Amazon plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in communities where it operates data centers, as the company responds to growing political and public concern over the rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The money will support education, workforce training, water and energy conservation projects and other local priorities in areas Read More…
NEW YORK—U.S. stocks ended a volatile week with a strong Friday rally as a weaker-than-expected jobs report eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again this month. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% Friday to 7,722.72, leaving the benchmark less than 1% below its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — Micron Technology is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Sept. 30, with investors looking for another quarter of rapid growth as artificial-intelligence spending continues to fuel demand for high-performance memory. The Boise-based semiconductor company has already set a high bar. Micron reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion, up 74% from the Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana State Board of Land Commissioners has approved an oil and gas lease sale expected to generate more than $2.1 million for state trust lands, with the proceeds benefiting public education. The sale included 12 tracts in Musselshell, Sheridan and Toole counties. A single tract in Sheridan County generated a $2.14 Read More…
Amazon plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in communities where it operates data centers, as the company responds to growing political and public concern over the rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The money will support education, workforce training, water and energy conservation projects and other local priorities in areas Read More…
NEW YORK—U.S. stocks ended a volatile week with a strong Friday rally as a weaker-than-expected jobs report eased concerns that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates again this month. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% Friday to 7,722.72, leaving the benchmark less than 1% below its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — Micron Technology is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Sept. 30, with investors looking for another quarter of rapid growth as artificial-intelligence spending continues to fuel demand for high-performance memory. The Boise-based semiconductor company has already set a high bar. Micron reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion, up 74% from the Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana State Board of Land Commissioners has approved an oil and gas lease sale expected to generate more than $2.1 million for state trust lands, with the proceeds benefiting public education. The sale included 12 tracts in Musselshell, Sheridan and Toole counties. A single tract in Sheridan County generated a $2.14 Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Spectrum is expanding its fiber broadband network in Cascade County, bringing service to more than 1,200 additional homes and small businesses in previously unserved or underserved areas, including Ulm and Vaughn. Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Spectrum this week to mark the expansion, which is part of the company’s broader rural broadband Read More…
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks finished a volatile week higher, with renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence helping offset concerns over rising Treasury yields, elevated oil prices and the prospect of additional Federal Reserve interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 gained 1.2% for the week, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2%, including record-high closes earlier in Read More…
Shares have fallen more than 20% from their 52-week high as Costco prepares to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Sept. 24 Costco Wholesale Corp. shares head into Thursday’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report trading well off their highs, with investors watching to see whether the warehouse retailer can arrest a monthslong slide ahead of one of its Read More…
A new educational resource, Money for Montanans, answers common questions about the state’s registered agent industry and its role in funding public infrastructure. Montana’s vast land mass requires significant annual investment to maintain its roads, but only about 11.5% of that funding currently comes from state-generated sources, with the remainder coming through federal funds. The Read More…
Pershing Square Inc. reported higher fee-related earnings and a sharp increase in assets under management during its second quarter, its first reporting period as a publicly traded company following its April initial public offering. The alternative asset manager, led by Bill Ackman, reported second-quarter fee-related earnings of $56.1 million, up 24% from $45.1 million a Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.2% in August, remaining below the national rate and placing the state among the 15 lowest unemployment rates in the country. The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, according to federal labor data. Total employment in Montana, including payroll, agricultural and self-employed workers, increased by 482 Read More…
The Federal Communications Commission has approved Paramount Skydance’s request to allow substantial foreign investment in its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing another regulatory hurdle for one of the largest media deals in recent years. The FCC’s Media Bureau approved indirect, non-voting ownership stakes for investors tied to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Read More…
Bloom Energy Corp. is scheduled to join the S&P 500 before Monday’s market open as part of the index’s quarterly rebalance, a shift that could trigger substantial buying from the passive funds that track the benchmark. Inclusion in the S&P 500 typically forces index funds and exchange-traded funds that mirror the benchmark to purchase shares Read More…
U.S. stocks ended a turbulent week on a mixed note as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase in three years, a surge in oil prices and renewed pressure from rising Treasury yields. The S&P 500 finished the week down less than 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Read More…
Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the latest step in the transition at the top of the $1 trillion conglomerate he led for more than six decades. Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus effective immediately, the company said Friday. His oldest son, Howard Buffett, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman as Read More…
LONDON — Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman announced the initial findings of an independent review into the 2023 failure of Silicon Valley Bank, delivering the results in remarks at a luncheon hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of London at Mansion House. Bowman said she called for an independent review Read More…
On September 15, 2026, Sheila Callahan & Friends, Inc., licensee of radio stations KMSO, Missoula, MT FAC# 60052 and KHDV, Darby, MT FAC# 166088, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) for the assignment of the KMSO and KHDV broadcast licenses to Big Sky Broadcasting LLC. Members of the public wishing to view Read More…
Big Sky Broadcasting has filed to acquire two Missoula-area radio stations in a transaction that would expand the company’s media portfolio into broadcast radio. The company is acquiring KMSO (102.5 FM) and KHDV (107.9 FM) from Sheila Callahan & Friends, Inc. Both stations are currently off the air. According to the transaction filing, the deal Read More…
S&P 500 rises 0.86%; crude oil retreats after sharp weekly surge; VIX falls more than 11% U.S. stocks rallied Friday, with all three major indexes posting solid gains to close out the week even as they remain below levels reached a month ago. The S&P 500 rose 0.86% Friday to close at 7,656.98, though the Read More…
When President Trump singled out Brad Gerstner during his State of the Union address in February, the venture capitalist rose to a standing ovation. Trump called him “a very tremendous guy” who was “behind it right from the beginning” — a reference to Trump Accounts, the federal child savings program that launched in July and Read More…
U.S. stocks showed improving short-term breadth in the latest session, with more issues advancing than declining on both the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange, even as longer-term measures continued to point to a market that remains uneven beneath the surface. On the Nasdaq, 1,623 stocks advanced compared with 1,395 decliners, while 116 were unchanged. Read More…
Oracle Corp. is set to report fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings after the market close on Sept. 8, a release Wall Street expects to trigger one of the stock’s characteristically sharp post-earnings swings as investors weigh the company’s aggressive cloud infrastructure buildout against near-term margin pressure. Analysts expect Oracle to report earnings of $1.40 per share Read More…
GameStop shares rose after the video-game retailer revised the terms of a convertible-note exchange that will eliminate about $1.4 billion of long-term debt while using relatively little of the company’s cash. Under the amended agreement, noteholders will receive roughly 55.5 million shares of GameStop Class A common stock and about $358.4 million in cash. The Read More…
When two of the world’s biggest trading partners start throwing around 50% tariffs, most investors see trouble. “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary sees a sale. The Canadian businessman said the escalating U.S.-Canada trade fight could be creating an unusually attractive entry point for investors willing to look past the political noise. Speaking on Fox Business Read More…
Volkswagen has approved a major restructuring plan that would eliminate about 50,000 jobs, cut its model lineup roughly in half and end vehicle production at four plants in Germany as the automaker confronts mounting pressure from lower-cost Chinese rivals and U.S. tariffs. The plan, advanced by Chief Executive Oliver Blume, is aimed at reducing costs Read More…
Snowflake, the cloud-data company based in Bozeman, delivered one of its strongest quarters in recent years, sending shares sharply higher as investors responded to accelerating growth and stronger demand for its artificial-intelligence products. Shares of Snowflake jumped about 17% after the company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.55 billion, up 35% from a year earlier. Read More…
The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August, a stronger-than-expected showing that offered fresh evidence of resilience in the labor market as manufacturing and construction hiring picked up. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. August payroll growth was well above the average monthly gain over the previous year. The White House pointed to the Read More…
Montana’s technology sector is continuing to broaden its footprint across the state, while a new wave of potential data-center investment could add another major component to the state’s changing economy. The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research highlighted high-tech businesses, artificial intelligence and data centers as part of its 2026 Midyear Economic Read More…
Investors enter the first week of September with a consequential earnings slate led by Broadcom, Dell Technologies and several major software companies, while Friday’s August jobs report adds another potential market catalyst. Dell Technologies is among the major companies scheduled to report Tuesday, Sept. 1. Investors will be watching the company’s AI-server business and PC Read More…
Netflix shares have climbed about 25% from their 2026 low, as investors take another look at the streaming company following a sharp selloff and signs emerge that its advertising business and new partnerships could provide additional avenues for growth. The stock has rebounded from a mid-July low of $65.08 but remains down roughly 34% over Read More…
Most North Dakotans will never set foot on a drilling rig or analyze rocks from thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Bakken Formation, but nearly everyone in the state has benefited from what lies below. For more than two decades, the Bakken Formation in western North Dakota has helped fuel North Dakota’s economy, generating more than $35 billion in tax revenue Read More…
For most of the past 15 years, the hardest question surrounding Tim Cook was whether he could follow Steve Jobs. He answered it by building a different kind of Apple. Cook didn’t replicate Jobs’s theatrical product instincts or preside over another invention quite as culturally disruptive as the Macintosh, iPod or iPhone. Instead, the industrial Read More…
U.S. stocks ended the week on a softer note Friday, with the major indexes retreating from recent records even as broader market gauges pointed to a resilient run for equities so far in 2026. The S&P 500 closed at 7,711.76, down 0.25% on the day but still up 0.77% over the past five trading sessions Read More…
Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve federal allegations that its pharmacies illegally filled thousands of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances, the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration announced. “Today’s settlement proves this Department is committed to putting Americans’ flourishing first,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “Congress Read More…
Removing the barriers that keep capital inside national borders would raise welfare in the typical country by about 5.5% of labor income — and would concentrate economic activity among the world’s largest firms while pushing smaller ones to contract, according to a working paper released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The paper, by Read More…
Idaho Falls-based Teton Auto Group has acquired Audi of Bozeman and Volkswagen of Bozeman, marking the family-owned auto retailer’s first expansion into Montana and adding the Audi luxury brand to its portfolio for the first time. The transaction became effective August 10. The two Bozeman dealerships join Teton Auto Group as established, award-winning operations with Read More…
TikTok and its parent ByteDance agreed to pay $400 million to resolve Justice Department litigation alleging the video platform failed to comply with federal children’s privacy law, one of the largest recoveries ever obtained under the statute. The company will pay $300 million immediately, according to the department. The remaining $100 million is contingent on Read More…
Nvidia has beaten Wall Street’s earnings estimate in each of the past six quarters, by an average of roughly 5.6%. Its shares have declined the following session all six times. That record, more than any figure on the income statement, frames what is at stake when the company reports fiscal second-quarter results. The published consensus Read More…
Firm’s flagship multistrategy fund rose 5.9% in July, among its best months since 2022 Citadel has unwound more than 80% of the risk tied to the portfolio it acquired from Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness, founder Ken Griffin told clients in a letter Friday, his first public accounting of a transaction that closed at speed last Read More…
Bitcoin and gold both staged dramatic reversals this week after weeks of lackluster performance, with the cryptocurrency posting gains of nearly 24% and the precious metal climbing past $4,600 an ounce as bond market turbulence, Washington policy activity and a cascade of forced short liquidations combined to supercharge both assets. Bitcoin had spent most of Read More…
Three-quarters of Americans and nearly seven in 10 Canadians have sought financial guidance from at least one source in the past year, according to a new study from Gallup conducted in partnership with Edward Jones, though the sources people rely on most are not always the ones they trust most. Among U.S. adults who sought Read More…