How did this tech company make $3 billion this year with a free video game?

Tech companies like the FAANG group (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) are constantly making headlines. Whether it be new product releases, congressional hearings, or security concerns, most investors know to watch for these companies. However, outside of that circle, there are several other tech companies making huge waves — and profits — in the […]

Turkey puts pressure on US to extend Iranian oil waiver as operations in Syria ramp up

With operations in Syria ramping up, Turkey’s Trade Minister, Ruhsar Pekcan, told reporters on Thursday that she expected the United States to extend the current waiver which allows the country to buy Iran’s crude oil. In November, the US placed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, but granted several exemptions to the Gulf state’s biggest customers, allowing […]

No surprise here: Amazon and other online retailers reign supreme this holiday season

E-commerce superpower Amazon is celebrating its best holiday sales period ever thanks to a record-breaking number of items bought across the globe. The company released its holiday sales information on Wednesday and claimed “all-new Echo Dot, L.O.L. Surprise! Glam Glitter Series Doll, fashion items from Carhartt, and Bose QuietComfort Wireless Headphones,” along with other items, […]

Trump’s border wall, the opioid crisis, and the hell of good intentions

This is the final installment in a 3 part series. Read parts 1 and 2 here. President Trump’s wall will increase the power of the most dangerous drug cartels, it will contribute to the introduction of more dangerous variants of drugs it makes in short supply, and it is unlikely to pay for itself because […]

Enthusiasm around legalization of hemp and CBD grows, yet stock markets remain suppressed

On Thursday, President Trump signed the 2018 farm bill, officially ushering in the era of legalized hemp and cannabidiol (CBD). Although both hemp and marijuana come from similar Cannabis plants, Medium reports only marijuana contains the high-inducing Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC. While it lacks THC, hemp has several industrial applications while CBD has been […]

Trump’s border wall, the opioid crisis, and the hell of good intentions

This is part 1 of a 3 part series. In the latest round of negotiations and public stumping for his border wall, President Trump told Congress he wants $15 billion in wall funding attached to the year-end spending bill. The president’s desire to build a “big, beautiful” wall on the southern border is nothing new; […]

You are the ‘One Percent’, you just may not realize it

To be in the top one percent of earners in the United States, an individual must make a gross income of $421,926. That is quite the sum, and an individual mired down in the lower quintiles will of course feel some degree of envy at the lifestyle of such persons. But this is a rather […]

Social Security benefit increasing 2.8 percent in 2019

Social Security recipients get a raise in 2019, and it’s their biggest in years. The 22 million beneficiaries — 15 million of them retired workers — will see a 2.8 percent cost-of-living (COLA) bump in the year ahead. The COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers. This […]

Could one graph be predicting a coming US recession?

The US Treasury yield curve — the graphical representation of the relationship between bond maturities and their yields — is flattening. Some maturities, such as yields on two to five-year bonds, has already inverted. An inversion of the two and the ten-year maturities, recognized in the financial world as a warning sign of coming recession, […]