Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Stacey Vanek Smith

Reporter, Marketplace

Stacey Vanek Smith is a former senior reporter for Marketplace.

Latest from Stacey Vanek Smith

  • Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on May 6, 2013 in New York City.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Wall Street banks are taking on Bloomberg in the wake of news that the news service’s reporters snooped on clients. Could there be business implications for the company?

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  • Joseph Klein of Sayville, N.Y., is assisted by Lowe's employee Ormani Rivera after his purchase of a generator in Hicksville, N.Y.
    Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

    Retail sales rose a tenth of a percent in April. Why are people spending more and are they going back into credit card debit over these purchases?

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  • Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London, England.
    Oli Scarff/Getty Images

    Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy is likely to boost demand for a medical test that determines the probability of breast cancer. That test is currently available from just one company, Myriad Genetics, which charges more than $4,000.

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  • The IRS building in Washington, D.C.
    Chris Phan / Creative Commons

    They’re called social-welfare organizations, but 501(c)4 nonprofit groups are increasingly partisan lobbying machines on both the left and right. Who can get this tax-exempt status?

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  • People wait in line to attend a Long Island job fair on May 2, 2013 in Uniondale, N.Y.
    Mario Tama/Getty Images

    U.S. jobless claims are falling — most recently to a pre-recession level — but does that mean nothing more than employers are getting to the point where they can’t lay off any more workers?

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  • Customers walk out of a Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurant during lunchtime on April 19, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
    Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

    TV networks come out with their fall programs next week. But as more people tune in online, many marketers are finding that ads alone aren't enough.

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  • Travelers wait in line at the American Airlines ticket counter at Miami International Airport.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    Taxes on your flights are pretty hefty, and they might get heftier soon. But how do they compare to taxes for other services?

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  • Can adding canned laughter make a sitcom more popular than one without the assist?
    Bart Heird / Creative Commons

    Can adding canned laughter make a sitcom more popular than one without the assist? As old-fashioned as laugh tracks seem, they're still a valuable element of successful TV comedies.

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  • A 'bank foreclosure sale' sign is posted in front of townhomes on August 12, 2010 in Los Angeles, Calif.
    Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

    Big investors have been snapping up foreclosed homes and turning them into rentals. Now some of those investors are hoping to capitalize on their distressed buys — and share the spoils with the general public — by going public.

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  • There is one anomalous data point in the overall job-market recovery: wages. Above, job seekers in San Francisco get information on openings.
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    We analyze the latest jobs report and get an update on how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is helping stay-at-home parents earn lines of credit.

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Stacey Vanek Smith