Business category, Page 186
Walmart ups outlook as back-to-school sales take off
NEW YORK — Walmart is raising its sales outlook for the year as Americans returned to shopping for back-to-school clothes and travel goods during the fiscal second quarter. Still, concerns are mounting over spending in the months ahead as the delta variant of covid-19 surges across the U.S. and mask...
John Dorfman: Ben Graham might favor these 4 stocks if he were alive
Eighty-seven years after he published his seminal work, Benjamin Graham remains the patron saint of value investors. Graham – a hedge fund manager, Columbia University professor and author – believed that a stock’s price orbits its “intrinsic value” the way a planet orbits the sun. It may get further away...
S&P hits new record amid rising concerns about pandemicVideo
A choppy day on Wall Street ended Monday with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notching new highs after recovering from an early slide. The indexes each rose 0.3%, extending their winning streak to a fifth day, while the Nasdaq fell 0.2%. Technology and health care stocks accounted...
U.S. agency opens formal probe into Tesla Autopilot system
DETROIT — The U.S. government has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated driving system after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles. The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the U.S. since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the...
Ram pickups recalled; faulty side air bags can hurl shrapnel
Stellantis is recalling more than 266,000 pickup trucks mainly in North America because the side air bags can explode without warning and hurl shrapnel into the cabin. It’s the second major recall of pickup trucks in the past two months for the same problem. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, says the...
‘Down, not out’: Latrobe’s Dainty Pastry Shoppe looks to rebound from fire likely sparked by lightningVideo
Authorities are speculating a fire Thursday night that gutted much of the Dainty Pastry Shoppe in Latrobe may have resulted from a lightning strike. “We won’t know for sure until we get in there. The State Police Fire Marshal is coming back Monday, but it looks as though the fire...
Limited production close for Lordstown, future still hazy
Lordstown Motors expects to begin limited production of its electric pickup truck next month, yet the future of the Ohio start-up remains hazy. In addition to this week’s announcement that the company, based just outside of Youngstown, aims to begin production in September, Executive Chairwoman Angela Strand said Lordstown also...
U.S. stocks eke out gains, leaving S&P 500 higher for the week
Stocks managed to eke out tiny gains after another day of wobbly trading, leaving the S&P 500 higher for the second week in a row. The benchmark index added 0.2% Friday, its fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq edged up less than 0.1%. Small-company stocks...
Despite covid pandemic, Pittsburgh’s Allentown remains open for business
Rebecca Romagnoli is passionate about pasta. Romagnoli’s business, Forma Pasta, began as a subscription service in August 2019 but in November 2020 — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — opened a retail location in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Allentown. “I chose Allentown because it is still up and...
Extra federal unemployment aid will soon end for 500,000 Pennsylvanians
More than a half-million jobless Pennsylvanians receiving temporary aid from three federal unemployment programs will see those checks end as of Sept. 4, the state said. The state Department of Labor and Industry said it is working with organizations and agencies to identify programs and support services for those who...
Giant Eagle, GetGo now accepting PayPal, Venmo for payment
People shopping at Giant Eagle or GetGo can now pay using the digital wallets they have on their smartphones. The O’Hara-based chain now allows customers to pay using PayPal or Venmo mobile applications on their smartphones. Giant Eagle worked with Blackhawk Network, a Pleasonton, Calif.-based company to offer the option,...
OxyContin-maker Purdue goes to judge to confirm settlement
NEW YORK — Purdue Pharma’s quest to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin and its other prescription opioid painkillers entered its final phase Thursday with the grudging support of many of those who have claims against the company. Nearly two years after seeking bankruptcy protection, the company...
Court rules UPMC can proceed with controversial South Hills hospital
A new UPMC hospital planned about a mile from an Allegheny Health Network hospital in Jefferson Hills can be built, a state appeals court has ruled. The 63-bed hospital, called UPMC South, has been in the works since 2018, and is planned off Route 51 along Elliott Road. But more...
U.S. jobless claims near pandemic low
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third straight time last week, the latest sign that employers are laying off fewer people as they struggle to fill a record number of open jobs and meet a surge in consumer demand. Thursday’s report from the Labor...
U.S. Amateur Championship brings welcome business to area establishments
Like many area businesses, restaurants and hotels in Oakmont and Harmar have suffered during the pandemic. It’s going to take time to make up the losses they’ve incurred, but weeks such as this one definitely are helping their economic recovery. The 121st U.S. Amateur golf championship is being held this...
S&P 500, Dow industrials mark records but Nasdaq lags behind
Banks and industrial companies helped lift stocks on Wall Street mostly higher Wednesday, pushing the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average past the record highs they set a day earlier. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% after another wobbly day of trading. Nearly three-fourths of the companies in the benchmark...
Plan to replace aging postal truck fleet delayed by lawsuit
PORTLAND, Maine — Postal workers thrilled at the prospect of making deliveries in modern, comfortable and environmentally friendly vehicles are soldiering on in their aging, spartan trucks. The primary fleet of vehicles — dating to 1987 — was due to be replaced under a new contract but the winning bid...
U.S. consumer prices keep rising, up 5.4% from a year ago
WASHINGTON — Prices for U.S. consumers rose last month but at the slowest pace since February, a sign that Americans may gain some relief after four months of sharp increases that have imposed a financial burden on the nation’s households. Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices...
As delta spreads, Southwest no longer sees profit for quarter
The highly contagious delta variant has darkened the outlook for Southwest Airlines, one of the largest carriers in the U.S., which said that it no longer expects to turn a profit in the third quarter as covid-19 infections spread. The revelation, contained in a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities...
Facebook bans firm behind Pfizer, AstraZeneca smear campaign
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Facebook said Tuesday that it has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a mysterious advertising agency operating out of Russia that sought to pay social media influencers to smear covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca. A network of 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts was...
Stocks edge higher as banks, industrials offset tech slide
Stocks capped another wobbly day of trading on Wall Street with modest gains Tuesday, as financial and industrial companies helped lift the market, outweighing a pullback in technology stocks. The S&P 500 recovered from an early slip and eked out a 0.1% gain, enough to eclipse the record high it...
Betting website DraftKings buys Golden Nugget Online
LAS VEGAS — Sports betting website DraftKings Inc. is buying the online gambling subsidiary of Golden Nugget Inc. in a stock deal valued at $1.56 billion, the two companies said Monday. The acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming gives Boston-based DraftKings a well-known brand in the casino and gambling world,...
John Dorfman: Sane Portfolio advanced 47% last year
Most of my clients want medium-risk portfolios. A few tilt more to the conservative side. To find stocks for the more conservative ones, a tool I use is the Sane Portfolio. This is a hypothetical collection of a dozen stocks that seem solid to me from several vantage points. To...
Stocks end a wobbly day lower, edging below recent records
Technology and energy companies led stocks lower Monday on Wall Street, easing the market back from its recent all-time highs. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, erasing an early gain. Technology companies accounted for a big share of the decline. Industrial and consumer-centric stocks also fell. Those losses outweighed gains in...
U.S. job openings hit a record 10.1 million in June
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers posted a record 10.1 million job openings in June, another sign that the job market and economy are bouncing back briskly from last year’s coronavirus shutdowns. Job openings rose from 9.5 million in May, the Labor Department reported Monday. Employers hired 6.7 million workers in June....
