For: June 26, 2025
>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after stocks closed mixed Wednesday. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 106 points to 42-982. The S&P 500 fell by less than a point to 60-92. The Nasdaq gained 61 points to 19-973.
>>Powell Defends Decision To Avoid Cutting Interest Rates
(Washington, DC) -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is defending the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. The chairman was questioned from Senate Republicans during an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday as he's faced a barrage of insults from President Trump. It comes after the Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously last week to hold rates steady. Powell says while he and his Fed colleagues are keeping an open mind about the potential impact of Trump's tariffs, they felt it was unwise to cut rates before seeing the effects of the tariffs first-hand.
>>New Home Sales Plummet
(Washington, DC) -- The market for new homes is starting to spiral. The Census Bureau confirms sales of new single-family houses last month came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 623-thousand. That's nearly 14-percent below the April figure and a seven-month low. New home data is watched as an indicator of the broader economy.
>>Three Mile Island Coming Back Online
(Harrisburg, PA) -- The site of the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history will be roaring back to life soon. The last working nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania will soon start generating power for Microsoft under a 20-year agreement. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro toured the reactor on Wednesday, saying the move will create jobs in the state by bolstering energy production. In 1979, a partial meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor core caused national panic. Three Mile Island has been renamed the Crane power plant.
>>Judge Rejects Argument Meta AI Violated Copyright
(Undated) -- A federal judge is rejecting claims that Meta violated copyright when training its artificial intelligence model. On Wednesday the judge ruled against 13 authors who claimed Meta violated their copyrights when it allowed its Llama language model to be trained using their books. The judge concluded the company's use of the books falls under "fair use." Despite this, he appeared open to arguments that if the AI model used original works to create knockoff versions, that likely wouldn't fall under fair use. The ruling comes as dozens of lawsuits have been filed against AI companies on behalf of copyright holders concerned about AI models using their works.
>>Layoffs At Bumble
(Austin, TX) -- Dating app Bumble is laying off 30 percent of its workers. In its announcement on Wednesday, the company said it's part of a realignment that will save 40-million-dollars a year, money that will be reinvested into product development. The layoff will affect about 240 people.
>>Krispy Kreme, McDonald's End Partnership
(Chicago, IL) -- Krispy Kreme and McDonald's are ending their partnership. McDonald's locations will stop offering Krispy Kreme donuts on July 2nd. The decision comes after the two companies paused their partnership in May. The deal was first announced in late 2023 with the aim of making Krispy Kreme donuts available at McDonald's locations nationwide by 2026. Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth said the partnership became unsustainable due to costs.
>>"F1" Expected To Place First At The Weekend Box Office
(Los Angeles, CA) -- The racing drama "F1" is expected to be atop the podium at this weekend's box office. The film starring Brad Pitt and Damon Idris is projected to make between 35 to 60-million-dollars in its first week in theaters.
>>Jeff Bezos And Lauren Sanchez To Marry In Venice
(Venice) -- Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are getting married this week. The Amazon billionaire and his fiancée were seen arriving Wednesday in Venice, Italy, where the lavish wedding will be held. Dozens of private jets are expected to land at the local airports as celebrity guests start to arrive, including Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Ivanka Trump. The 45-million-dollar wedding will include three days of parties, ending Saturday night.
