Business category, Page 173
Twitter says poison pill makes ‘coercive’ takeover difficult
DETROIT — Twitter’s board of directors says it adopted a “poison pill” defense in order to protect the social media platform from “coercive or otherwise unfair” takeover tactics. The company announced the move Friday and provided more details in a regulatory filing early Monday. On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk...
Wall Street drifts as rate worries offset strong profits
Stocks are drifting in mixed trading Monday, as worries about interest rates and inflation keep a lid on Wall Street despite some better-than-expected profit reports. The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher, coming off its second straight week of losses. Like it, the other two major U.S. stock indexes also flipped...
Tax Day laggards: Consider filing for extension if in a rush
WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes and this year is no exception. Monday is Tax Day — the federal deadline for individual tax filing and payments — and the IRS will receive tens of millions of last-minute filings electronically and through paper...
FDA investigating Lucky Charms after reports of illness
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating Lucky Charms cereal after dozens of customers complained of illness after eating it. The FDA said during the weekend it has received more than 100 complaints related to Lucky Charms so far this year. “The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration...
Pa. unemployment rate falls in March, 23rd straight month without an increase
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has fallen again. The state Department of Labor and Industry’s monthly report for March, released Friday, shows the unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point, declining to 3.6%. In addition, the commonwealth’s unemployment rate for March 2022 was 2.2 percentage points below its March 2021 level....
Twitter adopts ‘poison pill’ defense in Musk takeover bid
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private. The move would allow existing Twitter shareholders to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby diluting...
U.S. mortgage rates hit 5% for first time since early 2011
Mortgage rates in the U.S. surged, reaching 5% for the first time in more than a decade. The average for a 30-year loan jumped from 4.72% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The last time rates hit 5% was in February 2011. Borrowing costs have been soaring...
A safe bet: If you want a casino job, odds are on your side
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — As a casino dealer, Shamikah Townsend knows when the odds are in her favor. And they definitely are right now. While working at one Atlantic City casino last year, she went to a job fair held by a different one, and was surprised at how instantly...
Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter, make it ‘maximally trusted’
In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform — a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire’s self-identification as a free-speech absolutist....
Pittsburgh region’s economy rebounding from pandemic more slowly than other metro areas
The Pittsburgh region has the slowest employment growth coming out of the pandemic among the nation’s 40 largest metropolitan areas, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Pittsburgh’s labor force participation remains nearly 5% below what it was before the pandemic and is well below the U.S....
U.S. jobless claims rise but remain near a half-century low
WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up last week but remained at a historically low level, reflecting a robust U.S. labor market with near record-high job openings and few layoffs. Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 185,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, after nearly touching the...
Tesla issues 2nd recall for obstructing pedestrian warning
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly nearly 595,000 vehicles in the U.S., most for a second time, because a “Boombox” function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians. The electric car company says in government documents that the new recall will disable “Boombox” if...
Google says it will invest $15M in Pa. this year, including Bakery Square expansion in Pittsburgh
The tech giant Google said it will invest more than $15 million in Pennsylvania this year, including plans to add another floor at its Bakery Square campus in Pittsburgh’s East End. The company said it plans to invest $9.5 billion in offices and data centers across the country this year,...
Amazon adds 5% ‘fuel and inflation surcharge’ to seller fees
Amazon is taking a step to offset its rising costs, announcing Wednesday it will add a 5% “fuel and inflation surcharge” to fees it charges third-party sellers who use the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment services. The Seattle-based company said on its website that the added fees, which take effect April 28,...
CDC extends travel mask requirement to May 3 as covid cases rise
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in covid-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on...
Homebuyers stymied by fewer homes, high prices, rising rates
LOS ANGELES — Shortly after moving to South Florida for a new job with the U.S. military, Shannon Kaufman and his wife, Wendy, signed up for a whole other mission: buying a home. For months, they scoured listings, strategizing late into the night on which homes to target and working...
Yelp to cover travel expenses for workers seeking abortions
SAN FRANCISCO — Yelp will cover the travel expenses of employees who must travel out of state for abortions, joining the ranks of major employers trying to help workers affected by new restrictions in Texas and other states. The benefit announced Tuesday covers all 4,000 employees at the online review...
Westinghouse, Framatome to supply fuel to Czech nuclear plant
PRAGUE — Westinghouse Electric Co. and France’s Framatome have been selected to deliver fuel supplies for the Czech Republic’s Temelin nuclear plant, easing the country’s dependence on Russia. State-controlled power company CEZ said Tuesday that Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse and Framatome will deliver the nuclear fuel for about 15 years, starting in...
U.S. inflation jumped 8.5% in past year, highest since 1981
WASHINGTON — Inflation soared over the past year at its fastest pace in more than 40 years, with costs for food, gasoline, housing and other necessities squeezing American consumers and wiping out the pay raises that many people have received. The Labor Department said Tuesday that its consumer price index...
John Dorfman: My 30-30 club has Alphabet, Nvidia and 45 more stocks
Few players — stars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts — can make baseball’s 30-30 Club. It’s for players who hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. I have a 30-30 Club for companies. To make it, a company must...
California utility to pay $55 million for massive wildfires
Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for two major wildfires started by aging Northern California power lines belonging to the nation’s largest utility, prosecutors announced Monday. PG&E does not admit wrongdoing in the two settlements reached with prosecutors for last...
Once a retail giant, Kmart nears extinction after closure
AVENEL, N.J. — The familiar sights and sounds are still there: the scuffed and faded floor tiles, the relentless beige-on-beige color scheme, the toddlers’ clothes and refrigerators and pretty much everything in between. There’s even a canned recording that begins, “Attention, Kmart shoppers” — except it’s to remind folks about...
Stocks fall on Wall Street, led by slump in tech companies
Technology companies led a broad slide for stocks on Wall Street and bond yields rose again Monday as investors look ahead to the upcoming company earnings reporting season and what it will reveal about the impact inflation is having on corporate profits. The S&P 500 fell 1.7%, adding to its...
Efforts to make protective medical gear in U.S. falling flat
UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — When the coronavirus pandemic first hit the U.S., sales of window coverings at Halcyon Shades quickly went dark. So the suburban St. Louis business did what hundreds of other small manufacturers did: It pivoted to make protective supplies, with help from an $870,000 government grant. But...
Frontier CEO talks about Spirit Airlines merger, travel outlook
DALLAS — Barry Biffle is juggling his day job as CEO of Frontier Airlines while also working to save a proposed merger with Spirit Airlines that would create the nation’s fifth-biggest carrier by some measures. This figures to be a bounce-back year for airlines like Frontier that cater to leisure...
