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An independent contractor wearing a protective mask and gloves loads Amazon Prime grocery bags into a car outside a Whole Foods Market in Berkeley, California, on Oct. 7, 2020.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon is piloting a new grocery subscription for members of its Prime program, the company said Thursday, marking the latest recalibration of its online supermarket offerings.

Members of the company’s Prime program will have the option to pay $9.99 per month to get unlimited grocery delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh on orders more than $35. They’ll also have access to 30-minute pickup on orders of any size. To start, the service is rolling out in Denver, Colorado; Sacramento, California; and Columbus, Ohio.

“We’re always experimenting with features to make shopping easier, faster, and more affordable, and we look forward to hearing how members who take advantage of this offer respond,” Tony Hoggett, who leads Amazon’s physical stores business, said in a statement.

Amazon is betting Prime members will want to pay an additional monthly charge for fresh food to be dropped at their doorstep without pesky delivery fees. A Prime subscription costs $139 per year, or $14.99 per month, in the U.S., and the membership’s perks include free, speedy shipping and access to video streaming. With the add-on grocery subscription, the offering could drive bigger, and more frequent, food orders among Prime members.

Amazon has tweaked its fee-free delivery threshold for Fresh and Whole Foods orders in recent years amid mounting costs. In October, the company lowered its threshold for free Fresh grocery delivery to orders over $100, after setting the minimum at $150 months earlier. In 2021, the company introduced a $10 service fee for Whole Foods delivery orders to Prime members.

Prior to the fee changes earlier this year, the company offered free Amazon Fresh grocery delivery on orders above $35 at no extra cost for Prime members.

Amazon has been determined to cement itself as a grocery destination for shoppers. Since acquiring Whole Foods Market in 2017 for $13.7 billion, it has launched its own chain of Fresh supermarkets, and it’s taken steps more recently to unify its online and brick-and-mortar grocery operations, while appealing to a broader swath of consumers. Last month, the company opened Fresh grocery delivery to people without Prime anywhere in the U.S., after testing the feature in a handful of cities.

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Social media users report Netflix outage during ‘Stranger Things’ premiere

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Social media users report Netflix outage during 'Stranger Things' premiere

A Netflix logo is on display at the Lucca Comics & Games 2025 event, one of Europe’s largest pop culture conventions, as stars and creators of “Stranger Things” series launch Season 5, in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2025.

Claudia Greco | Reuters

Users on social media posted that they were experiencing issues with Netflix’s service on Wednesday, the night of the widely anticipated “Stranger Things” fifth-season premiere.

DownDetector.com on Wednesday said “User reports indicate problems at Netflix.”

“Netflix fix your app bro,” one X user posted.

Users began reporting issues with Netflix around 7:40 p.m. Eastern, according to DownDetector.com. Netflix had said the latest season of “Stranger Things” would go live Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Netflix said it would release the first four episodes of the “Stranger Things” fifth season on Wednesday. The streaming service has said it will release another three episodes on Dec. 25 and the final episode of the show on Dec. 31.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

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CNBC Daily Open: An early Thanksgiving celebration in U.S. markets

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CNBC Daily Open: An early Thanksgiving celebration in U.S. markets

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Nov. 26, 2025.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Thanksgiving in the U.S. takes place on Thursday stateside, but the feasting might have begun a day early for investors. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all recorded a fourth straight day of gains.

Shares of Oracle, which have been hobbling along in November after wiping out its one-day spike in September, advanced roughly 4% after Deutsche Bank said that its recent price pullback “presents an attractive entry point for investors when looking at Oracle’s business in totality.” Other technology and AI-related stocks, such as Nvidia and Microsoft, rose in sympathy.

“Thanksgiving week is generally a strong week in the markets. Everyone’s feeling good,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director at The Wealth Alliance.

It’s what happens after Thanksgiving that might cause some pause.

The futures market is now pricing in a roughly 85% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in December. When expectations are too high — and not met — disappointment will be all the more painful.

“If the Fed disappoints, you could have a sell-off,” Diton said — but added, “I don’t think they will.”

And if White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett does assume the role of Fed chair when Jerome Powell vacates his seat, rates could trend even lower in the future, wrote Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave.

Looser monetary policy tends to provide more support for stocks — that notion seems to be behind optimistic targets for the S&P 500 by the end of 2026. So far, the numbers that have been floated are 7,400 from CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall, and as high as 8,000 from JPMorgan.

Investors indeed have much to be thankful for in 2025 — and possibly the next year as well.

What you need to know today

Fourth straight day of gains for U.S. stocks. Major indexes closed higher on Wednesday, lifted by technology firms such as Oracle and Nvidia. Europe’s Stoxx 600 added 1.09%. U.K. banks climbed following the release of the country’s budget.

Apple’s smartphone shipments to overtake Samsung. The company will ship around 243 million iPhones this year, higher than the 235 million smartphones from Samsung, Counterpoint Research wrote. It’d be the first time in 14 years Apple will outstrip its rival.

UK unveils its Autumn Budget. Some measures Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday include tax breaks for startup employees and investors, and frozen income tax thresholds — which have been described as “stealth tax” for workers.

AI can replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce, MIT says. That’s equivalent to $1.2 trillion in wages across finance, health care and professional services. The study, which was released Wednesday by the university, created a simulation of 151 million U.S. workers.

[PRO] The S&P 500 to hit 8,000 next year? A JPMorgan strategist thinks the broad-based index will end 2026 at 7,500, roughly 10% higher than Wednesday’s close. But if certain events happen, he thinks the S&P 500 could touch even higher levels.

And finally…

Jiang Zheyuan, chairman of Noetix Robotics, with a robotic android at the company’s offices in Beijing, China, on Friday, June 27, 2025.

Na Bian | Bloomberg | Getty Images  

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Apple and Broadcom shares keep hitting records. Why each have more room to run

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Apple and Broadcom shares keep hitting records. Why each have more room to run

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