Wire stories category, Page 117
For boomers making plans to relocate for retirement, it’s time to get real
When Martha Powers and Larry Gomberg heard the news about Hurricane Florence bringing horrific winds and catastrophic flooding to Wilmington, N.C., they grimaced. Then, they felt relieved. “What if we had decided to build our retirement home there,” they said to each other in September, when the storm was making...
Fed data: Household net worth falls by largest amount since Great RecessionVideo
Total household net worth in the fourth quarter of 2018 dropped by the largest amount since the fourth quarter of 2008 when the country was in the midst of a steep recession, according to data released today by the Federal Reserve. Total household net worth is a measure of the...
After a decade of doubts, the stock market’s bull chugs on
NEW YORK — The bull market for U.S. stocks turns 10 years old this weekend, which puts it way past senior citizen status for a market run. It’s got the scars to prove it. Since rising from the rubble of the financial crisis in 2009, this bull market has faced...
U.S. stocks fall in morning trading, extending weekly losses
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks moved lower in morning trading Thursday, led by banks and technology companies, putting the market on track for its first losing week since January. Utilities and real estate stocks eked out slight gains as investors moved toward safer holdings. A lack of concrete news on...
Can Zuckerberg really make a privacy-friendly Facebook?
SAN FRANCISCO — After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he’s shifting his company’s focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants to encourage small numbers of...
China’s Huawei launches court challenge to U.S. security law
SHENZHEN, China — Chinese tech giant Huawei is launching a U.S. court challenge to a law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. Huawei Technologies Ltd.’s announcement Thursday comes as the biggest global maker of network equipment for...
Ghosn’s journey: Star auto executive to masked suspect
Carlos Ghosn, the star auto executive credited with rescuing both Renault and Nissan, left a drab Tokyo detention center Wednesday after more than three months in custody, his identity obscured by a surgical mask, hat and construction worker’s outfit. The jet-setting turnaround wizard was pursued by TV news helicopters as...
UK airline says female flight attendants can drop makeup
DALLAS — Britain’s Virgin Atlantic has dropped a requirement that female flight attendants wear makeup, joining other major carriers that have eased their dress and grooming requirements after complaints about turning female employees into sex objects. Virgin Atlantic announced this week that female cabin crew members can skip the makeup....
Record trade deficit will put pressure on Trump in China talks
WASHINGTON — President Trump fell further behind in his goal of reversing the nation’s trade deficit as the gap in goods soared to an all-time high last year. That’s certain to add pressure on Trump to close a trade deal with China to boost U.S. exports and remove punishing tariffs...
Nevada cites U.S. warnings in bid to block plutonium shipments
RENO, Nev. — Nevada’s latest bid to block incoming shipments of weapons-grade plutonium points to the U.S. Energy Department’s own scientific warnings about the dangers of prematurely moving the highly radioactive material out of South Carolina. State lawyers say in briefs filed this week with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court...
The Cruze cruises: General Motors assembly plant closing, maybe for good
LORDSTOWN, Ohio — The last compact car rolled off the line Wednesday at General Motors’ massive assembly plant in Ohio as the automaker began moving toward its future while workers wondered about theirs. GM is eliminating all 1,700 hourly positions, perhaps for good, at the factory near Youngstown, the first...
Judge eases wildfire safety plan for California utility
SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. judge overseeing a criminal case against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. called the California utility’s efforts to prevent trees from hitting its power lines and starting wildfires “dismal” but scaled back his proposals to prevent its equipment from causing more blazes. Judge William Alsup said...
Stocks slide a 3rd straight day with health companies showing the way
Health care companies led U.S. stocks broadly lower Wednesday, giving the market its third straight loss. Technology and energy stocks also bore the brunt of the selling, offsetting gains in materials and utilities companies. Several retailers also rose. Smaller companies fell more than the rest of the market. The latest...
U.S. trade deficit jumps to 10-year high, including record gap with China
WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit jumped nearly 19 percent in December, pushing the trade imbalance for all of 2018 to widen to a decade-long high of $621 billion. The gap with China on goods widened to an all-time record of $419.2 billion. The Commerce Department figures released Wednesday undermined...
Last car to roll off assembly line at Lordstown GM plant
LORDSTOWN, Ohio — A sprawling General Motors’ assembly plant near Youngstown will be idled on Wednesday after more than 50 years producing cars and other vehicles, a move that will eliminate nearly 1,700 hourly positions by months’ end. GM announced in December that Lordstown along with three plants in the...
China says new law will bar demands for technology handover
BEIJING — China will bar government authorities from demanding overseas companies hand over technology secrets in exchange for market share, a top economic official said Wednesday, addressing a key complaint at the heart of the China-U.S. trade dispute. The provision is contained in a foreign investment law to be debated...
Las Vegas bets on Elon Musk for tunnel transit system
LAS VEGAS — Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s dream of an express tunnel transit system could finally become a reality in Las Vegas after major setbacks in other cities. Las Vegas’ tourism agency announced Wednesday it is recommending that an enterprise backed by the divisive billionaire receive a contract to build and...
GM’s job cuts in Ohio show hot economy leaves parts of America behind
LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Scott Mezzapeso had to do something last month he never imagined: call his ex-wife and warn her that he might not be able to pay child support on time. Mezzapeso has a tattoo of his daughter on his left arm and rarely misses her high school softball...
Major brands avoid Trump even as he promotes them from the White House
In a scene likely worth millions of dollars in free advertising, President Trump displayed a spread of burgers from some of the country’s biggest fast-food chains inside the State Dining Room of the White House on Monday as hungry football players looked on. With cameras rolling, he offered a presidential...
Trader Joe’s customers (91,000 of them) petition store to reduce plastic packaging
Customers love Trader Joe’s for the company’s innovative products and affordable prices. All that plastic encasing cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and cherries? Not so much. As of Tuesday, more than 91,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging the Southern California-based chain to reduce its plastic packaging. “Trader Joe’s, I love...
Kraft Heinz keeps 5 test kitchens busy to stay relevant
GLENVIEW, Ill. — Robin Ross, director of culinary at Kraft Heinz, doesn’t need data to know how much consumer tastes have changed since processed food reigned supreme. When she was growing up, dinner often meant heating up a can of something on the stove, and when she was raising kids...
The federal deficit ballooned at start of new fiscal year, up 77 percent from a year before
WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit ballooned rapidly in the first four months of the fiscal year amid falling tax revenue and higher spending, the Treasury Department said Tuesday, posing a new challenge for the White House and Congress and they prepare for a number of budget battles. The deficit...
Study examines how health consumers respond to surprise medical bills
WASHINGTON — When it comes to having a baby, that bundle of joy may bring an unexpected price tag that can affect parents’ future health care choices. At least that was the finding of a study published this week in Health Affairs. It examined how consumers respond to surprise medical...
Holiday season defines winners, losers in retail
NEW YORK — The 2018 holiday season turned out to be a mixed bag for retailers, with some of them defying a gloomy government report in December that raised concerns that shoppers were hunkering down everywhere. Retailers including Walmart, Target and Best Buy that have been responding faster to a...
Evidence grows that Trump’s trade wars are hitting U.S. economy
WASHINGTON — President Trump regularly declares that he’s winning his trade wars. Yet evidence is growing that the U.S. economy is a net loser so far. In two separate papers published over the weekend, some of the world’s leading trade economists declared Trump’s tariffs to be the most consequential trade...
