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Catherine Baab

Catherine Baab

Quartz

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The Fed's favorite inflation gauge was already running hot. And that was before war sent gas prices soaring

Because oil is an input cost for freight, manufacturing, and more, a sustained energy shock has the potential to embed itself in the price of almost...

previous day 2

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Stocks sink as oil prices rise and Middle East conflict deepens

Stocks fell across the board as markets assessed White House promises of a quick and tidy conflict with Iran versus the reality of a historic oil...

thursday 1

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The last month of stable prices? Inflation report shows calm before Iran and tariff shocks

The latest BLS report shows inflation data from before the U.S. attack on Iran caused a global oil shock

11.03.2026 3

Quartz

Catherine Baab

To buy a piece of Bill Ackman's hedge fund, you'll have to buy something else first

The billionaire's hedge fund is going public — and the deal has a unique structure

10.03.2026 1

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Economic risks are mounting as the Iran war continues. Rising gas prices could be just the beginning

Already paying 50 cents more per gallon at the pump, Americans could see even more economic fallout from the Iran war in the weeks and months to come

09.03.2026 2

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The oil alarm is ringing. Stocks slide and crude prices rocket as the Iran war continues

U.S. stocks are tumbling and oil prices are rocketing as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and regional producers curb outputs

09.03.2026 4

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Catherine Baab

AI isn't taking people's jobs. Here's what's really happening

Oracle's layoffs show that the people losing jobs aren't losing them because AI can do their work. They're losing them to money spent on chips and...

06.03.2026 1

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The jobs market is getting worse and white-collar layoffs piling up

The economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, while white-collar woes worsened and long-term unemployment rose

06.03.2026 4

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Kroger stock pops on solid earnings, bucking the market's downward trend

The grocery and pharma businesses are performing steadily, even if the company, with its 2,700 stores, may be running out of spots to build new ones

05.03.2026 0

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The Pentagon's fight with Anthropic is a threat to America's entire AI boom

Can the U.S. win an AI arms race against China when its own government attacks the American companies doing the racing?

05.03.2026 1

Quartz

Catherine Baab

All about the First Amendment

The First Amendment is only 45 words long, yet 235 years of court battles have left Americans fiercely devoted to an idea many struggle to define

05.03.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The white-collar jobs wipeout is getting worse

The topline number — 63,000 private-sector jobs added in February — appears to be good news. But a closer look brings something alarming into view

04.03.2026 3

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The market muddles through the fog of a widening war in the Middle East

Stocks shifted uneasily into positive territory following a report that Iran made indirect contact with the U.S. to float terms for ending the war

04.03.2026 5

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Gas prices rise and stocks sink around the globe as U.S. deepens Iran campaign. Here's what to know

Around the world, stocks fell and energy prices rose as Trump vowed U.S. could fight "forever"

03.03.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

AI is already hollowing out the white-collar economy

Economists, researchers, and workers are increasingly asking what happens to an economy built around a premium on human intelligence when that premium...

03.03.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

Target beats low earnings expectations as markets crater

Target released results that weren't as bad as expected, and amid the deepening and market-rattling U.S. conflict in Iran, that was enough to pass for...

03.03.2026 8

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Stocks sink and oil prices surge after the U.S. attacks Iran. Here's what to know

The sudden eruption of the Middle East conflict saw stocks drop around the world and introduced new uncertainty into global markets

02.03.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Jack Dorsey's Block lays off 4,000 and blames AI. Is it just a convenient excuse?

Wall Street rewards CEOs who make steep cuts and attribute those cuts to AI. That could embolden other management teams to follow suit

27.02.2026 5

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Billions are on the line. Who will get tariff refunds?

After the tariff rollout chaos comes the tariff refund chaos, as thousands of affected companies file lawsuits and analysts describe a messy process

26.02.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Trump says the economy is 'roaring.' Consumers aren't convinced

New earnings reports and consumer confidence data show that affordability remains a major worry for Americans

25.02.2026 8

Quartz

Catherine Baab

'The rest of the economy is shrinking': Experts worry health care jobs are the only source of growth

Health care jobs are propping up the U.S. labor market as white-collar sectors contract. Here's what's behind the trend

12.02.2026 3

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The truth about the jobs report

A closely watched jobs report beat expectations. But the details tell a very different story, with gains almost entirely concentrated in...

11.02.2026 2

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The CVS turnaround is real

For much of the past few years, CVS was treated as a problem stock. But new earnings show a promised comeback is actually happening

10.02.2026 3

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The dollar is under fire in China

China has reportedly told domestic banks to diversify away from USD holdings. The warning did not appear to apply to Chinese government holdings

09.02.2026 5

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Catherine Baab

Marriage has a retention problem

The phenomenon of women leaving marriage is increasingly visible and public, though the exact historical forces that brought us here remain...

08.02.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

Big Tech's AI spending spree is unprecedented

The AI arms race is set to top $650 billion this year alone. And that's just between four companies. It's unprecedented in modern economic history

06.02.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

How Pinterest's firing of two layoff-tracking engineers became a corporate morality play

Pinterest's firing of layoff-tracking engineers flies in the face of the CEO's public positioning of the platform. But there's even more to the story

05.02.2026 3

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Catherine Baab

How boosterism built America

Boosterism has shaped American growth for centuries. As AI companies sell the future, the same old strategy is back

05.02.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

The weight loss drug giants are going in opposite directions

Novo Nordisk invented the modern weight loss drug market with Ozempic. But it's Eli Lilly that is now best positioned to scale that market profitably

04.02.2026 5

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Catherine Baab

Pharma stocks in the hot seat as Merck and Pfizer release earnings

The pharma industry is handling big transitions, as highlighted in Merck's and Pfizer's earnings, released Tuesday

03.02.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

Disney had a quarter full of records. But a YouTube dispute and tourism weigh on the stock

Disney's hits keep coming, setting new records. But a YouTube fight, higher expenses, and weaker global travel to the U.S. affect profits

02.02.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

American Express and Mastercard post strong earnings. But political risks loom large

Rising credit card debt and high interest rates equal political risk, even as the fourth quarter comes in strong for payments giants

30.01.2026 4

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Catherine Baab

Starbucks says human connection is driving a comeback. Baristas say it’s breaking them

Starbucks' "Green Apron Service" model is helping power growth. But some workers say it's just one more source of strain

30.01.2026 5

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Catherine Baab

Caterpillar had its best year ever. But tariffs weighed on profits

It seems as if 2025 might have been the best of years for many companies, across sectors, if it weren't for the headwinds caused by the trade wars

29.01.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab

The Fed holds interest rates steady despite unprecedented pressure from Trump

The move was widely expected by markets and observers, but is still likely to draw White House ire. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak shortly

28.01.2026 4

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Starbucks stock pops on return to sales growth

Starbucks reported long-awaited sales growth, with a mix of growing ticket sizes and increasing comparable-store traffic. But a strike continues

28.01.2026 6

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Catherine Baab

Amazon is laying off 16,000 more workers as AI accelerates tech job losses

“Jobs are going to be impacted by what’s happening with AI over time,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said before the layoffs were announced

28.01.2026 30

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Catherine Baab

American Airlines eyes wealthier flyers as the government shutdown drags down earnings

The airline made clear it’s betting that the path to larger and steadier profits travels through the high end of the market

27.01.2026 0

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Catherine Baab

GM earnings show just how hard tariffs are hitting

Tariffs cost GM more than $3 billion last year and accounted for the majority of the automaker's year-over-year decline in profits

27.01.2026 2

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Catherine Baab

Trump is flirting with a massive inflation shock

The president's threatened 100% tariffs on Canadian goods could dramatically raise the cost of living for Americans

26.01.2026 4

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Catherine Baab

Substack says it's coming for your TV. Will anyone notice?

Once pitched as a refuge from the attention economy, the newsletter platform is making a familiar pivot. But users barely blinked

23.01.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

Inflation is cooling, so why do groceries still cost so much?

CPI met expectations as used car prices fell, while core CPI rose 0.2%, keeping U.S. inflation near the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal.

23.01.2026 8

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Procter & Gamble earnings show that tariffs are hitting even the basics

When even Tide, Charmin, Old Spice, and Duracell need constant defense, the geopolitical storm is truly inescapable

22.01.2026 20

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Catherine Baab

What CEOs and world leaders are really saying at Davos

There's a widespread recognition that when disruption is driven by whims, it tends to raise prices and make political problems more difficult to solve

21.01.2026 10

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Catherine Baab

Stocks plummet as political risk and bond turmoil collide

Trump renewed his fight with Europe by threatening tariffs unless Denmark lets the U.S. “buy” Greenland. European leaders weren't amused

20.01.2026 20

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Catherine Baab

America's new land boom isn’t about housing — or even people

Across the U.S., the AI infrastructure boom is quietly rewiring how land is bought, valued, and governed — often before the public has its say

20.01.2026 30

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Catherine Baab

Trump canceled or stopped enforcement against 166 corporations in his first year. Many of them were donors

New analysis finds federal agencies halted or limited enforcement and prosecution, including many involving companies and individuals with ties to...

16.01.2026 20

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Goldman Sachs gets rich making the rich richer

The bank's earnings reflect an economy where access to capital, regular markets, private markets, and high-end financial services means everything

15.01.2026 20

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Catherine Baab

Big banks had a big year — and shareholders made bank

Profits rolled in across Wall Street, with stock prices rising to match. By most measures, 2025 was a great year for the sector

14.01.2026 20

Quartz

Catherine Baab

Inflation is steady. Grocery prices are not

A new inflation report is reassuring on some fronts. But it also points to why so many consumers still experience cost-of-living headaches

13.01.2026 10

Quartz

Catherine Baab