>>Biden Announces Upfront Ticket Pricing
(Washington, DC) -- Several companies are vowing to end surprise junk fees following pressure from the Biden administration. President Biden announced Thursday Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation and SeatGeek agreed to commit to show all fees up front for ticket purchases starting in September. The move is the latest in the administration's push to nix "junk fees," which are costs tacked on at the end of purchases, often for concert tickets, travel and rentals. The president said he believes the fees are "just wrong."
>>Vanguard: Average 401(k) Balance Down 30-Thousand Dollars Since 2021
(Valley Forge, PA) -- The average balance in 401k plans is down almost 30-thousand-dollars since 2021. A new report from Vanguard shows the 20-percent drop sitting under 113-thousand-dollars in 2022, with one in three account holders having a balance of less than 10-thousand. It said the drop could be due to "market performance and an evolving participant base." The median account balance only dropped by eight-percent for those who had an account in both December 2021 and December 2022.
>>Weekly Jobless Claims Unchanged At 262,000
(Washington, DC) -- Weekly jobless claims are unchanged, with the Labor Department reporting it received 262-thousand first time requests last week. That's exactly where they stood the week before that after being revised up by a thousand. Most analysts were expecting today's number to come in at right around 249-thousand.
>>Virgin Galactic Sets 1st Commercial Space Tourism Flight This Month
(Undated) -- Virgin Galactic plans to launch its first commercial space tourism flight late this month. Billionaire Richard Branson's company said on Thursday the flight is targeting a launch window that opens June 27th and runs through June 30th. A second commercial flight is planned for early August followed by flights every month after that. About 800 passengers have put down deposits for flights on Virgin Galactic. >>Mercedes-Benz Is Adding ChatGPT (Stuttgart) -- Mercedes-Benz is adding ChatGPT to its vehicles. ChatGPT will be able to answer the driver's complex questions and have natural conversations. The feature will be available to 900-thousand customers who have the Mercedes-Benz infotainment system. The beta program is scheduled to start on June 16th and will run for three months.
>>Bill Gates In China, To Meet With Xi Jinping
(Beijing) -- Bill Gates is in China, where he's scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping. The Microsoft co-founder's Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Thursday that it will donate 50-million dollars over the next five years into the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute. Gates met with the mayor of Beijing on Thursday and afterward the Chinese capital's municipal government announced it will match that investment.
