Business category, Page 144
Mortgage rates hit 6%, first time since 2008 housing crash
WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates climbed over 6% this week for the first time since the housing crash of 2008, threatening to sideline even more homebuyers from a rapidly cooling housing market. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate rose to 6.02% from 5.89% last...
As ‘buy now, pay later’ plans grow, so do delinquencies
NEW YORK — Americans have grown fond of “buy now, pay later” services, but the “pay later” part is becoming increasingly difficult for some borrowers. Buy now, pay later loans allow users to pay for items such new sneakers, electronics or luxury goods in installments. Companies such as Affirm, Afterpay,...
Patagonia founder donates company to environmental causes
The founder of outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia announced Wednesday that its profits would all go toward fighting climate change and conserving land. Yvon Chouinard said the company was now in the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit. The trust will oversee operations of the company and its...
Study: 1-in-5 U.S. adults bet money on sports in past year
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Nearly one in five U.S. adults bet money on sports over the past year, according to a survey released Wednesday. The report from the Pew Research Center shows that 19% of adults surveyed said they had wagered on sports. The most common way they did so...
1 rail union rejects deal, 2 accept ahead of strike deadline
OMAHA, Neb. — Members of one union rejected a tentative deal with the largest U.S. freight railroads Wednesday, while two ratified agreements and three others remained at the bargaining table just days ahead of a strike deadline, threatening to intensify snarls in the nation’s supply chain that have contributed to...
Jim Beam outlines expansion to ramp up bourbon production
Jim Beam plans to ramp up bourbon production at its largest Kentucky distillery to meet growing global demand in a more than $400 million expansion to be powered by renewable energy. The project will increase capacity by 50% at the Beam plant in Boston, Kentucky, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions...
A less-glitzy Detroit auto show returns after 3-year absence
DETROIT — When it came time to showcase its electric Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the public this year, General Motors decided against doing so at the big Detroit auto show, as it typically would have done in the past. Instead, it unveiled the Equinox six days earlier. GM’s decision symbolized...
Spirit cuts Fort Myers flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity
Spirit Airlines has eliminated its seasonal flights to Fort Myers, Fla., from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, on Tuesday confirmed the Unity airport’s lone commercial carrier has slashed the route that over the past half-decade carried passengers on three flights a...
Markets shudder on dashed inflation hopes; Dow falls 1,250
NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled to their worst day in more than two years Tuesday, knocking the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 1,250 points, following Wall Street’s humbling realization that inflation is not slowing as much as hoped. The S&P 500 sank 4.3%, its biggest drop since June...
As data centers proliferate, neighbors knock the noise
MANASSAS, Va. — In a universe of cloud computing, northern Virginia might be in a perpetual fog. More of the data centers that feed the cloud are clustered in the region outside the nation’s capital than anywhere else in the world. As cloud computing — which enables data storage and...
U.S. inflation falls for 2nd straight month on lower gas costs
WASHINGTON — Sharply lower prices for gas and cheaper used cars slowed U.S. inflation in August for a second straight month, though many other items rose in price, indicating that inflation remains a heavy burden for American households. Consumer prices surged 8.3% in August compared with a year earlier, the...
John Dorfman: Insiders have been buying at Intel, Fox
In the past few weeks, insiders have been buying their own shares at Intel Corp. (INTC) and Fox Corp. (FOX). Patrick Gelsinger, the chief executive officer at Intel, spent just over half a million dollars to buy shares in August, bringing his stake to a bit more than $7 million....
As small businesses raise prices, some customers push back
NEW YORK — Inflation isn’t only costing small businesses money. It’s costing them customers as well. At the Bushwick Grind Cafe in Brooklyn, New York, Kymme Williams-Davis has raised prices and switched to different types of goods to keep up with the rising costs of milk, coffee, paper goods and...
Burger King investing $400M in U.S. revamp to boost sales
Burger King plans to invest $400 million in its U.S. restaurants over the next two years to update its stores and boost flagging sales. The burger chain said Friday the investment includes $250 million to revamp stores and update technology and kitchen equipment and $120 million for heavier advertising. Burger...
Stocks end broadly higher, breaking a 3-week losing streak
Wall Street added to its recent gains Friday with a broad rally that broke the market’s three-week losing streak. The S&P 500 closed 1.5% higher, its third straight increase, and ended with a 3.7% gain for the week. That makes it the benchmark index’s best week going back to July....
Wall Street futures rise on Fed Chair comments
NEW YORK — Wall Street is pointing higher before the opening bell a day after comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman indicated that interest rate increases will likely be within expectations. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%, putting them on track to...
Cheaper electric vehicles coming despite high battery costs
WARREN, Mich. — Even though battery costs are rising, auto companies are rolling out more affordable electric vehicles that should widen their appeal to a larger group of buyers. The latest came Thursday from General Motors, a Chevrolet Equinox small SUV with a starting price somewhere around $30,000 and a...
Apple maintains prices on new iPhones despite inflation
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple’s latest lineup of iPhones will boast better cameras, faster processors and a longer lasting battery at the same prices as last year’s model, despite the inflationary pressure that has driven up the cost of many other everyday items. That decision, revealed Wednesday during Apple’s first in-person...
Juul to pay nearly $440M to settle states’ teen vaping probeVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs has agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced...
Swiss retailer rolls out ‘coffee balls’ to replace capsules
BERLIN — Swiss retailer Migros said Tuesday that it is launching a coffeemaking system designed to replace capsules that produce thousands of tons of waste worldwide each year. The cooperative said its spherical capsules — described as “coffee balls” — are fully compostable, unlike the plastic and aluminum containers popularized...
CVS to buy home health-care provider Signify for $8 billion
DALLAS — Drugstore operator CVS Health Corp. said Monday that it will buy home-health provider Signify Health for $8 billion. CVS said Signify has more than 10,000 employees including physicians and nurses, a presence in every state, and offers technology platforms. “This acquisition will enhance our connection to consumers in...
OPEC+ cuts oil supplies to the world as prices fall
FRANKFURT, Germany — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries, including Russia, cut their supplies to the global economy by 100,000 barrels per day, underlining their unhappiness with crude prices that have sagged because of recession fears. The decision Monday by energy ministers means the cut for October rolls back the mostly...
Citing imminent danger, Cloudflare drops hate site Kiwi Farms
SAN FRANCISCO — Citing an “immediate threat to human life,” Cloudflare has dropped the notorious stalking and harassment site Kiwi Farms from its internet security services following an online campaign started by transgender Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti to pressure it to do so. “This is an extraordinary decision for us...
Gustavo Arnal, Bed Bath & Beyond CFO, plunges to death from New York high-rise
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Chief Financial Officer Gustavo Arnal fell to his death from a skyscraper in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood on Friday. The Union, New Jersey-based company confirmed it was Arnal who died in a statement Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, the New York Police Department named the person as...
Labor leaders see growth in unionism
Labor leaders are trumpeting a resurgence in the interest to unionize that they say hasn’t been seen in decades while businesses grapple with a shrinking labor market and other pressures. “We’re seeing more organizing than in years,” said Paul Clark, a professor in Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment...
