Business category, Page 248
Report: U.S. natural gas consumption set record in 2019
Consumption of natural gas, mostly for electric power uses, set a new record in the United States in 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Use of natural gas for the creation of electric power grew by 7% — 2 billion cubic feet per day — but consumption remained relatively...
John Dorfman: Student in Milan, Italy, wins my forecasting derby
A student at the American School in Milan, Italy, won my annual Derby of Economic Forecasting Talent (DEFT) for 2019. Gregorio De Giuli, a 17-year-old high school senior, modestly attributed his success to “luck,” but there was more to it than that. “I looked at charts and followed the trend,”...
Dow notches largest-ever point gain as stocks surge on hopes for central bank help
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 1,300 points, or 5%, Monday as stocks roared back from a seven-day rout on hopes that central banks will take action to shield the global economy from the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The huge gains clawed back some of the ground lost...
AT&T launches new online TV service as video customers fall
NEW YORK — AT&T is launching a new internet-delivered TV service Monday as it struggles with a shrinking DirecTV satellite business. The new service, AT&T TV, will have most of the same channels offered on DirecTV, but it’ll come over the internet rather than a satellite dish. AT&T has been...
U.S. construction spending up 1.8% in January to record level
WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects rose to an all-time high in January, helped by strong gains for home construction and government building projects. The Commerce Department said Monday that construction spending increased 1.8% in January, the strongest monthly rise in nearly two years, pushing totally spending to a...
Don’t succumb to stock market panic, advisers caution
Stocks tumbled, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged and the S&P 500 index fell dramatically — all over bad news out of China. That was a little more than a year ago — when Apple announced that iPhone sales in China were slumping. This year, the bad news out of...
Jack Welch, the GE chief who became a superstar, has died
BOSTON — Jack Welch, who transformed General Electric Co. into a highly profitable multinational conglomerate and parlayed his legendary business acumen into a retirement career as a corporate leadership guru, has died. He was 84. His death was confirmed Monday by GE. The cause of death was renal failure, his...
As stocks tumble amid spread of coronavirus, can central banks fix the crisis?
NEW YORK — As stocks around the world tumble on worries about a fast-spreading coronavirus, investors have been clamoring for the superheroes of the financial world to ride to the rescue once again. Yet this time, there are doubts: Can central banks really fix this crisis as they have so...
Joe Coulombe, founder of popular Trader Joe’s markets, dies
LOS ANGELES — Joe Coulombe envisioned a new generation of young grocery shoppers emerging in the 1960s, one that wanted healthy, tasty, high-quality food they couldn’t find in most supermarkets and couldn’t afford to buy in the few high-end gourmet outlets. So he found a new way to bring everything...
Teens love the video app TikTok. Do they love it too much?
From the perspective of teens, TikTok is a major new outlet for self-expression, one proudly home to the silly, the loud and the weird. To others, the Chinese-owned online video service is an unnerving black box that could be sharing information with the Chinese government, facilitating espionage or just promoting...
Virus’ effect on world economy grows more alarming
TOKYO — Concerns about the coronavirus outbreak’s threat to the world economy grew Saturday as authorities in the U.S. reported its first domestic death from the virus and President Donald Trump denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a “hoax” cooked up by his enemies. China’s manufacturing plunged...
Wall Street has worst week since 2008
Stocks sank around the globe again Friday as investors braced for more economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak, sending U.S. markets to their worst weekly finish since the 2008 financial crisis. The damage from the week of relentless selling was eye-popping: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3,583 points, or...
FCC proposes fines for phone companies that shared user data
NEW YORK — The Federal Communications Commission has proposed roughly $200 million in fines combined for the four major U.S. phone companies for improperly disclosing customers’ real-time location. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said during a news conference Friday that the fines amounted to $91 million for T-Mobile, $57 million for...
Amazon bans 1 million products because of coronavirus claims
Amazon has pulled more than 1 million items from its digital shelves due to claims that the products could either cure or help prevent the spread of coronavirus. The move comes during the same week that Facebook said it would ban advertisements on its platform for products purporting to cure...
General Motors to add 1,200 workers at 2 Michigan factories
DETROIT — General Motors is adding 1,200 jobs at two Michigan factories to build midsize SUVs and two new luxury sedans. GM said Friday that its Lansing Delta Township plant will get a third shift and 800 more workers to build the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave SUVs, which have...
Stock market rout deepens on virus worries; indexes lose 4%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank nearly 1,200 points Thursday, deepening a weeklong global market rout caused by worries that the coronavirus outbreak will wreak havoc on the global economy. Bond prices soared again, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury to another record low. When yields fall it’s a...
Regulators challenge merger of Philadelphia health networks
The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it is taking action to block the planned merger of two major Philadelphia-area health systems, saying it would reduce competition and harm patients. The FTC issued an administrative complaint and said it is also filing a complaint in federal court to prevent the merger...
Walmart confirms it will launch a rival to Amazon’s Prime
NEW YORK — Walmart is confirming that it’s developing a competitor to Amazon’s juggernaut Prime membership program. The company declined on Thursday to offer details, but a spokeswoman said it will be called Walmart+. News website Vox first reported the news about Walmart’s new membership program earlier Thursday and said...
Kia recalls over 193K vehicles; fuel leaks can cause fires
DETROIT — Kia is recalling more than 193,000 cars and minvans in yet another move to fix nagging problems that could cause engine fires. The largest of two U.S. recalls released by the government Thursday covers nearly 142,000 2013 and 2014 Optima midsize cars. They have 2.4-liter direct fuel injection...
Delivery giant DoorDash takes step toward public offering
NEW YORK — Food delivery giant DoorDash has taken a first formal step toward a stock market debut. The San Francisco-based company said Thursday that it had filed paperwork with the Securities Exchange Commission outlining its proposed public stock offering. There was no proposed date for an initial offering, which...
Coffee shop features Oval Office scene, Trump cutout, Fox News
A conservative-themed coffee shop that opened last weekend in Florida features an Oval Office scene with a cutout of President Trump, televisions blaring Fox News and a “wall of honor” with veterans’ and police officers’ signatures. Conservative Grounds, the newest business in a Largo strip mall that includes an LGBTQ...
Order online or drive to the store? The climate savvy pick ‘clicks and bricks’
NEW YORK — Consumers could be forgiven for assuming that shopping online has a lower carbon footprint than buying in-store. For many, the online option saves them a trip in the car, and it stands to reason that logistics companies would be good at generating efficient delivery routes. There’s some...
Stocks sink, bonds soar on fears virus will stunt economyVideo
Stocks slumped again Tuesday on Wall Street, piling on losses a day after the market’s biggest drop in two years as fears spread that the growing virus outbreak will put the brakes on the global economy. Nervous investors snapped up low-risk U.S. government bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year...
Drugmaker Mallinckrodt reaches $1.6B opioid settlement
The generic drugmaker Mallinckrodt has a tentative $1.6 billion deal to settle lawsuits over its role in the U.S. opioid crisis, it announced Tuesday. The deal is intended to end hundreds of lawsuits faced by the company over opioids. The company said that it had an agreement with a key...
JPMorgan to stop lending to coal companies, arctic drillers
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co. will no longer do business with coal companies and will restrict financing to companies that drill in the Arctic, the company announced Tuesday. The announcement came in tandem with the bank announcing it would extend $200 billion in financing to clean and renewable...
