Business category, Page 29
May home sales barely move as high mortgage rates, prices, weigh on housing market
NEW YORK — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes edged higher in May, as stubbornly high mortgage rates and rising prices made homebuying less affordable even as the inventory of properties on the market continued to increase. Existing home sales rose 0.8% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted...
Fox Chapel woman trades classroom for career in real estate
Tracy Wiley is wild about real estate. She is the one-woman Realtor behind the brand “Real Estate Gone Wiley,” with social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram that feature Wiley and her advice and tips and tricks for navigating the real estate world in Pittsburgh — with an emphasis on...
Would you hail a ‘robotaxi’? Musk bets cabs will give Tesla a lift after boycotts and sales plunge
NEW YORK — Elon Musk promised in 2019 that driverless Tesla “robotaxis” would be on the road “next year,” but it didn’t happen. A year later, he promised to deliver them the next year, but that didn’t happen either. Despite the empty pledges the promises kept coming. Last year in...
Watch the surge of insider buying at UnitedHealth Group
You might think UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) would be on the ropes. One of its top executives was shot dead, its CEO resigned for personal reasons and the federal government is probing its billing practices. But executives at this health insurance and health services giant apparently don’t think doom is...
Money talks: Younger generations lag in retirement investing
Michael Weleski has been working since he was 12. Now 21, he used the money he has earned to make a variety of investments for his future. “I don’t want to have to work a hard labor job until I’m 70,” Weleski said. The Penn State New Kensington student from...
Former Willow Restaurant on the market for $1.5M
Willow Restaurant was a dining staple for decades, but now, the spacious former restaurant property is on the market for $1.5 million. “This is a great location because it’s close to Interstate 279 and 79,” said Tim Fitzgerald of Keller Williams Commercial Real Estate. “And Sam’s Club and Target and...
Some U.S. restaurants and servers oppose Republicans’ ‘no tax on tips’ budget proposal
Some segments of the U.S. restaurant industry don’t support President Donald Trump’s proposal to eliminate federal taxes on tips, saying it would help too few people and obscure bigger issues in the way tipped workers are paid. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which represents nearly 100,000 restaurant and bars, has appealed...
Hackers say they wiped out $90 million from Iran cryptocurrency exchange
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Hackers with possible links to Israel have drained more than $90 million from Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to blockchain analytics firms. The group that claimed responsibility for the hack leaked on Thursday what it said was the company’s full source code. “ASSETS LEFT...
‘Roller coaster’: High-stakes drama marked Nippon’s winning courtship of U.S. Steel
Three Mon Valley mayors remember it well: A series of mid-December meetings with union leaders and Nippon Steel executives as Japan’s largest steelmaker aggressively courted U.S. Steel, the storied American manufacturer. Relations between the United Steelworkers union and Nippon — never friendly, exactly — had deteriorated over the course of...
Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates pushed up due to rising health care costs, new SSA law
WASHINGTON — The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security ‘s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to earlier projected depletion dates, according to an annual report released Wednesday. The go-broke date — or the date at...
Student loan payments have restarted. Here’s how to manage the impact to your credit score
NEW YORK — Millions of Americans are seeing their credit scores drop now that the U.S. government has resumed referring missed student loan payments for debt collection. But there are things you can do to help your score rebound. Courtney Alev, consumer advocate at Credit Karma, said it’s understandable that...
Sewickley-based business group looking to grow its village
Every Thursday morning, members of BNI Village Connections gather at The Walter J. Brannon Community Activity Center in Sewickley to learn new things and connect with one another. “Networking is huge,” said Sewickley resident Chris Currier of CCM&A (Chris Currier Marketing and Advertising). “Especially for small businesses.” There are 12...
U.S. Steel, Nippon finalize $14.9B merger, security agreement
Japan’s Nippon Steel has finalized its $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, the companies announced Wednesday, as they unveiled details about the deal, which amounts to a tightly monitored merger. To win government approval, the companies also have entered a national security agreement meant to mitigate worries about Nippon having...
Fed leaves key rate unchanged as it awaits the impact of tariffs and Trump again scolds Jerome Powell
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials expect inflation to worsen in the coming months but they still foresee two interest rate cuts by the end of this year, the same as they projected in March. The Fed kept its key rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting Wednesday, and said the...
Interest in skilled trades surges nearly 14%
At 15, Ryley Potlas already knows what she wants to do with her life. The Kiski Area School District freshman dreams of a career in welding, and she’s getting a jump on it by enrolling at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Kensington. “There’s a big need for...
Stocks slump, oil prices jump as Trump urges Iran’s unconditional surrenderVideo
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks slumped on Tuesday under the weight of another jump for the price of oil. It was a return to form for financial markets after Wall Street’s worries about Israel’s fighting with Iran had seemed to calm a bit on Monday. The S&P 500 fell 0.8%...
Trump suggests he’ll extend deadline for TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell app
President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he would likely extend a deadline for TikTok’s Chinese owner to divest the popular video sharing app. Trump had signed an order in early April to keep TikTok running for another 75 days after a potential deal to sell the app to American...
Americans turn cautious and retail sales slide after a spring rush to beat tariffs
WASHINGTON — Retail sales fell sharply in May as consumers pulled back from a spending surge early this year to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports. Sales at retail stores and restaurants dropped 0.9% in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, after a decline...
TV milestone: Streaming is now bigger than cable and broadcast combined
LOS ANGELES — For the first time, streaming services have eclipsed traditional television in overall U.S. TV viewership, according to a Nielsen report released Tuesday. YouTube, Netflix, Paramount+ and other streaming services combined to attract 44.8% of all television usage in May, representing the largest share to date for direct-to-consumer...
Kraft Heinz pulling artificial dyes from its U.S. products in 2027
Kraft Heinz will be pulling artificial dyes from its U.S. products starting in 2027 and will no longer roll out new products with the dyes. The move comes nearly two months after U.S. health officials said that they would urge foodmakers to phase out petroleum-based artificial colors in the nation’s...
Senate passes crypto regulations, sends to House without addressing Trump’s investments
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, the first of what the industry hopes will be a wave of bills to bolster its legitimacy and reassure consumers. The fast-moving legislation, which passed by a 68-30 vote and will be sent...
‘Purgatory’: Fed officials left in limbo as tariffs complicate this week’s rate decision
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy is mostly in good shape but that isn’t saving Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell from a spell of angst. As the Fed considers its next moves during a two-day meeting this week, most economic data looks solid: Inflation has been steadily fading, while the unemployment...
U.S. and U.K. announce trade deal, but steel imports still being negotiated
BANFF, Alberta — U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that they had signed a trade deal that will slash tariffs on U.K. auto and aerospace industry imports — but they are still discussing how to handle steel production. The pair spoke to reporters at...
Leonard Lauder, who globalized family cosmetic business, dies at 92
NEW YORK — Leonard Lauder, a renowned philanthropist who expanded the family cosmetics business into a worldwide empire, has died at 92. Estee Lauders Cos. announced the news in a release Sunday and said he died Saturday surrounded by family. Lauder, the eldest son of Estee and Joseph H. Lauder,...
Wall Street recovers from Friday’s shock as stocks rise, oil prices ease
NEW YORK — Calm returned to Wall Street on Monday as U.S. stocks rose and oil prices gave back some of their initial spurts following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets at the end of last week. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to reclaim most of its drop...
