While the final verdict on the holiday season won’t be known for several months, the initial results from the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday contained a lot of encouraging numbers for retailers. E-commerce was the biggest winner over the weekend, showing the strongest growth year over year. U.S. online sales for the weekend were $41.1 billion, and online spending set new records on each of the five days, according to data from Adobe Analytics. The National Retail Federation (NRF), in a holiday recap, applauded the news that more Americans shopped over the holiday weekend than had previously been…

A sweeping new student loan forgiveness initiative based on hardship trumpeted by the Biden administration reached a key milestone this week, bringing the program closer to implementation. But with Donald Trump set to return to the White House in January, it appears increasingly likely that the program may never actually launch. The Education Department published draft regulations for the new student loan forgiveness program last month. The rule publication triggered a 30-day public comment period, a key administrative step that concluded this week. With the comment period now closed as of Monday, the department can now review the public feedback…

From Winter to Renaissance: The Great Transformation From Winter to Renaissance: The Great Transformation The brutal crypto winter of 2022-2023 has given way to an extraordinary renaissance in digital assets. At its heart, this rebirth extends far beyond Bitcoin’s $96,409 price point. It represents a fundamental shift in Crypto markets from dismissive speculations to a serious investment asset class through regulated investment products like exchange-traded funds (ETF) and structured financial instruments. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF became the fastest-growing investment product of its kind, accumulating $13.5 billion in assets under management within just three months. The institutional embrace has reshaped the…

For many in the U.S., achieving The American Dream means going to college and getting a degree to help land a good-paying job and all the trappings that come with it. It means that and more for immigrants who sacrificed everything to give their families a shot at a better life. But here’s the thing: unless you’re swimming in wealth, higher education comes at a significant cost, meaning students must secure financial aid. Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to receive federal aid and comprehensive financial aid packages from most colleges and universities. While this sounds…

Conservative Microsoft Explores Bitcoin Investment While MicroStrategy and Nvidia Drive Crypto Innovation Students of history know that even the most iconoclastic revolutionary sooner or later becomes a conservative. It’s no different in the tech sector. Those AI founders who are currently tearing up the rulebook? The decentralization pioneers building the next iteration of the web? One day they too will be legacy firms, grappling with upstart innovators in the battle to remain relevant. So when Silicon Valley aristocracy like Microsoft changes tack and embraces an emerging technology like bitcoin, everyone needs to sit up and take notice. Next month, the…

This founder built his brand on a simple idea: Forget about changing the world. Get rich doing mundane and even dirty jobs better. By Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes Staff Nick Huber’s first business, Storage Squad, didn’t begin with a slick pitch deck to potential investors or an analysis of the total addressable market, but with a simple Craigslist ad. It was 2011, the summer before his senior year at Cornell University. While some friends were heading to New York City for investment banking internships, Huber was going home to Leopold, Indiana, unsure of what he wanted to do. He figured he’d…

Student loan forgiveness processing appears to have stalled for tens of thousands of borrowers under a key debt relief program. And advocates are getting worried. The Biden administration had approved more than 700,000 borrowers for student debt cancellation and other benefits, including refunds of prior payments and corrected credit reporting. The approvals were enacted using group discharge authority for borrowers who were allegedly defrauded by their school or impacted by school closures. But years after borrowers received notifications that they qualify for a complete discharge of their federal student loans, many are still waiting on loan forgiveness. Meanwhile, advocates for…

There are more than turkeys being pardoned this holiday season. Joe Biden made news by announcing a presidential pardon for his son Hunter Biden who faced two separate federal criminal charges. The pardon means Hunter Biden will not be sentenced for his crimes, and it eliminates any chance that he will be sent to prison. The judges overseeing his cases will likely cancel the sentencing hearings, which were slated for December 12 in the gun case and December 16 in the tax case. Many are criticizing Biden for the pardon after he made promises to not pardon Hunter. Biden felt…

Every year, it feels like holiday advertising starts earlier and earlier. Many people begin shopping in October which can cause them to lose track of the money and gifts they already purchased. And then in January, families find themselves with a mountain of credit card debt and clutter. Did you know that 46% of Americans are still paying off debt from the last holiday season, according to WalletHub. What if you did something different this year? What if you created a manageable budget, reduced spending, and simplified gift-giving? Here are three simple steps to save money and reduce spending over…

Meet the fintech founder fighting fraud. Credit card transactions carry little information about whom customers are paying. This makes it hard for banks to know whether they?re sending money to a bakery, a marijuana dispensary . . . or a fraud ring. “Banks are relying on data infrastructure from the 1960s,” says MacTavish, who cofounded Spade along with Cooper Hart, 29. Through data partnerships, AI and human review, the three-year-old New York City-based startup builds expansive databases covering tens of millions of businesses to provide banks with precise details about the merchant, business category and location. The information is valuable…