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…
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…
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…
Paramount has agreed to delay closing its $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery until at least June 2027, a stunning development that comes as a federal judge considers a challenge from 12 states seeking to block the deal entirely. In a court filing Friday, Paramount said it would not move forward with the transaction Read More…
SpaceX shares have fallen roughly 50% from their post-IPO peak, and Morgan Stanley is warning that a further slide to $100 — a level many investors consider realistic — would mean the market is assigning no value whatsoever to the company’s artificial intelligence business. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas made the case in a note Read More…
American Express reported second-quarter profits rose 8% from a year earlier, beating Wall Street’s expectations, but shares fell roughly 6% Friday as investors focused on unchanged full-year earnings guidance and rising expenses rather than the headline beat. The New York-based card issuer earned $3.11 billion, or $4.53 a share, in the quarter, topping the analyst Read More…
Stockman Bank has been named the top bank in Montana on Forbes’ 2026 list of America’s Best-In-State Banks, marking another year at the top of the statewide ranking for Montana’s largest family-owned community bank. The recognition, released June 17 in partnership with Statista, is based on surveys of thousands of U.S. banking customers as well Read More…
Montana ranked ninth in the nation for year-over-year job growth, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, citing a new report placing the state among the country’s strongest job markets. According to a report by Stat Ranker, which compared all 50 states on year-over-year growth in total nonfarm payroll employment between February 2025 and February 2026, Montana added Read More…
Costco Wholesale reported June net sales of $29.24 billion, a 10.6% year-over-year increase for the five-week retail period ending July 5, offering fresh evidence that the warehouse retailer’s distinctive business model continues to hold up well in a choppy consumer environment. Comparable sales rose 8.8% for the month, with the U.S. segment leading the way Read More…
Nvidia has built its dominant position in the artificial intelligence chip market by consistently delivering on promises that once seemed impossibly ambitious. Now, with expectations running at record highs and rivals closing in, the company faces a different kind of challenge — convincing investors that what comes next will be as good as what came Read More…
First Interstate BancSystem has been named to TIME magazine’s inaugural America’s Best Companies 2026 list, a recognition the Billings-based regional bank’s leadership credited to its people and its approach to community banking across the West. The list, produced in partnership with Statista and announced July 9, ranks 1,000 U.S. companies based on three equally weighted Read More…
Most financial advice from billionaires sounds something like this: diversify your portfolio, buy index funds, think long-term, let compound interest do the heavy lifting. Mark Cuban’s advice on what to do with a sudden $100,000 windfall sounds nothing like that. It starts in the grocery store. When asked by Forbes how he’d handle a fresh Read More…
Wall Street posted weekly losses across the board as a sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks outweighed a string of solid earnings reports, snapping what had been a period of broad market strength. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% for the week, ending Friday at 7,457.69. The Nasdaq Composite fared worse, falling 2.9% as chipmakers came Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Janicki Industries leadership to break ground on the company’s $800 million, 1.6 million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Great Falls, marking the formal start of what is expected to become one of the largest private investments in Montana’s recent history. The ceremony brought together Janicki leadership, state and local officials, and members of Read More…
Microsoft announced layoffs Monday impacting 605 workers based out of Washington, part of a planned broader corporate restructuring that will eliminate 4,800 employees globally. According to the Washington Employment Security Department WARN database, the permanent job cuts were formally logged on Monday and are scheduled to take effect on Sept. 4. The 605-person filing represents the Read More…
The Texas Stock Exchange commenced trading on Monday, kickstarting the first real test of one of the most well-funded new exchanges to launch in decades. The Texas Stock Exchange, a Dallas-based startup, is initiating a phased rollout to take place over the course of July. On Monday, the exchange opened to TXSE members, including approved Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4% in May, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, remaining below the national unemployment rate, which held steady at 4.3% over the month. “Since taking office, we’ve been focused on unleashing Montana’s economy to support business owners who create good-paying jobs, strengthen our workforce, and reduce barriers to employment,” Gianforte said. Read More…
Barry Diller’s People Inc. submitted a non-binding proposal to MGM Resorts International’s board on June 1 to acquire the roughly 74% of the company it doesn’t already own, in a deal that would value the casino operator at more than $18 billion including debt. People Inc., the holding company formerly known as IAC that owns Read More…
Stock’s blistering post-IPO run has investors betting on Musk’s broader ambitions in AI, even as some analysts call the valuation overheated Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the Elon Musk-led rocket and satellite company known as SpaceX, vaulted past Amazon.com in market value this week, becoming the world’s fifth most valuable public company in just three trading Read More…
Senior research scientist John Jumper said Friday he would leave Google DeepMind to join Anthropic, the latest high-profile departure from the tech giant’s AI research division. Jumper, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, is best known as the co-creator of AlphaFold, an AI system that has predicted Read More…
Social-media company sheds in-house AI video unit as it looks to rein in the rising costs of developing generative-AI models and immersive gaming products Snap Inc. is carving out its generative-AI video team into a new, independent company called Dotmo, the latest move by the social-media giant to manage the soaring costs of building artificial-intelligence Read More…
Montana earned recognition as one of the nation’s premier destinations for entrepreneurs, landing in the top 15 states in a WalletHub study ranking all 50 states on their business startup environments. The report evaluated states across 25 measures grouped into three dimensions: business environment, access to resources and business costs. Metrics included number of startups Read More…
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has approved Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the largest regulatory hurdle facing one of the most closely watched media mergers of the Trump era. The decision, announced Friday, paves the way for a combination of two of Hollywood’s most storied studios, merging the company behind Read More…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX priced its initial public offering Thursday, raising $75 billion and cementing the rocket maker’s place among the world’s most valuable companies in what stands as the largest IPO in U.S. history. On Friday, Wall Street delivered its verdict: investors wanted in. The offering valued SpaceX at approximately $1.77 trillion at its IPO Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that Janicki Industries selected Great Falls as the site of an $800 million manufacturing campus expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in its first five years and ultimately employ more than 2,000 people once fully built out. John Janicki, president of the company, made the announcement Read More…
NEW YORK — A sharp selloff in semiconductor stocks erased more than $1 trillion in market value Friday, ending Wall Street’s nine-week winning streak with the worst single-day losses in months and leaving investors cautious heading into a week packed with potential market-moving events. The Nasdaq Composite suffered its worst session since April 2025, plunging Read More…
The Las Vegas Strip is facing a wave of consolidation unlike anything seen in a generation, with two major casino takeover deals announced in the span of days that could fundamentally reshape the American gaming industry. Media mogul Barry Diller’s holding company People Incorporated — formerly known as IAC — submitted a non-binding proposal Monday Read More…
AZ Lemonade Stand, an Arizona-based premium lemonade brand, is rolling out across Montana retailers this month, bringing five flavors to Town Pump, Super 1 Foods, Rosauers, and Thriftway Food Stores locations statewide as the company pushes deeper into western markets. The launch includes the brand’s Original, Strawberry, Mango, and Prickly Pear varieties alongside a Huckleberry Read More…
Wall Street closed out a turbulent week on a sour note Friday, with all three major indexes posting sharp declines that erased much of the gains built up through a historic midweek rally, leaving investors to weigh record stock prices against rising inflation, elevated oil prices, and unresolved geopolitical tensions. For the week, the S&P Read More…
A Montana minerals exploration company marked its arrival on a U.S. national securities exchange Thursday when Silver Bow Mining Corp. leadership rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, roughly a week after the Butte-based company completed its initial public offering. Silver Bow Mining began trading on the NYSE American exchange under the Read More…
Bridger Photonics, the global leader in emissions detection and intelligence, has announced the launch of Bridger Command™, an interactive emissions management platform designed to help oil and gas operators turn emissions data into faster, more confident decisions. Oil and gas operators make thousands of decisions daily across operations, maintenance, safety, regulatory, and capital planning. Over Read More…
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported net earnings attributable to shareholders of $10.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026, more than double the $4.6 billion reported in the same period a year ago, according to the company’s quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 2, 2026. The results were driven by strong Read More…
Spirit Airlines announced on May 2 that it was suspending all operations after years of financial hardships, compounded by a recent spike in fuel prices, leaving travelers scrambling for alternative flights and refunds. All Spirit flights have been canceled and the airline’s customer service is no longer available. “For more than 30 years, Spirit Airlines Read More…
Wall Street capped a strong week with fresh all-time highs on Friday, as upbeat earnings from Apple and hopes for a resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict helped push major indexes higher for a fifth consecutive week. The Nasdaq led the way, surpassing the 25,000 level and closing at 25,114.44, a new record. The S&P 500 Read More…
Small businesses and nonprofit organizations in parts of Wyoming are now eligible for low-interest federal disaster loans following a drought declaration issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The assistance is available to businesses in Goshen County, Laramie County, and Niobrara County, which were included in a multi-state disaster declaration covering drought conditions that began Read More…
Intel Corporation delivered a quarterly report that suggests one of the most important markets in technology is tightening again: central processing units are in short supply just as demand rebounds. Shares of Intel surged nearly 30% after the company’s fiscal first-quarter results topped expectations and management outlined stronger trends in servers, improved product mix, and Read More…
American manufacturing is showing fresh momentum, with factory activity climbing to its strongest level in four years as companies expand domestic production and investors warm to an industrial rebound. Recent data point to a broad pickup across the sector. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose for a third straight month, reaching its highest Read More…
President Donald Trump has signed legislation reauthorizing two of the federal government’s flagship small-business research programs, clearing the way for a major Pentagon push to speed new technologies from startups and universities to the battlefield. The Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act renews the Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Read More…
Tesla, Inc. investors are again confronting the company’s defining question: Is it an automaker with an expensive valuation, or an artificial-intelligence company still early in its growth story? The debate intensified after Tesla reported first-quarter results that showed rising revenue, improving profits and sharply higher capital expenditures. The company spent $2.49 billion in the quarter, Read More…
The term “K-shaped economy” arose after the COVID-19 pandemic to characterize the diverging economic paths of high-income Americans and everyone else. It became ubiquitous in 2025, one of the “biggest business buzzwords” of the year. Growing U.S. inequality in income and wealth is not a new phenomenon. But the recent K-shaped story is often told Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte joined leaders from BHE Montana in Great Falls to celebrate the opening of the company’s new office and to emphasize the need for affordable, reliable energy as demand continues to grow across the state. Gianforte said Montana must continue investing and innovating to meet increasing energy needs for homes, schools, businesses, and Read More…
Wall Street ended the week with a mixed but largely positive tone as technology shares pushed major indexes higher, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, slipped and snapped a three-week winning streak. For the week, the S&P 500 gained about 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Read More…
A $16 billion financing package for a massive Oracle Corp. data center in Michigan has closed after months of difficult negotiations, the latest sign of both the enormous appetite for AI infrastructure and the growing wariness among investors asked to fund it. Bank of America sold $14 billion in bonds tied to the project, with Read More…