Business category, Page 276
It’s ‘up to Herman Cain’ if he wants to pursue Fed seat, White House says
WASHINGTON — The White House appears to be giving Herman Cain an out in his candidacy for a seat on the Federal Reserve board of governors amid Republican senators’ mounting opposition. President Trump said this month he is considering Cain for the central bank’s leadership. The president has voiced his...
Apple, Qualcomm settle bitter dispute over iPhone technology
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple and mobile chip maker Qualcomm have settled a bitter financial dispute centered on some of the technology that enables iPhones to connect to the internet. The surprise truce announced Tuesday came just as the former allies turned antagonists were facing off in a federal court trial...
John Dorfman: MarineMax, Miller Industries may be undiscovered gems
Twenty-five Wall Street analysts cover International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and 22 follow Pfizer Inc. If you invest in big, well-known stocks like these, it’s a challenge for you to see what others don’t. Your odds of finding an undiscovered gem are higher, in my opinion, in the realm of...
Russian company to invest in Kentucky aluminum mill
FRANKFORT, Ky. — An aluminum company planning to build a $1.7 billion plant in Appalachia said Monday it’s forging a partnership with a Russian company that until recently faced U.S. sanctions. Russian aluminum giant Rusal wants to invest $200 million in a Kentucky taxpayer-backed aluminum rolling mill that Braidy Industries...
Delta reducing recline space to give travelers room to work
Kick back and enjoy your flight… well maybe don’t kick back too much. In the ongoing battle between reclining your seat versus leaving room for your fellow passengers, Delta Air Lines is giving some room back to travelers that like to work on their flights, rather than sleep. According to...
GM to reveal next-generation Corvette in July
FRANKFORT, Ky. — It’s just the thing to make the hearts of Corvette fans race: A new rendition of the classic sports car is coming. And General Motors has a big change in store for the eighth generation Corvette being revealed July 18. The engine in the new model is...
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp back up after massive outage
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were temporarily down early Sunday. All three social media platforms, including Facebook Messenger, were affected by the outage. Downdetector.com, a site that monitors site outages, shows Facebook had been down since 6:30 a.m. EST in much of the world, with thousands of reported outages concentrated in...
China’s auto show highlights electric ambitions
BEIJING — This year’s Shanghai auto show highlights the global industry’s race to make electric cars Chinese drivers want to buy as Beijing winds down subsidies that promoted sales. Communist leaders are shifting the burden to automakers by imposing mandatory sales targets for electrics, adding to financial pressure on them...
Appalachian Regional Commission looking for 40 institute fellows
The Appalachian Regional Commission is looking for leaders in the public and private sector to be part of the new Appalachian Leadership Institute. The inaugural nine-month program, from October 2019 to July 2020, is designed as a leadership and economic development training opportunity for people who live and work in...
Here’s how to stop Amazon from listening to what you say to Alexa
Don’t want Amazon employees eavesdropping on what you tell Alexa? The AI machine doesn’t magically learn a “Taylor Swift” reference means the musical artist, there is manual processing involved and that means someone at Amazon.com is listening. Officials explained to the Tribune-Review that the device is designed to respond to...
As cashless stores grow, so does the backlash
NEW YORK — Hembert Figueroa just wanted a taco. So he was surprised to learn the dollar bills in his pocket were no good at Dos Toros Taqueria in Manhattan, one of a small but growing number of establishments across the U.S. where customers can only pay by card or...
Uber to go public at last in what could be one of the biggest IPOs
The biggest IPO of the year is on its way. Uber’s initial public offering, expected to value the company at about $100 billion, could be among the largest in history, and will likely compete with Alibaba for the biggest tech IPO ever. Uber’s debut also would dwarf Facebook’s as the...
Amazon workers are listening to what you tell Alexa
Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of concern that someone might be listening. Sometimes, someone is. Amazon.com employs thousands...
Who’s winning, losing from coffee’s drop to a 13-year low
Coffee has been among the worst-performing commodities in the past few years as the world became awash with beans, and there are few signs of a meaningful rebound any time soon. With arabica languishing near a 13-year low and robusta futures also performing poorly, there are concerns that the industry’s...
Apple takes step toward curbing climate-warming emissions from its supply chain
Apple announced Thursday that 21 manufacturers in its supply chain have recently vowed to obtain all their electricity from renewable sources, bringing to more than 5 gigawatts the total amount of renewable energy that will be used by the company and its suppliers by 2020. That would bring the use...
Boeing makes 96 flights to test software on troubled Max jet
DALLAS — Boeing has made 96 flights to test a software update for its troubled 737 Max jet, according to the company’s CEO. Dennis Muilenburg said Thursday that more test flights are planned in the coming weeks as Boeing attempts to convince regulators that the plane is safe. The Max...
Jeff Bezos challenges retail rivals to match Amazon’s $15 minimum wage
Just five months after Amazon moved to a $15 minimum wage, chief executive Jeff Bezos has called on other retailers to match it. “Today I challenge our top retail competitors (you know who you are!) to match our employee benefits and our $15 minimum wage,” Bezos said in a letter...
National Enquirer parent explores possible sale of tabloid
NEW YORK — The supermarket tabloid under fire for paying hush money to a former Playboy model to help Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign is on the auction block. The parent of the National Enquirer said Wednesday that it is exploring a possible sale as part of a...
U.S. budget deficit running 15% higher than a year ago
WASHINGTON — The federal government reported a $146.9 billion deficit in March, causing annual debt to rise 15% for the first half of the budget year compared to the same period in 2018. The Treasury Department said Wednesday in its monthly report that the fiscal year deficit has so far...
Hormel lawsuit reveals what ‘natural’ meat really means
Consumers want “natural” meat — and the biggest meat companies want to sell it to them. American shoppers are reaching for healthier, more environmentally and animal-friendly meat products, with 39 percent saying “all-natural” is the most important claim when purchasing red meat, according to a recent survey by Mintel. But...
Ghost of Toys R Us still haunts toy makers
NEW YORK — This year, children will have a hard time finding Uncle Milton’s glow-in-the-dark ant farm, or the gel and ant village version. Basic Fun, the parent company behind the brand, has stopped producing them and now makes just three versions — basic, giant and retro. Who’s to blame?...
Delta tops long-running ranking of U.S. airlines
Delta Air Lines comes in first in a long-running study that ranks U.S. airlines by how often flights arrive on time and other statistical measures. Researchers who crunch the numbers also say that as a whole, U.S. airlines are getting better at handling baggage and overcrowded flights and are getting...
John Dorfman: Baseball has 30-30 club; here’s 1 for companies
To join the 30-30 club in baseball, you have to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season. Only 40 players have ever done it — stars such as Mookie Betts and Mike Trout. I have a 30-30 club for companies. It’s not as exclusive as baseball’s...
Environmental groups to sue Shell over climate change
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Climate activists are planning to deliver a court summons to Shell in a court case aimed at forcing the energy giant to do more to rein in carbon emissions. The summons is being delivered to Shell’s headquarters in The Hague on Friday afternoon. The move comes...
EU investigates video game companies over antitrust concerns
BRUSSELS — The European Union’s competition watchdog is stepping up its investigation of a U.S. video game platform and five game makers over concerns they blocked players from buying cheaper versions of games in other countries. The EU’s competition commissioner said Friday it issued a statement of objections to Valve...
