Business category, Page 249

LONDON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking the social media company in a new direction by focusing on messaging. Chinese tech giant Tencent got there years ago with its app WeChat. Zuckerberg outlined his vision to give people ways to communicate privately, by stitching together Facebook’s various services so...

NEW YORK — The bull market for U.S. stocks turns 10 years old this weekend, which puts it way past senior citizen status for a market run. It’s got the scars to prove it. Since rising from the rubble of the financial crisis in 2009, this bull market has faced...

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks moved lower in morning trading Thursday, led by banks and technology companies, putting the market on track for its first losing week since January. Utilities and real estate stocks eked out slight gains as investors moved toward safer holdings. A lack of concrete news on...

Charlotte Russe is closing all of its stores, including five in the Pittsburgh region. Liquidation sales started Thursday, according to a message posted on the retailer’s website. Local stores among those listed on the retailer’s website include mall-based locations at Westmoreland, Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, Robinson and Ross Park. The young...

SAN FRANCISCO — After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he’s shifting his company’s focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants to encourage small numbers of...

SHENZHEN, China — Chinese tech giant Huawei is launching a U.S. court challenge to a law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. Huawei Technologies Ltd.’s announcement Thursday comes as the biggest global maker of network equipment for...

Carlos Ghosn, the star auto executive credited with rescuing both Renault and Nissan, left a drab Tokyo detention center Wednesday after more than three months in custody, his identity obscured by a surgical mask, hat and construction worker’s outfit. The jet-setting turnaround wizard was pursued by TV news helicopters as...

DALLAS — Britain’s Virgin Atlantic has dropped a requirement that female flight attendants wear makeup, joining other major carriers that have eased their dress and grooming requirements after complaints about turning female employees into sex objects. Virgin Atlantic announced this week that female cabin crew members can skip the makeup....

WASHINGTON — President Trump fell further behind in his goal of reversing the nation’s trade deficit as the gap in goods soared to an all-time high last year. That’s certain to add pressure on Trump to close a trade deal with China to boost U.S. exports and remove punishing tariffs...

The Food and Drug Administration said it found asbestos in certain cosmetics sold by teen chain Claire’s. A consumer alert issued Tuesday advised consumers not to use certain eye shadows, compact powders and contour palettes the agency said tested positive for asbestos, a carcinogen. Claire’s, based in Hoffman Estates, Ill.,...

RENO, Nev. — Nevada’s latest bid to block incoming shipments of weapons-grade plutonium points to the U.S. Energy Department’s own scientific warnings about the dangers of prematurely moving the highly radioactive material out of South Carolina. State lawyers say in briefs filed this week with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court...

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — The last compact car rolled off the line Wednesday at General Motors’ massive assembly plant in Ohio as the automaker began moving toward its future while workers wondered about theirs. GM is eliminating all 1,700 hourly positions, perhaps for good, at the factory near Youngstown, the first...

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. judge overseeing a criminal case against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. called the California utility’s efforts to prevent trees from hitting its power lines and starting wildfires “dismal” but scaled back his proposals to prevent its equipment from causing more blazes. Judge William Alsup said...

Health care companies led U.S. stocks broadly lower Wednesday, giving the market its third straight loss. Technology and energy stocks also bore the brunt of the selling, offsetting gains in materials and utilities companies. Several retailers also rose. Smaller companies fell more than the rest of the market. The latest...

Two Zelienople-area dealerships are again locally owned, as #1 Cochran announced its purchase of the Kenny Ross Chevrolet and Nissan stores on Perry Highway. The dealerships have been renamed #1 Cochran Chevrolet and #1 Cochran Nissan Cranberry. Both are on Perry Highway (Route 19) on the border of Zelienople and...

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced sweeping changes to Facebook’s services on Wednesday, saying in a blog post that he would spend the next several years reorienting the company’s apps toward encryption and privacy. The moves — outlined in broad strokes rather than as a set of specific product changes —...

House and Senate Democratic leaders are expected to unveil new legislation Wednesday proposing to restore federal net neutrality rules on Internet providers such as AT&T and Verizon, in their latest attempt to countermand the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission. Here’s what you need to know. What’s in the bill? As written,...

Spirited Media officials announced Wednesday the company is selling its three online publications, including Pittsburgh-based The Incline. Chris Krewson, vice president of strategy at Spirited Media, announced on Medium that the company had already sold Denverite to Colorado Public Radio and is looking to sell The Incline and Philadelphia-based Billy...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit jumped nearly 19 percent in December, pushing the trade imbalance for all of 2018 to widen to a decade-long high of $621 billion. The gap with China on goods widened to an all-time record of $419.2 billion. The Commerce Department figures released Wednesday undermined...

The U.S. Small Business Administration is inviting local small-business owners to apply for its Emerging Leaders Initiative during an information session on March 12. The session at Saint Vincent College, Aurelius Hall, open from 10:30 a.m. to noon March 12, will give business owners an opportunity to learn more about...

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — A sprawling General Motors’ assembly plant near Youngstown will be idled on Wednesday after more than 50 years producing cars and other vehicles, a move that will eliminate nearly 1,700 hourly positions by months’ end. GM announced in December that Lordstown along with three plants in the...

LAS VEGAS — Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s dream of an express tunnel transit system could finally become a reality in Las Vegas after major setbacks in other cities. Las Vegas’ tourism agency announced Wednesday it is recommending that an enterprise backed by the divisive billionaire receive a contract to build and...

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Scott Mezzapeso had to do something last month he never imagined: call his ex-wife and warn her that he might not be able to pay child support on time. Mezzapeso has a tattoo of his daughter on his left arm and rarely misses her high school softball...

In a scene likely worth millions of dollars in free advertising, President Trump displayed a spread of burgers from some of the country’s biggest fast-food chains inside the State Dining Room of the White House on Monday as hungry football players looked on. With cameras rolling, he offered a presidential...

Four banks based in Southwestern Pennsylvania are included among the 60 U.S. financial institutions that made Forbes magazine’s 2019 list of the World’s Best Banks. For this inaugural listing, the magazine partnered with research firm Statista, which surveyed more than 40,000 customers in order to rate banks in 23 countries...