Business category, Page 136
Inflation hovers over shoppers seeking deals on Black Friday
NEW YORK — Cautious shoppers hunted for the best deals at stores and online as retailers offered new Black Friday discounts to entice consumers eager to start buying holiday gifts but weighed down by inflation. Due to elevated prices for food, rent, gasoline and other essentials, many people were being...
Germany, France pledge mutual support to avert energy crunch
BERLIN — Germany and France pledged Friday to provide each other mutual support in preventing a possible energy crisis after supplies from Russia dried up amid the war in Ukraine. As part of a joint agreement signed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, Germany will...
Musk plans to relaunch Twitter premium service, again
LONDON — Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired. It’s the latest change to the social media platform that the billionaire...
Thanks, inflation: Cost of ’12 Days of Christmas’ items nears $200,000
The tune is oh so familiar. Not just the “and a partridge in a pear tree.” We’re talking “more than last year.” Financial services firm PNC has for 39 years compiled the consumer costs for those who would wish to make corresponding purchases for their true love replicating “The Twelve...
4 ways to limit your holiday debt
There’s a magical feeling in the air this time of year, but that magic costs money. Every year, the pressure looms large to spend more to create perfect holidays. This high-cost season can leave you with debt that sticks around. According to NerdWallet’s 2022 Holiday Shopping Report, 31% of 2021...
Shoppers hunt for Black Friday deals but inflation makes bargains elusive
NEW YORK — Consumers holding out for big Black Friday deals — and some much-needed relief from soaring costs on just about everything — may be disappointed as they head into the busiest shopping season of the year. While retailers are advertising sales of 30%, 50% and 70% off everything...
Stocks gain ground on Wall Street ahead of holiday
Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Wednesday, after the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting showed central bank officials agreed that smaller rate hikes would likely be appropriate “soon.” The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite closed...
High mortgage rates send homebuyers scrambling for relief
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates are more than double what they were a year ago, so many homebuyers are looking for ways to put off some of the pain for a few years. The trend has driven adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, to the highest usage in over a decade. A...
UPMC profits down 75% so far in 2022, filing shows
Health care giant UPMC reported Tuesday that it had nearly $200 million in profits during the first nine months of this year — about a quarter of what it reported during the same span a year ago. UPMC said in its third-quarter financial report that labor and supply markets related...
Free returns less common for online shoppers
One of the foundations of online shopping has been free returns, but not anymore. After years of subsidizing them, more retailers are charging customers to send back unwanted goods. It’s a risky move because shoppers have become accustomed to buying an item in multiple sizes and colors and returning what...
Shoppers hunt for deals but inflation makes bargains elusive
NEW YORK — Consumers holding out for big deals — and some much-needed relief from soaring costs on just about everything — may be disappointed as they head into the busiest shopping season of the year. While retailers are advertising sales of 30%, 50% and 70% off everything from TVs...
Edmunds: How to mitigate rising auto loan interest rates
The Federal Reserve issued its latest interest rate hike in early November. It marks the sixth increase this year and has pushed new auto loan finance rates to their highest since 2019. Rates for used cars have also hit their highest since 2010. This will affect car shoppers this holiday...
Unemployment claims rise to 240,000, highest since August
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose the highest level since August but still remains low by historic standards. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that 240,000 people applied for jobless aid last week, up by 17,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of claims,...
Sheetz lowers price for unleaded 88 to $1.99 a gallon for Thanksgiving week
Sheetz convenience stores will sell unleaded 88 gas for $1.99 a gallon during the Thanksgiving 2022 weekend. The deal is available at Sheetz locations that have unleaded 88. The deal is good from Nov. 21 to Nov. 28. According to Sheetz, unleaded 88 fuel is approved by the U.S. Environmental...
Carriers feeling cheery about on-time holiday deliveries
The nation’s major shipping companies are in the best shape to get holiday shoppers’ packages delivered on time since the start of the pandemic, suggesting a return to normalcy. Carriers like the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and United Parcel Service project to have enough capacity after struggling under the holiday...
Big rail unions split on contract with engineers ratifying
OMAHA, Neb. — Railroad engineers accepted their deal with the railroads that will deliver 24% raises but conductors rejected theirs, threatening the health of the economy just before the holidays and casting more doubt on whether the industry will be able to resolve the labor dispute before next month’s deadline...
Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account after online poll
LOS ANGELES — Elon Musk reinstated Donald Trump’s account on Twitter on Saturday, reversing a ban that has kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was poised to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. Musk...
U.S. home sales fell in October for 9th straight month
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in October for the ninth consecutive month to the slowest pre-pandemic sales pace in more than 10 years as homebuyers grappled with sharply higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and fewer properties on the market. Existing home sales fell 5.9% last month from...
More Twitter workers flee after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum
Twitter continued to bleed engineers and other workers after new owner Elon Musk gave them a choice to pledge to “extremely hardcore” work or resign with severance pay. While it’s not clear exactly how many of Twitter’s already-decimated staff took Musk up on his offer, the newest round of departures...
Wall Street opens higher but is still headed for weekly loss
NEW YORK — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street but are still heading for losses for the week after several days of bumpy trading. Several retailers were posting big gains in the early going Friday after reporting surprisingly strong quarterly results. Gap, Ross Stores and Foot Locker all rose...
Sale of beer with alcohol banned at World Cup stadiums
DOHA, Qatar — The sale of all beer with alcohol at the eight World Cup stadiums was banned Friday, only two days before the soccer tournament is set to start. Non-alcoholic beer will still be sold at the 64 matches in the country. “Following discussions between host country authorities and...
More Twitter workers flee after Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum
Twitter continued to bleed engineers and other workers on Thursday, after new owner Elon Musk gave them a choice to pledge to “hardcore” work or resign with severance pay. Some took to Twitter to announce they were signing off after Musk’s deadline to make the pledge. A number of employees...
Exec who cleaned up Enron calls FTX mess ‘unprecedented’
NEW YORK — The man who had to clean up the mess at Enron says the situation at FTX is even worse, describing what he calls a “complete failure” of corporate control. The filing by John Ray III, the new CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency firm, lays out a damning...
Stocks fall as Fed signals rates need to go still higher
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street and Treasury yields rose Thursday afternoon after more indications from the Federal Reserve that it may need to raise interest rates much higher than many people expect to get inflation under control. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, with retailers and banks among the biggest...
Starbucks workers strike at more than 100 stores
Starbucks workers at more than 100 U.S. stores are on strike Thursday in their largest labor action since a campaign to unionize the company’s stores began late last year. The walkouts coincide with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a...
