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Google's $125 billion mistake, the Tesla divide, McDonald's new deal: The week's most popular stories

By Dan Hirschhorn
Published

Google accidentally deleted a $125 billion pension fund’s account

Google made a big mistake recently. The company accidentally erased the private Google Cloud account of a $125 billion Australian pension fund, UniSuper.

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Biden’s crackdown on credit card perks turns to airline loyalty programs

That airline credit card in your wallet may not be as financially savvy as you think.

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When it comes to Tesla, Americans are living in different universes

It’s pretty unusual for a car company to truly be divisive; outside of labor strikes or the occasional scandal or recall, they’re generally not something to be fought about at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Tesla, as usual, is the exception.

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McDonald’s hopes a $5 Meal Deal will win back inflation-weary customers

McDonald’s wants to introduce a $5 meal deal in an effort to win over cash-strapped consumers.

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The 10 cars that get stolen the most in America

After years of surging car thefts in the United States, 2023 was no different. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) said in April that 1,020,729 cars were pilfered last year, up from 1,008,756 in 2022.

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Tesla has so many unsold cars that it’s storing them in an an abandoned mall parking lot

Parking lots full of Tesla vehicles are becoming impossible to ignore as the electric automaker seemingly can’t sell enough cars and trucks to match its rate of production. According to its own figures, the electric automaker produced 46,561 more vehicles than it delivered to customers during the first quarter of 2024. Where are all these cars going? Parking lots at its factories, malls and airports.

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OpenAI just made ChatGPT cheaper and twice as fast

OpenAI announced its new flagship model ChatGPT-4o — an AI chatbot that can see, hear, and have real-time conversations. Read More

People taking the weight loss drug Wegovy are keeping the weight off for years, study says

Two new analyses of the longest clinical trial of semaglutide — the active ingredient in Wegovy — have shed some light on the long-term effects of the popular weight loss medication.

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A pill could solve the Zepbound and Wegovy shortage, Eli Lilly executive says

It may take a weight loss pill for Eli Lilly to finally meet demand for its popular anti-obesity medications, according to Eli Lilly’s top leader on weight loss drugs.

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Walmart is laying off hundreds of corporate employees and telling remote workers to relocate

Walmart is reducing its headcount just ahead of quarterly earnings. the big-box retailer is cutting hundreds of corporate roles and requesting that a majority of its remote workers relocate to some of its central hubs.

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Everything JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said about the economy this year

When JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks, people tend to listen. Especially when he talks about the state of the economy.

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GameStop meme stock mania is back. Here’s what happened last time

It looks like meme stocks are back in the game. Shares in video game retailer GameStop got a huge boost due to a cryptic social media post. “Roaring Kitty,” the online name of American investor Keith Patrick Gill, who is known for igniting GameStop’s massive meme stock short squeeze in 2021, posted on X after a three-year hiatus — sending GameStop stock up as much as 110% and halting trading several times.

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‘Roaring Kitty’ brought back the GameStop meme stock frenzy. Here’s what to know about him

“Roaring Kitty” is back and louder than ever. Keith Gill made a triumphant return to the internet with a single post that sent GameStop and other meme stocks soaring

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The meme stock party is over already

Meme stocks enjoyed a return to the limelight this week after Roaring Kitty, the investor behind the GameStop saga in 2021, made a comeback on social media and sparked a renewed frenzy. Now it appears the meme stock party has ended.

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Bitcoin and the ‘memecoins’ didn’t get invited to the meme stock party. Here’s why

This week, meme stocks came back into the limelight after Roaring Kitty, the investor behind the GameStop saga in 2021, made a comeback on social media and sparked a renewed frenzy, lifting other meme stocks. 

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American, Delta and other airlines are suing the government to keep the fees they charge hidden

Last month, the Department of Transportation told U.S. airlines that they would need to start disclosing all of the fees customers need to pay to buy a plane ticket. Now the airlines are suing to block that rule.

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Pete Buttigieg is ‘speechless’ that airlines are suing to block rules against hidden fees

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is calling out airlines for suing to block a new rule from the Biden administration meant to provide more transparency around fees airlines charge passengers.

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Hertz sold a bunch of Teslas and it turns out they’re all kinds of trouble for their new owners

Hertz gambled and lost when it placed its big EV bet on Tesla a few years ago. It was a chance for the rental car company to shake up the industry, instead the company bought 30,000 Teslas, got scared away by depreciation and expensive repairs and now wants to get rid of them. While all those used Teslas looked to be great used car deals, it turns out high mileage EVs that were formerly rentals are horrible to own.

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Elon Musk fired Tesla’s Supercharger team because its top executive didn’t want to fire more people

Elon Musk fired the head of Tesla’s Supercharger department late last month, along with her entire 500-person team. It was a confusing decision that raised more questions than answers, especially considering that Musk had recently convinced every other automaker to agree to make their electric vehicles compatible with Tesla’s chargers. Assuming Reuters’ latest report is accurate, though, firing the Supercharger team wasn’t a business decision or a shift in strategy. It was simply Musk getting mad at someone for pushing back on what he was asking for and punishing the entire team as part of his tantrum.

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American renters are scared renting will cost them for a long time

The tight housing market has Americans sticking with rentals until they can get their hands on cheaper homes and lower mortgage rates. But many are worried that continuing to funnel their paychecks into rental properties could hurt their financial futures. 

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