and his proposal to make social security solvent. FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers want to know why the Social Security Administration has reportedly erroneously overpaid benefits to millions of Americans and then hit beneficiaries with demands for repayment to the tune of thousands of dollars.  A bipartisan letter sent by House members in the Ohio delegation presses Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), for answers on its efforts to claw back overpayments from Americans, many of whom did nothing wrong. Those affected are elderly or disabled people on a fixed income who may have their benefits frozen or cut until their debt is paid off...