MoneyWatch

Three antitrust lawsuits filed by food businesses in federal court in Minnesota this week accuse some of the largest U.S. sugar-producing companies of conspiring to fix prices. The lawsuits name United Sugars, which includes American Crystal Sugar and the Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative; Domino Sugar; Cargill; other producers, and a commodity data company. The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuits include Great …

Customers who have racked up travel miles with United Airlines can now share those points with up to four other passengers under a new program the airlines announced Thursday. Anyone 18 or older with a MileagePlus membership can link their online account and combine their miles with those accumulated by family or friends from previous flights, United said. As with …

Reddit made its debut on Wall Street Thursday in an eagerly anticipated initial public offering aimed at infusing the social media company with hundreds of millions in capital. Shares of Reddit soared as much as 54% in their first day of trading on Thursday afternoon, reaching $52.29. That’s far above the $34 IPO range projected by the company. Investors have …

Hyundai and Kia are recalling a combined 147,110 vehicles — including the electric vehicles Ioniq and the EV6 —because a part inside the cars may stop charging their batteries, federal auto safety regulators said. The recalled Hyundai and Kia vehicles have what the automakers call an “integrated charging control unit” — which is responsible for charging the car’s 12-volt backup …

The Biden administration on Thursday said it is forgiving almost $6 billion in student debt for 77,700 borrowers, with those recipients scheduled to receive an email from President Joe Biden alerting them about their debt cancellation. The people who qualify for the latest round of student loan forgiveness are public service employees, such as teachers, nurses, social workers and firefighters, …

Chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs will likely come at a higher cost for consumers this year as the price of cocoa climbs to record highs. Cocoa futures have surged this year, roughly doubling since the start of 2024. Rising temperatures and weather conditions have stressed and damaged crops in West Africa, which produces more than 70% of the global cocoa …

The U.S. Department of Justice and environmental groups filed two lawsuits against Campbell accusing the soup giant of polluting Lake Erie. Both lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio hours apart alleging similar complaints that Campbell’s manufacturing plant in Napoleon, Ohio, has allowed wastewater and pollutants to flow unchecked into the Maumee River, …

Attorneys forMajor League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani are alleging that his longtime interpreter stole millions from the Los Angeles Dodgers player, despite earning a hefty salary himself. Ippei Mizuhara, 39, who has been standing alongside Ohtani for the entirety of 29-year-old phenom’s six years in MLB, was paid up to half a million dollars a year to serve as an …

With inflation stubborn (if cooled) and interest rates still elevated (if paused), investors need to be more judicious than usual with how they spend their money and where they keep it. Now, especially, it’s important to put your money in assets that can offer both protection and the potential for long-term growth. One such asset that many have turned to …

Investors are facing a fair share of economic challenges right now, includingpersistent inflation and the high interest rates meant to temper it. And, there are other factors, like geopolitical conflicts and ballooning government deficits, that are further impacting the economy and the investing landscape. Today’s unusual economic climate has, in turn, led many investors to look for ways to diversify …