Business category, Page 154
American consumer confidence takes a hit in October
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence waned this month as concerns about inflation took hold after receding somewhat in recent months. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 102.5 in October, from 107.8 in September. Consumers had grown more confident in the two previous months as...
Amazon to allow U.S. customers to pay with Venmo
NEW YORK — Amazon is rolling out a feature that allows shoppers to pay for items using their Venmo accounts. The option to pay with Venmo will be available for select Amazon.com customers beginning Tuesday, the e-commerce giant said in a news release. By Black Friday — the day after...
Renters face charging dilemma as U.S. cities move toward EVs
PORTLAND, Ore. — Stephanie Terrell bought a used Nissan Leaf this fall and was excited to join the wave of drivers adopting electric vehicles to save on gas money and reduce her carbon footprint. But Terrell quickly encountered a bump in the road on her journey to clean driving: As...
Millennial Money: 7 credit card moves to stretch your budget
As prices on goods and services soar, every bit of value squeezed from credit cards helps. Perhaps paying an annual fee became less appetizing. Maybe you scaled back expenses in certain categories a credit card once rewarded, or you’re seeking opportunities to save with your credit cards. When you aren’t...
Adidas ends partnership with Ye over antisemitic remarks
LONDON — Adidas ended a partnership that helped make the artist formerly known as Kanye West a billionaire and lent the German sportswear an edgy appeal, but ultimately couldn’t survive a mounting outcry over the rapper’s offensive and antisemitic remarks. The split will leave Adidas searching for another transcendent celebrity...
Stocks march higher ahead of tech-heavy earnings week
Stocks shook off a shaky start and closed higher Monday, extending their gains from last week, as investors geared up for a heavy week of earnings from big technology companies. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, with technology, health care and financial stocks accounting for a big share of the gains....
John Dorfman: What’s a fun-sized stock? Around $1 billion
A company with a market value of about $1 billion is small enough to grow fast, yet large enough so that it can begin to appeal to institutional investors such as pension funds. I define large-capitalization stocks as those with a market value of $10 billion or more, mid-capitalization stocks...
Companies lure hourly workers with college tuition perks
NEW YORK — When Daniella Malave started working for Chipotle at 17, the main benefit she was seeking was free food. As it turned out, she also got a free college education. While working full time for the chain, Malave completed two years of community college with annual stipends of...
Social media stocks slip amid Musk, Snap news
Shares of social media companies tumbled Friday after a slew of news in the sector that concerned investors, including a report that Elon Musk may cut almost 75% of Twitter’s workforce and Snap’s muted fourth-quarter outlook. Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut...
Report: TikTok bad at culling U.S. election misinformation ads
TikTok’s algorithms are very good at finding videos to keep people glued to their phone screens for hours on end. What they are not so good at, a new report has found, is detecting ads that contain blatant misinformation about U.S. elections. That’s despite TikTok having banned all political advertisements...
Report: Elon Musk plans to cut 75% of Twitter workforce
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter’s workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report Thursday by The Washington Post. Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of...
Railroads reject sick time demands, raising chance of strike
OMAHA, Neb. — The major freight railroads appear unwilling to give track maintenance workers much more than they received in the initial contract they rejected last week, increasing the chances of a strike. The railroads took the unusual step of issuing a statement late Wednesday rejecting the Brotherhood of Maintenance...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rise this week to 6.94%
WASHINGTON — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates inched up this week ahead of another expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve when it meets early next month. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last...
Fewer Americans apply for jobless benefits last week
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week and remains historically low even as the U.S. economy slows in the midst of decades-high inflation. Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 15 declined by 12,000 to 214,000 from 226,000 last week, the Labor Department reported...
Poor, less white U.S. neighborhoods get worst internet deals
A couple of years into the pandemic, Shirley Neville had finally had enough of her shoddy internet service. “It was just a headache,” said Neville, who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in New Orleans whose residents are almost all Black or Latino. “When I was getting ready to use my...
BMW investing $1.7B in South Carolina as automaker shifts to EVs
DETROIT — BMW will invest $1 billion in its sprawling factory near Spartanburg, S.C., to start building electric vehicles and an additional $700 million to build a electric-battery plant nearby. The German automaker’s announcement Wednesday reflects its commitment to transitioning to electric-vehicle production in North America, in line with similarly...
IRS ups standard deductions, tax brackets due to inflation
WASHINGTON — Taxpayers will get fatter standard deductions for 2023 and all seven federal income tax bracket levels will be revised upward as the government allows people to shield more of their money from taxation because of persistently high inflation. For couples who file jointly for tax year 2023, the...
USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers
DES MOINES, Iowa — The federal government announced Tuesday a program that will provide $1.3 billion in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure. The Department of Agriculture announced the farm loan relief program funded from $3.1 billion set aside in...
11 more crash deaths are linked to automated-tech vehicles
DETROIT — Eleven additional people were killed in U.S. crashes involving vehicles that were using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year, according to newly released government data, part of an alarming pattern of incidents linked to the technology. Ten of the deaths involved vehicles made by...
Semafor news site makes debut, intent on reinventing news
NEW YORK — The media organization Semafor launched on Tuesday with no less an ambition than reinventing the news story. Semafor is the brainchild of Ben Smith — former media reporter for The New York Times and, before that, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed — and Justin Smith, ex-CEO of Bloomberg...
‘Bad situation’: Soaring U.S. dollar spreads pain worldwide
The cost of living in Cairo has soared so much that security guard Mustafa Gamal had to send his wife and year-old daughter to live with his parents in a village 70 miles south of the Egyptian capital to save money. Gamal, 28, stayed behind, working two jobs, sharing an...
Stocks rise broadly on Wall Street, clawing back more ground
NEW YORK — Stocks rose broadly in Tuesday morning trading on Wall Street as the market continues to claw back more of the ground it lost in the miserable past few weeks. The S&P 500 rose 2% as of 10:13 a.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 568 points, or...
Meta agrees to sell Giphy, ending battle with U.K. regulators
LONDON — Facebook parent Meta said Tuesday that it will sell off Giphy after running out of options to thwart a ruling by U.K. regulators, who again found that the deal to buy the GIF-sharing platform would limit competition and innovation. Britain’s competition watchdog had ordered Meta last year to...
At $85 million, MacKenzie Scott gives Girl Scouts its largest-ever individual donation
NEW YORK — Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $84.5 million to Girl Scouts of the USA and 29 of its local branches, the 110-year-old organization said Tuesday, calling it a vote of confidence. “Her support of our organization means honestly just as much as the donation,” Sofia Chang, CEO of GSUSA,...
Comcast will boost internet speeds in Northeast states
For the second time this year, Comcast will boost internet speeds on its most popular Xfinity customer plans, the cable giant announced Monday. Comcast is facing continued competitive pressure from rivals, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Google Fiber, to increase speeds. This summer, Comcast announced that it had lost residential...
