Below, CNBC Select breaks down why credit cards have annual fees, how you can calculate whether an annual fee is worthwhile and steps you can take to get your annual fee waived or reduced. How to calculate when it’s worthwhile to pay an annual fee for a credit cardBefore you open a credit card with an annual fee, you should calculate whether it’s worth the added expense. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a $450 annual fee, $300 annual travel credit and offers 3X points on dining and travel (immedi

Anheuser-Busch remains the king of beers, ruling nearly 41% of the $119 billion U.S. market for beer and malt-based beverages. This is part of a wider transformation underway at AB InBev, which is revamping its established product-development and marketing methods. The interlopers grew and gained incremental market share, enough to eventually spawn a craft buying spree by AB InBev. Starting in 2011 with the purchase of Goose Island, the company’s craft division, Brewers Collective, purchased a d

The depositions are from National Security Council official Timothy Morrison and Jennifer Williams, a special advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. In her deposition, Williams told the committees that she found the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to be “unusual an inappropriate.” Trump asked Zelensky on that call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Williams also said that Trump had told Pence not to attend Zelensky’s inaugu

Former President Barack Obama on Friday warned Democratic primary candidates to avoid leaning too far left in their campaigns, and raised concerns that certain liberal policy proposals on health care and immigration might have gone further than public opinion. In an unusual address to a room of wealthy Democratic donors, Obama urged Democratic candidates to be pragmatic in their messages to voters. While he didn’t mention any specific presidential primary candidate or proposal, Obama warned that

Paris police fired tear gas in northwestern Paris on Saturday to drive back protesters on the first year anniversary weekend of anti-government “yellow vest” demonstrations. Paris police said 24 people had been arrested by 0950 GMT. The so-called Yellow Vest protests erupted in mid-November 2018 originally over fuel price hikes and the high cost of living but spiraled into a broader movement against President Emmanuel Macron and his drive for economic reforms. Protests have lost strength in rece

Protesters build a wall to block a road at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in Hong Kong on November 14, 2019. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in shorts and t-shirts appeared in Hong Kong streets on Saturday, helping residents clean up debris after anti-government protests blocked roads, witnesses said. China has said any attempt at independence for Hong Kong will be crushed, but troops have remained inside their base. Saturday’s clean-up followed some of the worst violence

How the US power grid became a big target for hackersCyberwarfare is the new weapon of choice for ransom attackers and nation states. And as the more than 9,700 power plants in the U.S. become more high tech, the ways in which utilities can be targeted increase. Still, experts say there are ways to mitigate the risk.

But the idea of coffee without the bean —well that’s something new. Atomo, a start-up located just blocks from the famous Starbucks in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, said it’s reverse-engineered the coffee bean. “I told him, ‘I want to make coffee without the bean,'” Stopforth said. Major coffee names from Starbucks to McDonald’s to Lavazza are taking steps to make strategic investments to support farmers and sustainability. Atomo has gone through hundreds of iterations trying to nail what Stopfor

Roughly two-thirds of Americans also said that holiday expenses negatively affect their finances and cause stress, according to a separate survey by Experian, which polled more than1,100 shoppers. “Debt you can’t repay will certainly bring down one’s holiday spirit,” Rod Griffin, Experian’s director of consumer education, said in a statement. That’s a hefty additional expense considering that last year, Americans racked up more than $1,000 in holiday debt by the end of the season, according to M

Washington can feel pretty gridlocked these days, with the impeachment proceedings against President Trump dividing politicians by party lines. Still, both Republicans and Democrats have rallied around a number of bills that could deliver real changes to your personal finances. Currently, your out-of-pocket health costs must be more than 10% of your income for you to claim the medical expenses tax deduction. Only people who itemize their deductions qualify, and that number has dwindled with the

Even though stocks are trading around all-time highs, CFRA’s Sam Stovall thinks Wall Street isn’t bullish enough. According to the firm’s chief investment strategist, an under-the-radar historical trend suggests the S&P 500 will continue to reach record levels through December. We had a positive move in the market in both January and February,” Stovall said on Thursday. Stovall points to another unusual characteristic of the year’s record run: Stocks hit highs this month, too. Stovall came into

“We see addiction and possible related regulatory, litigation or taxation consequences for the video game sector as a ‘black swan’ – largely not discussed or discounted,” Jefferies analyst Simon Powell said. The video game industry has an estimated 2.5 billion active players worldwide, with mobile accounting for nearly 50% of the market. “These issues aren’t front of mind or priced-in for some stocks … [we] don’t believe that these issues are at all high on investors’ list of priorities or conce

Here are some of the best analyst calls on Wall Street this week:Maxim – Apple, downgraded to sell from holdMaxim downgraded Apple to a rare sell rating and said it was worried about lower iPhone sales in 2020. Jefferies – Grocery Outlet Holdings, Buy ratingJefferies reiterated its buy rating on Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. after the company’s strong earnings report. The firm said chains in the value space continue to make inroads with bargain minded consumers. Given Grocery Outlet delivers a WO

Schommer manages the Janus Henderson Contrarian I (JCONX) fund, which has nearly $3 billion in assets and has been on fire in 2019. The fund is up nearly 37% year to date and ranks in the top percentile among its peers, Morningstar data shows. Schommer also added Disney to the portfolio when the stock was trading near its 2019 lows. Schommer says he tries to find companies with “misunderstood business models” to invest in, noting that nearly half of the portfolio is made up of such companies. Cr

Their stock prices have handily outrun the S&P 500 over the past year, and investors have endowed them with a valuation premium to the broad market of 40%-50%. The companies range from $100 billion to $340 billion in market value, so in part the stocks benefit from a broader preference in a mature bull market for companies of heft that can preserve value over the very long term. They are financially potent enough to make heavy growth investments while also buying back plenty of stock and paying

On average, Americans received more than 2,000 robocalls every second in October, up 25% from the previous month. With 49 billion robocalls so far this year, all four major U.S. phone carriers now offer some form of blocking or screening service. Congress and state officials passed new robocall regulations in recent months and have seen an uptick in successful cases against the scammers. Meanwhile, hundreds of tech start-ups are developing new ways to tackle the problem. Watch the video to see h

Some services already exist (Netflix, HBO) and will be largely grandfathered in by their existing subscriber bases. Disney is charging just $6.99 per month for nearly its entire back catalog of Star Wars movies and related series, Marvel movies and series, Pixar movies, old Disney movies, 30 seasons of “The Simpsons,” Disney Channel shows, 35 original movies and shows in year 1, and much more. If a streaming service were selling just Marvel and Star Wars series and movies, it would a significant

What’s goodAmazon Echo Flex Todd Haselton | CNBCThe Echo Flex provides access to Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa wherever you have an electrical outlet, and without any cables. Amazon Echo Flex Todd Haselton | CNBCThe Echo Flex works like any other Echo. Amazon Echo Flex Todd Haselton | CNBCYou don’t need either one, but I liked the nightlight on the Echo Flex I put in the bathroom. What’s badAmazon Echo Flex Todd Haselton | CNBCI wish the speaker on the Echo Flex was better. Amazon Echo Flex Tod

It imagines the U.S. under attack from a foreign country, through the power grid. More than 6,500 government officials and big players in the energy sector came together this week to conduct a simulated cyberattack on the electrical grid. Last year, a saboteur of unknown origin was found to have been tampering with the safety systems of large industrial systems in the Middle East. This fragmentation and complexity is why power grid cybersecurity is often focused on minimizing the damage and spre

If you’re planning to stop at the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving, avoid going between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to a new report by Google Maps. Using Android users’ location services data from Thanksgiving week 2018, Google Maps analyzed when traffic will be the best and worst this Thanksgiving. In addition to national trends, Google Maps created a tool that generates the best and worst traffic times during the Thanksgiving holiday for 26 cities, from Boston to Tampa to Cleveland t