Business category, Page 65
Back-to-work order issued for 2 major Canada railroads. Union will comply, but lawsuit planned
TORONTO — The Canadian arbitrator appointed to resolve a messy railroad labor dispute to protect the North American economy has ordered employees at the country’s two major railroads back to work so both can resume operating. Saturday’s order means Canadian National will be able to continue operating the trains it...
Powell at Jackson Hole: ‘The time has come’ for the Fed to soon begin reducing interest rates
JACKSON, Wyoming — With inflation nearly defeated and the job market cooling, the Federal Reserve is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its current 23-year high, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Powell did not say when rate cuts would begin or how large they might be, but...
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inch up, but remain at historically healthy levels
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose modestly last week, but the level of claims remains at healthy levels. Jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 232,000 for the week of Aug. 17, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the...
U.S. home sales ended a 4-month slide in July amid easing mortgage rates, more homes on the market
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ended a four-month slide in July as easing mortgage rates and a pickup in properties on the market encouraged home shoppers. Existing home sales rose 1.3% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, the National...
Consol and Arch to combine, forming a $5 billion coal producer based in Pennsylvania
Arch Resources and Consol Energy are combining to form a single coal producer valued at more than $5 billion, the companies announced Wednesday, the latest consolidation in a deal-happy energy sector. Arch shareholders will get 1.326 shares of Consol common stock for each share of Arch they own. Consol shareholders...
Government: U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than first reported in year that ended in March
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported, the government said Wednesday. The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates...
Shein sues Temu over copyright infringements as legal feud between the companies heats up
Online fast-fashion giant Shein has filed another lawsuit against competitor Temu, accusing the China-founded shopping platform of stealing its designs, copying its product images and engaging in other types of fraud. The complaint filed in a Washington federal court this week alleges that Temu, which has grown in popularity in...
Target’s focus on lower prices in grocery aisle start to pay off as comparable store sales rise
NEW YORK — Target’s comparable sales rose for the first time in a year as grocery aisle deals for cash-strapped customers began to pay off. Sales at stores and digital channels operating over at least the past 12 months rose 2% in the second quarter reversing months of declines, including...
John Dorfman: Capital One, Tutor Perini look good on price-to-cash-flow
An old joke has a chief executive asking his accountant how much the company earned in the latest quarter. “How much did you want it to be?” the accountant replies. There’s always a bit of judgment that goes into financial figures. I’m a fan of GAAP earnings — profits measured...
BMW recalling more than 720,000 vehicles due to water pump issue
BMW is recalling more than 720,000 vehicles due to an issue with the water pump’s electrical connector that could potentially lead to a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the recall includes some X1, X3 and X5 vehicles as well as some other models. The impacted vehicles...
Perdue recalls 167,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers find metal wire in some packages
NEW YORK — Check your freezer. Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders after some customers reported finding metal wire embedded in the products. According to Perdue and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the recall covers select lots of...
Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission
LOS ANGELES — Thinking of buying a home with the help of a real estate agent? You can no longer take it for granted that a seller will cover the cost of your agent’s commission. Home sellers have traditionally offered a blanket commission to a buyer’s agent when they listed...
Real estate broker Herky Pollock fired by CBRE without explanation
Real estate broker Herky Pollock got a text from a member of his team earlier this week. “We’ve been fired,” Pollock said the message read. “I was out of the office with my partner, whose wife was having a baby. I had no clue,” he added. “This caught me totally...
Wall Street leaps, and S&P 500 rallies 1.6% as shoppers drive the economyVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street rallied to one of its best days of the year Thursday after data showed the U.S. economy is holding up better than expected, with particular credit going to the country’s shoppers. The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% for its fourth-best day of the year and its...
Walmart boosts outlook for 2024 with bargains proving a powerful lure for the inflation weary
NEW YORK — Walmart had another quarter of strong sales that topped almost all expectations with its comparatively low prices proving a powerful draw for millions who have struggled with rising costs for housing, groceries and almost everything else. The nation’s largest retailer also raised its full-year outlook in a...
Sweet and salty deal worth $30 billion would put M&M’s and Snickers alongside Cheez-It and Pringles
M&M’s maker Mars is buying Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-Its and Pop-Tarts, for nearly $30 billion, in an effort to broaden its snacking portfolio and expand globally. Kellanova was created last year when the Kellogg Co. split into two companies. Kellanova sells many of the former company’s most profitable brands,...
FTC ban on noncompete agreements comes under legal attack
NEW YORK — The federal government wants to make it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor. But some companies say a new rule created by the Federal Trade Commission will make it hard to protect trade secrets and investments they make in their employees....
Annual U.S. inflation falls to 3-year low, clearing the way for the Fed to begin cutting rates
WASHINGTON — Year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September. Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer...
Wall Street rallies to one of its best days of the year as a result of inflation report
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied to one of their best days of the year Tuesday after the first of several highly anticipated reports on the economy this week came in better than expected. The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% for its third-best day of 2024 after the U.S. government reported inflation...
Auto workers union seeks NLRB investigation of Trump, Musk comments about firing striking workersVideo
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two discussed on social media about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges...
U.S. wholesale inflation cooled in July in sign that price pressures are continuing to ease
WASHINGTON — Wholesale price increases in the United States eased in July, suggesting that inflation pressures are further cooling as the Federal Reserve moves closer to cutting interest rates, likely beginning next month. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches...
Starbucks CEO replaced by Brian Niccol, a fixer who revived Chipotle when the chain was in distressVideo
In 2018, when Chipotle was reeling from multiple food poisoning outbreaks that had sickened 1,100 people, the company called Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol to turn things around. As Chipotle’s chairman and CEO, Niccol beefed up marketing and product innovation, added a loyalty program and improved store operations. He also...
Elon Musk’s Trump interview marred by technical glitches, Musk says it’s a malicious attack
Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and blamed the incident on “a lack of coordination” during a high-profile return to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches. “If I had not turned my head, I would not...
Student loan repayments on pause for some as court fight continues over federal debt relief program
Millions of student borrowers facing college loan payments are getting temporary relief following court decisions this summer blocking implementation of the federal debt relief program known as SAVE. Their payments and any interest are effectively paused — at least while a court fight plays out between Republican-led states suing to...
Pittsburgh food vendor settles with Labor Department over overtime abuse, worker threats
A Pittsburgh food vendor has paid workers $15,000 in back wages and damages for refusing to pay workers the mandated overtime rate and threatening employees, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday. Simon’s Food Concessions, located in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood, denied time-and-a-half wages to six employees for work beyond the...
