Tesla’s experience in building electric vehicle battery packs is helping the electric car company extend its lead over other automakers, according to a new report. Other automakers use battery packs that include pouch or prismatic battery cells. Those battery packs cost, on average, more than $200 per kWh in 2019, according to Cairn. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, gives CEO Elon Musk the size and scale to further drive down costs. Last year, the Gigafactory manufactured batter

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is asking for $705.4 billion in its fiscal 2021 budget, $13 billion less than what Congress gave the Pentagon in fiscal 2020. The White House on Monday officially released the broad details of President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget request, which seeks a colossal $740.5 billion for national defense. The budget proposal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 is being submitted to Congress on Monday. The $705.4 billion Pentagon portion is composed of a base bu

January’s Federal Open Market Committee saw a continued commitment in that direction, with the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee signaling no rate hikes ahead amid a continued push to raise the inflation rate. Markets expect Powell to do nothing to dissuade the market from the notion that the Fed is on hold indefinitely. Powell is unlikely to announce any specific moves, but he could provide more clues as to the Fed’s timeline and ultimate intentions. Coronavirus concernsPowell has prai

High-profile investor Jeremy Grantham warned in a letter that falling birth rates in the developed world could accelerate in coming years due to increasing chemical toxicity, allowing only wealthy people to have children. In recent years, economists have raised concern about the impact on economic growth of slowing birth rates in the developed world. Grantham, who co-founded GMO in the 1970s and is famous for calling the last two major market bubbles, said that trend is poised to accelerate due

CNBC’s Jim Cramer used his 65th birthday on Monday to illustrate why he always advises investors to buy Apple stock for the long term rather than trade it in the short term. “Let’s take a 10-year view — because I was 55, 10 years ago — Apple stock was at $27.87. So you may want to trade Apple? Cramer was suggesting that it would not be out of the question to see Apple stock power ahead in a similar fashion in the next decade. Cramer said the iPhone, first launched in 2007, became ubiquitous over

As big endowment funds face mounting pressure to reduce their exposure to the fossil fuel industry, there’s one thing making their decision easier: the energy sector’s underperformance. Energy’s lackluster performance coincides with college students across the United States protesting university endowments’ role in owning and supporting fossil fuel companies. On Feb 5. the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted in favor of the endowment divesting from the fossil fuel industry in a 179-20 vot

Here are four money moves you can make in your 30s that experts say can leave you wealthier in your 40s. Update your emergency fundThe greatest thing is to have options, and when you establish a good [financial] plan in your 30s and work that plan, it allows you to build those options for your 40s. He says the best way to get ahead on retirement savings is by maximizing your employer 401(k) match, if you have a job that offers one. By age 35, your retirement savings should be twice your annual s

The Justice Department announced Monday that it’s indiciting four members of the Chinese military for the 2017 Equifax data hack, which exposed the personal information of 147 million Americans. The department’s painstaking investigation also found there’s no evidence the data stolen has been used “at this time,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said during a press conference Monday. The Equifax data breach, first announced in September 2017, is one of the largest in history, with 147 million c

But Barry’s concept is different, he says: “It’s basically the same ‘red room’ experience [as Barry’s Bootcamp], just instead of running, it’s cycling.” Barry’s Bootcamp, one of the original boutique fitness brands, which launched in 1998, is taking cycling alongside SoulCycle and Peloton, with a new indoor spin concept called Barry’s Ride. The move comes amid rumors of a potential sale of Barry’s Bootcamp that could begin early this year, according to an October Bloomberg report that cited peop

That’s the advice Warren Buffett gave his friends Bill and Melinda Gates when he pledged millions of shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock to their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006. And as the foundation and the Gates focus on the future, Bill Gates says they will take Buffett’s advice into account still. You are our lift,” Melinda Gates wrote in an August Facebook post in honor of Buffett’s 89th birthday. Bill Gates and Buffett also created The Giving Pledge in 2010, which invites billion

Although Elon Musk is especially active on Twitter, he is seemingly less fond of Facebook. In March 2018, Musk deleted both the Tesla and SpaceX Facebook pages, saying that he “didn’t realize” there were pages on the platform for his companies. “Looks lame anyway,” Musk tweeted at the time. “It’s not a political statement and I didn’t do this because someone dared me to do it,” Musk tweeted after deleting his companies’ Facebook pages. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak deleted his Facebook account

Coronavirus mortality rate will be less than 1 percent, predicts doctorDr. Ian Lipkin, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, joins ‘The Exchange’ to recount his recent visit to China amid the coronavirus outbreak and what can be done now to help the situation.

Coronavirus death toll tops 900, surpasses SARSThe coronavirus death toll just topped 900, surpassing the number of fatalities during the SARS epidemic. More than 40,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed. Some provinces are allowing business activities to partially resume. However, some provinces have now told companies to not return to work until March 1, according to officials.

Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:Tesla (TSLA) — Shares of Tesla rose more than 1% on heavy trading volume. Taubman Centers (TCO) — Taubman Centers shares soared more than 50% after the mall owner announced that it would be acquired by rival Simon Property Group. The new offer consists of $18.40 per share in cash and 0.149 Xerox shares for each HP share and values the company at $34.8 billion. FedEx (FDX) — Shares of the shipping company rose nearly 2% following an upgrade t

Ford Motor resumed vehicle production at its plants in Chongqing and Hangzhou, according to Anderson Chan, a company spokesman. Tesla, according to Reuters and local media reports, on Monday reopened its Shanghai gigafactory. Other automakers such as General Motors and Japan’s largest automakers are preparing to restart their China operations in the coming days and weeks, according to officials. Honda Motor on Friday said it planned to restart production at its plants in Wuhan on Feb. 13. A comp

Concern about the coronavirus is weighing heavily on the outlook for first quarter growth and some forecasters suggest the equity market is not taking the threat as seriously as the bond market. A CNBC survey of 11 forecasters over the weekend finds first quarter GDP estimates averaging just 1.2%, down nearly a point from the fourth quarter. First quarter forecasts range from a low of 0.4% from UBS to a high of 2% for Action Economics. The downgrades come, importantly, as the U.S. data has impro

World Health Organization officials are concerned about new coronavirus cases confirmed in France and the U.K. that were transmitted without any travel history to China. World health officials said the respiratory disease, which has sickened more than 40,000 people worldwide and killed at least 910, mostly in China, is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing, and germs left on inanimate objects. Mike KempThe coronavirus pneumonia produc

The return of Popeyes’ chicken sandwich helped parent company Restaurant Brands International top analysts’ expectations for its quarterly earnings and revenue. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen’s chicken sandwich returned to restaurants in early November, helping the fried chicken chain’s same-store sales grow by 34% during the quarter. Burger King’s same-store sales grew by 2.8%. Its U.S. same-store sales growth was slower this quarter, rising only 0.6%. Analysts were expecting U.S. same-store sales g

Coronavirus worldwide death toll surpasses SARSCNBC’s Eunice Yoon reports on the latest details about the coronavirus outbreak in China.

White House will release its fiscal 2021 budget—Here are the detailsPresident Trump is set to unveil his $4.8 trillion budget proposal, aiming to slash social programs and roll out more tax cuts. CNBC’s Ylan Mui reports.