Business category, Page 55
DirecTV calls off acquisition of rival Dish, possibly ending a yearslong pursuit
DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company. The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them...
McDonald’s to expand U.S. value menu as fast food chains battle for bargain seekers
McDonald’s will expand its U.S. value menu early next year as it continues to try to win back inflation-weary customers. Starting Jan. 7, the burger chain will let customers buy one full-priced item from a limited value menu and get another item on that menu for $1. Items on the...
Steelworkers union boss rips PR blitz pushing U.S. Steel-Nippon deal
United Steelworkers International President David McCall is well aware of the cracks forming in his union’s opposition to a sale of U.S. Steel to Japan-based Nippon Steel as the companies press their advertising blitz, but he is not backing down. McCall swiftly came out against the $14.9 billion acquisition when...
One Tech Tip: How to get started with Bluesky
LONDON — Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren’t cutting it? You could try Bluesky. People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the...
Bitcoin is at the doorstep of $100,000 as post-election rally rolls on
NEW YORK — Bitcoin topped $98,000 for the first time Thursday, extending a streak of almost daily all-time highs since the U.S. presidential election. The cryptocurrency has rocketed more than 40% in just two weeks. Now, bitcoin is at the doorstep of $100,000 and investors do not appear to be...
U.S. home sales rose in October, notching their 1st annual gain in over 3 years
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in October, the first annual gain in more than three years, with home shoppers encouraged by easing rates and a pickup in properties on the market. Existing home sales rose 3.4% last month, from September, to a seasonally adjusted annual...
U.S. regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishment
U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade. The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by...
Delta to serve Shake Shack burgers in first class on some flights
Delta Air Lines will soon serve Shake Shack cheeseburgers to first-class customers on certain flights out of Boston. The first-class meal option will be offered starting Dec. 1 on routes of more than 900 miles out of Boston Logan International Airport. The airline said it “plans for expansion to other...
Philadelphia’s mass transit system averts a strike by reaching a deal with its largest workers union
Philadelphia’s mass transit system has reached a tentative contract deal with its largest workers union, averting a potential strike that could have seen thousands of employees walk off the job. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and Transport Workers Union Local 234 announced the one-year agreement Wednesday. It calls for union...
Comcast to spin off cable networks, once star performers for the entertainment giant
WASHINGTON — Comcast will spin off many of its cable television networks that were once at the heart of the entertainment giant, with people increasingly swapping out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms. Those one-time stars for Comcast’s NBCUniversal cable television networks include USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf...
John Dorfman: Here’s another stock picking tool for your kit
Here’s a stock picking tool you might not have thought about. It’s called the PEG ratio. The PEG ratio is a ratio of two ratios. The numerator, or top line, is a stock’s price/earnings ratio, expressed simply as a number. This is the stock’s price divided by per-share earnings. If...
Jersey Mike’s sandwich chain acquired by private equity firm Blackstone for $8 billion
NEW YORK — Jersey Mike’s, the quickly expanding sandwich chain, is being acquired by asset management giant Blackstone. In the transaction announced Tuesday, private equity funds managed by Blackstone will be used to acquire majority ownership of Jersey Mike’s. The deal is “intended to help enable Jersey Mike’s to accelerate...
Sewickley woman’s Sweet Water Decor business sells its 2 millionth candle
Melissa Horvath had just gotten engaged and was perusing the online platform Etsy looking for wedding invitations when this thought came to mind, “I could do this,” she said. So she did. The Sewickley resident started a business – Sweet Water Decor — in her basement in December 2014. “I’ve...
Forget driverless cars. One company wants autonomous helicopters to spray crops and fight fires
HENNIKER, N.H. — When Hector Xu was learning to fly a helicopter in college, he recalled having a few “nasty experiences” while trying to navigate at night. The heart-stopping flights led to his research of unmanned aircraft systems while getting his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at Massachusetts Institute of...
Walmart’s promise of low prices proves to be a powerful draw in 3rd quarter
NEW YORK — Walmart ratcheted up sales and profits again in the third quarter with its comparatively low prices proving a powerful draw for shoppers seeking to cut spending where they could. The nation’s largest retailer raised its outlook for the year as well, underscoring its confidence in a strong...
‘Something to give back’: Retired Naval officer expands low-cost, self-serve bookstore business to Westmoreland Mall
Griffin and Naomi Lotson have gotten used to weaving through stacks of books piled high in their Indiana Borough home. Books line the walls of the Lotson’s three-car garage, allowing just enough room for them to park their vehicles. “We could barely fit our van in there,” said Naomi Lotson,...
Westmoreland airport officials maintain hope after Spirit Airlines bankruptcy filing
Westmoreland County officials are hopeful a stronger Spirit Airlines will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is able to reverse a cutback in the commercial carrier’s flights at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. With that in mind, the county airport authority is restoring reservation desk staffing it had curtailed at the...
Grocery chains vie for place on Thanksgiving tables with turkey dinner deals, store brands
NEW YORK — With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, Walmart, Target, Aldi and other grocers are competing for a place on holiday tables with turkey dinner deals and other promotions to tempt Americans who haven’t recovered from recent food price inflation. Walmart, the nation’s largest food retailer, first bundled...
Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy as financial losses pile up and debt payments loom
Spirit Airlines said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection and will attempt to reboot as it struggles to recover from the pandemic-caused swoon in travel, stiffer competition from bigger carriers, and a failed attempt to sell the airline to JetBlue. Spirit, the biggest U.S. budget airline, filed a...
Former HGTV star set to expand business footprint in Sewickley
A historic building is slated to be transformed into a new restaurant, thanks to a celebrity interior designer with a penchant for putting the spotlight on Sewickley. Plans for a proposed new restaurant cleared a hurdle Nov. 5 when Sewickley zoning board officials unanimously (5-0) approved a zoning variance request...
McDonald’s investing $100 million to bring customers back after E. coli outbreak
McDonald’s is investing $100 million to bring customers back to stores after an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions on the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. The investments include $65 million that will go directly to the hardest-hit franchises, the company said. The U.S. Centers for Disease...
Wall Street falls toward worst loss since Election Day as vaccine makers sink
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are falling Friday toward their worst loss since Election Day as the big bump Wall Street got from last week’s victory for Donald Trump and cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve keeps fading. The S&P 500 sank 1.4% and was heading for a...
Inflation Explained: With the TV industry in flux, customers see the uncertainty reflected in their bills
As traditional cable television fades and online streaming services grow in popularity, users have a common burden: rising bills. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows almost 30 straight years of consumers paying more for cable, satellite and — since they were introduced in the late 2000s — livestream...
Developer of North Shore’s $740M Esplanade seeks massive tax break
The for-profit company behind the planned $740 million Esplanade development on Pittsburgh’s North Shore is asking the city, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools for a long-term massive tax break. Canonsburg-based Piatt Companies is requesting a deal that would take nearly $54 million in property tax revenue and plow it...
Ford agrees to pay up to $165 million penalty to U.S. government for moving too slowly on recalls
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will pay a penalty of up to $165 million to the U.S. government for moving too slowly on a recall and failing to give accurate recall information. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in a statement Thursday that the civil penalty is the second-largest...
