Business category, Page 14
U.S. coal auctions will test industry appetite for Trump mining revival
The Trump administration will auction off coal leases on federal lands in four U.S. states in the coming days, a key test of mining industry interest in its efforts to revive a sector in decline. The sales in Alabama, Montana, Utah and Wyoming will be the first since President Donald...
Trump sets 10% tariff on lumber imports, 25% on cabinets and furniture
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Monday he was slapping 10% tariffs on imported timber and lumber and 25% duties on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture, with the rate on the latter categories to jump next year. Trump signed a presidential proclamation laying out his argument...
Trump administration to expand coal leasing, fund coal plant upgrades
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will expand coal mine leasing on federal lands and provide hundreds of millions of dollars to support more coal-fired power generation, officials said on Monday. The plan is part of a broader effort by the administration to reverse the decline of coal use in the...
Jared Kushner, Saudi Arabia, more backers to buy EA in $55B deal. What this means for gamers
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Saudi Arabia’s government and other backers are closing in on a $55 billion deal to purchase the video game company responsible for developing and publishing popular game franchises like The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield. Electronic Arts, or EA, announced on Monday that it will be...
Fed-up Starbucks baristas stage ‘practice picket’ in Pittsburgh
Unionized Starbucks baristas say sudden store closures last weekend, including three in Pittsburgh, prove they need a contract with the coffeehouse chain. Lack of a contract leaves little legal recourse to hold the company accountable for closings and layoffs, said Cas Borowitz, a Workers United staff organizer and barista at...
Trump touts a boom in U.S. auto plant construction, but carmakers’ actions tell a different story
President Donald Trump frequently describes a booming U.S. auto industry, fueled by new factories from Canada, Mexico and Europe that he says will soon be producing American-made vehicles for global markets - from Tokyo to Paris. “We have so many car company factories under construction or being designed right now....
Millions of pounds of corn dogs, sausage on a stick recalled for dangerous wood contamination
Hillshire Brands Co. of Haltom City, Texas, has recalled 58,000,000 pounds of corn dogs and sausage on a stick products because they may be contaminated with pieces of wood embedded in the batter. The products were packaged between March 17 and Sept. 25 of this year, according to an announcement...
How Walmart plans to prepare America’s largest private workforce for an AI-driven future
BENTONVILLE, Ark — As artificial intelligence and demographic changes reshape the U.S. job market, the nation’s largest private employer is trying to identify the skills its workers and the broader labor force might need for the future. Walmart on Thursday hosted more than 300 workplace experts and representatives from other...
Contestants turn in terrific short-selling performance
I am impressed. Contestants in my annual Short Sellers Don’t Have Horns competition scored terrific results in the 2024-25 running of the contest. Short selling is a technique to profit from a stock’s decline. The goal in the contest is to pick a stock that will collapse. Of 16 contestants...
Trump mulls tariffs on foreign electronics based on number of chips, sources say
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering imposing tariffs on foreign electronic devices based on the number of chips in each device, according to three people familiar with the matter, as it seeks to drive companies to shift their manufacturing to the United States. According to the plan, which has...
Starbucks to close 3 Pittsburgh locations
Barista Josh Nicklow showed up Thursday at Starbucks’ South Side location for work as usual. By noon, the district manager told him he’d be out of a job by the weekend. After four years behind the counter, Nicklow joined countless employees caught in Starbucks’ sweeping shutdown of stores across the...
Fed’s Bowman says decisive rate cuts needed to offset labor market risks
Federal Reserve Vice-chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman reiterated Friday that she believes decisive interest rate cuts are needed to ward off rising trouble in the job market. “Recent data show a materially more fragile labor market along with inflation that, excluding tariffs, has continued to hover not far above our...
Trump’s energy pivot accelerates U.S. solar and wind power mergers, asset sales
The Trump administration’s rapid retreat from renewable energy has kicked off consolidation and asset sales among smaller U.S. solar and wind power companies as they scramble to stay afloat, industry insiders and analysts said. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has overhauled tax credits and sharply shortened...
Spirit Airlines plans to furlough one-third of its flight attendants
Spirit Airlines, the budget-friendly airline that has experienced recent financial turmoil, is furloughing more than 1,000 flight attendants ahead of the holiday season. This week, the company said it is making arrangements to furlough 1,800 out of 5,200 flight attendants to “align staffing with our fleet size and expected flight...
Trump says U.S. will impose new tariffs on heavy trucks, drugs and kitchen cabinets
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday took aim at a broad range of imported goods in announcing a new round of punishing tariffs, saying the U.S. will impose 100% duties on imported branded drugs, 25% tariffs on heavy-duty trucks and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets. Trump has launched numerous...
$100M recycling facility to replace ‘primitive’ slag pits at U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson plant
U.S. Steel’s notoriously outdated Edgar Thomson Works handles the molten substance left behind by smelting iron ore the same way it did 150 years ago: by dumping it into slag pits. They’re as low-tech as they sound. First, molten iron comes flowing from the blast furnaces. The slag, which rides...
Trump signs order declaring TikTok sale ready and values it at $14 billion
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok’s U.S. operations to U.S. and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law. The new U.S. company will be valued at around $14 billion, Vice President JD...
Fed’s Lisa Cook urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s bid to fire her
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to reject Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her, telling the justices the Republican president’s unprecedented move would destroy the central bank’s independence and disrupt financial markets. Lawyers for Cook filed a written response opposing the Justice Department’s...
Instagram’s ‘deliberate design choices’ make it unsafe for teens despite Meta promises, report finds
Despite years of congressional hearings, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a new report from former employee and whistleblower Arturo Bejar and four...
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations it duped customers into enrolling in Prime
SEATTLE — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so. The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil...
Hamburger Helper sales rise as shoppers seek cheaper meals
Hamburger Helper’s mascot, “Lefty” — the iconic talking glove — is popping up in kitchens once again. With economic uncertainty and rising grocery prices, sales of the boxed pasta and seasoning mix have jumped 14.5% through August, as more consumers look for ways to cut down on unnecessary spending. The...
Starbucks to close hundreds of stores, lay off 900 workers as part of turnaround plan
Starbucks said Thursday it’s closing hundreds of U.S. and Canadian stores and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround. The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. The company wouldn’t give a number of stores that are closing, but it...
U.S. economy expanded at a surprising 3.8% pace in significant upgrade of 2nd quarter growth
WASHINGTON — An uptick in consumer spending helped the U.S. economy expand at a surprising 3.8% from April through June, the government reported in a dramatic upgrade of its previous estimate of second-quarter growth. U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded in the...
U.S. home sales remained sluggish in August despite late-summer mortgage rate slide
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained sluggish in August, even as a late-summer slide in mortgage rates brought home loan borrowing costs to a 10-month low. Existing home sales slipped 0.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million units, the National Association of...
How to navigate social media trends without derailing your budget
NEW YORK — Did you buy a new pink dress to watch the Barbie movie, only to never wear it again? An Oura ring because your favorite TikTok influencer had it? A new pair of baggy jeans because ’90s fashion is making a comeback? Niche trends fueled by social media...
