Blog Posts by CNBC

By Phil LeBeau, CNBC.com

While millions across the country struggle to find a job, a small but growing number of women are turning to manufacturing and welding jobs for a paycheck.

Skilled welders are hard to come by in Florence, Ky. "I get a lot of questions like, 'Why would you want to weld?'" said Anna Wild, a welder at the Wyoming Machine Company in Stacy, Minnesota. "The way that they ask me it's like why would you want to do that."

For Anna and millions of women in manufacturing, the idea of putting on a welding mask or forging steel is a no brainer. These are high paying jobs requiring a skill that is in demand.

Still Fighting Sexism in the Plant
Right now, 27 percent of the 11.96 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are held by women. That's a slight decline from a few years ago when the recession (What's This? Find Out Here) hit.

Historically, the percentage of woman in manufacturing has been between 25 percent and 35 percent.
While attitudes on shop floors have improved dramatically over the last 30 years, it's still an

By Katie Little, CNBC.com

It sounds like more women are channeling Carrie Bradshaw's quote, "I like my money right where I can see it - hanging in my closet."

Six-figure wardrobes have retailers clamoring for a piece of the shopping action. According to a new poll from Sure Women Linen Dry, the average British woman spends with "Sex and the City" enthusiasm to the tune of around $103,000 during her lifetime.

Shelling out a cool six digits translates to an average of 271 pairs of shoes, 185 dresses and 145 bags. Despite this, 60 percent reported they sometimes felt the pangs of having nothing to wear to work or an evening out.

The damage for women under the age of 25, who fall into the Millennial generation, is even greater at around $160,000 over the years. Retailers see a potential windfall in these high spenders.

Recently, many companies, including Gap and Macy's, have ratcheted up their marketing toward Millennials, who lack the etched-in-stone brand preferences of older generations.

But this picky (and financially struggling) demographic has not been an

By Brian A. Shactman, CNBC.com

Every year in the United States, there are one million divorces. In many respects, that's two million people beginning life anew.

What's more, about 67 percent of second marriages end in divorce, and the percentage is even worse for third marriages.

The need for everything - from lawyers to therapists to movers - is astounding. As morbid as it may sound, in the business world, that would be considered a big market.

"If you think about the bridal industry, it's a $2 billion industry," said Francine Baras, co-founder of Start Over Smart, an expo business that brings together services for the newly divorced. "No one has a number for the amount of money that is probably in the divorce industry.

[Related: World's Biggest Divorce Settlements]

"And not only is the market underserved, it has not actually been looked at as a niche."
Until now.

Businesses want to serve this consumer need, but do it without amplifying the label of "divorce", which still

By Jane Wells, CNBC.com

"I never thought I'd see the day when I can smoke pot in California but not eat foie gras."

That was a comment from a man who paid $65 earlier this month to attend a party in San Francisco pairing foie gras with fine wines.

Ducks in California rejoice! The Golden State new foie gras law prohibits fowl from being force fed. The party was supposed to be a secret farewell to a food banned for sale and production in the Golden State as of July 1.

However, animal rights activists discovered its location and set up a protest outside, shouting, "Helpless ducks are force fed!"

The party was thrown by Laurel Pine, owner of Mirepoix USA, an online seller of fine foods.

"Foie gras is probably about 40 percent of our business," she says. Pine's business used to be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, but she has decamped to Reno, Nevada, because of the upcoming ban.
"I think it is the beginning of an agenda to really limit what people eat, and to try to change people's eating habits to not eat meat."

The bill, passed in 2004, gave the industry eight years to adapt

By Karen Elowitt, CNBC.com

Being able to fit in a few hours of sleep on a long-haul flight can mean the difference between arriving at your destination feeling like a deranged zombie, or a coherent member of the human race. Factors such as temperature, seat pitch and light levels can all affect your ability to get adequate shut-eye.

Being able to sleep, can make or break a long-haul journey. The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner caught some criticism recently from All Nippon Airways for having dimmable windows that apparently do not get dark enough for some fliers' tastes - especially when trying to sleep during daylight hours. The windows, which do not have pull down shades, darken. But they don't get completely opaque. (There's always that old standby, the eye mask, no?)

But other variables, besides being able to sleep, can make or break a long-haul journey. Road warriors who frequently have to make long treks from the U.S. to Europe, Asia, Australia or the Middle East know that advance planning is essential. Proper seat selection, clothing and

By Daniel Bukszpan, CNBC.com

Every day, amateur athletes rise at dawn, endure their coaches' abuse and train diligently in their chosen sport, all in the hope that someday they might hit the big time and turn pro. Sadly, most of these hopefuls get turned away, often for the simple reason that the supply of athletes outweighs the demand. Despite the long odds, some famous athletes not only hit the big time, but even have a sibling who's done the same.

Read ahead to see sibling athletes who have beaten the odds and made it into the big leagues at the same time.

See the full slideshow: 11 Sibling Athletes


Venus & Serena WilliamsVenus & Serena Williams

Tennis players Venus and Serena Williams are arguably the best-known sibling athletes in the world. Venus has won the Grand Slam title seven times and Serena has won it thirteen times, and on eight of these occasions they competed against one another. After all, they had knocked out everyone else. Each has been ranked number one in the world, so they make a

By Katie Little, CNBC.com

Americans are seeing more zeros in their bank accounts these days - and not the good kind.

Only a quarter of those surveyed have squirreled away sufficient savings for six months or more As Americans struggle to put the economic downturn behind, many appear to be going the wrong way. In one key measure of security, the number of Americans with no emergency savings rose to 28 percent of Americans, slipping from 24 percent of the year before, according to a new Bankrate.com survey.

Only a quarter of those surveyed have squirreled away sufficient savings for six months or more, the amount that financial advisors suggest to have on hand in the event of an emergency.

"We have a long and storied history in this country of spending and keeping up with the Joneses and not making savings a priority," said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's CEO. "I mean, look, this is not confined to emergency savings. Same is true when we look at retirement savings."

Stagnant wages and creeping household expenses have not helped the savings rate, McBride told CNBC's "Closing

By Cindy Perman, CNBC.com

Many people turn to the liquor cabinet during times of stress - like, say, when the stock market is gyrating in triple-digit moves. But did you know that just thinking about having a drink can help you relax?

I don't know about you but I feel better already! In a recent article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, scientists at Victoria University of Wellington, Harvard Medical School and Plymouth University explain that there is a "phenomenon of suggestion," whereby the mere suggestion of something - a lucky rabbit's foot, a glass of wine or a pill - can have an effect on the outcome of a situation. It's similar to the "placebo effect," whereby patients take a dummy pill but think it's the real thing and actually start to feel the desired effect of the real drug.

These researchers call it "response expectancies."

[Related: America's Most Stressful Jobs]

For example, a normally shy person who thinks a glass of wine or two will help him relax and be more sociable at a party is more likely to