Business category, Page 67
Wall Street leaps, and S&P 500 rallies 1.6% as shoppers drive the economyVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street rallied to one of its best days of the year Thursday after data showed the U.S. economy is holding up better than expected, with particular credit going to the country’s shoppers. The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% for its fourth-best day of the year and its...
Walmart boosts outlook for 2024 with bargains proving a powerful lure for the inflation weary
NEW YORK — Walmart had another quarter of strong sales that topped almost all expectations with its comparatively low prices proving a powerful draw for millions who have struggled with rising costs for housing, groceries and almost everything else. The nation’s largest retailer also raised its full-year outlook in a...
Sweet and salty deal worth $30 billion would put M&M’s and Snickers alongside Cheez-It and Pringles
M&M’s maker Mars is buying Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-Its and Pop-Tarts, for nearly $30 billion, in an effort to broaden its snacking portfolio and expand globally. Kellanova was created last year when the Kellogg Co. split into two companies. Kellanova sells many of the former company’s most profitable brands,...
FTC ban on noncompete agreements comes under legal attack
NEW YORK — The federal government wants to make it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor. But some companies say a new rule created by the Federal Trade Commission will make it hard to protect trade secrets and investments they make in their employees....
Annual U.S. inflation falls to 3-year low, clearing the way for the Fed to begin cutting rates
WASHINGTON — Year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September. Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer...
Wall Street rallies to one of its best days of the year as a result of inflation report
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied to one of their best days of the year Tuesday after the first of several highly anticipated reports on the economy this week came in better than expected. The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% for its third-best day of 2024 after the U.S. government reported inflation...
Auto workers union seeks NLRB investigation of Trump, Musk comments about firing striking workersVideo
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two discussed on social media about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, the union alleges...
U.S. wholesale inflation cooled in July in sign that price pressures are continuing to ease
WASHINGTON — Wholesale price increases in the United States eased in July, suggesting that inflation pressures are further cooling as the Federal Reserve moves closer to cutting interest rates, likely beginning next month. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches...
Starbucks CEO replaced by Brian Niccol, a fixer who revived Chipotle when the chain was in distressVideo
In 2018, when Chipotle was reeling from multiple food poisoning outbreaks that had sickened 1,100 people, the company called Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol to turn things around. As Chipotle’s chairman and CEO, Niccol beefed up marketing and product innovation, added a loyalty program and improved store operations. He also...
Elon Musk’s Trump interview marred by technical glitches, Musk says it’s a malicious attack
Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and blamed the incident on “a lack of coordination” during a high-profile return to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches. “If I had not turned my head, I would not...
Student loan repayments on pause for some as court fight continues over federal debt relief program
Millions of student borrowers facing college loan payments are getting temporary relief following court decisions this summer blocking implementation of the federal debt relief program known as SAVE. Their payments and any interest are effectively paused — at least while a court fight plays out between Republican-led states suing to...
Pittsburgh food vendor settles with Labor Department over overtime abuse, worker threats
A Pittsburgh food vendor has paid workers $15,000 in back wages and damages for refusing to pay workers the mandated overtime rate and threatening employees, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday. Simon’s Food Concessions, located in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood, denied time-and-a-half wages to six employees for work beyond the...
Americans’ refusal to keep paying higher prices may be dealing a final blow to U.S. inflation spike
WASHINGTON — The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it. Some of America’s largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains...
Wall Street ends wild and scary week nearly exactly where it began it; more tests loom next week
NEW YORK — After a manic week that began with Japanese stocks falling to their worst loss since 1987’s Black Monday, only for U.S. stocks to soar later to their best day since 2022, slight gains on Friday carried Wall Street almost exactly back to where it began the week....
Considering a mortgage refi? Lower rates are just 1 factor when refinancing a home loan
LOS ANGELES — Mortgage rates haven’t been this attractive in more than a year, good news for homeowners eager to refinance. Many homeowners have already jumped at the opportunity to lower their monthly payment, spurring a surge in mortgage refinancing applications. And that was before the average rate on a...
Wall Street rallies to its best day since 2022 on encouraging unemployment data; S&P 500 jumps 2.3%
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied Thursday in Wall Street’s latest sharp swerve after a better-than-expected report on unemployment eased worries about the slowing economy. The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% for its best day since 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 683 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed...
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage falls to 6.47%, lowest level in over a year
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell this week to its lowest level in more than a year, a welcome affordability boost for prospective home shoppers and homeowners looking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate. The rate fell to 6.47% from 6.73% last week, mortgage buyer...
Delta facing class action lawsuit over tech outage; customers seeking refunds
Delta Air Lines is facing a class action lawsuit, which claims the airline refused to give refunds following a global technology outage last month. Among airlines, Delta was by far the hardest hit hard by the outage, having to cancel thousands of flights, because key systems were crippled by the...
Wall Street heads for 2nd straight day of solid gains in a whipsaw week
NEW YORK — Stocks are bouncing higher on Wall Street again as a bit more fear washes out of global markets following a steep slide that began last week. The S&P 500 was 1% higher early Wednesday and on pace for solid back-to-back gains following a brutal three-day losing streak....
Disney’s streaming business is profitable for first time, but slowing U.S. park business ups anxiety
Disney returned to a profitable third quarter as its combined streaming business started making money for the first time, along with a very strong showing in theaters for the movie “Inside Out 2.” Operating income for the entertainment segment, which includes its movie studio and parts of its television wing,...
Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover
WICHITA FALLS, Tex. — Elon Musk’s social media platform X has sued a group of advertisers, alleging that a “massive advertiser boycott” deprived the company of billions of dollars in revenue and violated antitrust laws. The company formerly known as Twitter filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a federal court in...
What are carry trades and how did they contribute to this week’s global market mayhem?
BANGKOK — The mayhem that swept across world markets this week was partly caused by a market strategy known as the “carry trade.” Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 12.4% on Monday and markets in Europe and North America suffered outsized losses as traders sold stocks to help cover rising risks...
The Fed’s high rates spur fear of slowdown, yet recession signals have so far proved wrongVideo
WASHINGTON — The turmoil shaking global financial markets reflects a sudden fear that the Federal Reserve may have held its key interest rate too high for too long, heightening the risk of a U.S. recession. Economists and Wall Street traders now expect the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, which...
John Dorfman: Sane Portfolio cruises into its 23rd year
Some people want to invest in the stock market but don’t want to be too daring. For the slightly conservative investor, I compile a collection of stocks I think may be suitable. I call it the Sane Portfolio. There are a dozen stocks in this portfolio, and I refresh the...
Schwab, Fidelity, other online trading brokerages appear to go dark during huge market sell-off
NEW YORK — Several online brokerage firms including Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard appeared to be down for thousands of users early Monday during one of the biggest stock markets sell-offs of 2024. User reports appeared to peak around and just before 10 a.m. ET, data from outage tracker Downdectector...
