Business category, Page 66
Americans’ refusal to keep paying higher prices may be dealing a final blow to U.S. inflation spike
WASHINGTON — The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it. Some of America’s largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains...
Wall Street ends wild and scary week nearly exactly where it began it; more tests loom next week
NEW YORK — After a manic week that began with Japanese stocks falling to their worst loss since 1987’s Black Monday, only for U.S. stocks to soar later to their best day since 2022, slight gains on Friday carried Wall Street almost exactly back to where it began the week....
Considering a mortgage refi? Lower rates are just 1 factor when refinancing a home loan
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates haven’t been this attractive in more than a year, good news for homeowners eager to refinance. Many homeowners have already jumped at the opportunity to lower their monthly payment, spurring a surge in mortgage refinancing applications. And that was before the average rate on a...
Wall Street rallies to its best day since 2022 on encouraging unemployment data; S&P 500 jumps 2.3%
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied Thursday in Wall Street’s latest sharp swerve after a better-than-expected report on unemployment eased worries about the slowing economy. The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% for its best day since 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 683 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed...
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage falls to 6.47%, lowest level in over a year
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell this week to its lowest level in more than a year, a welcome affordability boost for prospective home shoppers and homeowners looking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate. The rate fell to 6.47% from 6.73% last week, mortgage buyer...
Delta facing class action lawsuit over tech outage; customers seeking refunds
Delta Air Lines is facing a class action lawsuit, which claims the airline refused to give refunds following a global technology outage last month. Among airlines, Delta was by far the hardest hit hard by the outage, having to cancel thousands of flights, because key systems were crippled by the...
Wall Street heads for 2nd straight day of solid gains in a whipsaw week
NEW YORK — Stocks are bouncing higher on Wall Street again as a bit more fear washes out of global markets following a steep slide that began last week. The S&P 500 was 1% higher early Wednesday and on pace for solid back-to-back gains following a brutal three-day losing streak....
Disney’s streaming business is profitable for first time, but slowing U.S. park business ups anxiety
Disney returned to a profitable third quarter as its combined streaming business started making money for the first time, along with a very strong showing in theaters for the movie “Inside Out 2.” Operating income for the entertainment segment, which includes its movie studio and parts of its television wing,...
Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover
WICHITA FALLS, Tex. — Elon Musk’s social media platform X has sued a group of advertisers, alleging that a “massive advertiser boycott” deprived the company of billions of dollars in revenue and violated antitrust laws. The company formerly known as Twitter filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a federal court in...
What are carry trades and how did they contribute to this week’s global market mayhem?
BANGKOK — The mayhem that swept across world markets this week was partly caused by a market strategy known as the “carry trade.” Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 12.4% on Monday and markets in Europe and North America suffered outsized losses as traders sold stocks to help cover rising risks...
The Fed’s high rates spur fear of slowdown, yet recession signals have so far proved wrongVideo
WASHINGTON — The turmoil shaking global financial markets reflects a sudden fear that the Federal Reserve may have held its key interest rate too high for too long, heightening the risk of a U.S. recession. Economists and Wall Street traders now expect the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, which...
John Dorfman: Sane Portfolio cruises into its 23rd year
Some people want to invest in the stock market but don’t want to be too daring. For the slightly conservative investor, I compile a collection of stocks I think may be suitable. I call it the Sane Portfolio. There are a dozen stocks in this portfolio, and I refresh the...
Schwab, Fidelity, other online trading brokerages appear to go dark during huge market sell-off
NEW YORK — Several online brokerage firms including Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard appeared to be down for thousands of users early Monday during one of the biggest stock markets sell-offs of 2024. User reports appeared to peak around and just before 10 a.m. ET, data from outage tracker Downdectector...
Japan’s share benchmark soars nearly 11% a day after massive sell-offs that shook Wall Street
NEW YORK — Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index soared nearly 11% early Tuesday, a day after it set markets tumbling in Europe and on Wall Street. The Japanese index advanced more than 3,300 points, not quite making up for the huge loss of more than 4,400 points the day before,...
Nvidia facing antitrust probe, report says
NEW YORK — Antitrust tensions are heating up in the chipmaking industry. Rivals have accused Wall Street darling Nvidia of abusing its market dominance in selling chips that power artificial intelligence — and the U.S. Justice Department is investigating these complaints, technology news site The Information reported. According to the...
Justice Department sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children’s data
The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law and running afoul of a settlement it had reached with another federal agency. The complaint, filed together with the Federal Trade Commission in a California federal court, comes as the U.S. and the prominent...
U.S. added just 114,000 jobs in July, unemployment rate hits 4.3% as interest rates take economic toll
WASHINGTON — U.S. hiring decelerated sharply last month in the face of high interest rates as employers added a weak 114,000 jobs. Friday’s Labor Department report showed a drop from the 179,000 jobs created in June. Forecasters had expected to see 175,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate rose to...
Owner of skilled nursing facilities in Lower Burrell, Greensburg files for bankruptcy
Guardian Elder Care, the parent company of skilled nursing facilities including Belair in Lower Burrell and Oak Hill in Greensburg, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Johnstown-based health care company filed the petition for relief this week. Nineteen facilities — including locations in Lower Burrell, Greensburg, Bethel Park and...
Fed Chair Powell says interest rate cut in September could be ‘on the table’ as inflation coolsVideo
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday set the stage for the central bank’s first rate cut in four years, citing greater progress toward lower inflation as well as a cooler job market that no longer threatens to overheat the economy. Still, the Fed kept its key interest...
CarShield to pay $10M to settle deceptive advertising charges
CarShield will pay $10 million to settle charges that its advertisements and telemarketing for its extended auto warranty plans are deceptive and misleading, the Federal Trade Commission said. Many customers found that repair claims were often not covered despite making payments of up to $120 per month, the FTC said...
Washington, D.C., sues StubHub, saying the resale platform inflates ticket prices with deceptive fees
WASHINGTON — The attorney general for Washington, D.C., sued StubHub on Wednesday, accusing the ticket resale platform of advertising deceptively low prices and then ramping up prices with extra fees. The practice known as “drip pricing” violates consumer protection laws in the nation’s capital, Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “StubHub...
Paychecks grew more slowly this spring, a sign inflation may keep cooling
WASHINGTON — Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew more slowly in the April-June quarter than in the first three months of the year, a trend that could keep price pressures in check and encourage the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve. Compensation as measured by the government’s Employment Cost Index...
Boeing names new CEO as it posts a loss of more than $1.4 billion in second quarter
Boeing lost more than $1.4 billion in the second quarter and said a longtime industry executive will take over as chief executive of the troubled aircraft manufacturer next week. Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, 64, a former CEO at Rockwell Collins, will succeed David Calhoun as CEO, the company said. Boeing’s loss...
John Dorfman: A scorecard on women as CEOs
If Kamala Harris becomes president, she will break the ultimate glass ceiling. Other glass already has been shattered. About a quarter of U.S. senators are women, as are roughly a quarter of the nation’s governors. Women sit in the chief executive’s chair at about 10% of the corporations in the...
Meta agrees to $1.4B settlement with Texas in privacy lawsuit over facial recognition
AUSTIN, Texas — Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over allegations that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission, officials said Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement is the largest secured by a single state....
