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  • Jul 25, 2017

    Banks suffer as commodities trading hits a rocky patch

    Commodity trading — often a big money maker for banks and hedge funds — has been subdued in recent months, leading to significant drops in revenue. Goldman Sachs recently said its commodity trading unit had the worst quarter on record, and other banks are in a similar situation. The reasons behind the slump? Lack of volatility and […]

  • Jul 25, 2017

    Big business puts some pressure on big banks

    The Federal Reserve probably will not announce a rate hike on the second day of its Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. But there’s a decent chance it will again by year’s end. And since the Fed started raising rates 18 months ago, we’ve seen the federal funds rate rise a full 1 percent. […]

  • Jul 25, 2017

    Farmers struggle with low commodity prices

    Tom Giessel is a Kansas wheat farmer who harvested 1,800 acres of wheat in late June. He stands here in his field near Larned, Kansas. 
    Peggy Lowe for Marketplace

    Farmers, in particular those producing grain, are struggling, thanks mostly to low commodity prices amid a global grain glut.

  • Jul 25, 2017

    Why consumer credit is a matter of "social trust"

    Why consumer credit is a matter of "social trust"
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    The modern credit economy mostly works, author Josh Lauer says.

  • Jul 24, 2017

    All those small ailments make for big money: WebMD to be sold for $2.8 billion

    For months, health website WebMD has been looking for a suitor. Today, it found one. The private equity giant KKR — Kohlberg Kravis Roberts — has struck a deal to buy the site for about $2.8 billion. But why was WebMD looking to be sold in the first place?  Click the audio player above to […]

  • Jul 24, 2017

    The IMF downgrades the U.S. economy, and that’s bad news for the Trump administration

    The International Monetary Fund on Monday downgraded its estimate of U.S. growth prospects. Only three months ago, the world financial body said it thought U.S. gross domestic product would grow by 2.3 percent this year and 2.5 percent next year. Now, it’s lowered its estimates to 2.1 percent. That’s bad news for the economy and […]

  • Jul 24, 2017

    The part of Obamacare even Republicans like

    Ariel Fernandez, left, sits with Noel Nogues, an insurance adviser with UniVista Insurance company, as he signs up for the Affordable Care Act in 2015 in Miami.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    The ACA's Innovation Center finds ways to slow spending while looking out for patients.

  • Jul 24, 2017

    Detroit’s chief storyteller says it’s time to talk to about neighborhoods that persevered

    Aaron Foley says he heard about the Detroit race riots at home, and “hardly anybody wanted to really go in depth and talk about.” Above, a group of men in Detroit construct a barricade to keep their street safe during the 1967 riots.
    Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    Aaron Foley says there are "680,000 stories waiting to be told. Not all of them come from downtown."

  • Jul 24, 2017

    Farmers in Oregon look to cash in on the solar eclipse

    Farmer Christina Carpenter gestures toward one of the fields that will host campers during August’s total solar eclipse. She and Grant Putnam (left) are taking advantage of the rare opportunity to host an eclipse festival on their farm, Organic Earthly Delights. 
    Amanda Peacher/for Marketplace

    Farmers are renting out their fields to eager eclipse watchers.

  • Jul 21, 2017

    As Amazon grows, so does its lobbying budget

    Amazon just keeps growing. So does its spending on lobbying in support of policies it thinks will aid that growth. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the company is on track to spend $12 million lobbying this year, $1 million more than it spent in 2016. What’s on Amazon’s wish list? Click the […]

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