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By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Writer

Cocoa prices have fallen nearly 70% since last Valentine’s Day, but that won’t make heart-shaped boxes of chocolate or even chocolate Easter bunnies more affordable this year.

Chocolate prices at U.S. retail stores rose 14% between Jan. 1 and the first week of February compared to the same period last year, according to market research company Datasembly. That’s on top of a 7.8% increase for the same period in 2025.

Europe has seen even steeper price increases. In Germany, chocolate prices rose 18.9% in 2025, according to government figures.

Here’s what caused the price of cocoa futures to rise and then fall — and why that may not be reflected in the prices customers are paying.

Cocoa, climate and cost

Cocoa prices more than doubled in 2024 due to insufficient rainfall and crop diseases in West Africa, which supplies more than 70% of the world’s cocoa. Cocoa, which is made from the dried beans of the cacao tree, is the main ingredient in both dark and white chocolate. read more

By Kate Ashford, NerdWallet

If you use streaming services for videos or video games, you might have noticed some higher prices — or “streamflation” — on your credit card bills.

While monthly inflation was only 0.3% in December, the category of “subscription and rental of video and video games” saw prices increase 19.5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This includes streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and Hulu, which all boosted subscription prices last year. (It does not include live streaming television.)

Why streaming prices are outpacing inflation

The jump in cost is due, in part, to the evolution of the streaming industry, says Paul Erickson, principal media and entertainment analyst for Omdia, a tech research and advisory group.

During the pandemic, Erickson says, streaming companies prioritized subscriber growth above all else. Now that streaming audiences are largely stable, companies are under more pressure to be profitable and sustainable.

“We have this drive for better profitability and business performance, teamed up with the rising cost of content,” Erickson says. “By and large, the cost of content is always upward.” read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is rising Friday after an encouraging update on inflation helped calm a Wall Street that’s been wracked by worries about how artificial-intelligence technology may upend the business world.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, a day after tumbling to one of its worst losses since Thanksgiving. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 89 points, or 0.2%, as of 2:55 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

Stocks got a boost from easing pressure from the bond market, where Treasury yields fell after a report showed inflation slowed last month by more than economists expected. U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, clothes and other costs of living that were 2.4% higher overall than a year earlier.

While that’s higher than anyone would like and above the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve, it wasn’t as bad as December’s 2.7% rate. And an underlying measure that economists see as a better predictor of where inflation may be heading slowed to its least-painful level in nearly five years. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans grappling with the sharp cost increases of the past five years.

Inflation dropped to 2.4% in January compared with a year earlier, down from 2.7% in December and not too far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose just 2.5% in January from a year ago, down from 2.6% the previous month and the smallest increase since March 2021.

Friday’s report suggests inflation is cooling, but the cost of food, gas, and apartment rents have soared after the pandemic, with consumer prices still about 25% higher than they were five years ago. The increase in such a broad range of costs has kept “affordability,” a topic that helped shape the most recent U.S. presidential election, front and center as a dominant political issue. read more

NASA has let Axiom Space make four visits to the International Space Station and a fifth next year, but on Thursday the agency announced a new private company would be allowed a mission as well.

Vast, based in Long Beach, Calif. and on track to build its own space station, has signed an order with NASA for what would be the sixth private mission to the ISS with a launch no earlier than summer 2027 from Florida.

“Private astronaut missions represent more than access to the International Space Station — they create opportunities for new ideas, companies, and capabilities that further enhance American leadership in low Earth orbit and open doors for what’s next,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a press release. “We’re proud to welcome Vast to this growing community of commercial partners.”

Vast’s goal with the mission is to gain insight into the infrastructure and processes that will be needed to support its own human spaceflight missions. Vast was not chosen by NASA in its original pursuit of commercial companies developing space stations, but it hopes to play a game of catchup with its eventual planned station, called Haven-2. read more