Wire stories category, Page 83
Lights, camera, sell: Retailers want you to watch and shop
NEW YORK — When Jenna Powell gets in front of a camera, she can sell $10,000 worth of sparkly dresses and tie-dye hoodies in 40 minutes. Powell, whose three Jennaration shops in Alabama were closed at the start of the pandemic, has put all her focus on selling through live...
Unchanged from early estimate, U.S. economy grew 33.1% in Q3
WASHINGTON — The second of three estimates on U.S. growth for the July-September quarter was unchanged at a record pace of 33.1%. But a resurgence in the coronavirus is expected to slow growth sharply in the current quarter with some economists even raising the specter of a double-dip recession. While...
Employers start sending workers shopping for health coverage
Instead of offering one or more options, some companies are turning health insurance shopping over to employees. A federal rule change last year stoked this new approach. It allows employers to reimburse workers for coverage they bought without paying a tax penalty. The concept sends employees to individual insurance markets...
GM to recall 7M vehicles globally to replace Takata air bags
General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The move came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles in the U.S. The recall will cost the Detroit...
Business owners upbeat about vaccine, wary as virus spreads
NEW YORK — Promising news about a coronavirus vaccine has small business owners feeling more upbeat despite cases of the virus surging in many parts of the U.S. Owners hope consumers and businesses will be more relaxed about spending now that two drug companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have vaccines that...
Wall Street slips amid worries about worsening pandemic
Stocks ended an up-and-down week on a down note on Wall Street Friday, taking 0.7% off the S&P 500. The benchmark index logged its first weekly loss so far this month. Worries about the worsening pandemic and the restrictions it’s bringing are outweighing optimism about the progress being made on...
Pfizer, BioNTech seek emergency use of covid-19 vaccine in U.S.
Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic — but not until after a long, hard winter. The action comes...
GM: New batteries cut electric car costs, increase range
DETROIT — General Motors says a pending breakthrough in battery chemistry will cut the price of its electric vehicles so they equal those powered by gasoline within five years. The technology also will increase the range per charge to as much as 450 miles. The company’s product development chief promised...
Tyson suspends Iowa plant managers amid virus betting claim
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Tyson Foods suspended top officials at its largest pork plant on Thursday and launched an investigation into allegations that they bet on how many workers would get infected during a widespread coronavirus outbreak. The company’s president and CEO, Dean Banks, said he was “extremely upset” about...
Stocks rise amid investors’ tug of war between hope, fear
NEW YORK — Wall Street capped a day of choppy trading with modest gains for stocks Thursday, as the market’s tug of war continues between worries about the worsening pandemic in the present and optimism that a vaccine will rescue the economy in the future. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%...
U.S. jobless claims increase to 742,00 as pandemic worsens
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week to 742,000, the first increase in five weeks and a sign that the resurgent viral outbreak is likely slowing the economy and forcing more companies to cut jobs. The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that applications for benefits...
FAA clears Boeing 737 Max to fly again
After nearly two years and a pair of deadly crashes, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is clearing Boeing’s 737 Max for flight. The nation’s air safety agency announced the move early Wednesday, saying it was done after a comprehensive and methodical 20-month review process. Regulators around the world grounded the Max...
Twitter, Facebook CEOs defend election actions, promise more
WASHINGTON — The CEOs of Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday defended their safeguards against disinformation in the presidential election, and promised Congress they would take vigorous action for two special elections in Georgia that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark...
Another booming quarter for Walmart, but sales are slowing
NEW YORK — Walmart turned out another stellar quarter as the world’s largest retailer powers through a pandemic that has felled other national chains. But sales at stores opened at least a year slowed in the three months that ended with October compared with earlier this year as the pandemic...
Stocks fall as virus worries force big rally to take a pause
NEW YORK — Worries about the worsening pandemic pushed Wall Street to tap the brakes Tuesday on its big November rally, which had vaulted stocks back to record heights. Treasury yields also dipped after a report showed U.S. shoppers spent less at retailers last month than economists expected. The numbers...
Amazon opens online pharmacy, shaking up another industryVideo
NEW YORK — Now at Amazon.com: insulin and inhalers. The retail colossus opened an online pharmacy Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills, and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days. The potential impact of Amazon’s arrival in the pharmaceutical space rippled...
Airbnb details years of losses ahead of planned IPOVideo
Airbnb was losing money even before the pandemic struck and cut its revenue by almost a third, the home-sharing company revealed in documents filed Monday ahead of a planned initial public offering of its stock. The San Francisco-based company has yet to set a date for the IPO but it...
Dow returns to record, S&P 500 adds to its on vaccine hopesVideo
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average returned to a record Monday for the first time since plunging nine months ago in despair about the pandemic, riding a swell of optimism that a vaccine may soon control the coronavirus and the economic destruction it’s caused. Moderna said early in...
Michigan governor seeks shutdown of Great Lakes oil pipeline
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. Whitmer’s office notified Canadian company Enbridge Inc. that it was revoking an easement granted 67 years ago to extend a roughly...
For business owners with covid, virus is one of many struggles
NEW YORK — When Chris Hyland caught the coronavirus, his ordeal went beyond being sick and exhausted: He couldn’t help his business partners manage the virus’s impact on their company just as the outbreak was sweeping across the world. Hyland and his wife and children became ill in early March....
Top CEOs met to plan response to Trump’s election denial
WASHINGTON — Only a few of America’s CEOs have made public statements about President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his election loss, but in private, many are alarmed and talking about what collective action would be necessary if they see an imminent threat to democracy. On Nov. 6, more than...
S&P 500 closes at a record high, ending another banner week
The S&P 500 is closing at a record high for the first time since September, posting its second weekly gain in a row. The index rose 1.4% Friday, bringing its for November to 9.6%. Hopeful news this week on progress toward a coronavirus vaccine prompted investors to plow money into...
TikTok asks court to intervene as Trump order looms
The popular video-sharing app TikTok, its future in limbo since President Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall, is asking a federal court to intervene. TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has until Thursday to sell off its U.S. operations under an executive order that Trump signed in August....
Rally fades on Wall Street, pulling indexes below records
NEW YORK — Stocks closed mostly higher on Wednesday, helped by big technology stocks, but news of tighter restrictions in New York State helped dent an earlier rally. The S&P 500 closed up 27.13 points, or 0.8%, to 3,572.66. The benchmark index is now just 8 points below the record...
Walmart teams with GM to test autonomous deliveries
Walmart is teaming up with the General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit to test driverless delivery in Arizona. The companies say battery powered Chevrolet Volt vehicles will begin deliveries in Scottsdale early next year. At first they’ll have human backup drivers who will monitor the cars and help to deliver packages...
