Business category, Page 186
John Dorfman: Why I own only 2 of the Sacred Seven stocks
There are seven stocks that investors seem to worship. In the parlance of the 1970s, they are one-decision stocks: You are supposed to buy them and never sell them. Call them the Sacred Seven. The blessed septet are Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, formerly Google), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Meta...
Wall Street ends higher, marking another record for S&P 500
Technology companies led U.S. stocks broadly higher Monday, extending the market’s recent rally and nudging the S&P 500 to another all-time high. Wall Street kicked off the final week in a banner year for the stock market with mostly muted trading as investors returned from the Christmas holiday and several...
U.S. steps up probe into Hyundai-Kia engine failures and fires
DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators have stepped up a series of investigations into engine fires that have plagued Hyundai and Kia vehicles for more than six years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a new engineering analysis investigation covers more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through...
A guide to making holiday gift returns
Someone gives you a gift. It’s the wrong size. It’s a duplicate. Maybe you don’t like it. You want to return it. After months of shopping leading up to Christmas, some people will be heading back to the stores Dec. 26. That’s a day known for holiday gift exchanges. In...
Russian court fines Google nearly $100M over content; Meta fined as well
MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Friday slapped Google with a nearly $100 million fine and also fined Facebook’s parent company Meta $27 million over their failure to delete content banned by local law, as Russia seeks to step up pressure on technology giants. The Tagansky District Court ruled that...
United cancels over 100 flights on Christmas eve due to omicron-linked shortages
United Airlines Holdings Inc. is canceling over 100 flights on Friday, the day before Christmas, while Delta Air Lines Inc. has cut about 90. United said in an email Thursday that a jump in omicron covid-19 cases is affecting the availability of flight crews and ground personnel. Delta said its...
Markets 2021: Stocks soar, IPOs explode, crypto goes wild
Wall Street delivered another strong year for investors in 2021, as a resurgence in consumer demand fueled by the reopening of the global economy pumped up corporate profits. As of Dec. 22, the S&P 500 had risen 25%, its third-straight annual increase. Along the way, the benchmark index set 67...
Amazon settles with NLRB to give workers power to organize
NEW YORK — Amazon, under pressure to improve worker rights, has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to allow its workers to freely organize — and without retaliation. According to the agreement, the online behemoth said it would reach out to its warehouse workers — former and...
Consumer prices up 5.7% over past year, fastest in 39 years
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years, as a surge in inflation confronts Americans with the holiday shopping season under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in...
U.S. jobless claims unchanged at 205,000
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year. Jobless claims remained at 205,000. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, rose to just over...
$475M settlement proposed in longest-running U.S. oil spill
NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans-based oil company has agreed to turn over a $432 million cleanup trust fund and pay an additional $43 million to settle a federal lawsuit over cleaning up abandoned wells leaking since 2004, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. “This settlement represents an important down payment to...
Pittsburgh’s URA to forgive $2.9M in small-business loans
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority said this week it would forgive more than $2.9 million in small business loans given through its Emergency Loan Fund program, in a move meant to help small businesses survive the covid-19 pandemic. As covid-19 restrictions forced many small businesses to close their doors or alter...
Fresh Express announces recall of salad mix due to potential health risk
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Fresh Express is recalling certain varieties of its branded and private label salad products produced at the company’s Streamwood, Ill., facility because the product has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The organism can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail...
U.S. economy grew at 2.3% rate in Q3, up from earlier estimate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in the third quarter, slightly better than previously thought, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. But prospects for a solid rebound going forward are being clouded by the rapid spread of the latest variant of the coronavirus. The third and final...
John Dorfman: Peloton leads market’s parade of losers
Part of Peloton Interactive Inc.’s stock decline this year was funny. But the loss of 73% for the year to date (through Dec. 21) was not so humorous. As shown in the accompanying table, Peloton suffered the biggest loss of all stocks with a market value of $5 billion or...
Rite Aid to close 63 stores and expects to close more locations next year
Rite Aid, the long-time East Pennsboro Township-based pharmaceutical chain that will soon be based on Philadelphia, announced on Tuesday that it will close 63 stores. The company made the announcement as part of its third quarter results from 2021. Rite Aid said the move will save the company $25 million....
California sues Walmart over disposal of hazardous waste
SACRAMENTO — Retail giant Walmart illegally dumps more than 1 million batteries, aerosol cans of insect killer and other products, toxic cleaning supplies, electronic waste, latex paints and other hazardous waste into California landfills each year, state prosecutors alleged Monday in a lawsuit that the company labeled “unjustified.” “As we...
Payrolls grow, but Pennsylvania’s labor force shrinks again
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell for the ninth straight month and payrolls grew again in November, according to new state figures, but the labor force shrank, as did the workforce participation rate. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 5.7% from October’s rate, according to state Department of...
Starbucks vows good faith talks with 1st unionized store
NEW YORK — Starbucks says it will negotiate in good faith with workers at the first store to unionize in the company’s 50-year history. In a letter sent to all U.S. employees Rossann Williams, an executive vice president, said Starbucks never favored unionization and still prefers to speak directly to...
Biden boosts fuel-economy standards to fight climate change
WASHINGTON — In a major step to fight climate change, the Biden administration is raising vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. A final rule being issued Monday would raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 miles...
Wall Street joins global slump for stocks on omicron jitters
NEW YORK — Stocks on Wall Street added to their recent string of losses Monday, joining a worldwide slump by financial markets amid worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% for its third straight drop. The decline...
Biogen cuts the price tag on its Alzheimer’s drug in half
Biogen is slashing the price of its Alzheimer’s treatment in half months after it debuted to widespread criticism for an initial cost that could reach $56,000 annually. The drugmaker said Monday that it will cut the wholesale acquisition cost of the drug by about 50% next month. That means the...
Inflation squeezes holiday budgets for low-income shoppers
NEW YORK — Emarilis Velazquez is paying higher prices on everything from food to clothing. Her monthly grocery bill has ballooned from $650 to almost $850 in recent months. To save money, she looks for less expensive cuts of meat and has switched to a cheaper detergent. She also clips...
Do employers have to follow Biden’s vaccine mandates?
Tens of millions of workers across the U.S. are in limbo as federal courts have issued different rulings related to President Joe Biden’s covid-19 vaccine mandates for larger private companies, certain health care workers and federal government contractors. A federal appeals court panel has allowed a vaccine requirement for employers...
Labor board certifies first union at a U.S. Starbucks store
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The National Labor Relations Board confirmed a vote Friday to form a union at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, meaning the coffee retailer, for the first time, will have to bargain with organized labor at a company-owned U.S. store. “We don’t want to fight Starbucks — we’re...
