U.S. stocks drift as gold’s price keeps ripping higher
NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market is drifting around its record heights Thursday following mixed profit reports from Microsoft and some other of Wall Street’s most influential companies. The action was strongest again in the gold market, where the metal’s price keeps ripping higher in its astounding run. The...
Former Wholey’s cold storage site in Strip District could become parking lot
Demolishing the former Wholey’s cold storage warehouse in the Strip District was supposed to make way for a state-of-the-art office complex. But four years after the building came down, developer Acram Group has yet to break ground on the roughly 20-floor project. A sluggish commercial real estate market means the...
Breeze adds seasonal Pittsburgh-Louisville nonstop service
Breeze Airways is launching nonstop seasonal service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, the airline announced Wednesday. Flights will operate on Thursdays and Sundays from May 7 to Sept. 13. Round-trip tickets are available at an introductory rate of $39. Breeze will use 137-seat, single-aisle Airbus...
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged even as Trump continues to insist they be lowered
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve pushed the pause button on its interest rate cuts Wednesday, leaving its key rate unchanged at about 3.6% after lowering it three times last year. Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the economy’s outlook “has clearly improved since the last meeting” in...
Holidays and a viral bear cup drive strong quarterly sales at Starbucks
Starbucks reported strong fiscal first quarter as holiday drinks and a viral bear cup helped drive sales. Same-store sales — or sales at locations open at least a year — rose 4% for the October-December period. That was higher than the 2.3% that Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts...
Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs
Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the ecommerce company in three months. The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that swelled during the pandemic. Beth...
Gold buyers and local jewelers adapt to market’s historic price increase
Gold prices hit a record high Monday, but John Henne, owner of Henne Jewelers in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, said he does not feel worried about the jump impacting his family’s business. “The customer is very resilient,” Henne said to TribLive on Tuesday. He joined other local jewelers and gold buyers...
UPS to cut another 30,000 jobs in sweeping cost-savings push
United Parcel Service Inc. expects to cut as many as 30,000 positions this year, part of an ongoing effort by the package-delivery giant to rein in costs and boost profitability. The reductions to its operational workforce — a group that includes drivers and package handlers — will be achieved largely...
Design Within Reach opens luxury furniture showroom in Strip District
Luxury furniture retailer Design Within Reach arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday with the opening of its Strip District showroom. The roughly 8,000-square-foot store is at 1600 Smallman St., a converted warehouse that also houses the headquarters of autonomous trucking company Aurora Innovation, Orr’s Jewelers and Argentine restaurant Balvanera. Connecticut-based Design...
TikTok settles as social media giants face landmark trial over youth addiction claims
LOS ANGELES — TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction lawsuit just before the trial kicked off, the plaintiff’s attorneys confirmed. The social video platform was one of three companies — along with Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube — facing claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm...
UPS retires fleet of MD-11 aircraft involved in deadly Kentucky crash
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UPS announced Tuesday that it has retired its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes just months after one crashed during takeoff, causing 15 deaths in Louisville. CEO Carol Tome said during a fourth-quarter earnings call that UPS decided to “accelerate our plans and retire all MD-11...
Not ready for robots in homes? The maker of a friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind
NEW YORK — As the new robot called Sprout walks around a Manhattan office, nodding its rectangular head, lifting its windshield wiper-like “eyebrows” and offering to shake your hand with its grippers, it looks nothing like the sleek and intimidating humanoids built by companies like Tesla. Sprout’s charm is the...
Americans’ confidence in the U.S. economy falls sharply in January to lowest level since 2014
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence declined sharply in January, hitting the lowest level since 2014 as Americans grow increasingly concerned about their financial prospects. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index cratered 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, falling below even the lowest readings during the covid-19...
What travelers can expect as Southwest Airlines introduces assigned seats
Southwest Airlines passengers made their final boarding-time scrambles for seats on Monday as the carrier prepared to end the open-seating system that distinguished it from other airlines for more than a half‑century. Starting Tuesday, customers on Southwest flights will have assigned seats and the option of paying more to get...
8 tips to stop worrying about running out of money in retirement
The greatest financial danger in retirement isn’t always the stock market. It’s the constant, nagging fear of running out of money. This anxiety causes many people to underspend and worry, even when their finances are sound. Here are eight ways to replace that worry with lasting security. 1. Determine your...
Paralyzing winter storms put a big chill on the economy, but how much?
HOUSTON — The deadly and widespread winter storm paralyzing much of the American East with ice, snow and cold is also taking a multi-billion dollar bite out of the U.S. economy, experts figure. But how much? Economists and meteorologists are trying to get a handle on the disruption costs of...
European Union opens investigation into Musk’s AI chatbot Grok over sexual deepfakes
LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform. European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would...
Stocks rise as gold hits another record and the dollar’s value sinks again
NEW YORK — Stock indexes ticked higher Monday, while other markets made louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 313 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq...
Largest U.S. grid pushes power plants to secure gas through week
The largest U.S. grid operator is pushing power plants to secure natural gas supplies through the week amid expectations that frigid temperatures will drive electricity usage to a winter record. PJM Interconnection LLC is taking a rare step of committing to buy power from generators through 10 a.m. on Jan....
Trump housing finance chief OKs more mortgage spending and adds risk for government-backed lenders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s federal housing finance director, Bill Pulte, quietly granted government-backed lenders the authority to nearly double a $200 billion bond purchase that Trump ordered to try to lower mortgage rates, a move that could introduce a new level of risk for the companies. An email obtained...
Toyota recalls 162,000 trucks over faulty screens
NEW YORK — Toyota announced Friday it would recall about 162,000 pickup trucks in the United States after it was discovered that the vehicles’ multimedia displays could compromise driver safety. The recall affects the company’s model year 2024-25 Tundra and Tundra Hybrid line of trucks. Affected customers are currently being...
Meta pauses teen access to AI characters
Meta is halting teens’ access to artificial intelligence characters, at least temporarily, the company said in a blog post Friday. Meta Platforms Inc., which own Instagram and WhatsApp, said, starting in the “coming weeks,” teens will no longer be able to access AI characters “until the updated experience is ready”...
TikTok finalizes a deal to form a new American entity
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans. The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors...
Trump administration scraps multimillion-dollar solar projects in Puerto Rico as grid crumbles
SAN JUAN — The administration of President Donald Trump has canceled solar projects in Puerto Rico worth millions of dollars, as the island struggles with chronic power outages and a crumbling electric grid. The projects were aimed at helping 30,000 low-income families in rural areas across the U.S. territory as...
Prices ticked up in November as Americans keep spending, a key inflation measure shows
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked up in November in the latest sign that prices remain stubbornly elevated, while consumers spent at a healthy pace. Consumer prices rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from a 2.7% annual pace in...
