Business category, Page 158
Rivian electric car plant blasted by foes at Georgia meeting
Opponents trying to derail a $5 billion, 7,500-job electric truck plant in Georgia dominated a state meeting this week that was meant to gather suggestions on how to design the plant to mitigate any impact on the environment. The state assumed oversight over the Rivian Automotive project after opponents overwhelmed...
Netflix aims to curtail password sharing, considers ads
SAN FRANCISCO — An unexpectedly sharp drop in subscribers has Netflix considering changes it has long resisted: Minimizing password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. Looming changes announced late Tuesday are designed to help Netflix regain momentum lost over the past year. Pandemic-driven lockdowns that drove binge-watching...
Netflix shares drop 26% after it loses 200K subscribers
SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade, causing its shares to plunge 25% in extended trading amid concerns that the pioneering streaming service may have already seen its best days. The company’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, according...
Citing Russia’s war, IMF cuts global growth forecast to 3.6%Video
WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday downgraded the outlook for the world economy this year and next, blaming Russia’s war in Ukraine for disrupting global commerce, pushing up oil prices, threatening food supplies and increasing uncertainty already heightened by the coronavirus and its variants. The 190-country lender cut...
Tech stocks rally after an early loss, leading market higher
NEW YORK — Stocks overcame a weak start and finished broadly higher Tuesday, giving the major indexes on Wall Street their best day in nearly five weeks. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, enough to recoup almost all of its losses from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5%...
Latest apps promise fast service but can they deliver?
NEW YORK — When Mahlet Berhanemeskel gets back to her New York City home from her 90-minute commute, she doesn’t feel like cooking. So instead she orders food like BLTs, Cheez-Its and cookies from an app called Gorillas. It’s affordable and takes 10 minutes. “It’s instant gratification,” she said. Gorillas...
John Dorfman: 5 stocks to buy in teeth of the small-stock debacle
The small-stock slaughter continues. In the 12 months through April 14, small stocks fell almost 10%, while large stocks rose 8%. Moreover, the market’s big boys have beaten the small fry in four of the past five years. With inflation roaring, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and Russia waging...
Twitter says poison pill makes ‘coercive’ takeover difficult
DETROIT — Twitter’s board of directors says it adopted a “poison pill” defense in order to protect the social media platform from “coercive or otherwise unfair” takeover tactics. The company announced the move Friday and provided more details in a regulatory filing early Monday. On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk...
Wall Street drifts as rate worries offset strong profits
Stocks are drifting in mixed trading Monday, as worries about interest rates and inflation keep a lid on Wall Street despite some better-than-expected profit reports. The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher, coming off its second straight week of losses. Like it, the other two major U.S. stock indexes also flipped...
Tax Day laggards: Consider filing for extension if in a rush
WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes and this year is no exception. Monday is Tax Day — the federal deadline for individual tax filing and payments — and the IRS will receive tens of millions of last-minute filings electronically and through paper...
FDA investigating Lucky Charms after reports of illness
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating Lucky Charms cereal after dozens of customers complained of illness after eating it. The FDA said during the weekend it has received more than 100 complaints related to Lucky Charms so far this year. “The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration...
Pa. unemployment rate falls in March, 23rd straight month without an increase
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has fallen again. The state Department of Labor and Industry’s monthly report for March, released Friday, shows the unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, declining to 3.6%. In addition, the commonwealth’s unemployment rate for March 2022 was 2.2 percentage points below its March 2021 level....
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense in Musk takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private. The move would allow existing Twitter shareholders to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby diluting...
U.S. mortgage rates hit 5% for first time since early 2011
Mortgage rates in the U.S. surged, reaching 5% for the first time in more than a decade. The average for a 30-year loan jumped from 4.72% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The last time rates hit 5% was in February 2011. Borrowing costs have been soaring...
A safe bet: If you want a casino job, odds are on your side
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — As a casino dealer, Shamikah Townsend knows when the odds are in her favor. And they definitely are right now. While working at one Atlantic City casino last year, she went to a job fair held by a different one, and was surprised at how instantly...
Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter, make it ‘maximally trusted’
In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform — a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire’s self-identification as a free-speech absolutist....
Pittsburgh region’s economy rebounding from pandemic more slowly than other metro areas
The Pittsburgh region has the slowest employment growth coming out of the pandemic among the nation’s 40 largest metropolitan areas, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Pittsburgh’s labor force participation remains nearly 5% below what it was before the pandemic and is well below the U.S....
U.S. jobless claims rise but remain near a half-century low
WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up last week but remained at a historically low level, reflecting a robust U.S. labor market with near record-high job openings and few layoffs. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 185,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, after nearly touching the...
Tesla issues 2nd recall for obstructing pedestrian warning
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly nearly 595,000 vehicles in the U.S., most for a second time, because a “Boombox” function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians. The electric car company says in government documents that the new recall will disable “Boombox” if...
Google says it will invest $15M in Pa. this year, including Bakery Square expansion in Pittsburgh
The tech giant Google said it will invest more than $15 million in Pennsylvania this year, including plans to add another floor at its Bakery Square campus in Pittsburgh’s East End. The company said it plans to invest $9.5 billion in offices and data centers across the country this year,...
Amazon adds 5% ‘fuel and inflation surcharge’ to seller fees
Amazon is taking a step to offset its rising costs, announcing Wednesday it will add a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge” to fees it charges third-party sellers who use the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment services. The Seattle-based company said on its website that the added fees, which take effect April 28,...
CDC extends travel mask requirement to May 3 as covid cases rise
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in covid-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on...
Homebuyers stymied by fewer homes, high prices, rising rates
LOS ANGELES — Shortly after moving to South Florida for a new job with the U.S. military, Shannon Kaufman and his wife, Wendy, signed up for a whole other mission: buying a home. For months, they scoured listings, strategizing late into the night on which homes to target and working...
Yelp to cover travel expenses for workers seeking abortions
SAN FRANCISCO — Yelp will cover the travel expenses of employees who must travel out of state for abortions, joining the ranks of major employers trying to help workers affected by new restrictions in Texas and other states. The benefit announced Tuesday covers all 4,000 employees at the online review...
Westinghouse, Framatome to supply fuel to Czech nuclear plant
PRAGUE — Westinghouse Electric Co. and France’s Framatome have been selected to deliver fuel supplies for the Czech Republic’s Temelin nuclear plant, easing the country’s dependence on Russia. State-controlled power company CEZ said Tuesday that Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse and Framatome will deliver the nuclear fuel for about 15 years, starting in...
