Business category, Page 184
UPMC names Diane Hupp new president of Children’s Hospital
Diane Hupp has been named president of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the health system announced Tuesday. Hupp, 57, of Fox Chapel, began working at Children’s Hospital as a volunteer 36 years ago. She has since served in several administrative leadership roles, including chief nursing officer, vice president of patient...
Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion
Microsoft is buying the gaming company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, gaining access to blockbuster games like “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush.” The all-cash deal will let Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, accelerate mobile gaming and provide building blocks for the metaverse, or a virtual environment. The...
John Dorfman: EBay and Overstock.com are on the Casualty List
I’ve always liked stocks that have taken a beating. The market has punished them for their sins, but sometimes the market goes overboard. That’s why each quarter I compile my Casualty List, comprising stocks that have been pummeled in the latest quarter, and that I think have major comeback potential....
Netflix raising U.S. prices with competition growing
NEW YORK — Netflix is raising prices for its video streaming customers in the U.S. and Canada, less than a year and a half since its last price increase, as competition from other streaming services increases. The Los Gatos, Calif., company said Friday that prices are going up by $1...
December retail sales fall 1.9% after early holiday rush
NEW YORK — Americans, beset by product shortages, rising prices and the arrival of omicron, sharply cut their spending in December after a burst of early spending in the fall boosted this year’s holiday shopping season. Retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.9% in December from November when sales increased...
Monster Energy buys Oskar Blues, other CANarchy brands for $330M
Corona-based Monster Beverage Corp., maker of Monster Energy drink, is acquiring Colorado’s Oskar Blues Brewery and several other brewing brands, as it makes its first foray into the alcoholic beverage space. According to an announcement Thursday, Monster has agreed to buy CANarchy Brewery Collective, which includes Oskar Blues, Florida’s Cigar...
Navient settles predatory student loan claims for $1.85B
BOSTON — Navient, a major student loan collecting company, agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt owed by more than 66,000 borrowers across the U.S. and pay over $140 million in other penalties to settle allegations of abusive lending practices. The $1.85 billion deal with 39 state attorneys general was...
U.S. average long-term mortgage rates jump; 30-year now 3.45%
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped again this past week, reaching their highest level since March 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was breaking in the U.S. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 3.45%...
Tax refunds could be delayed this year because of pandemic and budget issues, treasury officials say
Officials from the Treasury Department announced the Internal Revenue Service would face major challenges, leading to frustrations from both taxpayers and tax preparers. Tax refunds might be delayed as a result of budget cuts to the IRS, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and ongoing stimulus-related workload issues, The Washington Post reports....
Steelmaker Nucor to build $2.7B plant in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A North Carolina steelmaker will build a $2.7 billion mill in West Virginia, creating an estimated 800 manufacturing jobs, Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday. The Republican governor called the location of Nucor Corp.’s plant in Mason County the largest investment in the state’s history. “Nucor’s brand new...
IOC major sponsors mostly muted in runup to Beijing Olympics
The Beijing Winter Olympics are fraught with potential hazards for major sponsors, who are trying to remain quiet about China’s human rights record while protecting at least $1 billion they’ve collectively paid to the IOC. That could reach $2 billion when new figures are expected this year. Sponsors include big...
Canada electric school bus maker to locate in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Canadian electric school bus manufacturer will produce buses in West Virginia, bringing up to 200 jobs, Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday. GreenPower Motor Co. signed a lease-purchase agreement for a 9.5-acre manufacturing facility in South Charleston, Justice said in a statement. The move has the potential...
Stocks rise as inflation report keeps Fed on track for hikes
Wall Street capped a day of wobbly trading with modest gains for stocks Wednesday, as investors weighed the implications of the latest economic snapshot showing rising inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after veering between a loss of 0.1% and a gain of 0.8% over the course of the day....
Inflation at 40-year high pressures consumers, Fed and BidenVideo
WASHINGTON — Inflation jumped at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month, a 7% spike from a year earlier that is increasing household expenses, eating into wage gains and heaping pressure on President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve to address what has become the biggest threat to...
Edmunds: Shopping for a car this year will not be the same
2021 was an unusual year for the automotive industry. While customer demand for new cars rebounded from the economic uncertainty of 2020, automakers found themselves unable to meet that demand because of semiconductor chip shortages and supply chain problems. So what should car shoppers expect for 2022? Much of the...
U.S. Steel to build $3 billion mill in northeast Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — United States Steel Corp. on Tuesday announced it’s building a $3 billion mill in northeast Arkansas that’s expected to employ at least 900 people. The Pittsburgh-based company announced it has chosen Osceola for the site of its new mill, with construction expected to begin early this...
Stocks shake off an early loss, end higher as tech rebounds
Stocks shook off an early slide and closed higher Tuesday as Wall Street welcomed more modest moves in the bond market after a recent surge in Treasury yields weighed on the market. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% after having been down 0.7% in the early going. The selling eased by...
Ford Maverick, Bronco win truck, utility of the year awardsVideo
DETROIT — For the second year in a row, vehicles from Ford Motor Co. took two of the three North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year awards. The company’s Maverick compact pickup won truck of the year, while its Bronco off-road SUV earned the utility of the year....
Bank of America slashes fees for account overdrafts
NEW YORK — Bank of America is slashing the amount it charges customers when they spend more than they have in their accounts and plans to eliminate entirely its fees for bounced checks. It’s the latest move by the nation’s biggest banks to roll back the overdraft fees they long...
U.S. Mint begins shipping quarters honoring Maya Angelou
WASHINGTON — The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. Angelou, an American author, poet and Civil Rights activist, rose to prominence with the publication of “I Know Why the Caged...
John Dorfman: Analysts’ most-adored stocks trailed the market yet again
Suppose your son falls in love with a beautiful Wall Street analyst. What should you do? Don’t try to block the wedding, but don’t take your future daughter-in-law’s advice on which stocks to buy. For more than two decades, I’ve been tracking the fate of the four stocks analysts love...
Stocks end modestly lower after recouping most of early loss
Stocks on Wall Street fell again Monday, though the market ended up bouncing nearly all the way back from an early slide led by technology companies. A broad wave of selling pulled had the S&P 500 down by 2% in the early going, but a late-afternoon burst of buying left...
Report: U.S. carbon emissions grew in 2021
In the face of presidential orders and a flurry of legislation to curb carbon emissions, the volume of climate-warming gases pumped into the atmosphere in the U.S. grew by more than 6 percent in 2021 after a pandemic-driven decline in 2020, according to widely watched data released Monday. Domestic greenhouse...
Grand Theft Auto in FarmVille; a $12.7 billion gaming deal
Take-Two Interactive, maker of “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption,” is buying Zynga, maker of “FarmVille” and “Words With Friends,” in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12.7 billion. The acquisition announced Monday would wed a powerhouse in console gaming, Take-Two, with a mobile gaming company with an almost...
Stay home or work sick? Omicron poses a conundrum
As the raging omicron variant of covid-19 infects workers across the nation, millions of those whose jobs don’t provide paid sick days are having to choose between their health and their paycheck. While many companies instituted more robust sick leave policies at the beginning of the pandemic, some of those...
