Business category, Page 303
Russian church head: Smartphones could precede Antichrist
MOSCOW — The head of the Russian Orthodox Church says the data-gathering capacity of devices such as smartphones risks bringing humanity closer to the arrival of the Antichrist. In an interview shown Monday on state TV, Patriarch Kirill said the church does not oppose technological progress but is concerned that...
Amazon emerges as most valuable U.S. firm amid market turmoil
SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon has eclipsed Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company in the U.S. as a see-sawing stock market continues to reshuffle corporate America’s pecking order. The shift occurred Monday after Amazon’s shares rose 3 percent to close at $1,629.51 and lifted the e-commerce leader’s market value...
Pittsburgh-based EQT confirms layoffs, but details are scant
Pittsburgh-based shale gas producer EQT Corp. confirmed Monday it had laid off employees but would not say how many. The company’s new management team has “taken a number of decisive actions to improve operational efficiency, cash flow and EQT’s financial position,” it said in a statement released Monday. “We are...
New app offers one stop for subway, ride-hailing, bike-share and carpooling
A tech company launched an app Monday that offers public and private options to help people get around, including subway, buses, bike-share, ride-hailing companies and even temporary carpooling arrangements using a person’s social network. The SoMo app – short for social mobility – is the work of HERE Technologies, a...
Home items are getting smarter and creepier, like it or not
NEW YORK — One day, finding an oven that just cooks food may be as tough as buying a TV that merely lets you change channels. Internet-connected “smarts” are creeping into cars, refrigerators, thermostats, toys and just about everything else in your home. CES 2019, the gadget show opening Tuesday...
Seattle City Council members visit New York to warn about Amazon HQ2
Two politicians from Amazon.com’s hometown traveled across the country to New York to deliver a cautionary message about the company’s expansion in the city. Members of the Seattle City Council, Lisa Herbold and Teresa Mosqueda, are urging elected officials in New York to pass legislation now that will address potential...
U.S. stocks edge higher after huge swings in recent trading
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are edging higher in early trading on Wall Street Monday after enormous swings the previous two days. Representatives from the U.S. and China began a round of trade negotiations, and investors’ hopes that the two sides will finally make progress in talks have sent stocks...
No words: Mastercard to drop its name from logo
NEW YORK — Mastercard is at a loss for words. The digital payment company says it is dropping its name in some contexts, opting to let its familiar interlocking yellow and red circles represent the company at retail locations and online. The Purchase, New York-based company said Monday that the...
Trump expresses optimism in trade talks with China
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expressing optimism about trade negotiations with China as U.S. officials are expected in Beijing for talks aimed at easing a trade battle. Trump said Sunday he spoke recently to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump says: “I really believe they want to make a deal....
Survival of Sears hangs by thread as bid ruling said to be delayed
Eddie Lampert is struggling to convince bankers for Sears Holdings Corp. that his bid to keep the retailer alive is adequate. But he’ll have a little more time to try. The hedge-fund manager came up short Friday in meeting Sears’ conditions for what it considers a qualified bid to rescue...
Startups reinvent the sheet-buying experience
NEW YORK — A new year calls for sparkly new sheets. But shoppers looking for high-quality linens without hurting their budget may want to skip the so-called white sales at mass retailers. A new cast of startups, including Parachute, Brooklinen and Boll & Branch, are cutting out middlemen and selling...
Expect 2019 to be quiet in Congress _ for small business
NEW YORK — Small business issues often win bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, but given the divisions in the incoming 116th Congress, advocates for companies have low expectations. Even after lawmakers deal with the partial government shutdown, a Democratic House, a Republican Senate and ongoing investigations of the Trump White...
Artificial intelligence vs. hackers
Last year, Microsoft Corp.’s Azure security team detected suspicious activity in the cloud computing usage of a large retailer: One of the company’s administrators, who usually logs on from New York, was trying to gain entry from Romania. And no, the admin wasn’t on vacation. A hacker had broken in....
Weather Channel app accused of selling users’ personal data
LOS ANGELES — People relied on the most popular mobile weather app to track forecasts that determined whether they chose jeans over shorts and packed a parka or umbrella, but its owners used it to track their every step and profit off that information, Los Angeles prosecutors said Friday. The...
Ford recalls over 953,000 vehicles to replace inflators
DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 953,000 vehicles worldwide to replace Takata passenger air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel. The move includes over 782,000 vehicles in the U.S. and is part of the largest series of recalls in U.S. history. Included are the 2010 Ford Edge...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will not resign if Trump asks him
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that President Donald Trump has not tried to fire him and that he would not resign from his position if Trump asked him to do so. Trump has repeatedly blamed Powell for the market decline and the dimming outlook for the U.S. economy...
Stocks surge as U.S. and China plan trade talks; hiring climbs
NEW YORK — Global stocks are jumping Friday as investors welcomed news of trade talks between the U.S. and China next week and the U.S. government reported a big increase in hiring in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared about 500 points. China’s Commerce Ministry said the talks will...
U.S. employers added a stellar 312,000 jobs in December
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers dramatically stepped up their hiring in December, adding 312,000 jobs in an encouraging display of strength for an economy in the midst of a trade war, slowing global growth and a partial shutdown of the federal government. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate...
Fewer affected in Marriott hack, but passports a red flag
BETHESDA, Md. — Fewer Marriott guest records that previously feared were compromised in a massive data breach, but the largest hotel chain in the world confirmed Friday that approximately 5.25 million unencrypted passport numbers were accessed. The compromise of those passport numbers has raised alarms among security experts because of...
Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, dies at 87
DALLAS — Not many CEOs dress up as Elvis Presley, settle a business dispute with an arm-wrestling contest, or go on TV wearing a paper bag over their head. Herb Kelleher did all those things. Along the way, the co-founder and longtime leader of Southwest Airlines also revolutionized air travel...
Google moves closer to creating sensors for controlling devices with hand gestures
Nearly two decades after its release, “Minority Report” still seems to be as prescient as the film’s eerie crime-fighting “precogs,” offering a clarifying vision of the future that continues to manifest in the real world. Though it debuted way back in 2002, the film highlighted technologies such as driverless cars,...
Stocks plunge after Apple says iPhone sales in China slowed
NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled Thursday on Wall Street, with technology companies suffering their worst loss in seven years, after Apple reported that iPhone sales in China are slumping. The rare warning of disappointing results from Apple reinforced investors’ fears that the world’s second-biggest economy is losing steam and that...
Bristol-Myers Squibb buying Celgene in $74B deal
SUMMIT, N.J. — Bristol-Myers Squibb is spending $74 billion on fellow drugmaker Celgene in a deal aimed at stocking the combined company’s development pipeline with cancer, immunology and cardiovascular treatments. Bristol would gain the cancer treatment Revlimid in the cash-and-stock deal announced Thursday, as well as inflammatory disease treatments and...
Bad stuff the stock market worried about is starting to happen
All of a sudden, the fundamentals aren’t looking as strong. First it was Apple’s $5 billion revenue miss, hints of which lopped 30 percent from its stock over three months. Now it’s a closely watched gauge of U.S. factory activity, which dropped to a two-year low and missed every estimate...
Disappointing outlook from Delta drags down airline stocks
ATLANTA — Airlines are getting pummeled after a major carrier trimmed its revenue expectations for the fourth quarter. Delta Air Lines said Thursday that fourth-quarter revenue will rise about 7 percent, a half-point lower than it was expecting. The Atlanta airline says prices for tickets sold close to departure —...
