Lenders look to lure consumers with lax standards
NY Post
Banks are loosening standards to qualify for credit cards and personal loans — and it’s not because they’re feeling generous.
After tightening credit during the onset of the pandemic, a deluge of defaults that banks had been bracing for never materialized. Instead, consumers hunkered down at home and used a tide of stimulus checks and generous unemployment benefits to pay down their credit card debt. With loan demand waning, banks are looking to jumpstart business again, offering more attractive credit card and loan options. Banks also are allowing clients to transfer credit card debt at zero percent interest and are even eliminating the need for a credit score.
Another one bites the dust. Domino’s, the nation’s largest pizza dining chain, joins the ranks of pizza giants whose franchisees have filed for bankruptcy, leaving many SoCal locations in major limbo.
Dana Walden is unifying Disney’s film, television, streaming and gaming under one roof days before a new CEO takes the reins.
Nvidia said the revenue opportunity for its artificial intelligence chips may reach at least $1 trillion through 2027, as the company outlined a strategy to compete more aggressively in the fast-growing market for running AI systems in real time.
Saks Global — owner of luxury stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus — is cutting over 1,200 jobs as it shutters more than a dozen locations nationwide following its bankruptcy filing earlier this year.
Gas prices reach highest level since October 2023 as oil holds above $100 per barrel; US stocks jump
Brent crude oil held above $100 per barrel on Monday, pushing national average gasoline prices to their highest level since October 2023 as President Trump urged allies to help protect oil tankers from Iranian attacks in the key Strait of Hormuz.
Amazon has been signaling that it wants a piece of the Saks empire — including possibly buying it outright — even as its prospects to break into the luxury market have been complicated by its controversial role in the retailer’s bankruptcy, The Post has learned.
The founder of a Vermont-based whiskey brand wants to give away a college campus that he bought during the pandemic — on the condition the new owner shares his vision for “the revival of our country and our civilization.”
WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright predicted that Americans will continue to experience the pinch in their wallets at the gas pump for the “next few weeks,” but he was hopeful that prices could drop below $3 a gallon by the summer.
At the start of his term in January, Mayor Mamdani had the Big Apple’s lenders in his corner — despite his plans to remake the Big Apple economy under his socialist agenda.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is reportedly delaying the release of its next artificial intelligence model at least about two months after internal tests showed the tech falling short of rival models from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic.
BuzzFeed on Thursday flagged going concern doubts and said it will not provide a forecast for 2026 as it evaluates strategic options, sending the digital media company’s shares down 7% after the bell.
Two Live Nation employees bragged about slapping customers with exorbitant fees at the entertainment giant’s venues, saying “these people are so stupid” that “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them,” according to court documents released late Wednesday.
Oil went on an unprecedented roller coaster ride at the start of the week, with the price surging more than 30% to near $120 a barrel late Sunday – only to erase all of those gains just hours later.