By Martin Crutsinger
The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it was expanding a major lending program to provide support for businesses struggling to cope with the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Fed said that it was expanding the scope and eligibility of its Main Street Lending Program which is designed to provide up to $600 billion in loans to small and mid-size businesses that have been harmed by the pandemic and the efforts to contain it.
The Fed said it was allowing businesses with up to 15,000 employees and $5 billion in annual revenues to qualify for loans. That is up from earlier limit of 10,000 employees and $2.5 billion in revenue.
The minimum loan size is being reduced to $500,000, down from an original minimum loan size of $1 million.
This support program, one of many the Fed has unveiled over the past two months, is designed to provide businesses with loans of up to four years from banks at below-market interest rates. Unlike a separate program being run by the Small Business Administration, the loans from the Fed must be repaid but payments can be deferred for one year.
Karl Brauer, executive analyst with Iseecars.com, joined Cheddar News to discuss what to consider if you're in the market for a new or used vehicle.
New applications along with refinancing for mortgages dropped from a year ago as rates continued to climb.
Nvidia posted strong quarterly results, citing strong demand and plans to significantly increase supply.
Minutes from a recent Federal Reserve meeting showed that members "expressed uncertainty about how much more policy tightening may be appropriate."
Microsoft said it detected malicious hacking activity against critical U.S. infrastructure by a Chinese state-sponsored group.
Cheddar News checks in to see what to look out for on The Day Ahead as earnings continue with reports from Gap, Best Buy, Costco Wholesale and Ulta Beauty while key economic data is also due to be released. It's also National Wine Day on Thursday.
Over 1,400 props from classic movies like Star Wars, Shawshank Redemption and Gladiator will be up for auction next month in what experts say will be one of the largest memorabilia auctions in the world.
The Consumer Federation of America released its annual list of top complaints filed with consumer agencies across the country.
Google is using new artificial intelligence models to generate descriptions for YoutTube shorts.
The European Union and Google are looking to develop a voluntary artificial intelligence pact with European and non-European companies ahead of rules to govern the technology.
