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Stock market today: Asian markets mostly slip on the first trading day of 2024 01/01/2024 11:59pm • Asian markets opened the year on a downward trend after Wall Street benchmarks ticked lower on the last trading day of 2023. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices gained more than $1 a barrel. Japan's markets were closed for a holiday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong sank 1.5% to 16,800.73 and th 2023's 10 Best-Performing Stocks 01/01/2024 07:00pm • The S&P 500 finished the year on a high note in December as positive economic data, falling inflation and the possibility of 2024 interest rate cuts boosted investor sentiment. After a strong December performance, the S&P 500 finished 2023 up more than 24% and within striking distance of all More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds 01/01/2024 01:27pm • WASHINGTON (AP) — In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top focus for the U.S. government in 2024, with a new poll showing international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults named foreign policy topics i The year in review: Influential people who died in 2023 12/31/2023 06:30pm • Yevgeny Prigozhin rose from being an ex-con and hot dog vendor to winning lucrative Kremlin contracts and heading a formidable mercenary army. But it all came to a sudden end when the private plane carrying him and others mysteriously exploded over Russia. Prigozhin's Aug. 23 death put an exclamatio Displaced, repatriated and crossing borders: Afghan people make grueling journeys to survive 12/31/2023 12:09am • TORKHAM, Afghanistan (AP) — The barren desert plain among the mountains of eastern Afghanistan is filled with hundreds of thousands of people. Some live in tents. Others live out in the open, among the piles of the few belongings they managed to take as they were forced from neighboring Pakistan. Activists who engage with voters of color are looking for messages that will resonate in 2024 12/30/2023 08:42am • WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s elections in Louisiana didn’t go the way that voting rights advocate Ashley Shelton had hoped, with the far-right conservative attorney general replacing a term-limited Democratic governor and consolidating Republican control in the state. Turnout was just 37%, de Activists who engage with voters of color are looking for messages that will resonate in 2024 12/30/2023 08:32am • WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s elections in Louisiana didn’t go the way that voting rights advocate Ashley Shelton had hoped, with the far-right conservative attorney general replacing a term-limited Democratic governor and consolidating Republican control in the state. Turnout was just 37%, de Fisker, BGC Group rise; Hut 8 falls, Friday, 12/29/2023 12/29/2023 04:16pm • NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Friday: Boeing Co., up 31 cents to $260.66. The airplane builder is asking airlines to inspect 737 MAX planes for potential problems with the rudder control system. Alphabet Inc., down 54 cents to $139.69. Google's pare SmileDirectClub is shutting down. Where does that leave its customers? 12/29/2023 09:20am • NEW YORK (AP) — Just months after filing for bankruptcy, SmileDirectClub announced it was shutting down its global operations and halting its teeth-aligner treatments. That leaves existing SmileDirectClub customers with a lot of questions and few available answers. The company is offering no more Stock market today: U.S. futures are little changed as Wall Street wraps up surprisingly good year 12/29/2023 08:17am • NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are little changed Friday as the market puts the wraps on a year of surprisingly robust gains. The benchmark S&P 500 index is just 0.3% from an all-time high after a gain of 24.6% in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at a record 37,710.10. The Nasda 7 Best Long-Term ETFs to Buy and Hold 12/28/2023 07:00pm • When a New Year dawns on Wall Street, you never know what to expect. Consider that at the beginning of 2022, many investors were optimistic about a reopened economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, they were saddled with an ugly 18% decline for the S&P 500 on the year. Then again, 202 Personal Loan Statistics and Trends to Watch in 2024 12/28/2023 07:00pm • Consumers are increasingly turning to unsecured personal loans to achieve their financial goals, whether they want to knock out home improvement projects, consolidate high-interest credit card debt or simply pay for an unexpected car repair. Personal loan balances have ballooned -- both at the indiv How to Navigate Student Loan Repayment in 2024 12/28/2023 07:00pm • After three years of COVID-19 forbearance expired in October 2023, transitioning millions of Americans back into student loan repayment has been a logistical nightmare. More than 14 million borrowers had their loans transferred to a new servicer during the pandemic payment pause, according to the Co 'It was a weird year': 2023 on the Hill 12/28/2023 01:37am • For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill. Congress faces major challenges ahead in 2024, after a tumultuous year that included the ouster of the House Speaker, a self-imposed shutdown when Republicans were unable to Wolfgang Schaeuble, German elder statesman and finance minister during euro debt crisis, dies at 81 12/27/2023 05:12pm • BERLIN (AP) — Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis two decades later, has died. He was 81. Schaeuble died at home on Tuesday evening, his family told G