Business category, Page 269
Netflix subscriber drop hints at streaming-service fatigue
NEW YORK — How much is too much for streaming video? A dramatic slowdown in worldwide growth at Netflix — including the first quarterly drop in its U.S. subscribers since 2011 — is raising questions about just how much people are willing to pay for streaming services. Especially with a...
Spreadshirt to add HD printers at Hempfield printing factory
Spreadshirt, the cotton apparel print-on-demand company, says it plans to install $10 million in new printing equipment at its American and European production facilities, including the one in Hempfield. Spreadshirt, founded in 2002 in Leipzig, Germany, operates a branch office and printing factory at 1572 Roseytown Road. The Hempfield facility...
Impossible Foods wants to make your fish fishless
As impossible as it might sound, vegans might soon have a fish option. The company that brought you the Impossible Whopper and Impossible Supreme pizza is testing the waters for a fishless fish. Impossible Foods has focused much of its work on the biochemistry of fish flavor, the New York...
Prime Day buyer’s remorse? Kohl’s accepts Amazon returns now
For anyone now regretting a purchase made during Amazon Prime Days Monday and Tuesday, returns are now easier than shipping it back as long as a Kohl’s store is nearby. The Wisconsin-based retailer now accepts most of Amazon’s returns at all of its stores. Kohl’s started the collaboration with Amazon...
Pet leasing is real and can catch owners by surprise; New Jersey lawmakers want to ban it
Scott and Patricia Smith were looking for a new furry friend at a Middletown, N.J., pet store when they found Chase, a fluffy white Maltese. It was June 2018, five months after their last dog died, and they quickly fell in love with the pup who curled up in Scott’s...
Plant-based food sales rose 11% in 2018, moved beyond niche status
U.S. sales of plant-based foods grew 11% last year as retailers increasingly put them on shelves next to their animal-based counterpart. The annual numbers show where the plant-based market has matured, such as alternative milks, and where it is just getting started, like plant-based eggs. The sales update, published by...
FaceApp lets you look older but prompts safety concerns
If you’ve ever wondered what you’ll look like when you’re older, you’re in luck. There’s an app for that. FaceApp, which first hit the tech scene about two years ago, has resurfaced this week and gone viral again after a new feature was added that allows you to age yourself...
Credit score up? Build credit smarts, too
Consumers’ grasp of credit is the lowest it’s been in eight years, according to an annual survey by credit scoring company VantageScore and the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit association of consumer groups. For example, 62% of those surveyed this year knew that everyone has more than one credit...
Appeals court: NYC can ban ads in Uber and Lyft cars
NEW YORK — Drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft in New York City can be banned from displaying advertisements in their vehicles, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban does not violate the First Amendment as it reversed a February...
Retail rivals crash Amazon’s Prime Day party
NEW YORK — The gravitational pull of Amazon Prime Day is so strong on shoppers it’s benefiting other retailers as well, according to an early analysis from a key data group. On Monday, the first day of its 48-hour sales event, large retailers, those that generated annual revenue of at...
John Dorfman: Here’s a different way to find cheap stocks
A telescope is a fine instrument, but not if you need a microscope. In the stock market, as in science, there are different instruments for different purposes. For finding cheap stocks, the most common gauge is the price/earnings (P/E) ratio – a stock’s price divided by the company’s per-share earnings...
China’s growth cools further as tariff war pressures mount
BEIJING — China’s economic growth sank to its lowest level in at least 26 years in the quarter ending in June, adding to pressure on Chinese leaders as they fight a tariff war with Washington. The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.2% over a year ago, down from the previous quarter’s...
Trump signs order to make American-made goods more American
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Monday that will require federal agencies to purchase products using more American components. The order strengthens the standards that federal agencies must follow under the Buy American Act, which creates a preference for American-made goods. Trump said his order will gradually boost...
Stocks climb to records on hopes for lower interest rates
NEW YORK — The major U.S. stock indexes closed at record highs Friday, with the S&P 500 ending above 3,000 for the first time. The market was driven higher by technology, consumer discretionary and industrial company stocks, which more than offset the drop in drugmakers. Investors continued to remain focused...
Report: FTC approves roughly $5B fine for Facebook
SAN FRANCISCO — The FTC has voted to approve a fine of about $5 billion for Facebook over privacy violations, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The report cited an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Facebook and the FTC declined to comment. The Journal said the 3-2 vote broke...
Trump accuses big tech of bias against conservative voices
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that big tech companies must not be allowed to censor the voices of the American people on social media, even as he hailed conservative critics for using the platforms to get around the “fake news filter.” Trump has weaponized social media to eviscerate...
2020 Ford Explorer’s tires fix themselves, representing a new trend
The 2020 Ford Explorer will offer tires that patch their own holes. Drivers may not even know they ran over a nail, but here’s what they should know: The tires allow them to keep traveling after a puncture, in some cases continuing for days without a repair. They use different...
Volkswagen investing $2.6B in Ford-owned, Pittsburgh-based Argo AI
DETROIT — Volkswagen will sink $2.6 billion into a Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company that’s mostly owned by Ford as part of a broader partnership on electric and self-driving vehicles, the companies confirmed Friday. The two automakers will become equal owners of Argo AI, a robocar firm that was majority-owned by...
Study: Starting a business in Pennsylvania is not easy
Pennsylvania ranks among the worst states in which to start a new business, according to a new WalletHub study. The study, comparing 50 states across 26 indicators of startup success, ranked Pennsylvania 46th overall based on business environment, access to resources and business costs. Pennsylvania’s ranking put it below even...
John Dorfman: Here’s my Perfect 10 Portfolio
Perhaps the phrase “Perfect 10” makes you think of a beautiful woman, or a perfect score in gymnastics. Well, my Perfect 10 Portfolio is a little different. It consists of 10 stocks, each of which carries a price/earnings ratio (P/E) of 10. The P/E is simply a stock’s price divided...
AP Sources: Jeffrey Epstein arrested in NY on sex charges
NEW YORK — Wealthy financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested Saturday in New York on sex-trafficking charges involving allegations that date to the 2000s, according to law enforcement officials. Epstein, a wealthy hedge fund manager who once counted as friends former President Bill Clinton, Great Britain’s Prince...
W.Va. coal billionaire Chris Cline killed in helicopter crash
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Coal tycoon Chris Cline, who worked his way out of West Virginia’s underground mines to amass a fortune and become a major Republican donor, has died in a helicopter crash outside a string of islands he owned in the Bahamas. Cline and his 22-year-old daughter Kameron were...
U.S. adds solid 224,000 jobs; Fed rate cut may be less certain
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers sharply stepped up their hiring in June, adding a robust 224,000 jobs, an indication of the economy’s durability after more than a decade of expansion. The strength of the jobs report the Labor Department issued Friday could complicate a decision for the Federal Reserve late this...
Boeing to pay $100 million to crash families, communities
Boeing said Wednesday that it will provide an “initial investment” of $100 million over several years to help families and communities affected by two crashes of its 737 Max plane that killed 346 people. The Chicago-based company said some of the money will go toward living expenses and to cover...
Pet owners have some tools to fight veterinary sticker shock
That cuddly new puppy can be pretty intimidating if pet owners consider the veterinary bills it might produce. A pet’s torn knee ligaments or a broken leg that needs surgery could cost a few thousand dollars. Even stitches to close a bite wound after a scrap with another dog can...
