Business category, Page 203
IRS will delay tax filing due date until May
The Internal Revenue Service is delaying the traditional tax filing deadline from April 15 until May 17, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. The IRS and Treasury Department didn’t immediately comment Wednesday or provide further details. But the committee confirmed and applauded the move, which provides added time...
Fed expects to keep its key rate near zero through 2023
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve foresees the economy accelerating quickly this year but still expects to keep its benchmark interest rate pinned near zero through 2023, despite concerns in financial markets about potentially higher inflation. With its brightening outlook, the Fed on Wednesday significantly upgraded its forecasts for growth and...
Wall Street closes higher after Fed says will keep rates low
Stock closed higher Wednesday, reversing an early slide after the Federal Reserve reassured Wall Street that it expects to keep its key interest rate near zero through 2023. The central bank’s renewed commitment to keeping rates at rock bottom lows comes even as its latest economic forecast calls for growth...
Report: Smoking headed for extinction in many countries by 2050
Cigarette use in a number of developing countries may fall to zero in the next three decades as smokers quit or switch to alternative products, according to a new report. Smoking will disappear by 2050 from the United States, parts of Europe, Australia and large chunks of Latin America if...
Texas company behind huge electricity bills seeks bankruptcy
The company that drew attention after sending huge electricity bills to customers after last month’s blackout-causing winter storm in Texas has filed for bankruptcy protection. Griddy Energy sold power to consumers at wholesale prices plus a $9.99 monthly fee. Its rates skyrocketed during the February deep freeze, when state grid...
Ford partners with University of Michigan on robotics research, new building
Digit marches on two legs across the floor of the University of Michigan’s Ford Motor Co. Robotics Building, while Mini-Cheetah — staccato-like — does the same on four and the yellow-legged Cassie steps deliberately side-to-side. A grand opening was held Tuesday for the four-story, $75 million, 134,000-square-foot complex. Three floors...
Stocks step back from all-time highs in choppy trading
Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading Tuesday with stock indexes closing mostly lower after coming within striking distance of matching the market’s longest winning streak of the year. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% after wobbling between small gains and losses most of the day. The modest pullback snapped...
Google gets into sleep surveillance with new Nest Hub screen
Google’s next internet-connected home device will test whether consumers trust the company enough to let it snoop on their sleep. New sleep-sensing technology will be a key feature on Google’s latest version of its Nest Hub, a 7-inch smart screen unveiled Tuesday. Like the previous generation, the $100 Nest Hub...
Southwestern Pa. gas prices stabilizing; remain well above national average
After weeks of sharp price spikes, analysts say gasoline price increases in Southwestern Pennsylvania appear to be stabilizing. Regular unleaded gasoline increased only a penny per gallon last week following increases of 25 cents per gallon here over the last month. There were multiple factors behind the increases that drove...
Brand firm takes controlling stake in Toys R Us parentVideo
NEW YORK — A New York-based brand management firm that already owns Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud is taking a controlling stake in the parent company of the iconic Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands. Yehuda Shmidman, co-founder, chairman and CEO at WHP Global, declined to offer the...
John Dorfman: Why the Nasdaq stock market is a focal point now
All eyes are on Nasdaq. The Nasdaq stock market is home to the big technology companies — the likes of Apple and Microsoft — that dominated the market and provided most of its oomph in 2019 and 2020. In the two years ended in December, the Nasdaq 100 Non-Financial Index...
Stocks extend gains for fifth day, led by technology shares
Stocks shook off an early stumble and closed broadly higher Monday, nudging some of the major U.S. indexes to more all-time highs as the market added to its recent string of gains. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% after having been down 0.5% in the early going, extending its winning streak...
What to do if you are a victim of unemployment fraud
Unemployment fraud in the U.S. has reached dramatic levels during the pandemic — the Labor Department inspector general’s office estimates that more than $63 billion has been paid out improperly through fraud or errors since March 2020. Criminals are seizing on the opportunity created by the pandemic. Using data stolen...
What’s this craze for ‘NFTs’ all about, anyway?
LONDON — A digital art piece, tweaked using cryptocurrency technology to make it one-of-a-kind, sold at auction this week for nearly $70 million. That transaction made global headlines and buoyed already-mushrooming interest in these kinds of digital objects — known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — that have captured the...
Netflix tests out a possible password-sharing crackdown
NEW YORK — Netflix is testing a way to crack down on password sharing. The popular streaming service has been asking some users of the popular streaming site to verify their account via email or text, or to “verify later.” “If you don’t live with the owner of this account,...
Tech stocks pulls market lower as bond yields climb again
Stocks were mostly lower in afternoon trading Friday as technology stocks, which had spent most of the week holding steady or climbing, fell broadly. The move was once again caused by a rise in bond yields. The S&P 500 index was down 0.2% as of 2:20 p.m. Eastern, on track...
More records for stock indexes as stimulus bill becomes law
Broad gains in stocks pushed several major indexes to all-time highs on Wall Street. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a measure of small-company stocks all closed at record levels on Thursday. The S&P 500 added 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.5%, but remains below the record...
U.S. jobless claims fall to 712,000 as pace of layoffs eases
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 712,000, the lowest total since early November, evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs amid a decline in confirmed coronavirus cases and signs of an improving economy. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment aid...
Jeannette, New Kensington among towns that could benefit from new $20M investment fund
A new partnership between the Richard K. Mellon Foundation and Arctaris Impact Investors, a Boston-based impact investment group, is launching a $20 million investment fund to underwrite economic development projects in distressed communities in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The fund, unveiled Wednesday, will target projects that support economic development, workforce...
Stability in bond market helps lift most U.S. stock indexes
Major U.S. indexes are moving mostly higher Wednesday as stability in the bond market translates into gains for stocks. A key measure of inflation was lower than expected last month, helping to calm investors who had worried that prices could rise too quickly as the economy recovers. The S&P 500...
New owner Buzzfeed lays off 45 from HuffPost newsroom
NEW YORK — Buzzfeed announced Tuesday that it has laid off 45 reporters, editors and producers from the newly acquired HuffPost. HuffPost Executive Editor Hillary Frey, the website’s executive editor, and Executive Editor Louise Roug also resigned over the layoffs, Buzzfeed said. The dismissals come just three weeks after Buzzfeed...
Nasdaq jumps 3.7%, most in nearly a year, as Big Tech surgesVideo
Technology companies powered stocks higher Tuesday on Wall Street, driving the Nasdaq to its biggest gain in nearly a year and more than making up for a sharp skid a day earlier. The Nasdaq surged 3.7%, led by gains in Big Tech companies such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Despite...
GM workers still unsettled 2 years after Lordstown plant closed
When General Motors ended a half-century of building cars in Ohio’s blue collar corner, 1,600 workers had to decide whether to accept the automaker’s offer to move to another factory. Those with enough seniority retired. A few started new careers. Everyone else from GM’s shuttered assembly plant in Lordstown went...
Kia recalls nearly 308K vehicles for fire risk
DETROIT — Kia is telling owners of nearly 380,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because of the risk of an engine compartment fire. The Korean automaker is recalling certain 2017 through 2021 Sportage SUVs and 2017 through 2019 Cadenza sedans to fix the problem. The company says...
Nissan recalling 854K Sentra cars to fix brake light problem
DETROIT — Nissan is recalling more than 854,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because the brake lights might not come on when the driver presses on the pedal. The recall covers certain Sentra compacts from the 2016 through 2019 model years, including more than 807,000 in the U.S. Nissan...
