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If you’re invested broadly in the U.S. stock market, dividends may be doing more heavy lifting than you think when it comes to boosting your bottom line. Consider the historical returns of the S&P 500. From 1960 through 2024, a $10,000 investment in the index would have grown to more than $982,000 based solely on the upward trajectory in stock prices. But all the while, many of those companies were distributing cash to shareholders. If an investor during that period had reinvested that cash — as many investors do — they’d start 2025 with $6.42 million. Find more on how dividends boost returns: cnb.cx/4h7TIcb

Meta chief product officer Chris Cox said Wednesday that the social networking giant's upcoming Llama 4 artificial intelligence software will help power AI agents, the latest trend in generative AI. Cox discussed the next version of Meta's open-source AI software for developers during a public interview at Morgan Stanley's technology, media and telecom conference in San Francisco. AI agents are typically defined by their ability to conduct multi-step tasks instead of generating responses to written prompts, and Cox said in the interview that Llama 4 will have reasoning capabilities and create AI agents capable of using a web browser and other tools. Later during the interview, Cox described how more advanced AI models can be used to underpin AI agents so they can complete specific business-related tasks, such as automatically filing receipts.

With the right mindset, an entry-level role can fulfill you just as much as your dream job, says Indeed CEO Chris Hyams. ⬇️

The White House on Wednesday announced a one-month tariff exemption for automakers after President Donald Trump spoke a day earlier with heads of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis. Automakers have urged Trump to waive 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on vehicles that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin. “Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on behalf of Trump. Read more: cnb.cx/3Dgu2wc

The White House on Wednesday announced a one-month tariff exemption for automakers after President Donald Trump spoke a day earlier with heads of General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis. Automakers have urged Trump to waive 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on vehicles that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin.

House Republicans have called for about $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade that may target Medicaid, a program that provides health care and other services to millions of Americans. The budget resolution adopted by the chamber on Feb. 25 is aimed at implementing the cuts to help pay for renewing tax cuts expiring the end of this year. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is charged with finding the savings, and Medicaid is under its jurisdiction. Of note, the resolution doesn't specifically single out Medicaid. "It is very hard to imagine coming up with enough savings from what's in their jurisdiction without a hefty cut to Medicaid, just given its size," said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

The Nasdaq Composite teetered around correction territory on Tuesday — down 10% from a recent high — for most of the turbulent session. Not only that, but the Nasdaq also extended a decline below its 200-day moving average, a key level closely watched by traders. Sign up for CNBC Pro to read more.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's administration imposed new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico while increasing existing tariffs on goods from China, a move expected to raise prices for new homes, according to a recent CoreLogic report. That's largely because tariffs affect essential home construction materials, including wood products, cement, steel, aluminum and appliances, so homebuilding costs are projected to rise. As a result, construction costs could increase by 4% to 6% over the next 12 months, adding roughly $17,000 to $22,000 to the sticker prices for new homes, according to CoreLogic.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued Wednesday that former President Joe Biden — not his boss, President Donald Trump — is to blame for recent negative economic data and a plunge in stock prices. "The president spoke about it last night," Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. "He said Biden left him a pile of poop." "He left him a lot of the economy that [Trump's] trying to fix," Lutnick said.

Elizabeth Stein was bothered by her sweet tooth. Stein, a holistic nutrition counselor, couldn’t find sweets on grocery shelves that she was comfortable recommending to clients — everything was too unhealthy. So in 2008, she decided to create her own, selling muffin mixes at a local triathlon as a side hustle to help promote her business. The side hustle overtook her full-time job: Today, Stein is the CEO of Purely Elizabeth, a Boulder, Colorado-based natural foods company that brought in $147 million in sales last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. The 50-employee company’s sales have grown almost every year since its launch, and it reached profitability in 2023, a spokesperson says. Here's how Stein built her business into what it is today. cnb.cx/3QHlVvM