The Trump administration said Friday that it will block people in the United States from downloading popular Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat starting Sunday. Both apps are used by over 100 million people in the country.

The coronavirus is shaking up America’s liquor laws.

At least 33 states and the District of Columbia are temporarily allowing cocktails to-go during the pandemic. Only two — Florida and Mississippi — allowed them on a limited basis before coronavirus struck, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Struggling restaurants say it’s a lifeline, letting them rehire bartenders, pay rent and reestablish relationships with customers. But others want states to slow down, saying the decades-old laws help ensure public safety.

Just ask Apple: it's easy to crush earnings expectations - especially if you are forcing droves of iPhone owners to ditch their old phones and buy new ones.

Right around the time that Apple stock was surging to new highs thanks to a better than expected earnings report and stock split, another story was surfacing: Arizona is leading a multi-state investigation into whether or not Apple is deliberately slowing its old iPhones, and whether such practices would violate deceptive trade laws.

When Americans received stimulus checks during the Great Recession, studies indicated many spent at least of portion of their money on cars.

During the 2008 stimulus program, up to 90% of the rise in durable good spending had to do with auto spending, according to previous research by the American Economic Association. (At that time, the government paid an individual between $300 and $600 and couples received between $600 and $1,200. The government paid $300 per child as well.)

The coronavirus pandemic dealt another crushing blow to retailers in April. Now the question is what the sector will look like as the economy reopens — and how much permanent damage has been inflicted.

Retail sales fell 16.4 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, by far the largest monthly drop on record. That followed an 8.3 percent drop in March, the previous record. Total sales for April, which include retail purchases in stores and online as well as money spent at bars and restaurants, were the lowest since 2012, even without accounting for inflation.

Consumer spending tumbled a record 16.4% in April as the backbone of the U.S. economy retrenched amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government report Friday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the advanced retail sales number to fall 12.3% after March’s reported 8.3% dive already had set a record for data going back to 1992. The March numbers were revised to be not as bad as the 8.7% initially reported.

The numbers: Sales at U.S. retailers sank a record 16.4% in April after coronavirus lockdowns shuttered much of the economy, cost millions of jobs and spawned an unprecedented slump in consumer spending.

Retail sales tumbled in every category except online shopping, the government said Friday. Sales also sank by a revised 8.3% in March, easily marking the worst back-to-back declines in modern American history.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 12.5% plunge.

I went grocery shopping this weekend. Not just a quick stop to pick up a few things, but a cart-filling trip to replenish supplies at both my apartment and at my boyfriend’s.

I expected my grocery shopping to be part of a productive Sunday. But my plans for the day went awry when the trip put me on the verge of a panic attack. I’m naturally anxious, but woof—it was a rough afternoon.

"The covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact around the world,” warned Fred Smith, boss of FedEx, at his firm’s earnings conference on March 17th. That is putting it mildly. The express-delivery giant announced that it was slashing its delivery capacity and, for the first time ever, refused to give earnings guidance. While economists debate whether this recession will be short-lived or sustained (see Briefing), bosses the world over already see mayhem. The virus has destroyed $23trn in global market value since mid-February.

Facing surging prices amid a global pandemic, Kansas attorney general Derek Schmidt told reporters last week that his office intends to prosecute profiteers and “prevent opportunistic greed from overcoming the public need for necessary virus-response products and services during this time of emergency.” New Jersey’s lead prosecutor, Gurbir Grewal, struck a similar tone, warning corporations that “price-gouging laws will be strictly enforced to protect consumers trying to stay safe and take measures to protect themselves and their loved ones from the spread of the disease.” In both cases — a