If your tax return hits a snag this year, getting help from the IRS could take longer — and more complex refunds could be slow to arrive too.
Why it matters: A Treasury watchdog report warns the Internal Revenue Service entered the 2026 filing season short-staffed and overwhelmed, increasing the risk of delays and service problems for millions of taxpayers.
Bitcoin plummeted below $64,000 on Thursday, down over 13% on the day as a weeklong selloff accelerated.
Why it matters: The plunge is testing both Wall Street's newfound confidence in crypto and the resolve of new retail investors who bought in near the top.
Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory won 20% raises and lower health care costs in their first UAW contract after nearly two years of bargaining.
Why it matters: The agreement is being billed as a historic breakthrough in the UAW's decades-long effort to unionize foreign-owned auto plants in the South.
Coca-Cola is discontinuing Minute Maid's frozen juice concentrates in the U.S. and Canada, ending an 80-year run that turned a freezer-aisle cylinder into an American breakfast ritual.
Why it matters: It's not just the end of a mid-century grocery icon — the move could hit lower-income households hardest, as frozen concentrate has long been one of the most affordable ways to buy juice.
As tech stocks are getting hammered, Wall Street is bidding up real-world, real-goods companies, so-called consumer staples that are likely to stick around even as AI disrupts other industries.
Why it matters: When investors don't understand tech bubbles, they buy soap bubbles instead.
The Trump administration on Thursday announced a new rule to make it easier to fire senior-level civil servants.
Why it matters: An estimated 50,000 workers would fall into the new category, effectively placing them on an at-will footing similar to private-sector employees, who can be dismissed for nearly any reason.
The labor marketthat appeared to be entering a more stable phase is now showing hard-to-ignore cracks, with job openings collapsing and early signs of a pickup in layoffs.
Why it matters: It raises the risk that policymakers misjudge whether the labor market is stabilizing or sliding deeper into a slump at a pivotal moment.
President Trump's multi-front push to shore up critical minerals could pay long-term dividends for low-carbon U.S. industries — though it's hardly the intent.
Why it matters: Cleantech industries — like batteries, renewables manufacturing, advanced grid systems and others — need secure access to raw and processed materials.
Dramatic cuts to the Washington Post are being met with outrage as employees and the broader journalism community try to understand how such a storied institution could unravel so quickly.
Why it matters: Continued success at rival papers, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, suggests the Post's challenges are self-inflicted.
A trio of AI titans is barreling toward watershed IPOs this year, posing the ultimate test of whether their lofty ambitions, breakneck spending and founder feuds can survive life under public scrutiny.
Why it matters: Between OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI, trillions of dollars in potential value — and enormous influence over the world's most powerful technology — are coming up for judgment in 2026.
President Trump discussed AI, immigration, the Fed, and more as he sat down with NBC News' Tom Llamas on Wednesday.
The big picture: NBC released an extended version of his "NBC Nightly News" interview on Wednesday night, ahead of more excerpts airing during the network's Super Bowl LX pre-game show Sunday.
