Business category, Page 23
The tariff-driven inflation that economists feared begins to emerge
WASHINGTON — Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of everything from groceries and clothes to furniture and appliances. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from an...
‘A superpower for energy’: Homer City power station developers to present site plans
Developers will present plans Wednesday for a $10 billion, 3,200-acre, natural-gas power plant in Indiana County. The former Homer City Generating Station, once a coal-fired plant, is being proposed to provide the electricity required for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Members of Homer City Redevelopment Group will host an open...
U.S. home prices are losing steam with most big markets below peak
The U.S. housing market is close to stalling out, with prices in more than half the country’s top 100 housing markets now below their peak, according to the latest data from Intercontinental Exchange. The annual nationwide price increase slowed to 1.3% in June, the slowest pace in two years and...
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will build gigawatt-size data centers
Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the company is building several massive data centers to power its artificial intelligence efforts with the first one expected to come online next year. “We’re calling the first one Prometheus and it’s coming online in ‘26,” Zuckerberg said in a post...
Huntington acquires Dallas bank Veritex in deal valued at nearly $2 billion
The stock of Veritex Holdings soared 20% on Monday, after the Dallas-based bank agreed to a nearly $2 billion buyout by Huntington Bancshares, a Midwest regional banking powerhouse with ambitions to deepen its Texas footprint. Veritex has over 30 branches across Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington...
U.S. imposes 17% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes
The U.S. government said Monday it is placing a 17% duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff. Proponents said the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown...
Trump, McCormick to tout $70B in energy, AI investments across Pa. in CMU event
More than $70 billion worth of investments into Pennsylvania’s energy and artificial intelligence sectors will be highlighted during a summit Tuesday at Carnegie Mellon University, with industry leaders and politicians including President Donald Trump and Gov. Josh Shapiro participating. U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a lead organizer for the inaugural Pennsylvania...
European trade ministers pledge unity after Trump’s surprise 30% tariffs
BRUSSELS — European trade ministers were hopeful Monday for a negotiated trade deal after President Donald Trump announced 30% tariffs on the European Union, but also expressed resolve in preparing countermeasures if talks break down. The ministers met Monday in Brussels following Trump’s surprise announcement of such hefty tariffs, which...
Trump announces 30% tariffs against EU, Mexico to begin Aug. 1
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners. Trump detailed the planned tariffs in letters posted to...
Boeing settles with a man whose family died in a 737 Max crash in Ethiopia
CHICAGO — Boeing reached a settlement Friday with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to the devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The jury trial at Chicago’s federal court...
Kraft Heinz to split, report says
Kraft Heinz may be headed for a breakup. The packaged food conglomerate is planning to spin off a large chunk of its grocery business, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, effectively undoing a 2015 merger that’s now widely regarded as a strategic blunder. Anonymous sources told the newspaper the new...
Allegheny County creates new way for workers to report threats to union rights
Allegheny County launched a web page Thursday for workers to report violations or threats to their union organizing rights. The move comes at a time of local labor flare-ups and gridlock at the National Labor Relations Board. This new, confidential Right to Organize Incident Report Form asks for information about...
Walgreens shareholders approve $10 billion private equity buyout
Shareholders of Walgreens Boots Alliance overwhelmingly approved the drugstore chain’s $10 billion acquisition by private equity firm Sycamore. It is a rough era for national pharmacy chains like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite-Aid, closing hundreds of stores due to changing consumer behavior, declining pharmacy reimbursements and rising costs. Walgreens will close...
Elon Musk’s X platform investigated in France for alleged data tampering and fraud
PARIS — French prosecutors have launched a police investigation into alleged data tampering and fraud involving X, Elon Musk’s platform. The Paris prosecutor’s office, in a statement Friday, announced the opening of the investigation, and said that a branch of the French gendarmerie is conducting the inquiry. The investigation is...
Trump plans to hike tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said in a Thursday letter that he will raise taxes on imported goods from Canada to 35%, deepening a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. The letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is an...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rises to 6.72%, ending 5-week slide
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage edged up this week, ending a five-week decline in borrowing costs for homebuyers. The long-term rate ticked up to 6.72% from 6.67% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.89%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate...
Snap, crackle, sale: Nutella maker Ferrero plans to buy WK Kellogg for $3 billion
Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands such as Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old U.S. cereal company WK Kellogg in an effort to expand its North American sales. The Ferrero Group said Thursday it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share, or approximately $3.1 billion. The transaction includes WK...
Investors snap up U.S. homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one
LOS ANGELES — Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers. Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors,...
John Dorfman: Kraft Heinz, Helmerich & Payne hit the Casualty List
Give me your battered, your cheap, Your wounded stocks that crave a second chance, The wretched refuse of the market’s heap. They’ve stumbled, yet they soon again may dance. That little poem (with apologies to Emma Lazarus) sums up the idea behind my Casualty List. It’s a roster of stocks...
Samsung unveils its new line of foldable devices at Unpacked
NEW YORK — Samsung introduced several updates to its foldable devices lineup on Wednesday, with the new Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and the new Z Flip 7 FE taking stage at the latest Unpacked event. The Korean electronics company unveiled the upgrades — including new versions of...
X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after 2 years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she’s stepping down after two bumpy years running Elon Musk’s social media platform. Yaccarino posted a positive message Wednesday about her tenure at the company formerly known as Twitter and said “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with” Musk’s...
Chipmaker Nvidia becomes most valuable company in the world at $4 trillion
NEW YORK — Chipmaker Nvidia became the first public company to top $4 trillion in value on Wednesday after a two-year investor frenzy. Nvidia shares rose 2.5%, or $3.97, in early trading Wednesday, topping $164 each. At the beginning of 2023, Nvidia shares were around $14 each. The poster child...
Trump’s trade blitz produces few deals but lots of uncertainty
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his advisers promised a lightning round of global trade negotiations with dozens of countries back in April. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro predicted “90 deals in 90 days.” Administration officials declared that other countries were desperate to make concessions to avoid the massive...
Musk’s AI company scrubs inappropriate posts after Grok chatbot makes antisemitic comments
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it’s taking down “inappropriate posts” made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler. Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s...
Waymo begins offering teen accounts, starting in metro Phoenix
Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo is launching a new account type that lets teenagers hail a robotaxi and ride alone, expanding its rider base while continuing to test its service in more U.S. cities. Teens from 14 to 17 can have a user profile paired to a parent’s account starting on Tuesday,...
