Profits are soaring at the nation's biggest banks, the result of a surging optimism in corporate America that's driving dealmaking and capital raising.
Why it matters: When business is humming at the nation's largest financial institutions, it generally reflects an economy that's in good shape.
Hyundai's new global CEO is touting the Korean carmaker's expanding U.S. footprint as the best insulation against potential tariffs under a second Trump administration.
Why it matters: Automakers are bracing for what could be a tumultuous four years under President-elect Trump, and many are trying to build goodwill by highlighting their contributions to the U.S. economy.
The big picture: The special payments are as high as $1,400 per individual and should arrive by late January in most cases, the IRS said in a news release.
Colossal Biosciences, the "de-extinction" company known for its work on the woolly mammoth and dodo, raised $200 million in Series C funding from Mark Walters' TWG Global at a $10.2 billion post-money valuation.
Why it matters: This gives the pre-revenue company more runway to sign contracts with governments that are seeking to protect or replenish their biodiversity, while also letting it expand its de-extinction efforts into more species.
Inflation showed cooling signs at the end of 2024: The Consumer Price Index ticked up by 0.4% in December, but a measure that excludes food and energy prices slowed for the first time in four months, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Core inflation resumed a cooling trend, offering some optimism for policymakers ahead of an uncertain year.
The world's CEOs are much more worried about global trade wars now that Donald Trump has been elected president than they were a year ago, according to a new survey from the Conference Board.
Why it matters: While no one knows exactly what tariffs the upcoming Trump administration is going to impose on which countries, the one certainty is that substantially all such tariffs will be met with retaliatory counter-tariffs. Or more simply: a trade war.
Meta's push to diversify its workforce actually seems to have worked, as its own statistics show. Now that the company is pulling back on DEI, there will likely be backsliding.
Why it matters: The most obvious, and perhaps least-mentioned, part of the corporate retreat on diversity, equity and inclusion is that it could reduce, well, diversity, equity and inclusion inside these companies.
OpenAI will underwrite the expansion of Axios to four cities of its choice as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal, the firms said Wednesday.
Why it matters: It's the first time OpenAI is funding newsrooms as a part of a publisher deal, although the idea isn't novel.
Prospect Medical Holdings' road to bankruptcy has eerie similarities to that of Steward Health, another multistate hospital chain formerly owned by private equity.
Why it matters: The parallels — down to the way both chains sold the real estate under their hospitals to the same company and leased it back — raise questions about whether the bankruptcies were the result of bad management or what critics allege is private equity's rush to enrich itself at patients' expense.
President-elect Trump is being inundated with so much money from corporations and wealthy donors that his team expects to raise about $500 million by summer — even though he can't run again, sources in his operation tell Axios.
Why it matters: By stockpiling so much cash, Trump is signaling he doesn't want to be seen as a lame duck in his second term, and is ready to help political allies, punish opponents and help Republicans keep full control of Congress in 2026.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk on Tuesday, alleging he failed to properly disclose his purchase of Twitter shares before eventually buying the company.
Why it matters: The suit comes just days before President-elect Trump's inauguration as president, amid uncertainty over what legal scrutiny "first buddy" Musk might face in the new administration.
