Latest reporting from the Business desk, in reverse chronological order.
President Donald Trump has proposed a temporary 10% cap on credit card interest rates, pitching it as a major consumer savings plan. Banks and card issuers argue it could shrink credit availability and push vulnerable borrowers toward costlier alternatives.
South Carolina’s measles outbreak continued to expand, with the state reporting 211 cases. Officials said most infections were among unvaccinated people and that quarantine and isolation measures were ongoing as investigators tracked household and school-linked exposures.
Investors head into the week focused on the Federal Reserve’s first rate decision of 2026 and major earnings from Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, and Apple, looking for signals on inflation, rates, and AI-driven spending.
The storm sweeping across large parts of the U.S. triggered wide flight cancellations, hit commerce and forced unusual closures. The disruptions underscored how extreme weather can quickly turn into a business problem—from staffing and logistics to energy use and customer refunds.
Saudi Arabia and the Olympic Council of Asia agreed to postpone the 2029 Asian Winter Games that were slated for Trojena, the ski-resort component of the NEOM mega-project. The decision underscores the financial and logistical strain of staging snow-based sports in an arid environment while the kingdom funds multiple major global events.
A new survey showed U.S. private-sector activity remained in expansion territory in January, with improving new orders offset by soft employment momentum. Businesses continued to flag higher costs linked to tariffs as a key concern, even as consumer sentiment improved.
Micron Technology plans to acquire Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.’s P5 fab site in Tongluo, Taiwan, for $1.8 billion in cash. The deal highlights how AI-driven demand and tight memory supply are reshaping semiconductor investment as Micron looks to expand DRAM capacity in the coming years.
Markets are bracing for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged after December cuts, even as President Donald Trump presses for lower borrowing costs and Chair Jay Powell faces intensifying political and legal scrutiny.
The Federal Reserve Board announced pricing effective January 1, 2026 for payment services provided by the Federal Reserve Banks, including ACH, check clearing, instant payments, and wholesale settlement services. The schedule reflects modest average increases and the Fed’s cost-recovery requirements.
The U.S. government is set to inject $1.6 billion into USA Rare Earth for an equity stake and loans, aiming to expand domestic rare earth and magnet production and reduce reliance on foreign supply.
Beyond the weather hazards, Winter Storm Fern is delivering a broad economic hit: power failures, travel interruptions and emergency measures are slowing business activity and raising costs for utilities, airlines and local governments.
President Donald Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if Canada proceeds with a trade agreement with China. The warning injected fresh uncertainty into North American trade and raised the stakes for markets already sensitive to tariff-driven volatility.