Business category, Page 117
First Republic Bank seized, sold in fire sale to JPMorgan
NEW YORK — Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase in a bid to end the turmoil that has raised questions about the health of...
Old Faithful picks have more than doubled S&P 500
Walk up to any graduate student in finance. Ask her to design a stock-picking screen. I’ll bet you a milkshake that she will design something more complex than my Old Faithful stock-selection paradigm. Yet, my picks in this column drawn from Old Faithful have averaged more than a 19% return...
Fed faults Silicon Valley Bank execs, itself in bank failure
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve blamed last month’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on poor management, watered-down regulations and lax oversight by its own staffers, and said the industry needs stricter policing on multiple fronts to prevent future bank failures. The Fed was highly critical of its own role in...
A key inflation gauge tracked by Fed remained high in March
WASHINGTON — A key index of underlying inflation that is closely followed by the Federal Reserve remained elevated last month, keeping the Fed on track to raise interest rates next week for the 10th time since March of last year. The index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs to...
Europe’s economy barely grows as inflation pinches consumers
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European economy scraped out meager growth in the first three months of the year, barely gaining momentum as stubborn inflation raises the price of groceries and erodes people’s willingness to spend paychecks that are failing to keep pace. Friday’s less-than-stellar increase of 0.1% from the previous...
Pirates are hot, and so is their merchandise
Bucco fever is contagious, and the wins on the field don’t just mean good numbers in the standings. Those wins can add up off the field, too — in terms of dollars. According to the Pirates official retail partner Fanatics, which handles both in-venue retail and e-commerce for the team,...
American Airlines reports 1Q profit for first time in 4 years
American Airlines recorded a first-quarter profit for the first time in four years, CEO Robert Isom told investors Thursday. The Fort Worth carrier produced a record $12.2 billion revenue, a 37% year-over-year increase. The bulk of that came from passenger revenue at $11.1 billion. “American is off to a fantastic...
Southwest reports $159 million 1Q loss on meltdown effects
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines lost $159 million in the first quarter as it felt aftershocks from the December meltdown that caused thousands of canceled flights. The airline said Thursday, however, that it made money in March and expects to be solidly profitable in the April-through-June quarter that includes the start...
China pushes to digitize mines in attempt to make them safer
SHENMU, China — China is using “smart” technology to try to improve its safety record in coal mines, as part of a push by the National Energy Administration to bolster output and stem frequent accidents and collapses. Smart-mine sensors monitor aspects such as gas buildup and flooding or ventilation levels,...
Twitter changes stoke Russian, Chinese propaganda surge
WASHINGTON — Twitter accounts operated by authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran are benefiting from recent changes at the social media company, researchers said this week, making it easier for them to attract new followers and broadcast propaganda and disinformation to a larger audience. The platform is no longer...
Company seeks restart of shuttered nuclear plant
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A company that tears down closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what has never been done in the U.S.: restore a dead one to life. Holtec Decommissioning International bought the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station last June for the stated purpose of dismantling it,...
Norfolk Southern estimates that Ohio derailment cost $387M
OMAHA, Neb. — Norfolk Southern expects February’s fiery Ohio derailment to cost it $387 million, but that total will likely increase over time and that doesn’t reflect how much the railroad’s insurance companies will eventually cover. The railroad provided a detailed estimate of the cost of Feb. 3 derailment outside...
U.K. blocks Microsoft’s $69B Activision deal
Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. suffered a hammer blow after Britain’s antitrust watchdog vetoed the gaming industry’s biggest ever deal saying it would harm competition in cloud gaming, in a move that could set the tone for the world’s biggest regulators. The Competition and Markets Authority...
No one is driving this taxi. What possibly could go wrong?
SAN FRANCISCO — I won’t forget the first time I took a ride in a car without anyone sitting in the driver’s seat. It happened one night last September when a Chevy Bolt named Peaches picked me up outside a San Francisco bar. Our ensuing half-hour ride together produced, at...
Bud Light fumbles, but experts say inclusive ads will stay
Bud Light may have fumbled its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with a transgender influencer. But experts say inclusive marketing is simply good business — and it’s here to stay. “A few years from now, we will look back on this ‘controversy’ with the same embarrassment that...
First Republic Bank stock plunges as depositors fleeVideo
NEW YORK — First Republic Bank’s stock plunged Tuesday after it said depositors withdrew more than $100 billion during last month’s crisis, with fears swirling that it could be the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The San Francisco bank said late...
U.S. consumer confidence falls for 3rd time in 4 months
Consumer confidence dipped again in April as anxiety over a slowing economy and possible recession weighed on American households. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 101.3 in April from 104 in March. It’s the third time in four months that overall U.S. consumer confidence...
Pittsburgh office vacancies reach record high, report says
Open office space in the Pittsburgh region is high and was still ticking upward during the first quarter of this year. Total vacancies reached a record high of nearly 22% during the first three months of the year, according to a quarterly report by real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle,...
Millennial Money: How card perks can help pregnant travelers
I was 10-weeks pregnant and craving pizza while on vacation in Germany. We picked a well-reviewed restaurant, only to be told that no tables would be available that night. My husband, who meant well, suggested we try our luck at a different restaurant a few doors down. But it didn’t...
GM, Samsung plan new EV battery cell factory in U.S.
DETROIT — General Motors and South Korea’s Samsung SDI plan to invest more than $3 billion in a new electric vehicle battery cell plant in the United States, the companies said Tuesday. They did not announce the intended location of the new factory, which is expected to begin operations in...
First Republic clients pulled $100B in deposits during panic
NEW YORK — Depositors at First Republic Bank pulled more than $100 billion out of the bank during last month’s crisis, as fears swirled that it could be the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. San Francisco-based First Republic said Monday that...
CNBC anchor alleged sexual harassment by NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, who was ousted
NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell’s sudden departure followed an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint made against him by a longtime CNBC correspondent, the woman’s attorney said. The 41-year-old journalist, Hadley Gamble, has been a Middle East correspondent and anchor for the NBCUniversal-owned financial news network for nearly a decade....
Sharpsburg tech firm to launch program to boost marginalized people in the field
At Deeplocal’s offices in Sharpsburg stands a grandfather clock, wrapped in vines and otherworldly fragments from the Upside Down — another dimension that’s featured in the Netflix hit “Stranger Things.” The design firm created the 3D model, which mysteriously appeared on a street in Santa Monica, Calif., to count down...
Bank rates are up. How to avoid leaving money on the table
NEW YORK — Moving your savings around by opening a new account and closing an old one can seem like a hassle. But it’s a use of time that can pay off. After years of paying low rates for savers, banks are finally offering better interest on deposits. Though the...
Twitter verification reappears, but some disavow Musk’s mark
SAN FRANCISCO — Celebrities and other high-profile Twitter users are once again being verified by the social media platform and they don’t know why the blue check marks reappeared — nor do they seem too happy about it. Twitter removed the blue marks last week from accounts that don’t pay...
