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Month: January 2026

Wall Street drifts around its record while the dollar’s value stabilizes

Wall Street drifts around its record while the dollar’s value stabilizes

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By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting around its all-time high on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar’s value stabilizes against other currencies after falling to its lowest level in nearly four years.

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The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1%, coming off its latest record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.

Some Big Tech companies helped support the market following an encouraging report from ASML. The Dutch company, whose machinery helps make chips, gave a forecast for 2026 revenue that topped analysts’ expectations. read more

What’s a ‘good enough’ financial plan?

What’s a ‘good enough’ financial plan?

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I’m a classic satisficer: I’m usually quick about making decisions and often fall back on the tried-and-true. Some people are optimizers, carefully analyzing almost every choice, whether it’s a new sofa or a cup of coffee.

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If you want to make decent, “good enough” choices about your financial plan and portfolio and get onto other things, what strategies should you employ? And what should you stop doing? Here are some strategies to embrace.

Eliminate ‘onesies’ and embrace simple building blocks

Step away from those individual stocks. Forget I bonds and laddered portfolios of individual Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. If you’re a satisficer, they’re not for you. Reduce your number of accounts and the holdings within them. read more

Holidays and a viral bear cup drive strong quarterly sales at Starbucks

Holidays and a viral bear cup drive strong quarterly sales at Starbucks

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By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Writer

Starbucks reported strong fiscal first quarter as holiday drinks and a viral bear cup helped drive sales.

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Same-store sales – or sales at locations open at least a year – rose 4% for the October-December period. That was higher than the 2.3% that Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Same-store sales in the U.S. were also up 4%, with a 3% increase in transactions and a 1% increase in spending per visit. That was the best U.S. performance for the company in two years.

Shares of the Seattle coffee giant jumped more than 6% before the opening bell Wednesday. read more

Florida still leads the way, but global spaceports could soon top 100

Florida still leads the way, but global spaceports could soon top 100

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With Florida leading the world in launches again in 2025 and with no signs of slowing down, the state is ground zero for challenges for a growing industry as other spaceport players across the U.S. and world start to build momentum.

“We finally cracked triple digits. Got to 109 launches,” said Dale Ketchum, Space Florida’s vice president of government and community relations. “We’re continuing to grow rapidly. We’ve obviously got a lot of folks seeking to launch their vehicles at the Cape Canaveral spaceport.”

Ketchum was giving an update at the Global Spaceport Alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday that opened up four days of commercial space conferences this week at the Orange County Convention Center.

He noted that Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, along with California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, have traditionally led the way for launches, and that’s not slowing down.

He expects between 96 and 125 launches from Florida in 2026, but recent talks with the Space Force could see the two states’ launch manifests swell in the next five years. read more

Federal Reserve may keep rates unchanged for months as economy shows signs of health

Federal Reserve may keep rates unchanged for months as economy shows signs of health

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By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials are expected to keep their short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday after three cuts last year, ignoring huge pressure for lower borrowing costs from the White House in favor of waiting to see how the economy evolves.

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The central bank’s rate reductions last year were intended to shore up the economy and prevent a sharper deterioration in the job market, after hiring slowed to a near-crawl in the wake of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs last April. Yet there are signs that unemployment has stabilized and the economy could be picking up. At the same time, inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target. All those trends argue for keeping rates where they are. read more