Business category, Page 150
U.S. inflation surges again in June, raising risks for economy
WASHINGTON — U.S. inflation surged to a new four-decade high in June because of rising prices for gas, food and rent, squeezing household budgets and pressuring the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively — trends that raise the risk of a recession. The government’s consumer price index soared 9.1%...
Twitter sues to force Elon Musk to complete his $44B acquisition
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday, trying to force him to complete his $44 billion takeover of the social media company by accusing him of “outlandish” and “bad faith” actions that have caused the platform irreparable harm and “wreaked havoc” on its stock price. Back...
Amazon Prime Day comes amid slowdown in online sales growth
Amazon is heading into its annual Prime Day sales event on Tuesday much differently than how it entered the pandemic. The company has long used the two-day event — one of its biggest all year — to lure people to its Prime membership, for which Amazon recently raised the price...
Peloton to stop making its own bikes, treadmills
Peloton will stop making its own interactive stationary bikes and treadmills, outsourcing those duties to a Taiwanese manufacturer as it attempts to revive sales that surged during the pandemic. The New York City company, which recorded its only profitable quarters during the pandemic, is seeking to lower costs after sales...
John Dorfman: The Perfect 10 Portfolio has averaged 19.9% return
Summer is upon us, and after pandemic weight gains, few people will rate a “Perfect 10” on the beach this year. But my Perfect 10 Portfolio is ready to show off. This hypothetical portfolio contains 10 stocks, each of which sells for 10 times earnings. For example, MKS Instruments earned...
Looming Musk-Twitter legal battle hammers company shares
NEW YORK — Shares of Twitter slumped almost 10% in the first day of trading after billionaire Elon Musk said that he was abandoning his $44 billion bid for the company and the social media platform vowed to challenge Musk in court to uphold the agreement. Twitter is now preparing...
NerdWallet: How to afford big-ticket items for the year
When Brandy Baxter needed to replace her home’s entire heating and air conditioning system several years ago, she asked contractors if they offered deals at certain times of the year. She learned that if she waited until February, the slow season for such work, she could get a lower price....
Crypto plunge is cautionary tale for public pension funds
MINNEAPOLIS — When the Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund bought $25 million in cryptocurrencies, with the fund’s chief investment officer touting their potential, retired fire Capt. Russell Harris was concerned. Harris, 62, has attended the funerals of 34 firefighters killed in the line of duty. He was already worried...
Musk abandons deal to buy Twitter; company says it will sue
Elon Musk announced Friday that he will abandon his tumultuous $44 billion offer to buy Twitter after the company failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts. Twitter immediately fired back, saying it would sue the Tesla CEO to uphold the deal. The likely unraveling of the...
Wall Street ends winning week with mixed close on jobs data
Wall Street capped a winning week with a sputtering finish Friday, as stocks waffled following a stronger-than-expected report on the U.S. jobs market. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after earlier flipping between a loss of 0.9% and a gain of 0.4%. Despite its weak finish, the benchmark index delivered just...
U.S. employers add a solid 372,000 jobs in sign of resilience
WASHINGTON — America’s employers shrugged off high inflation and weakening growth to add 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly strong gain that will likely spur the Federal Reserve to keep sharply raising interest rates to cool the economy and slow price increases. The unemployment rate in June remained at 3.6%...
Sysco accuses 4 largest beef processors of price fixing
OMAHA, Neb. — The nation’s largest food distributor has joined the other businesses accusing the four largest meat processors of working together to inflate beef prices. Sysco recently filed a federal lawsuit in Texas accusing Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef of price fixing. The lawsuit said those companies...
Twitter says it removes 1 million spam accounts a day
Twitter said it removes 1 million spam accounts each day in a call with executives Thursday during a briefing that aimed to shed more light on the company’s fake and bot accounts as it tussles with Elon Musk over “spam bots.” The Tesla CEO, who has offered to buy Twitter...
With U.S. dollar nearly equal to euro, impact is being felt
WASHINGTON — The U.S. dollar has been surging so much that it’s nearly equal in value to the euro for the first time in 20 years. That trend, though, threatens to hurt American companies because their goods become more expensive for foreign buyers. If U.S. exports were to weaken as...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates retreat this week
WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates eased again this week as the Federal Reserve remains likely to raise its benchmark borrowing rate in its ongoing battle to bring down inflation. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate fell to 5.30% from 5.70% last week. One year...
Amazon Prime adding free Grubhub meal delivery for members
Amazon will give its U.S. Prime members free access to meal delivery service Grubhub for a year under a deal announced Wednesday. The Grubhub Plus membership — which normally costs $9.99 per month — lets customers order from thousands of restaurants with no delivery fees on most orders. Amazon Prime...
More Americans apply for jobless aid for 5th straight week
WASHINGTON — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and while layoffs remain low, it was the fifth consecutive week that claims topped the 230,000 mark. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 2 rose to 235,000, up 4,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported...
Pittsburgh International Airport to get $20 million of FAA’s $1 billion for terminals and upgrades
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is giving nearly $1 billion to 85 airports to expand and upgrade terminals and other facilities, using money approved in last year’s huge infrastructure bill. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects will help meet future demand for travel and make flying safer and more...
Job openings slip, but employment landscape remains solid
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong. Employers posted 11.3 million job openings at the end of May, the Labor Department said Wednesday, down from nearly 11.7 million in April. Job openings reached...
How a hotel satisfaction promise has led to more discontent
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the “100% Satisfaction Guarantee” was all the rage among many hotels. The gist was simple: Encounter a problem and receive your money back. In theory, this approach addressed fairly serious issues such as early-morning pool renovations that made the jackhammer an unwelcome alarm clock....
Apple to add ‘lockdown’ safeguard on iPhones, iPads, Macs
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple said it will roll out a “lockdown” option for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers intended to protect against spyware unleashed by state-sponsored hackers — although enabling that protection will also make these devices less useful. The safeguard announced Wednesday is a tacit acknowledgement that not even...
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fight in Israel heats up
One week after its parent company found a way to get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sold in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the company known for its stance on social issues almost as much as for its Chunky Monkey ice cream is suing to block that from...
Add rent to the rising costs bedeviling small businesses
NEW YORK — The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time. Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well. Meanwhile, most...
World shares mostly higher ahead of U.S. holiday
BANGKOK — World shares are mostly higher. Benchmarks rose in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo but fell in Hong Kong and Seoul. Last week was the fourth losing week in the last five for Wall Street as investors fret over high inflation and the possibility that higher interest rates could...
Illinois town braces for future without U.S. Steel plant
GRANITE CITY, Illinois — News got around quickly in this town across the Mississippi from St. Louis: The steel mill’s death knell was sounding again, and this time, the end might really be near. At the Daylight Donuts down the street from the plant, a group of regulars relayed what...
