WASHINGTON -- For as many as 143 million consumers whose personal data was stolen in the breach of the Equifax credit bureau, here's how criminals might take advantage:

They might try to buy a gun in your name. Or get a second mortgage on your house. They could lease a car by impersonating you, and crash it. They might steal your tax refund ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- R-rated thrill rides continue to rule the box office with 20th Century Fox's profane spy sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" and New Line Cinema's horror flick "It" dominating the top spots.

A sequel to the 2015 hit "Kingsman: The Secret Service," the $104 million film debuted just below analysts' predictions of $40 million to $...Read more

OTTAWA, Ontario -- The head of Canada's largest private-sector union said there's been "no progress" in North American Free Trade Agreement talks and that he expects the U.S., Mexico and Canada to eventually abandon them.

The U.S. hasn't presented detailed written proposals at the third round of talks being held in Ottawa, Jerry Dias said ...Read more

After Hurricane Irma's devastating 72-hour pass through northern Cuba, the Cuban government took a novel approach to storm relief: It posted a Cuban bank account number on social media where donations can be sent.

Even though the Cuban Foreign Ministry provided the code to facilitate donations to an account at the government Banco Financiera ...Read more

WASHINGTON ––The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says its database of company filings has significantly increased corporate transparency. But a hack that led to the theft of market-moving secrets is the latest sign that technology also brings dangers the SEC is struggling against.

The breach adds to a growing list of SEC ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sprint and T-Mobile are again reportedly close to agreeing to tentative terms for a merger.

Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that SoftBank Group Corp, which controls Sprint, would own 40 percent to 50 percent of the combined new company, which would be dominated by T-Mobile majority owner Deutsche Telekom.

...Read more

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. is planning to lay off at least 5,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its workforce, according to a business media report.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the job cuts, which will occur in the U.S. and abroad, are expected to begin before the end of the year. HP Enterprise did not immediately respond to a ...Read more

You don't have to be a genius, a math brain or know anything about the stock market to invest your money well and retire comfortably.

Most people don't think of themselves as investors. But just about anyone with a fourth-grade education can get key money decisions right -- like feeding a 401(k) or IRA regularly -- and retire with a stash that'...Read more

If the Equifax security breach didn't get investors' attention -- and it should have -- the hack of Edgar will.

Edgar stands for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system. It is the Securities and Exchange Commission's online filing system for all kinds of financial data by publicly traded companies. Most of that data becomes ...Read more

General Motors is feeding its golden goose.

The automaker, which once behaved as if "brand strategy" were another term for wringing every penny from its brands today with little thought of the future, is investing in new vehicles and features to strengthen its low profile but hot-selling and highly profitable GMC brand.

"We have huge ambitions...Read more

SEATTLE -- It's not a second headquarters, but Amazon.com says it will add about 2,000 employees in New York City during the next three years, more than doubling an outpost focused on the online retailer's advertising business.

Seattle-based Amazon already employs about 1,800 people in the Big Apple, spread across advertising roles, a fashion ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Facebook said Thursday that it would turn over to Congress copies of more than 3,000 ads linked to a shadowy Russian company, for House and Senate committees' investigations of Kremlin interference in the 2016 election.

The move is an about-face for Facebook, which earlier this month said it had given the ads and other information...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The nation's top financial markets regulator has revealed that its computer system was hacked last year and that private information might have been used to make "illicit gains" through stock trades.

Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said in a statement posted on the agency's website Wednesday ...Read more

LONDON -- Iraq's Kurdish provinces plan to vote in a referendum on independence on Sept. 25, a poll that regional and Western powers, not to mention the central government in Baghdad, have decried as a catalyst for greater instability in a region gutted by war. At stake are the petrodollars that have helped sustain the Kurdish Regional ...Read more

Q: We were in the middle of buying our new home when Hurricane Irma arrived. We still want to buy the home. What happens now? -- Joan

A: When a hurricane is approaching, it becomes impossible to get homeowner's insurance, causing most closings to be delayed.

The standard real estate contract used in most closings will contain a clause dealing ...Read more