Amazon just reported that consumers not only bought billions of dollars in stuff from it over the holidays, but purchased “tens of millions” of Amazon devices. The CNBC Millionaire Survey finds that almost half of wealthy Americans (49%) believe the U.S. government should pursue potential antitrust violations for large tech companies including Alphabet/Google, Amazon and Facebook. President Trump has railed against Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos, while also making claims of social media bias and

The year also marked when Beats Electronics, owned by super-producer and businessman Andre Young (aka Dr. Dre) was acquired by Apple for $3 billion. This major deal helped Dr. Dre secure his top spot as the highest-paid musician of the 2010s, during which time he earned a reported $950 million, according to Forbes’ list of the 10 top-earning musicians of the decade. Unlike Taylor Swift and Beyonce, who come in second, earning $825 million, and third, earning $685 million respectively, Dr. Dre di

Amazon said in a statement that “billions” of items were ordered worldwide and “tens of millions” Amazon devices were purchased. Apple – Shares of the tech giant gained more than 1% as the Nasdaq topped 9,000 for the first time. The S&P also hit a new all-time high, fueled by optimism over a U.S.-China trade deal. Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet were among the other FAANG stocks moving higher on Thursday. Marathon Oil – Shares of the exploration and production company gained more than 1% as oil pr

Rey and Kylo Ren face off in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” gained momentum at the box office this week, hauling in $32 million in the U.S. on Christmas Day, the second-highest single-day gross on that holiday in box office history. Only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” had a better Christmas showing, garnering $49.3 million in 2015. Each film was also the highest grossing on Christmas Day during those years as well. “The Rise of Skywalker” led a terrific si

United Airlines employees picket outside the United terminal at O’Hare International Airport on June 16, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The president of American Airlines’ pilots union told CNBC he wants the airline to similarly share with pilots a portion of American’s eventual compensation from Boeing. The last commercial airline pilot strike in the United States was by Spirit Airlines pilots in 2010. Delta pilots won a 16% raise in 2016, a 3% rise in 2017 and 2018 and a 4% increase in 2019. “We’r

Walgreens will be the first retailer in the U.S. to test an on-demand drone delivery service with Wing in Christiansburg, Virginia next month. The rule will require drones to implement a remote ID system, which will make it possible for third parties to track them. The measure will help law enforcement identify unauthorized drones that may pose a security threat, paving the way for wider adoption of commercial drone technology. The rule said that the FAA expects all eligible drones in the U.S. t

As the 2010s come to a close, Okta co-founder Todd McKinnon leads a $14.6 billion company at the center of the rapidly expanding cloud economy. In late 2008, as the economy suffered through its worst recession since the Great Depression, McKinnon became convinced that he should leave his senior executive role at Salesforce. So he put together a Google Slides presentation for his wife that he titled, “Proposal to move to a new job starting a company (Why I’m not crazy).” McKinnon had also just be

Tech startups have created bug bounty programs to protect against data breachesCNBC’s Kate Rooney talks about silicon valley companies using freelance hackers to help find potential loop holes before data breaches occur on “Squawk Alley.”

Many people struggle with overspending regardless of how much they earn, according to certified financial planner Josh Nelson, founder and CEO of Keystone Financial Services in Loveland, Colorado. The survey asked 2,000 adults about their budgeting habits and weekly spending. Topping the list of categories where respondents overspend is online shopping, followed by grocery shopping and subscription services. TOP 10 WEEKLY BUDGET BUSTERS Online shopping: 40%Grocery shopping: 39%Subscription servi

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red and toy manufacturer McFarlane Toys signed a three-year licensing deal to create Cyberpunk 2077 action figures, and the first wave includes two Keanu Reeves figures. McFarlane Toys is releasing two Johnny Silverhand action figures — that’s Keanu Reeves’ character — in seven-inch and 12-inch figures. Each of the seven-inch figures has 22 points of articulation and will cost $24.99. Grid View Male V figure McFarlane Toys12-inch Johnny Silverhand statue McFar

Fallout 76 has been rocked by yet another major bug that played out just before Christmas. Bethesda has responded on the Fallout 76 subreddit on Dec. 24, with a post entitled “An Update on the Current PC Exploit”. Fallout 76 has had a very unstable December, even by the game’s usual standards. Item dupers are offering legendary armor and weapons to players who have lost their inventory to this Christmas exploit. The next major patch for Fallout 76 is Wastelanders, a major expansion that will bri

Fortnite’s map often experiences chilly weather. Visibility on the map gets reduced so much that you can only see a few feet in front of you. After just a few minutes, the snow relents and the storm disappears, leaving behind the normal Fortnite winter map. As with any surprising, game-wide event in Fortnite, players are already searching for the greater meaning. Regardless, the blizzard is a fun addition to Fortnite, and should lead to some interesting, albeit difficult to see fights.

That’s all fine and good, but when it comes to absolutely terrifying rides, Disney should just call it quits. The parks team already achieved the single scariest experience ever with their 1998 attraction, Dinosaur. During a recent trip earlier this month, I rode it again and can confirm: it is still the scariest ride in all of Walt Disney World. The dark ride opened during the Animal Kingdom launch in ’98 was originally entitled Countdown to Extinction. Dinosaur is faster than most Disney dark

A whole slew of top-selling indie games are on sale in the Nintendo Switch eShop. The sale, which includes 12 games, began on Dec. 25 and continues until Dec. 28 at 11:59 pm PT. Cuphead, Slay the Spire, and Baba Is You are some of the games headlining the sale. Games like My Time at Portia, Dragon Quest 2, and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle are on sale right now, too, among plenty others. A ton of games are available for under $5.

Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was “disturbed” by the Senate leader’s approach to working with White House counsel on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, saying there should be distance between the two. Republicans have a 53-seat majority in the Senate, where 51 votes are needed to pass a set of rules for the Trump trial. The actual impeachment trial in the Senate would need a two-thirds majority vote for a conviction. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet transmitted the articles

Stock futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday morning, adding to a record-setting year-end rally. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 36 points, implying a 31-point gain at the open. Futures on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were also trading higher. The S&P 500 has risen 2.6% this month and 8.2% this quarter, bring the year-to-date gains to 28.6%. In a shortened Christmas Eve session Tuesday, the S&P 500 finished flat and the Nasdaq rose to another record.

Gold prices rose above the key $1,500 mark to a near two-month peak on Thursday, as uncertainty around the signing of the ‘phase one’ trade deal between the United States and China boosted safe-haven flows into the metal. Spot gold rose 0.43% to $1,505.10 per ounce. Bullion has gained about 17% this year so far and is on track for its best year since 2010, owing to a protracted U.S.-China trade dispute and its impact on the global economy. “Technically, gold prices have broken out above and tren

Oil pumpjacks in the Permian Basin oil field are getting to work as crude oil prices gain. Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by a potential breakthrough in the Sino-U.S. trade war and OPEC-led efforts to constrain supply, although trading was quiet as many markets were in holiday mode. “All of which is pointing to a stronger performance for oil prices in Q1 than anyone had thought only two months ago.” [nL1N28Y0A0]The roughly 17-month trade war hit global economic growth and demand for oil, le

Beijing said on Wednesday it is in close touch with Washington on a trade deal signing ceremony, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a ceremony to sign the recently struck trade deal. But this week China has announced cuts in its tariffs while Trump also talked about a ceremony for the deal. So it feels more likely that the deal will come through,” said Ei Kaku, currency strategist at Nomura Securities. Against the yen, the dollar rose

Wall Street points toward a higher open following Christmas break1 Hour AgoU.S. stock index futures were higher Thursday morning following the Christmas trading break. CNBC’s Rahel Solomon reports.