U.S. stocks drift as gold’s price keeps ripping higher
NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market is drifting around its record heights Thursday following mixed profit reports from Microsoft and some other of Wall Street’s most influential companies. The action was strongest again in the gold market, where the metal’s price keeps ripping higher in its astounding run. The...
UPS to cut another 30,000 jobs in sweeping cost-savings push
United Parcel Service Inc. expects to cut as many as 30,000 positions this year, part of an ongoing effort by the package-delivery giant to rein in costs and boost profitability. The reductions to its operational workforce — a group that includes drivers and package handlers — will be achieved largely...
UPS retires fleet of MD-11 aircraft involved in deadly Kentucky crash
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UPS announced Tuesday that it has retired its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo planes just months after one crashed during takeoff, causing 15 deaths in Louisville. CEO Carol Tome said during a fourth-quarter earnings call that UPS decided to “accelerate our plans and retire all MD-11...
Paralyzing winter storms put a big chill on the economy, but how much?
HOUSTON — The deadly and widespread winter storm paralyzing much of the American East with ice, snow and cold is also taking a multi-billion dollar bite out of the U.S. economy, experts figure. But how much? Economists and meteorologists are trying to get a handle on the disruption costs of...
What travelers can expect as Southwest Airlines introduces assigned seats
Southwest Airlines passengers made their final boarding-time scrambles for seats on Monday as the carrier prepared to end the open-seating system that distinguished it from other airlines for more than a half‑century. Starting Tuesday, customers on Southwest flights will have assigned seats and the option of paying more to get...
Stocks rise as gold hits another record and the dollar’s value sinks again
NEW YORK — Stock indexes ticked higher Monday, while other markets made louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 313 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq...
Largest U.S. grid pushes power plants to secure gas through week
The largest U.S. grid operator is pushing power plants to secure natural gas supplies through the week amid expectations that frigid temperatures will drive electricity usage to a winter record. PJM Interconnection LLC is taking a rare step of committing to buy power from generators through 10 a.m. on Jan....
Trump housing finance chief OKs more mortgage spending and adds risk for government-backed lenders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s federal housing finance director, Bill Pulte, quietly granted government-backed lenders the authority to nearly double a $200 billion bond purchase that Trump ordered to try to lower mortgage rates, a move that could introduce a new level of risk for the companies. An email obtained...
Prices ticked up in November as Americans keep spending, a key inflation measure shows
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked up in November in the latest sign that prices remain stubbornly elevated, while consumers spent at a healthy pace. Consumer prices rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from a 2.7% annual pace in...
Wall Street has worst session since April as Trump threatens 8 European countries with tariffs over GreenlandVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks slumped Tuesday on Wall Street after President Donald Trump threatened to hit eight European countries with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland. The losses were widespread, with nearly every sector losing ground. Major indexes in the U.S. extended...
Trump moves to make data centers pay for surging power costs
President Donald Trump and Northeast governors will direct the nation’s largest grid operator to hold an emergency power auction that would force technology giants to pay for the construction of a fleet of new plants. The unprecedented move, set to come Friday, aims to quell concerns about data centers driving...
Wall Street strengthens as Big Tech bounces back and oil prices ease
NEW YORK — Wall Street is strengthening on Thursday as tech stocks bounce back following an encouraging report from a Taiwanese chip giant and as oil prices ease sharply. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and was on track to break the two-day losing streak it’s been on since setting an...
Judge is asked for emergency hearing after Congress members blocked from ICE facility in Minneapolis
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration secretly reimposed a policy limiting Congress members’ access to immigration detention facilities a day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, attorneys for several congressional Democrats said Monday in asking a federal judge to intervene. Three Democratic members of Congress...
Why the Federal Reserve has historically been independent of the White House
WASHINGTON— The Justice Department has threatened the Federal Reserve with a criminal indictment over the testimony of Fed Chair Jerome Powell this summer regarding its building renovations, Powell said over the weekend. It is a major escalation by the administration after repeated attempts by President Donald Trump to exert greater...
Judge says she’ll hold a limited hearing on seizure of Luigi Mangione’s backpack
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday said she will hold a short hearing in the next two weeks on procedures that police said allowed them to seize and look through Luigi Mangione’s backpack when he was arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. U.S. District Judge...
Trump ‘inclined’ to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after CEO response at White House meeting
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro. “I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters...
Trump pushes a 1-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates and banks balk
NEW YORK — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner. Trump was not clear in his...
Job openings slide to 2nd lowest level in 5 years as hiring remains sluggish
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers posted far fewer jobs in November than the previous month, a sign that employers aren’t yet ramping up hiring even as growth has picked up. Businesses and government agencies posted 7.1 million open jobs at the end of November, the Labor Department said Wednesday, down from...
Flights to the Caribbean resuming after Venezuela-related restriction lifts
The Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday lifted its prohibition on flights to the Caribbean and airlines have resumed normal flights. “The original restrictions around the Caribbean airspace are expiring at 12:00 am ET and flights can resume,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on social media site X. “Airlines are...
Calls for restraint, condemnation: World leaders react to U.S. action in Venezuela
The overnight attacks in Venezuela and the subsequent capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a U.S. military operation on Saturday triggered sharp international reactions, ranging from European Union calls for de-escalation to condemnations from some of Latin America’s most outspoken leaders, who described the use of force...
Why your holiday gift returns might go to a landfill and what you can do about it
The holiday season will soon come to a close, but the busiest time of the year for product returns is just beginning. The National Retail Federation estimates 17% of holiday purchases will be sent back this year. More retailers are reporting extended return windows and increased holiday staff to handle...
Consumer confidence slides in December to lowest level since U.S. tariffs rolled out in April
WASHINGTON — Consumers were less confident in the economy in December as Americans grow anxious about high prices and the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 3.8 points to 89.1 in December from November’s upwardly revised reading of...
Fast shipping is increasing emissions. Here’s why delivery has become more polluting
It feels simple: You shop, find something you want and click to buy. It shows up today, overnight or tomorrow. We’ve gotten used to that speed. But that convenience comes with a climate cost. Multiple factors shape the environmental toll of a delivery. These include the distance from a fulfillment...
U.S. economy expands at surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in 3rd quarter
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy expanded at a surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in the third quarter, the most rapid expansion in two years, as consumer and government spending, as well as exports, all grew. U.S. gross domestic product from July through September — the economy’s total output of goods...
Larry Ellison guarantees $40.4 billion in Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount is sweetening its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Larry Ellison, who is putting up billions of dollars to back the deal for his son’s company. On Monday, Skydance-owned Paramount announced that Larry Ellison — the founder of Oracle and father of...
