USPS to suspend pension contributions, seeks 4-cent stamp price hike
The U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it has informed federal budget officials it will temporarily suspend its employer contributions to Federal Employees Retirement System annuities, allowing it to keep making payroll, paying suppliers and delivering the mail. The Postal Service also wants to increase postage rates, including raising the price...
Stocks rise and oil prices trim their gains on hopes for the ceasefire with Iran
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose Thursday, even though oil prices did too, as financial markets moved more modestly a day after surging on optimism about a ceasefire in the war with Iran. The morning began with moderate losses for Wall Street following drops for Asian and European stocks. But...
South Korean firm restarts steel pipe plant in The Waterfront
A South Korean company restarted the former Ascent Industries steel pipe and tube manufacturing plant in The Waterfront development last week after nearly three years offline. Nexteel has brought the massive, bright blue warehouse in Munhall back to life, according to a LinkedIn post from its American division that offered...
Travelers face higher costs and fewer flight options as jet fuel prices swing
A new reality is setting in for travelers worldwide: rising fees, fewer flight options and difficult decisions about whether a trip is worth the cost. The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices, which have spiked sharply since the war in the Middle East began and fighting near the...
A 1.9 billion-year-old bedrock will soon house the world’s 1st permanent nuclear waste site
OLKILUOTO, Finland — With the push of a button, the elevator descends hundreds of meters in seconds into the dark depths of Onkalo. “We are now at about minus 430 meters (1,411 feet),” muttered geologist Tuomas Pere as he steered a car through a labyrinth of man-made tunnels. “We are...
Morning Roundup: Sheetz expands westward; weekend turnpike travel impacted
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, April 9: Sheetz expands into Indiana Pittsburgh-area drivers heading west to the state of Indiana may soon see a familiar logo at the gas pump. Sheetz announced Tuesday that the company is expanding into Indiana, as the Pennsylvania-based...
GM recalling more than 270,000 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles in U.S. over rearview camera screen issue
General Motors is recalling more than 270,000 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles in the U.S. because the rearview camera screen may display a distorted or blank image. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a letter that a rearview image that doesn’t display properly reduces the driver’s view behind the vehicle,...
My quest to solve bitcoin’s great mystery
One evening in the fall of 2024, my wife and I were sitting in traffic on the Long Island Expressway when, tired of listening to the jazz-funk station I often played on our drives, she switched to a podcast. It was “Hard Fork,” the New York Times tech show, and...
Oil plunges below $95 as the Dow surges 1,300 in a worldwide rally following a ceasefire with Iran
NEW YORK — Oil prices plunged below $95 per barrel, and stock markets surged worldwide Wednesday after President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat to destroy Iran. The S&P 500 leaped 2.5% after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, less than 90 minutes before a deadline Trump had...
Will the Iran war ceasefire mean a drop in gas prices?
President Donald Trump on Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran just hours before his 8 p.m. deadline to attack the country. That ceasefire agreement includes that Iran will reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to allow the safe transit of oil tankers. Whether the ceasefire agreement will result...
Delta joins the growing list of U.S. airlines raising checked bag fees as jet fuel costs soar
Delta Air Lines announced Tuesday that it is raising checked baggage fees, part of a broader wave of U.S. carriers responding to higher jet fuel prices tied to the war in the Middle East. Beginning Wednesday, most domestic and short-haul international passengers will pay $45 to check one bag, $55...
It will take months to get oil and gas flowing again
HOUSTON — Reopening the Strait of Hormuz — a central aim for the United States when it agreed to a ceasefire with Iran — would be the first step toward getting more energy flowing through the Persian Gulf. But only the first step. That is because dozens of refineries, storage...
John Dorfman: Humana, Thor hit Casualty List
Think of my Casualty List as a court of appeals for innocent stocks that have been unjustly punished. Well, maybe not completely innocent. But punished too much, in my view. In the first quarter this year, marked by armed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, the Standard & Poor’s 500...
Stocks swing from losses to a tiny gain as uncertainty builds ahead of Trump’s deadline for Iran
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks swung sharply Tuesday as uncertainty about the war with Iran increased ahead of a looming deadline set by President Donald Trump to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges. The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% after Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die...
Duquesne Light asks feds to lower costs customers pay to power plants
Duquesne Light is making the case that power plants are paid too much for the promise of providing electricity, a cost set through auctions run by grid operator PJM Interconnection — and shouldered entirely by
consumers. PJM’s process allows power plants to bid on contracts to supply electricity if called...
Big crowds, mixed profits: NFL Draft may not deliver windfall for every businessVideo
Kroll’s West restaurant expected to be bustling when Green Bay hosted the 2025 NFL Draft. Located across from iconic Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, the Wisconsin eatery seemed to be in an ideal spot just outside the event’s footprint. There were high hopes for a surge in...
Stocks drift higher ahead of Trump’s deadline to bomb Iranian power plants
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks drifted higher in hesitant trading on Monday, ahead of a deadline that President Donald Trump has set to bomb Iranian power plants. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, coming off its first winning week in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 165 points,...
As gas prices climb, Americans rethink vacations
Dina Guillen had planned to make the 520-mile drive from her home in the Rio Grande Valley to Dallas to visit family for her teenager’s spring break. But after calculating the cost — particularly the high price of gas — she decided to figure out a cheaper way. So instead...
AP says it will offer buyouts as part of pivot away from newspaper-focused history
The Associated Press, one of the world’s oldest and most influential news organizations, said Monday it is offering buyouts to an unspecified number of its U.S.-based journalists as part of an acceleration away from the focus on newspapers and their print journalism that sustained the company since the mid-1800s. The...
General Electric spinoff GE Vernova spends $70M on Rostraver warehouse
GE Vernova, formerly a part of General Electric, spent $70 million to buy a distribution center in Rostraver last month, adding to the Massachusetts-based power generation equipment manufacturer’s strong Pennsylvania presence. Westmoreland County property records show GE Vernova subsidiary GE Renewables Grid LLC purchased the more than 700,000-square-foot property from...
Key Fed official sees possible rate hike amid higher gas prices, inflation concerns
WASHINGTON — A top Federal Reserve official said Monday that an interest rate hike could be appropriate if inflation remains persistently above the central bank’s 2% target, the latest sign that some policymakers are moving away from a bias toward reducing borrowing costs. Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve...
European ministers call for profit caps on energy companies as Iran war drives price surge
The finance ministers of Spain and four other European countries are urging the European Union to impose a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, concerned that surging oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran will fuel inflation and strain households. Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Saturday...
Asian shares mostly gain while oil prices keep rising
TOKYO — Asian markets that were open for trading mostly rose Monday, as investors continued to closely watch the war in Iran, soaring oil prices and what President Donald Trump might say next. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose nearly 1.1% to 53,692.42 in morning trading. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.5%...
Uber and Lyft offer gas price relief, but drivers say it’s not enough
SAN FRANCISCO — As the cost of gas spikes because of the war in Iran, workers who make a living through ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft are being hit hard. Margarita Penalosa, a full-time driver for Lyft and Uber who sometimes delivers food for DoorDash and Grubhub around Los...
‘I got back every penny’: Inside Trump’s supercharged tax season
Ashley Norwood’s ears perked up when she first heard about President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to not tax tips and overtime. As a bartender, Norwood earns plenty of tips, and her husband, a diesel technician, works a lot of overtime. Trump’s tax cuts seemed tailor-made to help her family of...
