Zeigler Auto buys 2 Subaru dealerships in Indiana
Zeigler Auto Group, which bought three franchised dealerships in Michigan last month, expanded its Indiana presence with its latest acquisition.
As gas prices surge, here are the best gas rewards credit cards
Gas prices have been on a shocking upswing, rising 48% over the past year and 21% over the past month, according to AAA. The national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.27 as of March 18, down slightly from the record-high $4.33 set on March 11. In California, it was an obscene $5.80 (an all-time record).
The latest catalyst was Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, but gas prices were already high for other reasons, including supply chain imbalances and strong demand as COVID cases receded.
Your best bet to save on gas is to use a gas rewards credit card—but it might not be the card you expect.
Gas stations’ cobranded cards are lackluster
An obvious choice would be to sign up for a gas station’s credit card. However, most of these cards aren’t very lucrative. The typical discount is a mere 5 to 10 cents per gallon, according to a recent Bankrate analysis of 22 cards offered by 17 popular gas retailers.
These cards are even more forgettable if you ever plan to carry a balance. The average interest rate of the 22 cards we analyzed was 25.8%, much higher than the average credit card APR of 16.34%. You’ll rarely come out ahead if you carry a balance on a rewards credit card, but the math is particularly unfavorable for gas cards.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway cuts its stake in GM by 45%
Warren Buffett’s investment firm sold 45 percent of its stake in GM, reducing its shares from about 40 million to about 22 million.
When to repair or replace your appliances
By Liz Weston | NerdWallet
When our 17-year-old refrigerator started wheezing, I fully expected we’d need a new one. I was shocked — and frankly a little disappointed — when a repair technician fixed it for less than $200. I had to postpone my dream of a shiny French-door replacement, but our no-frills Frigidaire is still working fine eight years later.
Our experience illustrates that the decision about whether to repair or replace major appliances can be more complex than general guidelines may imply. Getting more useful years out of your existing appliances can save money and keep potentially dangerous components out of landfills, where they may harm the environment. But on the other hand, a replacement could be much more energy efficient, repairs sometimes can be expensive and prices for new appliances have been falling recently.
All this makes the choice of repairing versus replacing a tricky one, says Dan Wroclawski, home and appliances writer for Consumer Reports, a nonprofit member organization that tests consumer products.
Hawaiian electric’s future in doubt after $1 billion meltdown
By Mark Chediak, Bloomberg News
Hawaiian Electric Industries Co., which supplies roughly 95% of the state’s residents with power, traces its roots back to 1891, just a decade after King Kalakaua met Thomas Edison to see the incandescent light bulb. Now, the utility is facing what’s shaping up to be the biggest-ever test over its future.
In just one day, relentless selling wiped more than a $1 billion from the company’s value as the stock plunged by a third in its biggest loss on record. Investors are dumping shares amid increasing scrutiny over power equipment as the possible source of the deadly Maui wildfire.
Analysts are starting to raise questions over whether Hawaiian Electric, one of the smallest publicly traded U.S. utilities, will be able to withstand the pressure if it does end up being at fault.
To be clear: no official cause of the fire, which has become the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, has been identified. And it could be weeks — even months — before any investigation is finalized.