Business category, Page 69
Higher costs and low base fares send Delta’s profit down 29%. The airline still earned $1.31 billion
Americans are traveling in record numbers this summer, but Delta Air Lines said Thursday that it saw second-quarter profit drop 29% due to higher costs and discounting of base-level fares across the industry. The airline is also predicting a lower profit than Wall Street expects for the third quarter. On...
IRS collects milestone $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth taxpayers
WASHINGTON — The IRS announced Thursday that it has collected $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats — a milestone meant to showcase how the agency is making use of the money it received as part of the Biden administration’s signature climate, health care, and tax package signed...
U.S. inflation cools again, potentially paving way for Fed to cut interest rates soon
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States cooled in June for a third straight month, a sign that the worst price spike in four decades is steadily fading and may soon usher in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. In a better-than-expected report, consumer prices declined 0.1% from May...
Costco raises annual membership fees for the 1st time since 2017, boosting them an additional $5 to $10
ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco bargain hunters are going to have to pay an additional $5 to $10 annually as the popular warehouse chain prepares to raise its membership fees for the first time in seven years. The Issaquah, Washington, company disclosed the forthcoming 8% increase in the fee to gain...
S&P 500 tops 5,600 as Wall Street’s record-breaking rally keeps rollingVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street’s blistering rally stretched into a seventh day Wednesday and vaulted the U.S. stock market to more all-time highs. The S&P 500 jumped 1% and topped the 5,600 level for the first time. The Nasdaq composite also rallied to a seventh straight gain and added 1.2%...
Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang convicted of securities fraud
NEW YORK — The founder of Archegos Capital Management, a hedge fund that collapsed in 2021, was convicted Wednesday of securities fraud in a scheme that prosecutors said cost global investment banks billions of dollars. Bill Hwang looked straight ahead as the verdict was read, taking several sips of water...
Samsung brings tech’s latest fashion to wearable technology with AI twists in new watch and ring
SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung is dressing up its wearable devices in technology’s latest fashion — artificial intelligence. The South Korean electronics giant on Wednesday revealed that both its first-ever premium smartwatch and a smart ring heralding its entry into a niche market will include AI features that are supposed to...
CNN to cut 100 jobs as it prepares to launch digital subscription products
CNN is cutting 100 positions across the company as it accelerates its push into digital subscription products that reach beyond its shrinking cable TV audience. In a lengthy Wednesday memo, CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson told employees that the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned unit “will lean more heavily into...
Powell stresses message that U.S. job market is cooling, a possible signal of coming rate cut
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday reinforced a message that the Fed is paying growing attention to a slowing job market and not only to taming inflation, a shift that signals it’s likely to begin cutting interest rates soon. “We’re not just an inflation-targeting central bank,” Powell...
California fast food workers now earn $20 per hour. Some franchisees respond by cutting hours
LOS ANGELES — Lawrence Cheng, whose family owns seven Wendy’s locations south of Los Angeles, took orders at the register on a recent day and emptied steaming hot baskets of French fries and chicken nuggets, salting them with a flourish. Cheng used to have nearly a dozen employees on the...
Biden administration to tax foreign-made steel and aluminum imports routed through Mexico
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum shipped from Mexico that were made elsewhere — an attempt to stop China from avoiding import taxes by routing goods through one of the United States’ closest trading partners. Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic...
John Dorfman: Valero and D.R. Horton are on the Casualty List
Get ’em while they’re cold. That’s the idea behind my Casualty List, a quarterly compendium of stocks that have recently been knocked down, and that I believe will rise again. You’d never guess it from watching the market averages, but about half of all U.S. stocks were down in the...
Fed’s Powell highlights slowing job market in signal that rate cuts may be nearing
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve faces a cooling job market as well as persistently high prices, Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony Tuesday to Congress, a shift in emphasis away from the Fed’s single-minded fight against inflation of the past two years that suggests it is moving closer to cutting...
Delta and an airline that doesn’t fly yet say they’ll run flights between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia
Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it has entered into a partnership with startup Riyadh Air with the goal of operating flights between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh Air, which plans to begin passenger flights next summer, is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and is part of the...
Target will stop accepting personal checks next week. Are the days of the payment method numbered?
NEW YORK — Target will no longer accept personal checks from shoppers as of July 15, another sign of how a once ubiquitous payment method is going the way of outmoded objects like floppy disks and the Rolodex. The Minneapolis-based discounter confirmed the move in a statement to The Associated...
NHTSA launches recall query into 94,000 Jeep Wranglers as loss of motive power complaints continue
NEW YORK — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is investigating a potential “loss of motive power” in more than 94,000 Jeep Wrangler 4xe vehicles, after receiving complaints for cars outside the scope of an earlier recall involving an engine shutdown condition in the same SUV model. The National Highway...
Work friends can be hard to find. How to combat loneliness in the workplace
Twice each month, executives at the dating app company Hinge gather for a team meeting. But rather than dive into discussions about metrics or revenue, they begin by simply talking. For the first 30 minutes of the two-hour meeting, these coworkers reveal hopes and anxieties — what they worry about,...
Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department saysVideo
Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people, the Justice Department said late Sunday, after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years. Federal prosecutors gave...
Paramount and Skydance merge, signaling end of a family reign in Hollywood and the rise of new power
NEW YORK — The entertainment giant Paramount will merge with Skydance, closing out a decades-long run by the Redstone family in Hollywood and injecting desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape. It also signals the rise of a new power...
New Jersey fines DraftKings $100K for reporting inaccurate sports betting data to the state
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — In one of the most sternly worded rebukes they have ever issued, New Jersey gambling regulators have fined DraftKings $100,000 for reporting inaccurate sports betting data to the state, which it called “unacceptable conduct” that demonstrated weaknesses in the company’s business abilities. The errors resulted in...
Long live the Perfect 10 portfolio
Now that beach season is upon us, it’s time for the Perfect 10 Portfolio. This isn’t an homage to bathing beauties. It’s a collection of 10 stocks, each of which sells for 10 times earnings. That’s cheap. Over the years, most stocks have sold for about 15 times the company’s...
Air travel is getting worse, passengers tell government
WASHINGTON — Air travel got more miserable last year, if the number of consumer complaints filed with the U.S. government is any measure. The Transportation Department said Friday it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023, up from about 86,000 the year before. The department said there were so many complaints...
Rising Latino population drives economic growth in Western Pennsylvania
New Spanish grocery stores are opening, adding a fresh flavor to the city. Amid the usual Pittsburgh traffic noise, reggaeton now pulses from car speakers, and local restaurants are featuring horchata on their menus. The face of Western Pennsylvania is changing. According to the 2022 Allegheny County Latinx Needs Assessment...
U.S. employers added a solid 206,000 jobs in June in a sign of continued economic strength
WASHINGTON — America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in June, adding 206,000 jobs and once again displaying the U.S. economy’s ability to withstand continually high interest rates. Last month’s job growth did mark a pullback from 218,000 in May. But it was still a strong gain, reflecting the...
Parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue to buy rival Neiman Marcus
NEW YORK — The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has signed a deal to buy upscale rival Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion. The new entity would be called Saks Global, which will comprise the Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH brands, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, as well...
