Amazon raises price of Prime membership
Amazon is raising the price of its annual Prime membership fee by 20 percent starting next month.
The company said Thursday that Prime members in the U.S. will now pay $119 a year, up from $99, starting May 11 for new members. The new price will apply to renewals of existing members starting on June 16.
The last time it raised the annual fee was four years ago. Earlier this year, it increased the monthly rate to $12.99 a month from $10.99.
The online retailer recently disclosed for the first time that it has more than 100 million Prime members worldwide.
Mortgage rates up to five-year high
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates continued to climb this week, reaching their highest level in more than four years and denting prospective home purchasers’ prospects amid the spring buying season.
It was the third straight week of increases for long-term mortgage rates. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 4.58 percent from 4.47 percent last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate averaged 4.03 percent a year ago.
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans rose to 4.02 percent from 3.94 percent last week.
Spiking interest rates on U.S. Treasury bonds, driven by rising commodity prices that boosted inflation expectations, helped lift long-term mortgage rates to their highest level since August 2013.
Walmart negotiates to buy Flipkart
Walmart is nearing a deal to acquire a majority stake in India’s leading online retailer, a bold move that would open another front in its escalating war with Amazon.
The Indian company, Flipkart, is a startup that sells everything from clothing to smartphones in the country’s blossoming e-commerce market.
The two sides are in advanced discussions and a deal could be announced soon, according to three people briefed on the matter. Exact terms are not yet final and the talks are fluid, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations were continuing.
Two of the people said that the deal would value Flipkart at about $20 billion and that Walmart was looking to acquire a stake of at least 60 percent.
Puerto Rico eyes austerity measures
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – For the first time in Puerto Rico’s history, legislators on Thursday introduced a bill created by a federal control board overseeing the island’s finances that aims to impose austerity measures the U.S. territory’s government has rejected.
The bill would reduce vacation and sick leave by half, eliminate a popular Christmas bonus and increase the minimum wage for certain workers if Puerto Rico manages to increase its labor participation rate as it struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria amid an 11-year recession.
Now that the bill has been submitted, it will lead to what many anticipate will be a fierce debate between Jose Carrion, president of a board that Congress established two years ago, and the president of Puerto Rico’s Senate, Thomas Rivera Schatz. He ordered Carrion to appear at a public hearing on May 1, the same day that tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans are expected to go on strike to protest austerity measures the board approved last week in a 6-1 vote.