Business category, Page 188
Fed survey finds supply-chain shortages boosting inflation
WASHINGTON — Many parts of the country were hit by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages in November, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. In a survey of business conditions around the country, the Fed’s 12 regional banks found that the economy continued to grow at a modest-to-moderate pace, and the...
Omicron unravels travel industry’s plans for a comeback
Tourism businesses that were just finding their footing after nearly two years of devastation wrought by the covid-19 pandemic are being rattled again as countries throw up new barriers to travel in an effort to contain the omicron variant. From shopping districts in Japan and tour guides in the Holy...
November delivers another hit to sinking consumer confidence
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, clipped by rising prices and concern about the coronavirus. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 109.5, down from 111.6 in October. It was the lowest reading since the index...
Stocks sink as omicron, rate worries rattle Wall Street
NEW YORK — Already unnerved by the newest coronavirus variant, Wall Street’s losses deepened on Tuesday after the head of the Federal Reserve said it will consider shutting off its support for financial markets sooner than expected. The S&P 500 fell 1.9%, erasing its gains from a day earlier. The...
Ohio court to hear NASCAR challenge of tax on broadcasts
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in a case involving the state’s attempt to tax NASCAR for broadcasting its races in Ohio. At issue before the court is whether the state tax commissioner properly subjected those broadcasts to Ohio’s commercial activities tax during an audit...
John Dorfman: So far, Joe Biden leads all presidents in market performance
So far, Joe Biden leads all U.S. presidents in stock-market performance. We’re in the early days, of course. Biden hasn’t served a full year yet. And the market slide on Nov. 26, if sustained, could change the numbers rapidly. But through Nov. 26, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has...
Wall Street steadies following omicron slide; stocks rise
NEW YORK — Wall Street steadied itself Monday after last week’s stock market slide caused by the newest coronavirus variant, with investors now waiting for more clues about just how much damage it may do to the economy. The S&P 500 rose 1.3% to recover more than half of its...
New Mexico oil regulators aim to limit seismic activity
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico oil and gas regulators are watching closely as increased seismic activity is being reported in the Permian Basin along the Texas state line. Under a plan recently rolled out by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division, pending permits for wastewater injection in certain areas will...
Cyber Monday sales should be robust but business cooling
NEW YORK — Consumers are expected to spend between $10.2 billion and $11.3 billion on Monday, making it once again the biggest online shopping day of the year, according to Adobe Digital Economy Index. Still, spending on what’s known as Cyber Monday could drop from last year’s level of $10.8...
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey stepping down as CEO
NEW YORK — Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of the social media platform. He has been succeeded by Twitter’s current chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal. Dorsey will remain on the board until his term expires in 2022. Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 and has been CTO...
Derry native’s gamer coaching platform Metafy acquires U.K. platform GamersRdy
This time last year, Josh Fabian — the CEO and founder of gamer-coaching platform Metafy — had attracted more than $3 million in investment capital and was bringing in roughly $5,000 each month by providing one-on-one access to champion-level gaming coaches. Fabian, 32, of Blairsville says Metafy is acquiring U.K.-based...
Shippers prepare for another pandemic crush of holiday gifts
PORTLAND, Maine — The last holiday season was far from the most wonderful time of the year for the U.S. Postal Service: Sick and quarantined workers, a flood of packages from shoppers loath to set foot in stores and a last-minute dump of packages from overwhelmed private shippers. Postal workers...
Activists block Amazon warehouses in Europe on Black Friday
Climate activists blockaded Amazon warehouses in three European countries on Friday, part of a global effort to pressure the ecommerce giant on one of its busiest days of the year to improve working conditions and end business practices that hurt the environment. Members of Extinction Rebellion targeted 13 Amazon fulfilment...
Biden sets out oil, gas leasing reform, stops short of ban
The Biden administration on Friday recommended an overhaul of the nation’s oil and gas leasing program to focus on areas that are most suitable for energy development and raise costs for energy companies to drill on public lands and water. The long-awaited report by the Interior Department stops short of...
Westmoreland County shop owners have high hopes for Small Business Saturday
Tracy Alaia has seen firsthand the kindness expressed to small businesses during the covid-19 pandemic. As owner of Feathers Artist Market and Gifts in Irwin, Alaia predicts that kindness to continue during this weekend’s Small Business Saturday, when crowds are expected at locally owned shops to kick off holiday shopping....
Stores kick off Black Friday but pandemic woes linger
Retailers are expected to usher in the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season Friday with bigger crowds than last year in a closer step toward normalcy. But the fallout from the pandemic continues to weigh on businesses and shoppers’ minds. Buoyed by solid hiring, healthy pay gains and substantial...
Stocks sink on new covid variant; Dow loses 905 points
Stocks sank Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly falling more than 1,000 points, as a new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa appeared to be spreading across the globe. Investors were uncertain whether the variant could potentially reverse months of progress at getting the covid-19 pandemic under...
Dollar Tree makes it official: Items will now cost $1.25
NEW YORK — Faced with the rising cost of goods and freight, discount retail chain Dollar Tree said Tuesday it will be raising its prices to $1.25 for the majority of its products. Dollar Tree said the reason for raising its prices to $1.25 was not due to “short-term or...
Consumer spending rebounds in October, inflation elevated
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending rebounded in October, rising by a a solid 1.3%, but inflation remains elevated, rising over the past year at the fastest pace in more than three decades. The jump in consumer spending last month was double the 0.6% gain in September, the Commerce Department reported...
U.S. GDP slowed sharply in Q3 but big rebound expected in Q4
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy slowed to a modest annual rate of 2.1% in the October-December quarter according to the government’s second read of the data, slightly better than its first estimate. But economists are predicting a solid rebound in the current quarter as long as rising inflation and a...
2 Western Pa. coal-fired power plants to close after new wastewater rule
Climate change isn’t what’s driving some U.S. coal-fired power plants to shut down. It’s the expense of stricter pollution controls on their wastewater. Dozens of plants nationwide plan to stop burning coal this decade to comply with more stringent federal wastewater guidelines, according to state regulatory filings, as the industry...
U.S. to release 50 million barrels of oil to ease energy costs
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from the nation’s strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including China, India and the United Kingdom. The move is aimed at global energy markets, but also...
Black Friday loses luster with retailers’ earlier push to maximize holiday sales
Black Friday isn’t what it used to be. That, of course, won’t stop sisters Jenna and Jamie Fratangelo of Scottdale. They’ll have Thanksgiving dinner with their family, get their five children ready for bed, plot their game plan and then head out before sunrise to spend the day shopping for...
John Dorfman: 5 GARP stocks that look like good bets to me
Barring a reversal in the last few weeks of this year, growth stocks will beat value stocks in 2021 for the fifth time in a row. These things tend to run in spurts. Value beat growth seven years in a row from 2000 through 2006. For those who don’t know...
Hedge fund Alden in hunt for another big newspaper chain
Hedge fund Alden Global Capital, one of the country’s largest newspaper owners with a reputation for intense cost cuts and layoffs, has offered to buy the local newspaper chain Lee Enterprises for about $141 million. In a news release Monday, Alden said it sent Lee’s board a letter with the...
