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Stopovers break up the distance. But there are pros and cons to scheduling short trips in cities like Seoul, Bangkok, Dubai and Singapore.

Japan's headline inflation rate slipped to 2.3% in October, its lowest level since January and down from the 2.5% seen in September. The core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, came in at 2.3%, down from September's 2.4%. The figure however, was slightly higher than the 2.2% expected among economists polled by Reuters. Japan's central bank has long stated that its goal is a "virtuous cycle between wages and prices." A weak inflation reading could therefore mean that the bank would still need to maintain an easy monetary policy stance.

Alphabet shares closed down Thursday, following news that the Department of Justice is calling for Google to divest its Chrome browser to put an end to its search monopoly. The proposed break-up would, according to the DOJ in its Wednesday filing, "permanently stop Google's control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet." Find more on this story: cnb.cx/4fAfXaX

Intuit shares fell 6% in extended trading on Thursday after the finance software maker issued a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts' estimates due to some sales getting delayed. Here's how the company performed in comparison with LSEG consensus: Revenue increased 10% year over year in the quarter, which ended on Oct. 31, according to a statement. Net income fell to $197 million, or 70 cents per share, from $241 million, or 85 cents per share, a year ago.

Hurricanes and unseasonably warm weather hit sales at Gap during its fiscal third quarter, but the apparel company still posted better than expected results, leading it to raise its annual guidance for a third time this year. Gap, which runs Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta and its namesake banner, is now expecting fiscal 2024 sales to be up between 1.5% and 2%, compared to previous guidance of "up slightly." That's ahead of the 0.4% growth that LSEG analysts had expected, and bodes well for the all-important holiday shopping season, which is now underway. The company is also anticipating gross margins and operating income will grow more than it previously expected.

Crypto investor Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall, highlighting the soaring values of crypto and viral art. Sotheby’s last night auctioned off the infamous banana, titled “Comedian,” created by Italian artist and cultural prankster Maurizio Cattelan. After a heated battle with six others, Sun emerged as the winner, bidding online and paying in crypto. Find more: cnb.cx/4930bTp

Target on Wednesday missed Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and posted only a slight uptick in customer traffic. Target’s shares plunged more than 21% on Tuesday, hitting a 52-week low. Its stock closed at $121.72, bringing the company’s market value to $56.07 billion. After its biggest earnings miss in two years and stock plunge, Target laid some of the blame on the recent U.S. ports strike, citing higher freight costs it absorbed as a result of preemptive action to move more product into the U.S. ahead of October. But cargo container trade data reviewed by CNBC tells a more nuanced tale. Read more: https://cnb.cx/3Z3MBue

Most Americans are concerned about what may happen to Social Security when its retirement trust fund crosses a projected 2033 depletion date, according to a new Bankrate survey. Nearly three-quarters, 73%, of non-retired adults and 71% retired adults say they worry they won't receive their benefits if the trust fund runs out. The October survey included 2,492 individuals. Those worries loom large for older Americans who are not yet retired, according to the results. That includes 81% of working baby boomers and 82% of Gen Xers who are worried they may not receive their benefits at retirement age if the trust fund is depleted.

Former New York City police officer Jason Rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to his role as the chief operating officer of a foreign exchange investment fund, prosecutors said in a release Thursday. Rodriguez, 38, was indicted in a Brooklyn federal court in February after he lied to investors and lost most of the $4.8 million put into his forex investment fund, Technical Trading Team. To date, approximately $3.5 million of those funds have not been paid back to the investors, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. "The defendant deceived retail investors into investing with his company based on false promises that he would invest their money in accordance with clear guardrails and that he had left the NYPD because of his success as a trader," Breon Pace, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said. "In reality, there were no guardrails, he resigned from the NYPD in disgrace, and he lost

Big tech payment apps, fintech players and P2P services will soon get the kind of behind-the-scenes grilling from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that banks receive. Tech giants and payments firms that handle at least 50 million transactions annually will fall under the review, which is meant to ensure the newer entrants adhere to the laws that banks and credit unions abide by, the CFPB said in a?release. The CFPB said that seven nonbanks qualify for the new scrutiny. Payments services from?Apple,?Google?and?Amazon,?as well as fintech firms including?PayPal?and?Block?and peer-to-peer services Venmo and?Zelle?are impacted by the change. While the CFPB already had some authority over digital payment companies because of its oversight of electronic fund transfers, the new rule allows it to treat tech companies more like banks. It makes the firms subject to “proactive examinations” to ensure legal compliance, enabling it to demand records and interview employees. The new CFPB rule is one of the rare instances where the U.S. banking industry publicly supported the regulator’s actions; banks have long felt that tech firms making inroads in financial services ought to be more scrutinized. #regulations #CFPB #big tech #payments read more: https://lnkd.in/g2YPYGa8