Business category, Page 67
Department of Justice sues Visa, alleges the card issuer monopolizes debit card markets
NEW YORK — The U.S. Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging that the financial services behemoth uses its size and dominance to stifle competition in the debit card market, costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars. The complaint filed Tuesday says San Francisco-based Visa penalizes merchants...
Wall Street drifts to more records after Chinese stocks soarVideo
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks drifted to more records Tuesday after Chinese stocks soared following a slew of moves by the Chinese central bank to prop up the world’s second-largest economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to set an all-time high for the 41st time this year. The movements were...
John Dorfman: What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Really?
You probably hear about the Dow Jones Industrial Average every day, but how much do you really know about it? Q: What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average anyway? A: It’s a venerable U.S. stock-market index that Charles Dow invented in 1896. It comprises 30 stocks, which the selection committee...
Longshoremen from Maine to Texas appear likely to go on strike, seaport CEO says
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The chief executive over Georgia’s two booming seaports said Tuesday that a strike next week by dockworkers across the U.S. East and Gulf coasts appears likely, though he’s hopeful the resulting shutdown would last only a few days. “We should probably expect there to be a work...
Wall Street hangs near its records after Chinese stocks soar
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records Tuesday after Chinese stocks soared following a slew of moves by the Chinese central bank to prop up the world’s second-largest economy. The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in midday trading, a day after setting an all-time high for the...
Kmart’s blue light fades to black with the shuttering of its last full-scale U.S. store
NEW YORK — Attention, Kmart shoppers, the end is near! The erstwhile retail giant renowned for its Blue Light Specials — featuring a flashing blue orb affixed to a pole enticing shoppers to a flash sale — is shuttering its last full-scale store in mainland United States. The store, located...
Stock market today: Wall Street adds slightly to record highs
NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes reached new heights Monday after drifting higher in a quiet day of trading. The S&P 500 rose 16.02 points, or 0.3%, to 5,718.57 and edged past its record set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 61.29 points, or 0.1%, to its own all-time...
Biden administration seeks to ban Chinese, Russian tech in U.S. autonomous vehicles
NEW YORK — The Commerce Department said Monday it’s seeking a ban on the sale of connected and autonomous vehicles in the U.S. that are equipped with Chinese and Russian software and hardware with the stated goal of protecting national security and U.S. drivers. While there is minimal Chinese and...
‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate
WYOMING, Iowa — Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower. The skyscraper-like corn is a part of rural America as much...
The benefits of a 4-day workweek, according to a champion of the trend
Companies exploring the option of letting employees work four days a week hope to reduce job burnout and retain talent seeking a better work-life balance, according to the chief executive of an organization that promotes the idea. The trend is gaining traction in Australia and Europe, says Dale Whelehan, CEO...
Before you sign up for a store credit card, know what you’re getting into
NEW YORK — When Mykail James was 19 and working a holiday job at Victoria’s Secret, she took out a store credit card with a $2,000 credit line. When her school break was over, she realized she could no longer afford the payments. After missing a few, she paid off...
Inflation explained: As material, labor costs rise, so do insurance premiums
Editor’s note: This is the fourth story in an occasional series on the causes and impact of inflation. There is a dominant driver when it comes to setting car and home insurance rates: the cost of the items insurance companies cover when they pay out claims. And the cost of...
For home shoppers, the Fed’s big rate cut is likely just a small step towards affording a home
The Federal Reserve gave home shoppers what they hoped for this week: a big rate cut and a signal of more cuts to come. Even so, aspiring homebuyers and homeowners eager to refinance should temper their expectations of a big drop in mortgage rates from here. While the Fed doesn’t...
Labor board rules against Post-Gazette in nearly 2-year employee strike
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette refused to bargain in good faith with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and unilaterally changed workers’ employment conditions, the National Labor Relations Board said in a decision announced Friday. A petition for an injunction was filed in August to force the Post-Gazette to take back workers who...
Battle to save Charleroi glass plant entangled in political campaign for Senate
The battle to save a Charleroi glassmaking plant whose owner wants to close it by year’s end and move operations to Ohio became entangled Friday in the politics of the U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. Republican Senatorial candidate David McCormick blamed the pending closure of the LCN Corelle Brands plant...
AI may breathe new life into Three Mile Island to supply power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy. The announcement by Constellation Energy comes...
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida’s modest farm in Caconde, a town in one of Sao Paulo state’s key...
Apple releases AI software for a smarter Siri on the iPhone 16
Apple is accelerating the rollout of a software update that will implant artificial intelligence into its virtual assistant Siri and automate a variety of tedious tasks to coincide with the release of its latest iPhone. The free update enabling the first set of features in Apple’s suite of artificial intelligence...
Penn State to pay $700K in gender discrimination case
Penn State University will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest to settle a U.S. Department of Labor case alleging gender pay discrimination against female staff and faculty, the parties announced. The amount will be shared among the women impacted. Penn State said the inequities found by the department were...
U.S. Steel, Nippon get extension from national security panel on deal decision
The U.S. national security panel reviewing a $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese firm has extended its decision deadline, likely ensuring the proposal will live past the Nov. 5 election. Several outlets have reported the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, comprising numerous federal department...
Most of Wall Street edges lower after Fed delivers a big cut to rates
NEW YORK — Stock indexes edged lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to pull 0.9% below its all-time high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 103 points,...
Iconic Tupperware Brands seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcyVideo
NEW YORK — Tupperware Brands, the company that revolutionized food storage decades ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Orlando, Florida-based Tupperware plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and will seek court approval for a sale, “in order to protect its iconic brand,” the company said just...
Federal Reserve cuts key rate by sizable half-point, signaling end to its inflation fightVideo
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than...
John Dorfman: Trader in France scores 3rd victory in short-selling contest
Laurent Condon, a professional stock trader in France, has won my annual short-selling contest for a third time. Condon scored a 99.7% gain on his entry from a year ago, Mullen Automotive Inc., an electric car maker based in Brea, Calif. The stock descended from $45 a share when the...
Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids
At what age should kids be on social media? Should they be on it at all? If they aren’t, will they be social pariahs? Should parents monitor their conversations? Do parental controls work? Navigating social media as a parent — not to mention a child — is not easy. Using...
