*By Conor White*
With the company's first manufacturing plant in China up and running, the chief executive of Align Technology, the maker of Invisalign orthodontics, isn't concerned about a possible trade war between the United States and China.
"By the end of the year we'll have a good, contained business in China, and be able to service our Chinese business," said Joe Hogan, the CEO of Align Technology. "So I feel great about the moves we've made there, given the talks that are going on."
Align's stock was the top performer on the S&P 500 in the last year, soaring 132 percent in 2017. The company's management has said sales could top $2 billion by 2020.
To reach that goal, the company is reaching out directly to consumers who may need its Invisalign products: clear, plastic teeth aligners taking the place of traditional metal braces.
"We have a really strong consumer business, in the sense that we advertise to consumers, and direct them toward doctors," Hogan said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar. "So the consumer awareness part of this is a big part of this strategy also."
Consumers are increasingly aware: Invisalign shipments are up more than 30 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of this year.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/stars-align-for-invisalign).
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
Taylor Swift grossed nearly $2 billion this year, according to Billboard.
A study from US News and World Report has found the most affordable place to retire is in Ohio.
Millions of households could see higher internet costs next year as the affordable connectivity program could end.
