Business category, Page 4
Dow drops 400 after trimming an early plunge of 1,200 as oil prices climb even higher
NEW YORK — A sell-off for stocks wrapped around the world and hit Wall Street on Tuesday, while oil prices climbed even higher on worries about the widening war with Iran. But the big moves that rocked markets in the morning eased substantially as the day progressed. By the end...
Average price for a gallon of gas rises 11 cents overnight to about $3.11 in U.S., AAA says
NEW YORK — The average price for a gallon of gasoline jumped 11 cents overnight to about $3.11 in the U.S., according to motor club AAA. Gas prices were already rising before the U.S. launched strikes on Iran as refiners switch over to summer blends of fuel, but crude futures...
Iran attacks threaten U.S. economy with more uncertainty around inflation, growth
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran add yet more question marks around a U.S. economy already buffeted by on-and-off tariffs, weak hiring, and lingering inflationary pressures. The war has already raised oil prices and could lift prices at the pump as early as this week, but the...
AI drives Nvidia’s multibillion-dollar deal with Butler County’s Coherent
Chipmaking giant Nvidia announced a multibillion-dollar deal Monday with Coherent, a Butler County-based maker of fiber optic and laser technology critical for data centers. Nvidia committed to buying billions of dollars in Coherent products while also investing $2 billion to support the Saxonburg company’s research and manufacturing capabilities. The goal...
New restaurant at Live Casino Pittsburgh, Mangia, to feature DeLallo Italian Market
The new restaurant at Live Casino Pittsburgh will showcase DeLallo Italian Market, the iconic local brand, the casino announced Monday. The new eatery, Mangia, will open April 9 and “feature the best of DeLallo’s recipes and marketplace,” the casino said. It replaces Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar, which closed...
Back in black: UPMC reverses recent losses with $286M operating income in 2025
UPMC’s operating income hit $286 million last year, snapping a two-year streak of red ink. A rebound from UPMC’s health insurance division helped the organization return to positive margins after operating losses of $339 million in 2024 and $198 million in 2023, according to a financial report released Friday. Insurance...
Energy prices surge as tanker disruptions and facility shutdowns rattle global supply
FRANKFURT, Germany — Energy prices rose sharply Monday as disruptions to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and damage to production facilities raised uncertainty about how U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran would affect supply to the world economy. The biggest shock was to natural gas prices, which rose...
Oil prices rise sharply in market trading after attacks in Middle East disrupt global energy supply
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose sharply when market trading began Sunday, as U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain. Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere...
Trump expects his Fed pick and AI to deliver a replay of the ’90s boom. Economists have doubts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, his Treasury secretary and his choice to lead the Federal Reserve believe they can coax the U.S. economy into partying like it’s 1999. They are putting their faith in artificial intelligence to duplicate what happened when another technology arrived in the 1990s: the internet. Back...
From box office bomb to media powerhouse: Skydance’s 20-year rise to overtake Paramount, Warner Bros
NEW YORK — In its debut film, Skydance Productions released a special effects-laden World War I drama about fighter pilots with a starring role for an unknown actor, the company’s founder, David Ellison. It was a box office bomb. Twenty years later, in a twist fit for Hollywood itself, the...
Breaking into the trades: 4 blue-collar women from Western Pa. share their storiesVideo
When the explosion thundered through the U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, Renee Hough thought her life was over. She was about 500 feet away when the blast went off in August. The experience left her in therapy for her mental health. Nearly 30 years ago, her job in the male-dominated...
The IRS shut its direct file, but here are other free filing options
The federal government tested a free, direct online tax-filing program for two years but with the change in administrations shut it down. There are still ways, though, to file your return at no charge, using government or commercial options. Direct File, a program started in the Biden administration, was tested...
McCormick visit to Pittsburgh spotlights driverless trucking leader Aurora, liquefied natural gas industry
Aurora Innovation, a Pittsburgh company leading the charge on autonomous trucking in the U.S., is looking for cheerleaders in government to shape regulation of the emerging industry. They may have just found one in U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who said Friday on a tour of an Aurora manufacturing facility in...
Target will stop selling cereals with synthetic colors by end of May
Target will stop selling cereals containing synthetic colors by the end of May. The Minneapolis-based discounter said Friday it had been phasing out synthetic colors in cereals for several years. Right now, 85% of its cereal sales already come from products made without synthetic dyes. Target said it has worked...
Duolingo posts $400M profit for 2025 but lowers short-term outlook
Duolingo enjoyed a strong 2025 by most financial metrics, surpassing $400 million in profit on just over $1 billion in revenue. It’s a vast improvement from 2024, when the company made $89 million with a revenue of $748 million. Even so, the Pittsburgh-based educational technology company on Thursday warned investors...
Pa. drivers to receive over $1.4 million through national Walmart settlement
Pennsylvania is part of a $100 million multistate settlement that was reached with Walmart due to allegations that Walmart deceived customers and drivers who participated in its Spark Driver Program. Through the program, launched in 2018, nearly 1 million drivers nationwide made over 272 million deliveries to customers who ordered...
Papa Johns pizza chain will close 300 stores across U.S.
Papa Johns announced it plans to close about 300 stores across the United States by the end of 2027. The announcement was made by the Kentucky-based pizza chain during an earnings call on Thursday, USA Today reported. The company also said during the call that it has cut its corporate...
Intervala expands at former Westmoreland Sony site, plans to hire 45 workersVideo
The former Sony site in East Huntingdon once hummed with television production; today, it is finding new life as a high-tech anchor thanks to a $6 million expansion by electronics manufacturer Intervala. The company, which moved into the RIDC Westmoreland Innovation Center near New Stanton in 2021, announced Thursday it...
Holy fish fries: Fish consumption skyrockets during Lent
Lent becomes a feeding frenzy when it comes to fish fries. Tons of breaded or beer-battered cod and haddock are consumed in Southwestern Pennsylvania during the 40-day holiday period in which Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays leading to Easter. Imperial-based wholesaler Nappies Food Service exports to churches and restaurants...
‘Buyers of last resort’: Experts weigh in on Namdar’s Macy’s purchase
Despite owing Frazer and Allegheny County millions of dollars in fines, the owner of the Pittsburgh Mills mall campus is purchasing real estate there. It’s a practice that experts say is uncommon but not prohibited. “In general, I mean, if real estate’s for sale, and you have a buyer and...
Netflix walks away from Warner Bros. deal, clearing the path for Paramount
NEW YORK — Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over its storied Hollywood rival. On Thursday, after Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s offer was superior to...
Surging natural gas prices in Pa. could mean higher utility bills
Wholesale natural gas prices in Pennsylvania surged 71% last year, according to a new report, likely leading to higher residential utility bills. The Independent Fiscal Office, a state agency that supplies lawmakers in Harrisburg with revenue projections and economic analysis, released its quarterly natural gas report Wednesday. It found the...
Cutting-edge BioInterphase moves into Troy Hill’s historic firehouse
When Noah Snyder walks into his new office and laboratory space at a historic firehouse in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, he’s met with a “whimsical” mix of old and new. A fireman’s pole descends from a circular hole — now patched over with plywood — in the engraved black ceiling,...
Burger King testing AI headsets that will know if employees say ‘welcome’ or ‘thank you’
Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can recite recipes, alert managers when inventories are low and even track how friendly employees are to customers. Restaurant Brands International – the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes and other brands – said Thursday it’s currently testing the OpenAI-powered headsets in...
U.S. moves to cut off a Swiss bank over alleged Iran and Russia money flows
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a...
