Wire stories category, Page 116
4 issues home buyers will face this spring
As the spring home buying market kicks into high gear, house hunters may be mostly focused on lining up their financing and finding a place to purchase. While affordability and availability are two important aspects of the process, Dana Bull, a real estate agent with Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty...
Apple vs. Netflix: Why turf wars are flaring in big tech
Apple’s latest move into streaming video illustrates an escalating trend: Tech’s biggest companies, faced with limits to their growth, are encroaching on each other’s turf. Apple is taking on Netflix. Facebook is edging into Amazon’s sphere with its e-commerce plans. Google, which has already challenged Amazon and Microsoft in cloud...
Newspapers largely shun Apple’s news subscription service
NEW YORK — Many newspaper publishers — after suffering for a decade from job losses, shrinking ad dollars and circulation declines — are so far shunning Apple’s new “Netflix for news” subscription. For $10 a month, Apple News Plus offers articles from more than 300 magazines, but only three newspapers....
Maker of OxyContin reaches $270M settlement in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY — The maker of OxyContin and the company’s controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation’s deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. It is the first settlement to come out of...
Kraft Heinz can’t count on ketchup to save it from the future of food
What went wrong at Kraft Heinz Co.? Years before last month’s jaw-dropping $15.4 billion writedown, the company had been on a mission to make over some of its quintessential products, removing maligned ingredients from its mac and cheese and hot dogs to better compete with newer, more natural upstarts. The...
U.S. average mortgage rates fall; 30-year at 4.28 percent
WASHINGTON — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week, giving an incentive to potential buyers as the spring homebuying season opens. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage declined to 4.28 percent from 4.31 percent the previous week. Mortgage rates have fallen substantially since...
Levi Strauss readies for prime time in the public markets
NEW YORK — Levi Strauss & Co., which gave America its first pair of blue jeans, is public again, for the second time. The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder’s descendants took it private again in 1985. The...
In IPO filing, Lyft outlines reasons ride-sharing could fail
Lyft is due to be the first giant tech startup to list its shares on the stock market this year — and it has laid out all the roadblocks that could derail not only its own business, but the ride-sharing industry itself. From dockless scooters and bicycles to self-driving cars,...
European, Canadian regulators plan own reviews of Boeing 737 Max
Boeing’s grounded airliners are likely to be parked longer now that European and Canadian regulators plan to conduct their own reviews of changes the company is making after two of the jets crashed. The Europeans and Canadians want to do more than simply take the Federal Aviation Administration’s word that...
Reading Eagle files for bankruptcy protection, seeks buyer
READING — The family-owned company that has published the Reading Eagle newspaper for more than 150 years is filing for bankruptcy protection and seeking a buyer. The Reading Eagle Co., whose other properties include news-talk radio station WEEU and a weekly newspaper, said Wednesday it will continue to publish and...
Fed news sends bond yields sharply lower; stocks mixed
Banks led U.S. stocks mostly lower Wednesday after a brief rally sparked by the Federal Reserve’s latest policy update faded. The real action centered in the bond market, where prices rose sharply, pulling Treasury yields down to the lowest levels they’ve seen in more than a year. The central bank...
Europe fines Google $1.7B in antitrust case
BRUSSELS — Europe’s antitrust regulators slapped Google with a big fine Wednesday for the third time in less than two years, ordering the tech giant to pay 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for freezing out rivals in the online advertising business. The ruling brings to nearly $10 billion the fines...
U.S. judge blocks oil, gas drilling over climate change
BILLINGS, Mont. — A judge has blocked oil and gas drilling on almost 500 square miles in Wyoming and says the government must consider the cumulative climate change impact of leasing broad swaths of U.S. public lands for oil and gas exploration. The order marks the latest in a string...
What Disney gets as its $71.3B buy of Fox assets closes
It’s finally complete. Disney closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets on Wednesday, more than a year after the mega merger was proposed . Disney gets far ranging properties ranging from Fox’s film studios, including “Avatar” and X-Men, to its TV productions such as “The Simpsons” and networks...
Disney closes $71B deal for Fox entertainment assets
Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment business, putting “Cinderella,” ”The Simpsons,” ”Star Wars” and “Dr. Strange” under one corporate roof. The deal is likely to shake up the media landscape. Among other things, it paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus,...
U.S. negotiators see China pushing back on trade vows
WASHINGTON — Some U.S. negotiators are concerned that China is pushing back against American demands in trade talks as progress slows toward a deal that could give President Trump a boost for his 2020 re-election bid, according to people familiar with the talks. Chinese officials have shifted their stance with...
U.S. stocks move higher as market extends winning streak
U.S. stocks moved modestly higher in afternoon trading Tuesday as the market extended a winning streak well into a second week. Health care stocks, technology companies and retailers notched some of the biggest gains. DaVita led the health sector higher, climbing 3.8 percent. Cigna added 3.1 percent. Chipmakers also posted...
Ford shifting 550 jobs to boost SUV production in Kentucky
Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will shift 550 jobs to its Kentucky Truck Plant to boost production of its Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles to meet growing demand for its large SUVs. Growing sales for the Expedition and Navigator are driving a 20 percent production boost at the Louisville...
New Jersey enacts law barring cashless stores
Retailers in New Jersey must accept cash as a form of payment after Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law Monday a ban on so-called cashless stores. With the exception of a few businesses, the new law prohibits most brick-and-mortar retailers from refusing to accept cash. Businesses can be fined up...
Facebook says service hindered by lack of local news
NEW YORK — Facebook’s effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company’s technicians can find original reporting. The service, launched last year, is currently available in some 400 cities in the United States....
Be Kind, Please Rewind: Oregon Blockbuster is last on Earth
BEND, Ore. — There are challenges that come with running the last Blockbuster Video on the planet. The computer system must be rebooted using floppy disks that only the general manager — a solid member of Gen X — knows how to use. The dot-matrix printer broke, so employees write...
U.S. industrial production report a sign of slowdown in manufacturing
WASHINGTON — U.S. industrial production rose a slight 0.1 percent in February, as an increase in utilities and mining offset the second straight monthly drop in manufacturing. The Federal Reserve said Friday that the manufacturing component of the index fell 0.4 percent last month, after having fallen 0.5 percent in...
Mortgage rates sink to lowest levels in more than a year
Mortgage rates were driven down this week by weak economic data and concerns about global growth. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average tumbled to 4.31 percent with an average 0.4 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1 percent...
NYSE move that never happened leaves New York City still paying debt
It was 1998. The internet bubble was building, day-trading was in full swing and the New York Stock Exchange was given the biggest subsidy in the city’s history to stop it from leaving Wall Street for New Jersey — keeping the Y in the NYSE. The plans for a new...
Toyota investing $750M at 5 U.S. plants, creating 600 jobs
BUFFALO, W.Va. — Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday announced it is investing an additional $750 million at five U.S. plants that will bring nearly 600 new jobs, including the production of two hybrid vehicles for the first time at its Kentucky facility. It marks yet another expansion of the Japanese...
