The administration wants to pay for the higher defense spending with cuts to domestic programs but so far the Democrats have resisted the plan. “A shutdown of the federal government generally impacts government contractors and of course we’re speaking of federal contractors in one of two ways,” said Joseph Martinez, a Denver-based attorney specializing in defense and government contracts with the Dentons law firm. First, he said when there’s a shutdown the funding is gone and “government essenti

Traders believe the action may initially cause lumber futures to jump, which in turn will weigh on shares of homebuilders when trading begins Tuesday. “The last time the U.S. imposed tariffs on Canadian lumber was in 2006. Lumber futures are up more than 20 percent this year as traders bet it may come to this. Short-term spikes have weighed on housing shares in the past. CNBC looked at how certain related securities performed when lumber futures spiked by 5 percent or more in a single day, somet

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated an openness on Monday to delaying his push to secure funds for his promised border wall with Mexico, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government. A Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare imploded in Congress last month and the White House said on Monday that another vote could not come for weeks. Earlier on Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump’s demand that Cong

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday his agency will impose new anti-subsidy tariffs averaging 20 percent on Canadian softwood lumber imports, a move that escalates a long-running trade dispute between the two countries. Speaking to Reuters by phone a day ahead of the expected announcement, Ross said that the duties would affect $5 billion worth of softwood lumber imports from Canada. “It’s about 31.5 percent of the total U.S. market, so it’s a pretty big deal in terms of the Canad

A new analysis finds that the government could be hit with $12.3 billion in extra Obamacare-related costs in 2018 alone if it stops spending $10 billion in one type of financial aid for Obamacare customers. More than 7 million Obamacare customers get cost-sharing reduction aid, which Republican congressional leaders have said they would like to eliminate as part of their Obamacare replacement bill. Because those premiums would rise, so would the government’s costs from subsidizing those premiums

Ford says Mustang global sales climbed to more than 150,000 last year, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2015. “The legacy of Mustang continues to grow, and in places it never reached before,” said Mark Schaller, Ford Mustang marketing manager. By 2015, Ford started shipping the pony car overseas, and since then, those international sales have been a primary reason for the car’s global growth. The best year ever for Mustang sales was 1966, when Ford sold 607,000. Last year, Mustang sales in t

Activist investor Marcato Capital Management has hit out once again at Buffalo Wild Wings, saying the restaurant chain made an “astronomical error” in definitive proxy materials it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday. In a Monday statement, Marcato said Buffalo Wild Wings had falsely stated in a chart that the company’s shares outperformed the S&P 600 Restaurant Index over a five-year period ending Dec 25, 2016. The hedge fund claimed that the shares had, in fact,

The euro’s sharp bounce on Monday was partly due to the triggering of stop-loss buying at $1.09, said Tan Teck Leng, forex analyst for UBS Wealth Management in Singapore. After that rally, lingering caution over the risk of a surprise win by Le Pen in the runoff vote will probably limit the euro’s gains for now, he said. “Our view on the euro/dollar is that between now and May 7, you’ll probably be trading between $1.08 and $1.10,” Tan said. The Canadian dollar fell 0.4 percent after U.S. Commer

Bullion prices fell about 0.7 percent in the previous session after touching $1,265.90 an ounce, the lowest since April 11, following the first round of France’s presidential election that indicated less support for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Still, analysts said safe-haven demand for gold remained strong amid the tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme as well as a potential government shutdown in the United States this week. “A weaker dollar, Korean tensions and the u

Oil prices inched up on Tuesday but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of declines as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 24 cents, or 0.5 percent, by 0305 GMT, but remained below the $50 mark pierced late last week, at $49.47 a barrel. Brent crude rose 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $51.86 per barrel. Traders said the gains were a

The euro traded at $1.0864 against the dollar, off the five-month high of $1.0935 hit after Emmanuel Macron garnered 23.7 percent of the vote in the first round of the French election. “France would be set on two very different courses depending upon who wins the election … With this in mind, there has been very little follow through in the euro,” said BK Asset Management Managing Director Kathy Lien in a note. Markets are also keeping an eye on developments on the Korean Peninsula as the USS

Apple is slated to report fiscal second quarter earnings on May 2. “We remain bullish on Apple in 2017 given what we believe is unprecedented pent-up replacement demand, combined with expectations for a materially different iPhone product this year. “We are a bit concerned about iPhone demand ahead of the launch of a compelling product in late 2017,” he wrote. As a result, Hall’s estimates for Apple’s June quarter are $44.2 billion in sales and $1.53 in earnings per share versus the Wall Street

The CEO of a service intended to block spam emails is in damage control mode after it was revealed that the company sneakily sells user data. However, Slice has another business: selling user data to marketing companies. Uber was using Slice’s data services to find out more about Lyft’s business, which in turn tapped Unroll.Me user data according to a New York Times report. In response, the company’s CEO wrote that he was heartbroken that people discovered the company sells its user data. “Our u

Late last week Netflix said it reached 100 million subscribers, a remarkable milestone for the video streaming service that analysts believe means this quarter’s financial results may be better than Wall Street is currently anticipating. Netflix shares opened Monday up about 1 percent, trading around $144 per share after closing up more than 1 percent on Friday on the subscriber news. #superstitious”Now that Netflix has achieved this notable subscriber milestone, many analysts are saying the com

During the last few years, coding boot camps have been popping up all over the United States. The high demand is mostly due to students wanting a more streamlined approach to their education. And depending on what kind of program you enroll in, you could end up paying less, just as much, or perhaps more than you would at a regular university studying computer science. To give you a jump start, PayScale crunched the numbers so you can see what colleges and universities currently offer the best va

Kitty Hawk, one of the two “flying car” companies being backed by Google founder Larry Page, has published the first video of its prototype aircraft. The company describes the Kitty Hawk Flyer as an “all-electric aircraft” that is designed to operate over water and doesn’t require a pilot’s license to fly. Kitty Hawk promises people will be able to learn to fly the Flyer “in minutes.” A consumer version will be available by the end of this year, the company says. The video is part commercial and

President Donald Trump called the International Space Station on Monday to congratulate astronaut Peggy Whitson for staying in space longer than any other American. Whitson, who has been at the ISS for 534 days and counting, is scheduled to stay there for at least another five months. Her record surpasses that of fellow American astronaut Jeff Williams. “That is an incredible record to break, and on behalf of our nation,” Trump said during a call to the ISS on Monday morning, “and frankly on beh

2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg is also a mentor, a mother, a billionaire and an author. Her new book—”Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy,” written with psychologist Adam Grant—chronicles the devastating loss, her grief and how she emerged from it with a new perspective on life. Sandberg also uses the new book to address what she now sees as shortcomings in the career advice she offered women in “Lean In.” Surveying the world as a wealthy corporate executive rendered he

White House press secretary Sean Spicer held his daily briefing Monday ahead of this week’s possible fight over keeping the government open. Congress returns from a recess this week with only a few days before government funding ends on Friday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also appeared at the briefing after his department unveiled sanctions against 271 individuals in response to an apparent chemical attack in Syria earlier this month. However, he said Friday that “it doesn’t matter” if a h

It’s one of the most common responses when retailers are asked how they plan to bring customers back into their shops: make the in-store experience more exciting. With mall traffic deteriorating in nearly every quarter since 2014, retailers need to hone in on what makes their brand unique and find a way to bring it alive for customers. By using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, shoppers can hold up a leather swatch in front of a custom screen. Yet even for retailers that get it r