By Winny Sun

Last Wednesday, Google was fined $1.7 billion by the European Commission for unfairly blocking other companies from posting ads on third-party websites that use the Google search engine. According to European regulators, Google required owners of third-party websites to prioritize its own ads over those from competing advertising agencies.

By Sabrina Wong

The Fed has announced that it will put interest rate hikes on hold between 2.25% and 2.5% and has hinted at the possibility of slashing rates before the end of the year, citing poor economic indicators and widespread uncertainty as drivers behind these decisions. The US economic picture is made even more unclear by the recent unprecedented 35-day government shutdown causing a lag in the availability of the most updated data. Global trade tensions have increased as a result of political systems continuously failing to reach trade agreements—creating, in turn, heightened market volatility. Finally, political and economic confusion surrounding the future of Brexit has made it difficult for investors to react with confidence.

By Sabrina Wong

This past Wednesday, the FDA’s policies regulating the sale of flavored e-cigarettes have officially been put into effect. Convenience stores and gas stations nationwide will not be permitted to sell e-cigarettes in flavors except for tobacco, mint, and menthol unless they either restrict minors from entering their stores altogether, or create a store segment where minors cannot enter.  

By Ethan Wu and Emily Shiang

The first thing one notices about ThriveCash, a lending service, is exactly who it’s meant for. Its website is crammed with testimonials from beaming college students describing their experiences with ThriveCash. Anderson from Harvard got $5,000 to secure housing in NYC. Rachel from NYU went on summer getaways with friends. Tom from RIT paid off a security deposit. Friendly illustrations and a texting helpline complete the picture of a product targeted at enterprising—but perhaps financially inexperienced—undergrads.

By Winny Sun

On March 6th, Chinese telecom giant Huawei sued the United States government, accusing it of unfairly banning the company from the U.S. market without providing any incriminating evidence.

By Sabrina Wong

Oil industry leaders ExxonMobil and Chevron have recently announced initiatives to ramp up oil and gas production via fracking in the US Permian Basin, a large southwestern oil field well known for its petroleum, potassium, and natural gas resources. ExxonMobil executives say that the company is aiming to reach a production level of a million barrels a day by 2024, while Chevron sets a benchmark of 900,000 barrels a day within the next five years.

By Winny Sun

This week, the Trump administration announced that it will not impose tariffs worth $200 billion on Chinese imports.

By Sabrina Wong

This past Tuesday, executives from seven major drugmakers such as Merck, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie went to Washington for Senate hearings on lawmakers’ concerns over drug pricing practices.

An upcycled apparel brand that provides vintage and street-inspired clothing to the streets of Ithaca, KAN. aims to inspire sustainable fashion in people’s everyday lives. KAN. strives to provide consumers with high quality clothing items at affordable prices — without the negative environmental impact associated with fast-fashion brands like ZARA, Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters.

By Evan Shields

The sleek, slim vaporizer JUUL, which originated in 2015 in San Francisco’s PAX Labs, has grown over the past few years to dominate the e-cigarette market. As of September 2018, JUUL has a reported market share of 72%, and by October, the stylish e-cigarette manufacturer had surpassed Facebook as the fasted-growing startup in United States history by reaching a valuation of $10 billion faster than any previous business. However, JUUL’s subtle appearance and marketing tactics have raised controversy among parents and the FDA…