Washington    Home sales based on contract signings jumped in March despite elevated mortgage rates that month. Pending home sales climbed 3.4% in March, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, which was “the best performance in a year,” according to a release. Contract signings rose across the country in March from the prior month, except in the Midwest. Despite the March gain, pending home sales are still “in a fairly narrow range over the last 12 months without a measurable breakout,” NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said in a releae. “Meaningful gains will only occur with declining mortgage rates…

Southwest Airlines announced Thursday that the carrier is pulling out of several airports as it contends with financial fallout from Boeing delays.  Chief Executive Bob Jordan warned in its latest earnings report that the carrier has intensified its network optimization efforts to address underperforming markets. As a result of these efforts, the Texas-based carrier is closing operations at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the Bellingham International Airport in Washington, the Cozumel International Airport in Mexico and the Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York.  UNITED SAID IT LOST $200 MILLION FROM THE TEMPORARY GROUNDING OF THE BOEING 737 MAX…

Researchers are reporting that taking acid-reducing drugs could increase the chance of severe headaches. They note that acid-reducing drugs are often considered to be overprescribed.They acknowledge that the study doesn’t prove acid-reducers cause migraine, only that there could be an association.People who take acid-reducing drugs to help their stomach might be increasing their risk of severe headaches. A study published today in the journal Neurology Clinical Practice reports that people who take acid-reducing drugs could have a higher risk of migraine and other severe headaches than those who don’t take them.Researchers said headaches could be associated with acid reducing proton…

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   The clock has begun ticking for TikTok to find a new owner. President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday that would ban TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent, ByteDance, sells the app. TikTok plans to challenge the law in court, but if it fails, the company would have to find a buyer, and fast. That raises the question of who the US government might view as a suitable new owner of a social media platform with 170 million US users and a rising challenger to legacy social media giants such as Facebook-parent Meta. The prospect of a…

Boston police arrested 108 demonstrators at Emerson College on Thursday morning and said four officers were injured in clashes with anti-Israel agitators.A police spokesman confirmed to Fox News Digital that three officers suffered minor injuries, while one officer was more seriously injured. None of the officers’ injuries were life-threatening. No protesters in custody have reported injuries at this time, the spokesman added. All 108 will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court later Thursday. Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said on Wednesday night that he contacted Emerson College about complaints regarding protesters blocking public access. ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS CONTINUE NATIONWIDE DISRUPTIONS WITH ESCALATIONS AT USC,…

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew by 1.6% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from January through March, the Commerce Department said in its first reading of the data on Thursday.  That is lower than the 2.4% increase forecast by LSEG economists and marks a sharp slowdown from the 4.9% pace seen during the fourth quarter.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

London    Mining giant BHP has made a near-$40 billion bid to take over its UK rival Anglo American in what would be the largest mining deal on record. BHP said in a statement Thursday that it valued Anglo American shares at £25.08 ($31.40) apiece, or £31.1 billion ($38.9 billion) in total. If completed, the acquisition would increase BHP’s access to copper reserves, it added. The potential deal would have a higher value than the $38.3 billion acquisition of Switzerland’s Xstrata by commodities company Glencore in 2012, according to Dealogic data. It would also be the biggest merger or acquisition…

If you need a new place to put your savings, there are lots of good (and high-earning) options to consider right now. Getty Images Inflation remains as stubborn as ever and continues to prop up interest rates. The Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023 in an effort to curb inflation. More recently, the Fed has paused interest rate changes at its last five meetings as inflation has slowly ticked up in 2024.The resulting elevated interest rates have burdened borrowers with higher monthly payments due to the higher cost of borrowing. On the other hand,…

Emmy, Grammy, Oscar® and Tony Award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, writer, and director, Barbra Streisand has recorded a new song “Love Will Survive,” which will serve as the end title of the upcoming Peacock and Sky Original series, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.This marks Streisand’s first recording for a TV series. Listen to the song in the video here or stream or download on your favorite platform here.The series will have its global launch on May 2nd. “Love Will Survive” is composed by two-time Oscar®-winner Hans Zimmer in collaboration with Emmy nominee Kara Talve, part of the Bleeding Fingers Music composer collective, and Grammy-winner Walter Afanasieff, with lyrics…

NEW YORK — U.S. births fell last year, resuming a long national slide.A little under 3.6 million babies were born in 2023, according to provisional statistics released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s about 76,000 fewer than the year before and the lowest one-year tally since 1979.U.S. births were slipping for more than a decade before COVID-19 hit, then dropped 4% from 2019 to 2020. They ticked up for two straight years after that, an increase experts attributed, in part, to pregnancies that couples had put off amid the pandemic’s early days.But “the 2023 numbers seem to indicate that…

A version of this story first appeared in Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. New York    America’s relentless spending has kept the economy motoring. But it’s starting to worry some observers. Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said Friday that while consumer debt levels aren’t yet “especially” high, the Fed is concerned about the rate of consumer delinquencies, or missed or late payments on expenses such as auto loans, credit card bills and rent. “If the delinquency…

Prasinezumab, a monoclonal antibody designed to target protein clumps in the brains of people with rapidly progressing Parkinson’s disease, showed promise in reducing motor symptoms.It’s the first experimental monoclonal antibody with such targeting, and a trial of 316 people suggests that it could be a path forward in fighting the disease.However, experts say there are a number of questions that still need to be addressed through more rigorous clinical trials.An experimental monoclonal antibody shows promise in reducing the motor skills deterioration of people with rapidly progressing Parkinson’s disease, a new study has revealed. The findings suggest that prasinezumab, which is…

Last updated: April 25, 2024 02:22 EDT | 2 min read Morgan Stanley, one of the leading financial institutions, is reportedly exploring the possibility of expanding its sales of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by allowing its approximately 15,000 brokers to actively recommend these products to customers. This potential move comes as the firm aims to tap into the growing demand for cryptocurrency investments, according to a report from AdvisorHub.Currently, Morgan Stanley offers Bitcoin ETFs on an unsolicited basis, meaning that customers must approach their advisors independently to express interest in investing. By enabling advisors to actively recommend these products, the firm could potentially…

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.Visitors arriving at Venice’s main train station were greeted with large signs listing the 29 dates through July of the plan’s test phase, as well as new entrances separating tourists from residents, students and workers.Stewards were on hand to politely guide anyone unaware of the new requirements through the…