Business category, Page 221
U.S. jobless claims drop to 787,000, but layoffs remain high
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels. With confirmed infections having neared 60,000 in the past week, the highest level since July, many consumers have been...
Coca-Cola recovery continues a it grows leaner in pandemic
Coca-Cola measured gradual improvement in the third quarter as it focused on emerging leaner from the global pandemic. Revenue fell 9% to $8.7 billion, edging out Wall Street expectations of $8.4 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet. It was far better than the 28% drop in revenue in the...
Here’s how hydrogen fuel could revolutionize airlines
Environmentally conscious travelers are in a quandary. Global airline travel has grown over the decades, and so have the industry’s carbon emissions. Not everyone has the time to use more eco-friendly travel methods, such as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s famous two-week voyage last year across the Atlantic Ocean on...
Google antitrust lawsuit: 5 key takeaways
WASHINGTON — The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Google on Tuesday marks the first major antitrust enforcement case against a technology company since a case against Microsoft began in 1998 and ended in a settlement with the government in 2002. The Justice Department is accusing Google of using...
After explosive growth at Square, Chase launches own version
NEW YORK — After watching the explosive growth at electronic payment start-ups like Jack Dorsey’s Square, JPMorgan Chase has launched its own version to lure small business owners increasingly relying on technology during the pandemic. Chase Business Complete Banking with QuickAccept will allow businesses to process card payments almost instantly...
Stocks slip on Wall Street as virus aid deal remains elusive
Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street as negotiations continue to drag on in Washington over delivering more aid for the economy. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% Wednesday after spending much of the day wobbling between gains and losses. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s made progress with the White...
An electric Hummer? Battery-powered trucks head to showrooms
DETROIT — Seven auto companies have plans to roll out new battery-powered pickup trucks over the next two years, aiming to cash in on a popular and lucrative market for expensive vehicles. General Motors is among them, and on Tuesday its GMC brand introduced a new electric Hummer pickup, with...
Tennessee factory to become GM’s 3rd electric vehicle plant
General Motors plans to spend $2 billion to convert its Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly plant into a third U.S. site to build future electric vehicles. The Detroit automaker also says it will spend another $153 million to upgrade five Michigan factories for future vehicles. The company will build the Cadillac...
Justice Department files landmark antitrust case against Google
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for antitrust violations, alleging that it abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers. The lawsuit marks the government’s most significant attempt to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years...
John Dorfman: Does stolen fruit taste better? Check out my purloined portfolio
Major League Baseball punished the Houston Astros for the way they stole opponents’ signs. But there’s no penalty for an investment manager stealing ideas from another manager. In fact, I think one would be foolish not to. I peek from time to time at the holdings of other managers I...
Amazon fake reviews reach holiday season levels during pandemic
Fake reviews on Amazon.com during the pandemic have reached levels typically seen during the holiday shopping season. About 42% of 720 million Amazon reviews assessed by the monitoring service Fakespot from March through September were unreliable, up from about 36% for the same period last year. The rise in fake...
U.S. air passengers exceed 1 million, first time since March
The virus-ravaged airline industry reached a milestone Sunday, carrying more than 1 million passengers for the first time in seven months. U.S. airport security checkpoints processed 1,031,505 people, or 39.6% of the equivalent day in 2019, according to a tally by the Transportation Security Administration. Several of the busiest days...
U.S. stocks head higher at the end of another bumpy week
Stocks are broadly higher in afternoon trading Friday, placing the market on track to close out a choppy week on Wall Street with modest gains. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%, clawing back all its losses from a day earlier. If the gains hold, the benchmark index would mark its...
U.S. retail sales grow for 5th month in a row
NEW YORK — Retail sales rose in September for the fifth month in a row, as Americans spent more on clothing, cars and sporting goods. The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales grew 1.9% last month. That’s up from August’s increase of 0.6%. Retail sales have been recovering...
Stocks fall on Wall Street as coronavirus spreads in Europe
Stocks are falling on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, extending the market’s pullback this week as optimism that Congress will deliver another round of stimulus for the economy wanes and new data show another weekly surge in the number of Americans seeking unemployment aid. The S&P 500 was down...
Stocks fall on Wall Street as hopes fade for stimulus dealVideo
Stocks gave up early gains and closed lower Wednesday, adding to Wall Street’s losses from a day earlier. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% after spending the morning swaying between small gains and losses. Companies that rely on consumer spending, banks and technology and communication stocks bore the brunt of the...
Cottonelle issues recall on flushable wipes because of possible bacteria contamination
Kimberly-Clark has issued a recall of its Cottonelle Flushable Wipes and Cottonelle GentlePlus Flushable Wipes because they may be contaminated with bacteria. The wipes were made between Feb. 7 and Sept. 14. According to the Cottonelle website, the wipes may be contaminated with “a bacterium (Pluralibacter gergoviae) which naturally occurs...
A taste for travel? Finnair to sell plane food in shops
HELSINKI — Finnish carrier Finnair will start selling business class airplane food in supermarkets in a move to keep its catering staff employed and to offer a taste of the airline experience to those missing flying in the covid-19 times. The state-controlled airline said that in a pilot scheme the...
Brazilian meatpacker fined $256 million in U.S. for bribes
MEDELLIN, Colombia — An owner of the world’s largest meatpackers, with major investments in the U.S., has pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to paying more than $150 million in bribes for over a decade to high-level government officials in Brazil. Sao Paulo-based J&F Investimentos made the plea in a...
Delta posts $5.4 billion 3Q loss as pandemic hammers travelVideo
The summer travel season was even worse than expected for Delta Air Lines, which said Tuesday that it lost $5.4 billion in the third quarter as people hunkered down at home during the pandemic. Delta officials pushed back their timetable for breaking even, from year-end to next spring, as their...
Amazon pandemic Prime Day steals rivals’ Black Friday spotlightVideo
Amazon.com Inc.’s two-day Prime Day sale kicked off on Tuesday and is expected to give the world’s largest e-commerce company an early advantage over brick-and-mortar rivals still contending with pandemic-spooked consumers wary of battling Black Friday crowds. With Prime Day delayed to October from July this year, Amazon single-handedly could...
Consumer prices rise 0.2% in September, used vehicles spike
SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. consumer prices rose slightly in September, led again by sharp increases in the index for used vehicles. The consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, after gaining 0.4% in August, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Prices for used cars and trucks rose 6.7% in September...
U.S. investigates fire reports in Chevy Bolt electric vehicles
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s road safety agency is investigating complaints that the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle can catch fire. The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers nearly 78,000 Bolts made by General Motors from the 2017 through 2020 model years. The agency says in documents posted...
Germany, France call for U.K. concessions in EU-U.K. trade talks
BRUSSELS — Germany and France on Tuesday pressured the United Kingdom to make concessions in three key areas of Brexit trade negotiations or face a no-deal situation as of Jan. 1 which would hit hard a U.K. economy already hurt by the pandemic. EU negotiator Michel Barnier left negotiations in...
Disney to overhaul its entertainment business with focus on streamingVideo
Disney said Monday that it is reorganizing its business units to focus even more on streaming. The company said in August that its Disney Plus service has more than 60 million subscribers, and subscribers to its main combination of streaming services — Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu — top...
