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Iran and Israel traded attacks on Saturday as the war in the Middle East escalated into a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week. View More

Israeli soldiers work at the scene of damage after Iranian missile barrages struck residential buildings in Arad in southern Israel on March 22, 2026.Ronen Zvulun | Reuters Iran and Israel traded attacks on Saturday as the war in the Middle East escalated in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week.Dozens of people were injured after IranÂ struck two communities near Israel's main nuclear research site. The Israeli military said its defenses were not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona andÂ Arad.It marked the first time in the war that Israel's nuclear research center was targeted.Initial footage from the scene showed a bus with its windows blown out and heavy damage to several buildings, and dozens of firefighters and police responding to two separate impact sites. Israel's rescue services said four people were seriously injured, including a 4-year-old girl, and 29 were lightly injured. Authorities are still looking for several people who are unaccounted for."This is a very difficult evening," Israeli Prime MinisterÂ Benjamin NetanyahuÂ said, adding that more emergency resources were being sent to the scene.The strikes on Israel came after Iranian media reported U.S.-Israeli forces had attacked the Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan Natanz nuclear enrichment complex. Technical experts found that no radioactive leaks âhad occurred and nearby residents were not at risk.Israel denied responsibility and said it wasn't aware of Israeli strikes in that region. TheÂ International Atomic Energy AgencyÂ said in a post on X that "no abnormal radiation levels have been detected" and added that it is looking into the report. The same nuclear facility was targeted by Israel and the United States during the 12-day war with Iran in June 2025.Meanwhile, Israel said it had attacked Tehran, Karaj, west of the capital, and the central city of Isfahan. Three members of a family were killed in a strike on a residential building in the city of Ramsar, Iranian media reported.The death toll has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, over 1,000 in Lebanon, at least 60 in Iraq, 17 in Israel, 13 U.S. service members, 8 in the United Arab Emirates, 5 in Kuwait, 3 in Saudi Arabia, and 2 in Bahrain. U.K. says Iran unsuccessfully targeted base Iran unsuccessfully targeted a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean, U.K. officials said."Iran's unsuccessful targeting of Diego Garcia was before yesterday's update on the use of U.K. bases by the U.S.," the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence (MoD) told CNBC in an emailed statement.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said Friday that ministers had approved U.S. forces'Â use ofÂ British bases to defend the region, including "U.S. defensive operations to degrade missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz."The MoD said the U.K. has given the U.S. permission to use its bases at RAF Fairford in England and at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands for "specific and limited defensive operations." Diego Garcia, a British Indian Ocean Territory and the largest of the islands in the Chagos Archipelago on July 02, 2013 in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.USGS NASA | Gallo Images | Getty Images Iran targetedÂ the island with a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, Israel's military said. This refers to missiles with at least two rocket engines, one allowing the missile to reach space, and the other propels it to its target, at a range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles)."These missiles are not intended to strikeÂ Israel. Their range extends to the capitals ofÂ EuropeÂ âÂ Berlin,Â Paris, andÂ RomeÂ are all within direct threat range," Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.Â Eyal ZamirÂ said.The Wall Street Journal first reported the attack on Friday, â citing multiple U.S. âofficials."Iran's reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies," the U.K. said in its statement. "[Royal Air Force] jets and other U.K. military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region."The reported attack marked Iran's first operational use of intermediate-range ballistic missiles and a significant attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests, the Wall Street Journal said. U.S. allows sale of Iran oil at sea The war, which began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iranian targets, has effectively choked off the narrow and economically crucial Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the United Arab Emirates. Around one-fifth of the world's oil transits the Strait. Daily transit calls have tumbled to nearly zero from highs above 120 seen earlier this year, according to data analyzed by Charles Schwab. Much of the crude from the Gulf usually heads to Asia.Benchmark Brent crude oil futures for May rose 3.26% to $112.19 a barrel on Friday, its highest close since July 2022. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April settled 2.27% higher at $98.32 a barrel. watch nowVIDEO5:2405:24Iran war, oil headed into 'critical stage,' says Again Capital's KilduffFast Money The Trump administration's latest attempt to ease prices came late Friday, when it waived sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days. The move is expected to bring 140 billion barrels of oil to global markets, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted âon X."This temporary, short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil that is already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production," he said. "Further, Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system."The license authorizing the sale and delivery, posted after market hours on â the âTreasury Department's website, allows Iranian oil into the U.S. when necessary for its sale, delivery or offloading. Iranian oil hasn't been meaningfully imported to the U.S. since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Threat to Strait of Hormuz 'degraded' On Saturday, Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command, touted the U.S. military's progress in the war, including the deployment of multiple 5,000 bombs on an underground facility along Iran's coastline in an effort to open up the Strait of Hormuz. "Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz has been degraded," he said in a post on X. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday he is not interested in a ceasefire with Iran."We could have dialogue, but I don't want to do a ceasefire," Trump said from theÂ White HouseÂ South Lawn before departing for Florida. "You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side.""They don't have a navy. They don't have an air force. They don't have any equipment," Trump continued.In aÂ Truth Social postÂ later Friday afternoon, Trump claimed that the U.S. is "getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East." watch nowVIDEO1:0801:08Trump on Iran war: 'I don't want to do a ceasefire'Closing Bell: Overtime However, hours after Trump's remarks, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz countered that Israeli attacks against Iran will "increase significantly" in the coming week."This week, the intensity of the attacks that the IDF and the U.S. military will carry out against the Iranian terrorist regime and against the infrastructures on which it relies will increase significantly," Katz said in a video statement. G7 ready to protect global energy supplies The Group of Seven countries are ready to take necessary measures to support global energy supplies, its foreign ministers said in a statement. They also reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime routes, including in the Strait of Hormuz. "We ... express support to our partners in the region in the face of the unjustifiable attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies," the ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the top EU diplomat, the statement said. "We condemn in the strongest terms the regime's reckless attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including energy infrastructure," it said. Iran calls for 'immediate cessation' of 'aggression' Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said there needs âto be an "immediate cessation" of what âhe described as U.S.-Israeli aggression to end the war âand wider regional conflict, Iran's embassy in India said in an X post on Saturday.Pezeshkian spoke with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi âby phone earlier â in the day.Pezeshkian told Modi that there should be guarantees to â prevent a recurrence of such "aggression" in the future. He also called on the BRICS bloc âof major âemerging economies to âplay an independent ârole in halting aggression against Iran. 22 countries urge opening of Strait of Hormuz The leaders from 22 countries â including the United Arab Emirates, the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Bahrain â released a joint statement condemning Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as its attacks on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf and on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities in the region. Read more U.S.-Iran war newsU.S. allows 30-day sale of Iran oil at sea in bid to tame pricesTrump: Don't want Iran war ceasefire, considering 'winding down' militaryTrump: U.S. could end Iran war but will continue so it can 'never rebuild'Trump invokes Pearl Harbor in front of Japanese PM to defend Iran attackNetanyahu: Iran 'decimated' but revolution requires 'ground component'Netanyahu says Iran no longer has uranium enrichment capacityIran war-induced fertilizer shortage threatens farm state GOP in midtermsHegseth on potential $200B Iran war funds: 'Takes money to kill bad guys'Trump waives Jones Act shipping rules for 60 days to steady oil marketIsrael says it has killed Iran's intelligence ministerIran conflict looms large over Takaichi's summit with TrumpTrump slams NATO allies for sitting out Iran war, says U.S. never needed helpU.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over war: 'Iran posed no imminent threat'U.S. asks China to delay Xi meeting 'a month or so' due to Iran warUAE's Fujairah oil trading hub targeted by a drone attack, causing large fireTrump's latest fundraising pitch features U.S. soldiers killed in Iran warTrump, FCC chair slam broadcasters over reporting of Iran-hit U.S. tankersAnalysis: U.S. running out of ways to get oil prices down. It is up to the militaryTrump can't 'drill, baby, drill' his way out of this Iran-inspired oil crisis: Experts "We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817," the statement said.The countries said they are ready to contribute to "appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage through the strait. Saudi Arabia expels several Iranian diplomats The kingdom'sÂ Foreign MinistryÂ said the security attache and his assistant, along with three other staffers in the Iranian embassy inÂ Saudi Arabia, should leave within 24 hours. Hours earlier,Â Saudi ArabiaÂ downed 20 Iranian drones, according to itsÂ Defense Ministry.Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates said it responded to three ballistic missiles and eight drone attacks. Jordan's military said 240 missiles and drones have been fired atÂ JordanÂ since the war began, wounding 24 people.Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Saudi CrownÂ PrinceÂ Mohammed bin SalmanÂ stressed that the Iranian escalation against Gulf states endangers the safety and the stability of the region, the state-runÂ Saudi Press AgencyÂ reported. AndÂ Arab LeagueÂ chiefÂ Ahmed Aboul GheitÂ said the visits of el-Sissi and his Jordanian counterpart KingÂ Abdullah IIÂ to multiple Gulf states over the past few days "reflect full Arab solidarity." Iran vows safe passage for Japanese vessels Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas AraghchiÂ said Tehran is ready to facilitate the passage of Japanese vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that negotiations with Japan on the issue are ongoing. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi speaks at a weekly news conference in Tehran, Iran, on March 16, 2026.Shadati | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images "We have not closed the strait. It is open,"Â Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted Araghchi as saying in an interview on Friday.He also said that Iran is seeking "not a cease-fire, but a complete, comprehensive and lasting end to the war."AraghchiÂ said Iran has not closed the strategic waterway but has imposed restrictions on vessels belonging to countries involved in attacks against Iran, while offering assistance to others amid heightened security concerns, Kyodo reported.He added that Iran is prepared to ensure safe passage for countries such as Japan if they coordinate with Tehran. Iranian gas to Iraq reportedly resumes Iranian gas supplies to Iraq have resumed at a rate of five million cubic meters per day, the Iraqi electricity ministry said on Saturday, according to the state news agency.Flows had been cut off since Israel's attack on Iran's main gas field, South Pars, on Wednesday.â CNBC's Terri Cullen, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

At Nvidia's GTC conference this week, CEO Nvidia Jensen Huang dedicated a major part of his keynote to OpenClaw, a technology that didn't exist six months ago. View More

In this articleEBAYNVDAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT People queue to have their laptops install with OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant at the Baidu headquarter in Beijing on March 11, 2026.Adek Berry | Afp | Getty Images Three months ago, the tech industry was unaware of a lobster-themed AI coding project built by an under-the-radar Austrian software developer.OpenClaw, as that creation is known, has enjoyed such a rapid ascent since then that it took center stage this week at GTC, Nvidia's annual conference, where the leader of the world's most valuable company called it "the most popular, open-source project in the history of humanity." "This is definitely the next ChatGPT," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer on the sidelines of the developer event in Santa Clara, California. In his keynote, Huang described OpenClaw as the go-to option for building AI agents that can perform tasks like scouting eBay for deals and then placing bids, and said it "exceeded what Linux did in 30 years" in mere weeks.The phenomenon is so pivotal to Nvidia that the chipmaker said at GTC that it's building free accompanying security services â packaged as NemoClaw â intended to help spur more adoption of OpenClaw and get large businesses comfortable with its use.Huang was validating what the rest of the market has been witnessing. An independent developer, rather than a giant, richly valued lab like OpenAI or Anthropic, came up with the next big thing in AI and, in doing so, exposed a potential major flaw in the investment thesis behind the large language models: They may be getting commoditized. watch nowVIDEO2:4802:48Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: OpenClaw is 'definitely the next ChatGPT'Mad Money with Jim Cramer While OpenAI and Anthropic remain deeply popular and continue building services that are resonating with users, the power of OpenClaw is that it's enabling all sorts of developers and hobbyists to quickly create and manage AI agents across online communications channels like WhatsApp and Telegram from their home computers. Some industry experts say OpenClaw's breakout shows that the value in AI isn't all accruing to the two leading startups, which have a combined private market value of over $1 trillion, and their hyperscaler peers. "It solidified the open-source community and proved that fully autonomous AI can be run at home without relying on the Magnificent 7 or Big AI," said David Hendrickson, CEO of consulting firm GenerAIte Solutions. "I suspect this was the black swan moment most big AI companies feared."Hendrickson said developers have been gravitating to the Chinese AI models because they are good enough and cheaper to run than the powerful proprietary models from the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. And because developers use OpenClaw on their personal computers like Apple Mac Minis to manage their fleets of always-operating AI agents, they've discovered it's far more economical than tapping the cloud to access the bigger models. "As foundation models rapidly commoditize, attention is moving toward agent frameworks that emphasize autonomy, usability, locality, and control to power agentic AI applications and drive business values," said Charlie Dai, an analyst at Forrester. OpenAI and Anthropic are well aware of the threat. Anthropic has been debuting similar OpenClaw-like features, such as a new channels tool. And last month, in a Sunday post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that Peter Steinberger, the developer of OpenClaw, was joining the AI company and that the service he created would "live in a foundation as an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support."Altman called Steinberger a "genius with a lot of amazing ideas," and said he would help "drive the next generation of personal agents." 'I can't rely on this' But the open-source nature of OpenClaw means that OpenAI doesn't own the technology. That laissez-faire dynamic can be a challenge for enterprise adoption, as many large companies are wary about the security risks that could arise from allowing hundreds or thousands of digital assistants to access sensitive internal data or take actions that could compromise their businesses. With NemoClaw, Nvidia is trying to provide that security layer. "You can maybe deal with the risks for personal use, but when it comes to building a business, I can't rely on this, and I don't feel safe with it," Israeli developer Gavriel Cohen told CNBC. "It's not responsible to connect my customer data to it."Cohen said it felt like "a huge light bulb" turned on in his head when he began to brainstorm how to use OpenClaw within his AI marketing agency. With the service being able to run on messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord and Signal, Cohen imagined having AI agents helping to facilitate conversations with his colleagues involving client management, product development, finance and other business functions.But he noticed some major issues from the start, such as the software failing to distinguish one WhatsApp group message from another. Cohen said the last thing he wanted was for a co-worker to ask an AI agent whether he has time for an afternoon meeting, and for the agent to reply that Cohen has to take his daughter to ballet at that time because it's extrapolating his whereabouts from his personal messages. With the assistance of Anthropic's Claude Code, Cohen spent days creating his own homegrown OpenClaw variant tailored to meet his expectations of security, like walling off his personal WhatsApp group from his work chats. Since releasing his creation, dubbed NanoClaw, to the open-source community at the end of January, the project snowballed within the AI developer community.Cohen said his wife started chatting with her new NanoClaw-spawned AI agent named Andy and discovered that the software could help her track the price of baby strollers, pinging her on WhatsApp when it spotted a good deal. "That would be like a SaaS product that you would maybe spend $10 a month on a subscription for," Cohen said.Cohen and his brother have since shuttered their AI marketing firm, created a new startup called NanoCo that will offer paid services to accompany NanoClaw, and partnered last week with container technology company Docker to solidify itself as an OpenClaw competitor. watch nowVIDEO4:2904:29OpenClaw fever hits ChinaWorldwide Exchange David Bader, director of the Institute for Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the tech industry is "witnessing a classic platform shift," with foundation models and Chinese labs "converging in capability.""The models become the engine; the agent framework becomes the car," Bader said.Â Â Representatives from OpenAI and Anthropic didn't provide a comment for this story. Not everyone in the tech industry is convinced that foundation models are losing steam.Venture capitalist Jerry Chen of Greylock, an Anthropic investor, said OpenClaw's success in showing what a world of "intelligent agents" can look like doesn't take away from the importance of the underlying foundation models, which he still sees as more powerful than the so-called open-weight alternatives. "The buzz around OpenClaw stems from making AI more tangible to a broader audience beyond researchers and technologists," Chen said. "The interesting question now is whether OpenClaw becomes the de facto standard â the Linux of the market, as Jensen puts it â or just the first of many open and closed-source agentic operating systems."For a Wall Street analyst covering Nvidia, the OpenClaw moment is historic in its gravity. Jay Goldberg of Seaport Research Partners is the lone Nvidia analyst among roughly 70 tracked by FactSet with a sell recommendation on the stock. He initiated his coverage in April after the stock had already rocketed from the AI boom, but the shares kept rallying and are up more than 60% since his sell rating. "Part of my critique of Nvidia has always been like, what's the point of all this AI? There's no consumer use cases for any of it," Goldberg said. "I've always couched my rating by saying, look, where I could be wrong is if somebody comes up with a really incredible AI application."After playing around with OpenClaw on a recently purchased Mac Mini, Goldberg said he can finally understand the excitement.As a parent of three kids, Goldberg said he gets an average of 10 emails a week that he dreads reading, and would love for an agent to scan the messages and tell him of the important stuff like if he has to pick up his kids early from school or get them dressed up for picture day. "It's not just the functionality of the thing itself, but it's the pieces of our lives that we give it access to," Goldberg said.Goldberg isn't ready to boost his rating on Nvidia, but he admitted that he's "envious" of Huang, who he says "nailed it" in describing OpenClaw as an operating system. Meanwhile, Goldberg said he's watching tons of TikTok videos on OpenClaw and wants to understand it better before he can feel safe enough to really bake it into his life. "It's janky, it is incredibly insecure and it's like my Mac Mini is kind of half working," Goldberg said about OpenClaw's growing pains. "It's very easy to see how this can become really powerful and really useful."WATCH: Nvidia's one of the fastest growing companies with one of the lowest valuations. watch nowVIDEO2:2302:23Nvidia's one of the fastest growing companies with one of the lowest valuations, says Jim CramerMad Money with Jim Cramer Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Shahezad Contractor left his "cushy" IT career and launched a halal restaurant chain. View More

Shahezad Contractor's initial aim in starting his halal burger business was simple: "I wanted more halal options."Now, with eight locations across the Northeast, he has much bigger dreams for Cousin's Burger, the halal restaurant chain he launched in 2024."Our goal is to be the next In-and-Out or the next Shake Shack," Contractor tells CNBC Make It.Contractor, 44, is the founder and CEO of Cousin's Food Inc., a halal restaurant group based in Philadelphia. Along with Cousin's Burger, Contractor also owns a halal pizza shop, Cousin's Pizza, and a halal barbecue joint, Cousin's Smokehouse and Burgers.Collectively, his restaurants brought in over $4 million in revenue in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.In Contractor's view, there's "a lot of untapped potential" in the halal food market. "You don't need to be Muslim to enjoy halal," Contractor says: Many people prefer halal meat because of its "high quality and cleanliness," as well as its more humane treatment of animals.Aside from the Halal Guys restaurant franchise, there are relatively few mainstream American halal food options in the U.S., Contractor says.He's hoping to change that. How he got started Contractor, who grew up on Long Island, got into the restaurant business almost by accident, he says. Technology was his first passion: after earning a degree in management information systems from SUNY Old Westbury, he spent 24 years working in IT.The turning point came when his friend Tabish Hoda asked Contractor to participate in his halal food festival in 2023. Contractor, who has no formal culinary training but frequently cooks for family and friends, decided to make smashburgers â it was "the easiest thing I could do," he says. He bought enough meat to feed approximately 500 customers, expecting to have leftovers. Instead, Contractor sold out by 6 p.m. that day. "That's when I realized that there was a ton of potential" in serving American-style halal food, he says.Contractor started exploring the idea of opening his own restaurant in Philadelphia, which he saw as the "perfect location" to start a halal business due to its significant Muslim population, he says. The first Cousin's Burger location.CNBC Make It He partnered with Rizwan Ahmed, a restaurant owner he met at the halal festival to transform one of Ahmed's existing restaurants into the first Cousin's Burger location in 2024. From there, the business expanded quickly. Cousin's Burger currently has eight locations across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. His recipe for success Contractor attributes his restaurants' popularity to three key characteristics: high-quality ingredients, "really simple" recipes, and excellent customer service. He gets his meat from Prime Halal, a Philadelphia-based, halal-certified butcher shop. "It's a bit more expensive than what you'd find in your normal restaurant supplier, but the taste speaks for itself," he says.The smashburger is "by far" the number one menu item at Cousin's Burger, Contractor says, and they've gotten the recipe down to a science: A portion of USDA Prime Black Angus beef is smashed on a flat-top grill, seasoned with their signature spice blend and then covered with white American cheese. It's served on a buttered, lightly-toasted potato roll and topped with pickles and Cousin's Burger's proprietary house sauce. A halal smashburger from Cousin's Burger.CNBC Make It A single smashburger typically costs $7 or $8, he says â the exact price depends on the location due to variations in rent.Right now, food costs are "through the roof," Contractor says. "I'd love to be able to sell a $4 burger, but it's simply impossible. The economics of it doesn't make sense." Rent and labor are the other main expenses for Cousin's Burger, according to Contractor. Taking a "leap of faith" in a growing industry These days, Contractor is less involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurants. His main responsibilities are marketing, meeting with business partners and "continuing to grow the brand," he says.As the sole breadwinner of his household, which includes his wife and two daughters, Contractor says that it felt like a huge risk to leave his "very cushy" IT job to start a restaurant. At the same time, he had begun to worry that AI would affect his job security, so he decided to take a "leap of faith" and launch his own business."Building something for yourself, something that can potentially make generational wealth as well," he says, "was really appealing to me."Contractor's long-term goal is to make Cousin's Burger a global brand, he says. Over the next few years, he hopes to open 50 locations and to expand into other countries, including Canada."I think the sky's the limit," Contractor says. "We're going to keep going until somebody tells us to stop, or we can't do it anymore."Want to lead with confidence and bring out the best in your team? Take CNBC's new online course, How To Be A Standout Leader. Expert instructors share practical strategies to help you build trust, communicate clearly and motivate other people to do their best work. Sign up now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 25% off the regular course price of $127 (plus tax). Offer valid March 16 through March 30, 2026. Terms apply. Take control of your money with CNBC Select CNBC Select is editorially independent and may earn a commission from affiliate partners on links.Six ways to file your taxes for free4 financial resources to tap when you think layoffs may be comingWhat is a good monthly retirement income in 2026?Here are 5 grocery rewards cards to beat inflation

Tax protesters often withhold taxes due to moral objections to certain government programs, such as the Iran war. But there can be IRS penalties, experts say. View More

Nurphoto | Getty Chicago attorney Rachel Cohen owes more than $8,000 in federal income taxes â but has intentionally left that balance unpaid."I'm not paying my federal income tax this year," Cohen said in a widely viewed TikTok video from March 2 about her decision.The 31-year-old community organizer filed her federal tax return, which shows a balance due of $8,830, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC. But Cohen said she deliberately chose to withhold payment of that bill as a protest against immigration detention, including ICE facilities, and U.S. strikes on Iran launched without congressional approval.While voicing resistance to taxes is legal, refusing to pay taxes owed can violate federal law and lead to serious penalties. "It's completely OK to be unhappy and be dissatisfied with our government," said Josh Youngblood, owner of The Youngblood Group, a Dallas-based tax firm. "But not paying taxes, or engaging in tax fraud or evasion, is not the answer."In addition to penalties and interest that start accruing immediately on their past-due balances, tax protesters can face "long-term consequences," such as wage garnishment, a tax lien on property or even jail time, according to Michele Frank, associate professor of accountancy at Miami University. Federal courts have a long track record of siding with the Internal Revenue Service in cases involving tax resistance, routinely dismissing these claims as frivolous and, in some instances, imposing additional penalties. Read more CNBC personal finance coverage'War tax resistance' gains attention amid Iran conflict, but IRS penalties applyAverage IRS tax refund is up 10.8%, new filing data showsYour tax refund could be smaller than expected this season. Here's whyWhat may happen to Social Security benefits in six years if Congress doesn't actTrump officials task Treasury Department with student loan collectionHarvard University tops this year's list of 'dream colleges': The Princeton Review9% of ACA enrollees go uninsured after enhanced subsidies expire, poll findsThe Fed keeps rates unchanged in March: What that means for youMany states' unemployment benefits fall far short of average wages: AnalysisIran war, oil price surge worsen K-shaped economy, say economistsMore than 576,000 student loan borrowers in repayment plan backlog: court filingSome economists are warning about 'stagflation.' What it may mean for your moneyEmployers say AI makes workers faster, but it also creates 'friction': surveyTravel disruptions keep piling up in 2026. How to plan ahead and limit the impactMore women pursue skilled trades â here's what some said about their experienceCNBC's Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors, top firms ranked Cohen told CNBC she is fully aware of the potential risks and that speaking openly about the decision could attract additional scrutiny from federal authorities.Her protest is directed at federal spending priorities, not taxation itself, Cohen said. She paid about $3,000 in Illinois state taxes, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC, and said she sees value in how those dollars support state and local services.Cohen said her decision is personal and not something she is encouraging others to do, but hopes it pushes people to reflect on whether their actions match their beliefs. Renewed interest in tax resistance Cohen's protest follows a long tradition of so-called war tax resistance, in which people withhold some or all of their federal taxes to oppose government policies."It's been going on pretty much as long as we've been a country," Frank said. Typically, there's an uptick in tax protesting â with filers holding back some or all of their tax payments â when the U.S. government engages in a war or other "controversial" activities, she said.That appears to be happening again, according to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, an educational nonprofit founded in the early 1980s by activists connected to the anti-Vietnam War movement. The group's website had averaged about 40,000 unique visitors a year until the war in Gaza began in 2023, according to Lincoln Rice, the organization's coordinator. In January 2026 alone, traffic surged to more than 110,000 visitors."I don't think anyone's making the decision to practice war tax resistance based on one single action," Rice told CNBC. Instead, major political events can become the "final straw" that prompts some people to explore the tactic. Rice said the organization does not encourage people to refuse to pay taxes but instead provides information about how the practice works and its legal risks.Those approaches vary. Some protesters file their tax returns but refuse to pay the balance owed, while others deliberately pay less than they owe, Rice said. Some also choose not to file at all, which can expose them to steeper penalties.Ruth Benn, a longtime war tax protester and volunteer counselor with the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, said she has followed one of the more common approaches: filing her tax returns but refusing to pay the federal income tax she owes. She currently owes about $27,000 in federal taxes, including interest and penalties accumulated over multiple years, according to a summary of her IRS account reviewed by CNBC.Benn said over the years she has regularly received IRS letters "with interest and penalties adding up" and met with the agency in 2009 related to her tax debt.She said she has had small state refunds seized and some government rebates withheld. "I think around 1990 they took $800 from a bank account," she said. "Otherwise, I don't recall more bank account seizures, and I never had money taken from a paycheck."Benn said she began withholding payment decades ago after becoming involved in anti-war activism, and that she sends the IRS a letter each year explaining why she is withholding payment. She said she is open with the IRS about not paying, rather than trying to hide income.However, failing to pay federal income taxes is still illegal. Those who don't pay couldÂ still face penalties, interest and collection actions, and in some cases, willful failure to pay taxes can be charged as a criminal offense.Separately, certain tax positions can trigger more severe penalties. The IRS warned in a 2022 brief that taxpayers relying on "frivolous" arguments to avoid taxes â such as claiming tax returns are voluntary, or disputing what counts as income, among others â can face additional civil penalties and, in more serious cases, criminal prosecution, including felony charges tied to tax evasion or false filings. The agency cites multiple cases in which courts have ruled against tax protesters.Benn said people considering tax resistance should understand that the consequences can be unexpected, with the IRS sometimes pursuing collection years later."It's unpredictable," she said. "That's the hard part of this particular anti-war protest. You don't know what's going to happen when." Consequences for tax protesters While some Americans object to funding certain government programs, moral or religious beliefs don't exempt taxpayers from paying federal income taxes, according to the IRS.When you don't file a return, there's a "failure to file" penalty, levied at 5% of your taxes due for each month or partial month the filing is late and capped at 25%.Â The agency also charges interest on penalties.Â Eventually, the IRS can prepare a "substitute for return" on your behalf, without the credits and deductions you're owed, said Youngblood, who is also an enrolled agent, which is a tax license to practice before the IRS.After that, you can expect a "90-day letter" with the agency's proposed assessment of your balance before they start collections.Â This could include refund offsets, garnishing wages, seizing property and other activities. watch nowVIDEO1:1801:18How to keep your money safe amid this economic and political uncertaintyMarkets and Politics Digital Original Video There's also a "failure to pay" penalty â 0.5% of your balance for each month or partial month the filing is late, capped at 25% â but other penalties can be substantially higher, Youngblood said.Â For example, if you file a return without enough information to calculate the correct tax liability, you could be subject to a $5,000 civil penalty for what's known as a "frivolous tax return," according to the Internal Revenue Code.Â Alternatively, some filers could see a 75% civil fraud penalty if the agency believes the underpayment is due to fraud rather than negligence.Â There's also no statute of limitations for a "false or fraudulent return," according to the Internal Revenue Code. For those cases, the IRS could pursue filers indefinitely.In some cases, failure to pay taxes could result in jail time. During fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported original sentencing for some 360 federal criminal cases involving tax fraud, up 11% from fiscal year 2020. The 2024 cases included tax evasion and willful failure to file a return, supply information or pay tax, among other issues. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Nissan plans to introduce a new type of hybrid for the U.S. market that drives like an all-electric vehicle but is powered by a traditional gas-powered engine. View More

In this article7201.T-JPHMCTMFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Nissan's logo is illuminated on a prototype of its new all-electric Ariya crossover. Nissan's Z Proto performance car is reflected in the vehicle's grille, while a redesigned Nissan Pathfinder SUV sits in the background.Michael Wayland / CNBC Nissan Motor plans to introduce a new type of hybrid to the U.S. market that drives like an all-electric vehicle but is powered â not driven â by a traditional gas-powered engine.Â The new Nissan "e-Power" is called a series hybrid. It uses the engine as a generator to power the vehicle's electric motors that then propel the vehicle. It operates like emerging extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, but has a smaller battery and doesn't require a plug.Â It's also different from a traditional hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius, because the gas engine in those vehicles is used to propel the vehicle. The series hybrid's engine just keeps the battery charged to power the electric motors in the vehicles.The e-Power hybrid system for Nissan is planned to launch domestically later this year in a new version of its popular Rogue compact SUV.Â Timing for such a vehicle could be ideal for Nissan with climbing gas prices, slower-than-planned adoption of EVs and an expected surge in hybrid sales amid new entries, according to officials. After losing billions of dollars on EVs, automakers such as Nissan are turning to hybrid vehicles to meet customer expectations for fuel economy and to help with driving performance.S&P Global Mobility expects hybrids in the U.S. this year to increase to 18.4% of new vehicle sales, up from 12.6% last year and 7.3% in 2023. It's forecasting pure EVs, meanwhile, will be 7.1% of new vehicle sales, down from 8% last year."This is a unique powertrain for the for the U.S.," Kurt Rosolowsky, Nissan North America vehicle evaluation and test engineer, said during a media briefing. "This is an electrically driven vehicle, as far as what is powering the wheels, but it doesn't have a plug, and you fill it up with gas like you do with a normal car." Series hybrids Nissan and other automakers have used series hybrids elsewhere, particularly in Asia, but companies have been reluctant to bring the vehicles to the U.S. because of consumer expectations for driving dynamics and power.Â To address those concerns, Nissan said it has developed a more powerful 1.5-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine specifically for the e-Power system, in addition to new packaging and other upgrades, to appease American buyers."The turbo is only there to serve efficiency at higher speeds for the gas engine to deliver energy," Rosolowsky said. Read moreAn alphabet soup of 'electrified' vehicles awaits new car buyers as EV sales stallStellantis taps Toyota, Bosch suppliers for hybrid technologies for new Jeeps EV realism is here. How automakers react in 2026 will be telling The e-Power for the U.S. market is Nissan's third generation of the series hybrid since it debuted in Japan in 2016. Since then, Nissan said it has sold more than 1.6 million vehicles globally with e-Power in nearly 70 countries. "I think it's going to be a really good system. I think it's going to be very popular for Nissan in the new Rogue when it arrives later this year," said Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at communications and consulting firm Telemetry. Abuelsamid said the only real drawback to the series hybrid is that it's less efficient at higher speeds, which Nissan is trying to overcome with the new engine as well as battery size. Driving e-Power Driving a European version of the Nissan Rogue Sport sold with the ePower system around suburban Detroit, the vehicle's driving dynamics â specifically fast acceleration and regenerative braking â are formidable. They come with the familiar sound of an engine revving but without the shifting or sputtering of transmission gears and far less noise, vibration and harshness, or NVH, as the industry commonly refers to it.Â "The driving experience really is what makes it different with those fewer components. You have less noise and less vibration," Rosolowsky said. Nissan e-Power logoCourtesy Nissan Unlike traditional gas-powered vehicles, the e-Power system also does not require a traditional transmission to shift gears or a driveshaft that transfers torque from the transmission to the differential, powering the wheels.While the Rogue Sport is a smaller vehicle and only forward-wheel-drive, it's easy to see howÂ the system will translate to a larger vehicle with all-wheel-drive, which the new Rogue with e-Power will be.Â The lack of a plug, some engine noise and slight vibration also might be more familiar for drivers who have been reluctant to adopt all-electric vehicles.Â While Nissan is not releasing specifics such as pricing or fuel economy for the upcoming Rogue with e-Power, the Rogue Sport was achieving more than 40 miles per gallon during heavy city driving, according to the vehicle's MPG system.The current Nissan Rogue, depending on the model, can achieve more than 30 MPG, according to U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Nissan's vehicles historically been less fuel efficient than those from its larger Japanese rivals. Honda Motor and Toyota Motor, the latter of which pioneered traditional hybrids with the Prius and continues to dominate the sector in the U.S.Nissan declined to discuss the possibility of expanding the e-Power system to other vehicles in the U.S., but confirmed the new system is modular and capable of working with many different engines."If we were to expand this to other vehicles, you can theoretically bolt this onto another gasoline engine of a different size and have more options for an e-Power system," Rosolowsky said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The president's unprecedented use of executive power has made him a driving force behind oil prices, the Federal Reserve's interest rates and more. View More

In this article@CL.1Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT US President Donald Trump and Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 19, 2026.Aaron Schwartz | CNP | Bloomberg | Getty Images Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi embraced President Donald Trump on Thursday, and not just on policy grounds. The newly elected Japanese leader threw herself into the arms of the U.S. president when he greeted her at the White House."It is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world," Takaichi said later as the two met in front of reporters in the Oval Office.Beneath the flattery is an important truth. Trump is singlehandedly shaping the course of global events to a degree that far outstrips even the power he wielded in his first presidency. With his presidency unshackled, his military and other policy decisions are reshaping the economy in real time â and clouding the economic outlook.Trump's predecessors weren't willing to make the choice he did in Iran. President Barack Obama's response to the risk that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon was to negotiate a multilateral arms deal. Trump scrapped it in his first term. President Joe Biden attempted to revive it, opting for negotiations and sanctions pressure even after Iran-backed Hamas massacred Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023.Trump's decision to use his authority as the military's commander-in-chief has essentially made him the lever that moves global energy prices up or down. Iran's forces have attacked cargo ships and assailed its neighbors' energy facilities.Â Traffic has stalled through the vital Strait of Hormuz. In normal times it carries 20% of the world's crude oil.Â Read more CNBC politics coverageTrump threatens to send ICE to airports if DHS shutdown doesn't endFormer special counsel Robert Mueller has died at 81Analysis: Trump's unshackled presidency puts him at the center of the economyTrump administration sues Harvard alleging failure to protect Jewish studentsTrump administration unveils national AI policy framework to limit state powerTrump invokes Pearl Harbor in front of Japanese prime ministerPublic relations firm picks bar fight with PolymarketIran war-induced fertilizer shortage threatens farm state GOP in midtermsTrump signals DOJ should continue Powell probe, complicating Warsh Fed nomTrump's DHS pick Markwayne Mullin advances out of Senate committeeAnalysis: Powell just delivered a new blow to Warsh's plans for swift rate cutsPowell says he will stay on as head of the Fed until Warsh is confirmed Gas prices in the U.S. have spiked by nearly a dollar, or 33%, over the past month, according to AAA. More economic turmoil is brewing. The strait is also a channel for fertilizer components that are rapidly becoming scarce. The possibility of fertilizer shortages has put U.S agriculture "in uncharted territory," a Michigan farmer told CNBC this week.Trump says he predicted gas prices would rise when he went to war, and sees it as a necessary price for neutering the threat of further Iranian aggression, nuclear and otherwise. The White House says prices will fall sharply when hostilities end.Â At the war's outset, Trump said it would last days. Then weeks. On Friday, he said he is not interested in a ceasefire.Prices may indeed fall after the war ends, but for now markets are pricing in a costly war. Futures markets show traders expecting the price of oil to stay above $80 a barrel through July 2027, according to FactSet data.Â The markets' worry reflects the risk that for all his individual power Trump may no longer be able to quickly end the war. Iran can use cheap drones, boats and mines to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. It may take a ground invasion to stamp out that threat. Trump on Thursday said he wasn't considering ground forces, but the U.S. military is moving more personnel and ships to the region.Â A bloody ground battle would add weeks or months to the time frame for oil prices to return to normal, while escalating conflict could further damage energy production facilities in the region. Whether that kind of operation goes ahead is largely up to Trump. Together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump gets to judge whether the potential national-security benefits of a defanged Iran are worth the hit to Americans' wallets.Â Congress could insert itself in Iran war Congress, in theory, has a role in these decisions, just as it does over tariffs. The Senate voted Wednesday not to take action to determine the limit of the president's war powers after Democrats pressed the issue.Similar legislation focused on restraining the president's power on tariffs has won modestly more support in Congress, but no such measures have become law. The Supreme Court in February struck down many of the president's tariffs, but he immediately responded by implementing new ones.Â It is the domain of the Federal Reserve to help ensure inflation stays in check and workers remain employed despite other shifts in policy.Â Both Iran and the tariffs risk creating the inflation problems that the Federal Reserve was designed to solve.Trump's accumulation of authority is complicating those efforts. No new Fed chair is likely soon A federal court on March 13 quashed subpoenas issued by a Department of Justice prosecutor for allegations Trump and his allies have made that the Fed misused public funds in an ongoing building renovation project. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he won't vote to advance Kevin Warsh, Trump's nominee to lead the Fed, until the investigation is resolved. The Fed's current chair, Jerome Powell, has said he will stay on in some form indefinitely while the investigation persists.Â The judge's ruling about the subpoenas might have been the moment Powell could have transitioned out and let Warsh come in. But the Department of Justice decided to appeal. And Trump appears to be backing that plan, saying Thursday he still believed there was "criminality" involved in the renovation's cost overruns.Â The White House has said the Department of Justice's investigation is independent of Trump's judgment. Regardless, the investigation is proceeding, putting the conflict between the president and the Fed at the center of markets indefinitely, at a time when Trump's other policies are making the economic outlook as difficult to forecast as ever.Â The only way to know how many of the biggest policy decisions facing the U.S. will break is to get into Trump's head.Presidents love to brag about the great influence they have on the economy, especially when it's doing well. Often it's overstated. But this economy, warts and all, owes much to Trump. Everyone from Japan's prime minister on down is along for the ride. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

For restaurants and food companies, the increasing adoption of GLP-1 drugs present both an opportunity and a threat to their businesses. View More

A mini burger, mini fries and mini beer, Clinton Hall's "Teeny Weeny Mini Meal", is pictured next to a regular-sized combo on Dec. 8, 2025 in New York City. Approximately one in eight American adults are currently taking drugs from the class of GLP-1 agonists that are now popular for weight loss, according to a November poll by the non-profit health policy tracker KFF. Some in the restaurant industry are taking note.Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images The cost of GLP-1 drugs is falling, and pill versions are hitting the U.S. market. For restaurant chains and snacking giants, higher adoption of weight loss and diabetes treatments poses a threat to their sales â or an opportunity.GLP-1 drugs slow digestion, suppress users' appetites and increase satiety. For many restaurants and packaged food manufacturers, those reactions will likely mean weaker sales. Adults who use GLP-1s consume 21% fewer calories and spend nearly a third less on grocery bills on average, according to KPMG. JPMorgan estimates the growing use of the medications could wipe out $30 billion to $55 billion in annual sales for the food and beverage industry as soon as 2030.About one in every eight U.S. adults is currently taking a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic or Zepbound, according to the KFF Health Tracking Poll conducted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2. That number doesn't include consumers who have discontinued their use of the drugs; 18% of respondents said that they have taken a GLP-1 medication at some point. Those numbers are expected to keep climbing, especially after Novo Nordisk launched its Wegovy pill in January and Eli Lilly prepares to roll out its own oral drug this year. By 2030, more than 30 million Americans could be on a GLP-1 treatment, up from 10 million in 2026, based on J.P. Morgan estimates. Michael Siluk | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images But the shift also presents an opportunity for restaurants and food and beverage companies. With new protein- and fiber-rich options, many businesses are hoping to win over GLP-1 consumers and mollify investors' concerns about how the treatments will affect their bottom lines. "Whether it is labeling as GLP-1 friendly, decreasing the serving size, emphasizing protein content, or even when you shift over to the beverage world, because hydration is certainly a concern, there are a number of players that are starting to react to this," said Don K. Johnson, principal of strategy and execution for EY-Parthenon. Skipping snacks and breakfast About half of GLP-1 users report consuming fewer calories while taking the medications, according to UBS Evidence Lab. But the effects aren't even across the industry, and "certain categories are more impacted than others," Johnson said.Snacking, once one of the fastest-growing grocery segments, has taken the biggest hit. About 70% of GLP-1 users who report consuming fewer calories said that they are snacking less, according to a survey conducted by EY-Parthenon last spring. "I think it is about the specific type of snack, but I do think they're also snacking less ... Having said that, we do see that there is a shift to healthier foods, and that certainly will include healthier snacking," Johnson said.Think more yogurt, nuts or fruit, and fewer chips or pretzels.Since GLP-1 drugs lead patients to lower their caloric intake, every calorie consumed means more. Protein intake is more important to prevent muscle loss. So, too, is fiber to support gut health and digestion. And staying hydrated helps mitigate some of the drugs' side effects, like nausea and headaches.The effects of eating less extend to restaurants. About 60% of those respondents to the EY-Parthenon survey said that they are dining out less frequently. The shift could also hit full-service restaurants where diners order a drink with their meals. Roughly 45% of survey respondents who are eating and drinking less said that they are drinking less alcohol. Surveys conducted by Bernstein indicate that the frequency of restaurant visits among GLP-1 users can fall by as much as 45%, depending on the category of food and the nature of the occasion, analyst Danilo Gargiulo of Bernstein wrote in a research note published on Tuesday.The pullback in restaurant visits isn't spread evenly across times of day, according to Dana Baggett, executive director of restaurant client strategy at RRD, which works with more than 200 restaurant brands.Lunch, so far, hasn't been impacted, she said. But breakfast has taken a hit, particularly from high-income GLP-1 users, who represent a bigger percentage of current patients, she said. In practice, that means fewer sugary coffee drinks and doughnuts, although options like Starbucks' protein cold foam could encourage those consumers to return. A commercial for GLP-1 drugs during the Super Bowl LX broadcast on television screens at a bar in Los Angeles, California, US, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Jill Connelly | Bloomberg | Getty Images Dinner, especially at fast-food restaurants, has taken the brunt of the damage so far. Dinner traffic has fallen 6% among consumers who have been taking the medication regularly, according to Baggett; in other words, overall restaurant sales during dinner hours have declined about 0.4% due to GLP-1 use, she said. But as the number of consumers who use the drug consistently grows, so too will the pressure on restaurant traffic.And snacking isn't confined to grocery store aisles. For limited-service restaurants, like McDonald's or Taco Bell, snacking accounts for 12% of spending, according to Bank of America Global Research. Even so, threats to those large restaurants chains may only be gradual, which gives them time to adapt."I think there shouldn't be this panic out there in the marketplace, but this is a trend that's not going away," Baggett said. "This is an amazing opportunity for brands to start repositioning themselves and focusing on what consumers want: less sugar, higher protein and that focus on fiber." How Big Food is evolving If recent earnings conference calls are any example, restaurant and food executives also think that it isn't time to panic just yet. For some companies, the trend offers a chance to reach new customers through healthier options."I think there are more opportunities than threats, but there are both," PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta told Wall Street analysts on the company's earnings conference call in early February.In recent months, Pepsi has released protein-packed Doritos, relaunched Gatorade and unveiled fiber-rich varieties of SunChips and Smartfood popcorn. Those moves are part of the company's broader strategy to modernize its portfolio and boost sales by appealing to health-conscious consumers, but they also align with Laguarta's assumption that GLP-1 medications will be adopted more broadly.Domino's Pizza CEO Russell Weiner sounded unshaken when he told analysts last month that the pizza chain hasn't seen GLP-1 drugs affect its sales yet."Dinner, for us, is a sharing occasion, so perhaps that's why we're not seeing any impact, but we're going to continue to watch it," he said. "But if there needs to be menu innovation around that, we will do that."RRD's Baggett told CNBC that she thinks portions and snack sizing will be key for restaurants to attract consumers who are on GLP-1 treatments.When asked about the drugs on McDonald's earnings conference call last month, CEO Chris Kempczinski touted the burger chain's existing protein options. But he added that the preferences of GLP-1 users are also being considered as the chain creates new menu items."We're also seeing changes around maybe less snacking, changes in some of the beverages that they drink, less sugary drinks, and so all of those things are factoring into some of what we're out there experimenting with and testing with," he said.Other restaurant chains have already launched options that appeal to diners on GLP-1 drugs, even if the medications weren't the key impetus. For example, Chipotle launched grab-and-go protein cups in December, aiming to cash in on the protein and snacking crazes as its restaurant sales struggled. And Olive Garden, owned by Darden Restaurants, released a Lighter Portions menu last year, downsizing a handful of its classic entrees at a lower price. Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said that the chain introduced the new menu to give all of its customers more options. "It just so happens to benefit the consumers that might want smaller portions that are on GLP-1 medications, and we have a lot of options like that in all of our menus," Cardenas said on the company's earnings conference call in December. Marketing to GLP-1 users Other companies have explicitly appealed to GLP-1 users, particularly when it comes to innovation. In 2024, Nestle led the pack when it launched Virtual Pursuit, a frozen-food brand targeting GLP-1 users. While the packaging initially didn't call out that it was "GLP-1 friendly," the food company updated it later to include it prominently, boosting sales."It's a big initiative for Nestle," Nestle USA CEO Marty Thompson told CNBC at a media event earlier in March. "There will be those things that are designed for GLP-1, and there will be those things that will be sort of a companion to GLP-1, clearly calling out protein and fiber, but not necessarily designed portion-size wise or whatever for GLP-1."Nestle's focus will extend beyond food, too. Thompson said that the company plans to expand into beverages and listed protein shakes as one potential way to appeal to GLP-1 customers.Even food companies without much exposure to GLP-1 users are broadening their portfolios to reach them. Close-up view of Dippin' Dots ice cream cup in a person's hand, Santa Cruz, California, June 22, 2024. Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images For example, Dippin' Dots and Icee owner J&J Snack Foods makes most of its sales in stadiums, theme parks and malls. Because of its "experiential" focus, CEO Dan Fachner told CNBC that he thinks that J&J is more insulated from the effect of GLP-1 drugs compared with its snacking peers."I still think that in most cases, even people on GLP-1 drugs will still use those occasions for snacking," he said.Even still, more than a year ago, Fachner presented employees with a challenge for the company's grocery business, which accounts for 13.5% of annual sales."Take the core products â pretzels and churros and Icees and Dippin' Dots and frozen novelties â tell me how we can make them more GLP-1 friendly as it continues to grow," he said.This year, J&J has a number of new products hitting the freezer aisle. Protein has been added to its soft pretzels, now available in a smaller portion size. And Luigi's Italian Ice, traditionally sold in a cup, will come in a "mini pop size," with a formula that includes more antioxidants or helps hydration, according to Fachner. If the new products succeed in grocery stores, then J&J plans to take them to the company's food service customers, as well. J&J's new products also have the benefit of appealing to a wider audience than just consumers who are on GLP-1 medication. For example, Fachner expects the new Luigi's mini pops will appeal to health-conscious moms as a snack for their kids. Uptake could change strategies For restaurants and food suppliers, current data on the eating and drinking habits of GLP-1 users are informing their efforts to appeal to those consumers. But that behavior can still fluctuate. About 5% of users lapse in taking the medications, due to cost, side effects or hitting their weight goal. After quitting, they tend to maintain the same eating habits for a couple of months before eventually returning to a higher caloric intake."I think that we don't spend enough time talking about the fact that there may be sort of a cycle of behaviors â people going on and off of the drugs â that will have sort of an interesting impact on manufacturers of food because there's no 'before' and 'after,'" EY's Johnson said. "It's a process."And a whole new group of consumers could soon be taking daily pill versions of GLP-1 medications. It's too soon to tell if oral GLP-1 drugs will result in more consistent usage or higher quit rates and to know who exactly is trying the pill version over the injectable. "I don't have a crystal ball, but my guess is from our survey that the folks using the oral version of the drug will be a new set of people, because one of the barriers to trial was â as can be expected â a lot of people don't like to take shots of injections," Johnson said.There is one prediction that is widely accepted: the pill version will mean much higher adoption of GLP-1 drugs. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Trump has threatened a 'friendly takeover' of Cuba after cutting it off from Venezuela's oil. CNBC's Justin Solomon reflects how different things used to be. View More

Cuba suffered a widespread power cut on March 16, 2026, according to the national electricity company, against the backdrop of a severe crisis on the island caused by the US energy blockade.Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images The White House has choked off Cuba's oil supply and threatened a "friendly takeover" of the communist-run island, against a backdrop of military operations in Venezuela and Iran.U.S. President Donald Trump is implying the country is his next target, saying: "Whether I free it, take it, Â I think I can do anything I want with it. They're a very weakened nation right now." The oil shortage is bringing Cuba's economy to the brink. But I've found myself thinking back when, not that long ago, it briefly looked like the two nations would normalize relations after decades of hostility.I first landed in Havana in March 2012 to cover Pope Benedict XVI's visit. The airport was small. I had to repeatedly explain to immigration officials that we were there as journalists, that we had permission, and that everything had been cleared in advance. I was grateful that my team spoke Spanish to help with the process.Parts of the city felt strangely familiar from images I'd seen of faded pastel buildings and old American cars somehow still running on patched-together parts.Cuba and the U.S. had been geopolitical foes for more than 50 years. Cuba became communist when the 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power and the island nation, just 90 miles from Florida, strengthened its ties with the Soviet Union. The Cuban government seized U.S. property and American-owned businesses in response to a growing U.S embargo. In response, President John F. Kennedy formalized a full embargo in 1962. Supplies of food, fuel, and consumer goods quickly became scarce.But being there, I sensed that something was beginning to shift. CNBC's Justin Solomon, fielding producing in Cuba, with correspondent Michelle Caruso-CabreraCNBC Between 2012 and 2016, I made 10 trips, field producing for CNBC with international correspondent Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Almost every visit seemed to line up with something significant â moments that felt like they might mark a turning point. But by the end, that momentum felt suddenly uncertain.On my first visit, Havana was trying to look ready for a pope. Fresh paint lined parts of the MalecÃ³n, still drying in places along the route the pope was expected to travel. In a country shaped for decades by communism, his presence felt like more than a religious event. It felt like a signal, subtle but unmistakable, that Cuba might be opening up.After that, things started to move quickly.Less than a year later, the government invited a small group of journalists, including us, to see what it called "reforms" up close. We spoke with the central bank governor, and with small business owners trying to navigate a system that was changing, but not all at once. Read moreU.S. says Cuba is prohibited from taking Russian oil as two tankers head to islandCuba partially restores power and vows âunyielding resistanceâ to U.S. oil blockadeIs Cuba next? What the fallout from the Iran war means for Havana We slipped away from the official itinerary and made our way to Hershey, Cuba, a town Milton Hershey built to secure sugar for his chocolate business in the early 20th century. It was one of several reminders of Cuba's American past before its revolution. A former Coca-Cola factory had been repurposed by the state. A Western Union building housed the country's telecom company. A Woolworth's store had become a local discount store.In July 2015, President Barack Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic ties. We moved quickly, out of New York, down to Miami, then onto a charter flight to Havana. On the ground, there was a real sense of excitement. But it wasn't unguarded. People were hopeful, but careful.A month later, the U.S. embassy reopened for the first time in more than 50 years. I watched the flag go up from the balcony of a crumbling apartment building across the street. For younger Cubans especially, it felt like a turning point: More opportunities, more access, more choice seemed within reach.Obama's visit the following March only added to that feeling. Travel restrictions for Americans were relaxed and limited trade began to restart. The embargo was still in place, as it is written into U.S. law, but it did slightly soften. US President Barack Obama (L) and Cuban President Raul Castro meet at the Revolution Palace in Havana on March 21, 2016. US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro met Monday in Havana's Palace of the Revolution for groundbreaking talks on ending the standoff between the two neighbors. AFP PHOTO/ NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)Nicholas Kamm | Afp | Getty Images That week brought a Rolling Stones concert and a Major League Baseball game, the first on the island in years.Even then, there was restraint. Cubans had learned not to get ahead of themselves. For many, optimism came with the memory of how quickly it could fade. After all, not everyone believed the United States should reopen relations with the country. Many argued that normalizing ties would reward the communist government without forcing meaningful reforms.Still, things were changing. In 2016, Carnival Cruise Line, under its Fathom brand, docked in Havana, the first U.S. cruise ship to visit the island since 1978. By November, JetBlue had direct flights running from New York. For a time, it felt like the barriers were coming down in real time.Reporting there was never simple. Permits could fall through without warning. Phones rarely worked. Wi-Fi was hard to find. Restaurants handed out long menus, but when you asked, you were often told the only thing available was rice and beans. I'd walk past buildings with elegant facades, only to step inside and find them hollowed out, crumbling, little more than dust and debris.And yet, on each trip, you could see small signs that the transformation was continuing. Family-run restaurants began opening in people's homes. Airbnb listings started to spread. It wasn't dramatic, but it was there.My final trip came in November 2016, just after Fidel Castro's death, to cover his funeral. He'd ceded power to his brother Raoul years earlier, but the death of the man who symbolized the revolution was a huge moment.This time, Havana was quiet. Thousands of Cubans lined the streets of Havana to bid goodbye to Fidel Castro, as a caravan carrying his ashes began a four-day journey across the country to the eastern city of Santiago. Fidel Castro, the former Prime Minister and President of Cuba, who died on the late night of November 25, 2016, at 90. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Music stopped. Alcohol disappeared. The city entered a formal mourning period. People stood in long lines to sign condolence books.From the outside, it looked like a clear ending. Inside Cuba, it didn't feel that simple.Standing there, it was hard not to feel that the energy of the previous years was slipping away. The same questions kept coming back. What happens now? What becomes of the reforms? Of the relationship with the United States?When I left for the last time, I had the sense I'd witnessed something rare, a brief stretch of time when history seemed to accelerate, when long-standing patterns loosened, even if only slightly, and the future felt, for a moment, open.In the years since, much of that momentum has slowed, and in some cases reversed. The U.S. withdrew embassy personnel, new travel limits were imposed in November 2017, and the flow of American visitors thinned. The opening that once felt within reach has given way to more familiar tensions, which are flaring like the changes I saw never happened.History doesn't always arrive with a clear beginning or a clean ending. In Cuba, it has a tendency to circle back on itself.What comes next between these two neighbors is still unwritten. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

CNBC's Jim Cramer said on "Mad Money" on Friday that a tough market can also present an opportune time to selectively buy. View More

In this articleKBH.SPX.DJI.IXICFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO1:3801:38Private credit funds weren't meant to be traded, says Jim CramerMad Money with Jim Cramer The stock market just closed out a rough week â and according to CNBC's Jim Cramer, the pain is unlikely to end anytime soon.With little on the calendar in terms of major corporate earnings or economic data next week, the inverse relationship between oil and stocks will take on even more importance. It's been pretty much a given of late that when crude prices surge, equities sink. It's been that way since the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran nearly three weeks ago.Cramer said the war has taken on an "unrestrained nature," as President Donald Trump flips from talks about winding down military operations in the Middle East to reports of deploying thousands of troops to the region.The market has been hanging on to every development in the region. During Friday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq dipped into correction territory, which is defined by a drop of at least 10% from recent highs. They both closed sharply lower but above that threshold. The S&P 500, which also sank Friday, has fared somewhat better recently â down 7% from its latest highs. All three benchmarks logged four straight weekly losses. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconDow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 YTD International oil benchmark Brent crude rose more than 3% to $112.19 per barrel on Friday for its highest settle since July 2022. It was up another 8.8% for the week."Given how fast oil can rally, it's mighty hard to figure out what to do with stocks. You don't want to throw away good companies' stocks, though, on something that theoretically could end with a phone call," Cramer said on "Mad Money" on Friday evening. "But if the goal is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, [that] isn't going to be easy to do. That's going to require either a tremendous escalation or a diplomatic breakthrough. And, I think the latter seems unlikely.""We have no idea what's gonna happen here. We know the war is bad for stocks. The economic impact is global. Every positive seems to be met with two negatives, and all the positives seem to do is keep us from getting oversold enough to have a legitimate bounce," Cramer said.With that set-up, Cramer turned his attention to corporate earnings for the upcoming week.Â KB Home, a national homebuilder, will report earnings on Tuesday. Cramer said it should give investors a read into the beleaguered housing sector. With mortgage rates still high, he expects "a tale of lukewarm sales" for the quarter. "The weakness in housing is a major reason why I believe the Fed should keep rate cuts on the table despite inflation caused by higher energy costs," Cramer said. "There simply aren't enough transactions occurring, and home sales can play a big role in giving this economy the oomph it so desperately needs now."Wednesday morning brings quarterly results from uniform supplier Cintas and payroll services firm Paychex â both of which Cramer described as high-quality companies with poor-performing stocks. Cintas stock should rebound after it finalizes its acquisition of UniFirst, he said. Paychex shares have been under pressure ahead of earnings due to artificial intelligence disruption concerns. "The longs are shadow boxing with the shorts on this [stock], and I can't tell who's going to win," he added.Â Carnival earnings are on Friday. While an underperformer, Cramer said that Wall Street appears to be growing more positive on cruise lines. "The stocks have been hammered, and they aren't helped by these higher fuel costs, but Carnival's considered a value vacation, something that seems rather rare these days," he added.Â Cramer said the bottom line, as investors look ahead to the new week, is that a tough market can also present an opportune time to selectively buy. "I will say that we're beginning to get lower prices in some industries: the banks, the foods, the drugs, the retailers, and in some cases, large tech companies. So as oil works its way higher, you have a very good chance to buy some high-quality stocks at reasonable prices," he concluded. watch nowVIDEO12:1312:13Higher oil may be chance to buy quality names at reasonable prices: Jim CramerMad Money with Jim Cramer Jim Cramer's Guide to InvestingClick here to downloadÂ Jim Cramer's Guide to InvestingÂ at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter. Sign up nowÂ for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer's every move in the market.DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

President Donald Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz, "will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it." View More

In this article@CL.1Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO1:0801:08Trump on Iran war: 'I don't want to do a ceasefire'Closing Bell: Overtime President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday he is not interested in a ceasefire with Iran."We could have dialogue, but I don't want to do a ceasefire," Trump said from the White House South Lawn before departing for Florida. "You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side.""They don't have a navy. They don't have an air force. They don't have any equipment," Trump continued.In a Truth Social post later Friday afternoon, Trump claimed that the U.S. is "getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East."He also asserted that the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane for much of the world's oil trade, "will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it â The United States does not!""If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn't be necessary once Iran's threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them," Trump wrote in the post.Trump's comments come nearly three weeks into the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, which has turned into a broader regional conflict. They signal no quick end to the conflict, which sent stocks tumbling on Friday and has caused oil prices to soar. US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2026.Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images Earlier Friday, Trump said in a phone call with MS Now's Stephanie Ruhle that the U.S. could end the war "right now" but that he planned to press on with the offensive."I think we've won," he later said on the South Lawn. "All they're doing is blocking up the Strait. But from a military standpoint, they're finished."Iran has effectively blocked off the strait since the start of the war. Trump has blasted NATO allies in an attempt to recruit additional support to help open the strait, which he said again Friday doesn't matter to the U.S. The bulk of the energy shipments through the strait are destined for Asian markets. But the Dallas Fed, in a report released Friday, said the economic effects of the closure will hit around the world, including in the U.S.Trump, speaking to reporters Friday, portrayed reopening the strait as simple, provided other countries come to the aid of the U.S."It's a simple military maneuver, it's relatively safe," he said. "But you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships, you need volume. And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so." He also called on China and Japan to get involved a day after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with him at the White House.Trump said earlier this week that he would not put boots on the ground in Iran. Multiple news outlets reported Friday that the Pentagon is sending up to 2,500 Marines to the Middle East â the second such deployment in the last week. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

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