>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning on Wall Street after a higher close marked the start of what will be an abbreviated trading week. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record high, gaining 440 points to end at 44-736. The S&P 500 added 18 points to 59-87. The Nasdaq rose 51 points to 19-054.
>>Trump Announces Blanket Tariffs For Canada, Mexico, China
(Washington, DC) -- President-elect Trump is vowing to impose new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on his first day in office. Trump took to Truth Social Monday to say he would execute tariffs of 25 -percent on all Canadian and Mexican goods, with another ten-percent tariff to all Chinese goods. Many Chinese goods already fall under tariffs imposted during Trump's first term. Trump said that the tariffs are meant to boost border security and crack down on fentanyl being brought into the U.S.
>>Airport Service Workers Go On Strike In Charlotte Ahead Of Thanksgiving Travel
(Charlotte, NC) -- Service workers at Charlotte's airport in North Carolina have gone on strike just as the busy holiday travel season kicks off. American Airlines contractors are striking over unfair labor practices and what they call poverty wages. This comes as the TSA is predicting record Thanksgiving travel. Those on strike include ramp workers, cabin cleaners, wheelchair attendants, lavatory workers and garbage truck drivers.
>>Walmart Pulling Out Of DEI Initiatives
(Bentonville, AR) -- Walmart is rolling back some of its diversity initiatives, pulling some LGBTQ-related merchandise and shutting down a non-profit that funds programs for minorities. The nation's largest retailer is one of several companies pulling the plug on similar programs and efforts in the face of conservative backlash. Walmart put out a statement Monday saying it's "willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America."
>>Macy's Employee Hid Up To $154M In Expenses
(New York, NY) -- Macy's says it's delaying the release of its third-quarter numbers after learning an employee intentionally hid up to 154-million-dollars in delivery expenses. The retailer was set to release its earnings report Tuesday morning. Wall Street uses those numbers to forecast the holiday shopping season. Instead, Macy's put out preliminary findings Monday that showed it missed analysts' expectations. An investigation by Macy's found that a single employee intentionally made erroneous accounting entries for almost three years to hide the millions in delivery expenses. Macy's says the employee is no longer with the company and the company's third-quarter earnings will be released December 11th.
>>Starbucks Forced To Manually Pay Employees
(Seattle, WA) -- Starbucks is having to manually pay its employees after a ransomware attack crippled the third-party software system the company uses. Blue Yonder, an Arizona-based cloud service, was hacked last week, disrupting some grocery stores and Fortune 500 companies. Starbucks in the meantime has issued guidance on how to work around the outage and make sure everyone gets paid. Blue Yonder says it's working around the clock to try and fix the problem.
>>Google Antitrust Trial Wraps Up
(Alexandria, VA) -- Closing arguments are over in Google's second antitrust trial in two years. The search giant and the Department of Justice wrapped things up Monday in federal court in Virginia, with government lawyers alleging Google has achieved a monopoly by buying up competitors and forcing publishers and advertisers to use its services. Google argues that things are more complicated and that the company faces tough competition from companies like Microsoft, Meta and Amazon. The judge will decide the case. Google already lost one trial in August when the court found the company held an illegal monopoly over online searches.
>>New Study Ranks Most And Least Friendly States For Small Businesses
(Undated) -- November 30th is Small Business Saturday and a new study ranks the most and least friendly states for small businesses. Bankrate ranked states on several categories, including the robustness of small business activity, availability and quality of labor, business costs, access to capital, infrastructure, and taxes and regulation. Washington is ranked number one as the most business-friendly state, followed by Utah and Wyoming. Louisiana is the least friendly state for small businesses, followed by Mississippi and Rhode Island.
