MoneyWatch

Apple’s latest line-up of iPhones will boast better cameras, faster processors and a longer lasting battery — all at the same prices as last year’s models, despite inflationary pressure that has driven up the cost of many other everyday items. That pricing decision, revealed Wednesday during Apple’s first in-person product …

The parent company of social media platform Snapchat is laying off 20% of its staff as it tries to reduce costs in the face of declining sales, the company said Wednesday. CEO Evan Spiegel said in a letter to staff posted on Snap’s website that sales were not keeping up …

Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street, extending the market’s losses amid worries about inflation and the path ahead for the economy.  The S&P 500 shed 2.1% Monday, its biggest drop since mid-June, to close at 4,137. Some 95% of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground. It finished in the …

Walmart reported better-than-expected second quarter results even as more Americans looked to cut costs on groceries at the nation’s largest retailer in the face of surging inflation. Those rising prices, however, meant that customers were cutting back on non-necessary purchases. Walmart Inc. earned $5.15 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations and …

At online mattress company Casper, sleeping on the job is encouraged.  According to a job listing on the company’s website, it is looking to hire someone with “exceptional sleeping ability” to demonstrate to the public and social media universe how easy it is to achieve restful sleep on Casper mattresses.  …

A relentless heat wave is piling on the difficulties faced by ranchers and farmers who’ve endured up to two years of drought in the Western U.S., causing some to sell off cattle at an increasingly rapid pace.  Severe drought last year forced 40% of farmers to liquidate a portion of …

Republican lawmakers have a new proposal after the Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade: Prospective fathers should be on the hook for paying child support from the moment of conception.  The new bill, introduced on July 13 in both the Senate and House, is called the Unborn Child Support Act, …

California is now offering a route for private citizens to sue the gun industry. Coming less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s restrictions on carrying firearms in public, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed into law a measure that lets victims of gun …

The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time. Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well. Meanwhile, most of the government …

Airlines in the U.S. are struggling to meet a surge in consumer demand for domestic and international air travel as they face acute worker shortages, including in the cockpit.   American Airlines on Thursday said it is dropping service to four small cities in Iowa, New York and Ohio because …