Business category, Page 259
Trade war puts cork in wine sales to China
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Caught in the crossfire of President Trump’s trade war with China, U.S. vineyards are struggling to sell Syrah in Shanghai and Chardonnay in Shenzhen. They risk losing their foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing wine markets. The 16-month dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has...
Costco warns customers $75 ‘coupon’ is a scam
Usually when something seems too good to be true … You know how the rest of the saying goes, and Costco is here to warn its customers just that. The wholesale company posted Tuesday on Facebook that they are “NOT giving away $75 coupons. “While we love our fans and...
Fed’s Powell sees steady growth, signals pause in rate cutsVideo
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expects the U.S. economy to continue growing at a solid pace, though it still faces risks from slower growth overseas and trade tensions. Powell also said the Fed is likely to keep its benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged in the coming months, unless...
No. 1 milk company Dean Foods declares bankruptcy amid drop in demand
Got milk? Increasingly, Americans don’t, and that led the nation’s biggest milk producer to file for bankruptcy Tuesday. Dean Foods blamed a decadeslong drop in milk consumption that has seen people turn to alternatives such as soda, juice and almond milk. The Dallas company said it may sell itself to...
Met Life, Oasis Petroleum selling below book value
What do Met Life, Kelly Services and Oasis Petroleum have in common? Each is selling below book value. Book value is a company’s net worth (assets minus liabilities), usually expressed as a figure per share of stock outstanding. Buying stocks below book value is a classic bargain hunters’ strategy. Here...
Group says misinformation on the rise on Facebook
SAN FRANCISCO — An advocacy group tracking misinformation says it has found an increase in fake political news shared on Facebook ahead of the 2020 presidential elections. The group, Avaaz, said Wednesday that misinformation is still being spread on Facebook despite measures the company has put in place since the...
FAA considering grounding Southwest jets over safety checks
DALLAS — Federal regulators have threatened to ground dozens of Southwest Airlines jets if the airline can’t confirm that the planes, which it bought used from foreign operators, meet all safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has validated some major repairs to the planes, and it’s asking...
Ford electric vehicle chief sees more products, sales growth
DEARBORN, Mich. — So far, electric vehicles haven’t been accepted in the United States, with fewer than 1.5% of new-vehicle buyers choosing them over internal combustion engines. That surely will change as more manufacturers offer vehicles with longer range and fast-charging networks keep growing. Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co.,...
Trump pushes back on reports U.S. will remove China tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed a Chinese official’s assertion that his administration has agreed to roll back some of the higher tariffs it’s imposed on Chinese goods. The Chinese official said Thursday that the two sides had agreed to a phased cancellation of their tariff hikes as...
Airbnb says it will pay for funerals in Halloween shootingVideo
ORINDA, Calif. — Airbnb says it will pay funeral expenses for the five victims killed in a Halloween shooting at one of its rentals in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the company said Thursday it will also cover counseling bills for their families. The decision...
Got a Starbucks holiday cup? Alaska Airlines lets you board early
Think you’re special just because you grabbed one of Starbucks’ new holiday cups? Well, to Alaska Airlines you are. The company kicked the fever pitch for the cups up a notch by announcing their passengers with one of the coveted cups in their hands will get priority boarding on all...
Juul halts sales of mint, its top-selling e-cigarette flavor
WASHINGTON — Juul Labs says it will halt sales of its best-selling mint-flavored electronic cigarettes. The company said in a statement Thursday the move is in response to new research. The studies released this week showed that mint was the most popular vaping flavor among many high school students who...
Transportation, data service providers battle for bandwidth
WASHINGTON — Two big industries are fighting over radio frequencies that each could use to provide game-changing services. On one side is the transportation industry, including auto and truck makers and their suppliers. The frequencies would allow smart vehicles of the near future to talk to each other to use...
Stocks rally to highs on low rates, hopes for trade peace
NEW YORK — It’s the market that continues mostly upward, even though there’s still plenty to worry about. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq closed at record highs yet again on Tuesday, and the S&P 500 closed barely below the all-time high it reached a day earlier. The...
Boeing chairman says CEO won’t get bonus until 737 Max flies
Boeing’s new chairman gave embattled CEO Dennis Muilenburg a vote of confidence Tuesday and said the chief executive is giving up any bonus this year. David Calhoun said the Boeing board believes Muilenburg “has done everything right” and is positioning the Chicago company to return the 737 Max to service...
AT&T fined $60M for misleading with ‘unlimited’ plans
AT&T will pay $60 million to settle the government’s allegation it misled customers of unlimited-data plans by slowing down service for heavy users. The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that AT&T will automatically provide partial refunds to customers who signed up for unlimited wireless plans before 2011. The FTC sued...
U.S. job openings decline in September, but market remains healthy
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised fewer open jobs in September compared with the previous month, but the number of open jobs remains high by historic standards. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of available jobs fell to 7 million, from 7.3 million in August. Job openings peaked at...
U.S. trade deficit falls to $52.5B in September
WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit fell in September to the lowest level in five months as imports dropped more sharply than exports and America ran a rare surplus in petroleum. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the September gap between what America buys from abroad and what it sells...
5 large-cap stocks are up more than 100% this year
The U.S. stock market’s hottest stocks this year have mostly been youngish companies with little if any profit history. Investors these days are talking conservatively, but investing speculatively. Among the 535 U.S. stocks with a market value of $10 billion or more as of Nov. 1, five have returned more...
Kennametal quarterly profits plunge
Hurt by softening end markets for its general engineering, energy and transportation business, Kennametal Inc. said Monday its quarterly net income plunged $51 million compared to a year ago, and its earnings per share dropped 61 cents. Kennametal’s net income for the quarter ending Sept. 30 fell to $7.4 million,...
EPA proposes eased Obama-era regulations on coal-ash pollution
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed to make it easier for power companies to dispose of the toxic residues from burning coal, building on other steps the agency has already taken to rewrite Obama-era rules for coal ash pollution. The EPA’s actions would unwind some of the...
Why Trump tariffs haven’t revitalized American steelmakers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s move last year to tax imported steel triggered jeers but also cheers. Its goal — to raise steel prices — threatened to hurt the legions of U.S. manufacturers that depend on steel. But at least it would benefit U.S. steel companies and the Americans who...
From toast of town to toxic: Facebook CEO on outs with DemsVideo
WASHINGTON — Mark Zuckerberg’s social network in Washington is shrinking. Bipartisan hostility against Facebook has been building for months, fueled by a series of privacy scandals, the site’s role in Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign and accusations that Facebook crushes competitors. Now, with the 2020 elections approaching, Democrats...
McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook steps down because of relationship with employee
NEW YORK — McDonald’s chief executive officer has left the company after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee, the corporation said Sunday. The fast food giant said former president and CEO Steve Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment. McDonald’s forbids managers from having romantic relationships with...
Airbnb CEO says company is banning ‘party houses’
Airbnb Inc. says it’s banning “party houses” in the wake of a deadly shooting at an Airbnb rental in California. In a series of tweets Saturday, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said that the San Francisco-based company is stepping up efforts to “combat unauthorized parties and get rid of...
