WASHINGTON — While the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate steady, it did make an adjustment Wednesday to the interest it pays on funds stored at the central bank. The Fed boosted the interest on excess reserves rate 5 basis points to 1.6% even as it kept the benchmark funds rate in a target range of 1.5% to 1.75%. The Fed had cut the IOER last year as the funds rate moved to the top of its range. In recent months, though, the funds rate had been near the bottom of its range, around 1.55%, w

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk gestures while introducing the newly unveiled all-electric battery-powered Tesla Cybertruck at Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, California on November 21, 2019. Tesla bear Bank of America was forced to hike its forecast on the electric carmaker’s stock, after its massive rally has left the bank’s old target in the dust. Analysts at the bank reiterated their underperform rating on Tesla, while raising its 12-month price target on Tesla to $350 from $240 on Wedn

Coming soon to your smartphone: a Goldman Sachs digital checking account. The bank is working to release a digital wealth management tool this year and a checking account in 2021, Goldman executive Eric Lane said Wednesday at the New York-based bank’s first investor day. “We aspire to be the leading digital consumer bank,” Lane told investors. “We’re starting with loans, we added savings and cards, and we’re working to build out the balance of the digital products suite, including wealth and che

Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, October 23, 2019. Wall Street analysts think Facebook investors are in for another big quarter when the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday after the bell. The company has a wide-ranging platform with features like Stories, Messenger, and WhatsApp that analysts say should accelerate growth. Analysts will also be listening closely for commentary on politic

The word “virus” or “coronavirus” was mentioned by 27 different S&P Composite 1500 companies on earnings calls this week, according to CNBC’s screening using FactSet. The Wuhan virus has infected more than 6,100 people in China, topping the number of cases from 2003’s SARS virus. McDonald’s management also called the Chinese virus “concerning” on its earnings call on Wednesday. Here are some of the other companies mentioning the virus on earnings calls this week. Smith”At this time, our supply c

This is what Apple’s Macintosh computer looked like in 1983Here’s a look at what one of Apple’s earliest desktop computers looked like in 1983.

Steve Jobs talks about Apple’s Macintosh computer in 1983Watch the late Steve Jobs discuss one of Apple’s first personal desktop computers, the Macintosh.

But in the early 1980s, Microsoft was one of Apple’s biggest software developers, with Gates and his team creating Microsoft software specifically for the new Macs, including the first version of Microsoft Word. In the 16-minute internal promo video from 1983, Gates notes that Microsoft had already been working with Apple on the Macintosh for roughly two years. Embedded below is a clip of Gates discussing Microsoft’s work on Macintosh software from the 1983 promo video. Embedded below is a clip

Home buying is expected to keep picking up in 2020, with mortgage rates around a full percentage point lower than they were this time last year. Prices are getting a boost in many markets, too, with housing inventory low across the country. The prices reflect the typical monthly mortgage payment for buyers in April 2020, based on a 3.6%, 30-year fixed mortgage rate. The 10% down payments include a typical PMI payment. Your actual rates and mortgage payments will, of course, vary depending on you

Why Goldman Sachs is hosting an investor day for the first timeCNBC’s Wilfred Frost reports on why they’re holding its first-ever investor day from their office in New York.

Fed keeps rates unchangedThe Federal Reserve votes to keep interest rates unchanged. CNBC’s Steve Liesman reports.

Why trademarks and patents are so valuableImagine Nike without the swoosh, McDonald’s with no golden arches or Apple without an apple. Trademarks and patents can make or break a company. In the U.S. alone, intellectual property-intensive industries contribute trillions of dollars to the economy every year, and IP has become a key battleground between the world’s biggest economic powers, the U.S. and China. Watch the video to find out what makes them so profitable.

Penn National Gaming — Shares of the casino company soared 12% after Penn National said it is buying a 36% stake in media company Barstool Sports. Dow — Shares of Dow are up roughly 5.2% after the company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines. Raymond James upgraded the social media company to strong buy from outperform on optimism that it will beat earnings expectations. The company beat on top and bottom line in its fourth-quarter results, however. McDonald’s — Shares of McDonald’s ros

U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan faced swift criticism after it was announced on Tuesday stateside. But one analyst told CNBC that America and Israel may have a “window of opportunity” to push this deal through. That’s because there are “looming issues” in the Middle East and priorities in the Muslim world appear to have changed, said Ryan Bohl, Middle East and North Africa analyst at Stratfor. “There are bigger issues, bigger fish to fry in the Middle East,” he said, citing the possibil

Big companies, from Apple to Ford to Kraft Heinz, have restricted their employees’ China business travel or scaled back operations because of the virus. The virus is spreading as the pace of global air traffic growth has begun to moderate. November traffic growth rose 3.3% from a year earlier, the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, reported earlier this month. Boeing CFO Greg Smith noted in a call with analysts Wednesday the moderation in air traffic growth and said the “impact of

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the January 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, in Washington, DC on January 29, 2020. 2:15 pm: Repo operations to continue through AprilThe Federal Reserve’s foray into the repo market will continue through at least April. — Cox2:13 pm: Investors unfazed by decision, eager for presserThe decision was “nothing” says John Briggs of NatWest about the Fed’s statement. 2:00 pm: Fed leaves interest rates

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its meeting this week and tweaked its post-meeting statement to reflect what appears to be a stronger commitment to nudge up inflation. The decision marked the second straight meeting the Fed made no changes to rates following three consecutive reductions in 2019. Little changed in the post-meeting statement, save for what could be interpreted as a bit more resolution toward raising what has been a lackluster pace of inflation. Offic

This is a comparison of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed’s previous policy-making meeting on December 11. Text removed from the December statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday released a plan to fight disinformation and to hold tech companies accountable for their actions in light of the 2016 election. “Disinformation and online foreign interference erode our democracy, and Donald Trump has invited both,” Warren said in a Tweet Wednesday. Warren proposed to combat disinformation by holding big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google responsible for spreading misinformation designed to suppre

Based on this theory, and as the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the time to buy could be as soon as this Thursday. “Health emergency announcements are usually a lagging indicator,” Ned Davis’ Alejandra Grindal said in a note to clients Tuesday. “On average, the bad news has been priced into the market in the months leading to the WHO announcement.” Ned Davis Research found that stocks typically underperformed in the months leading up to the official declaration of a global emergency, before stead