Business category, Page 70
John Dorfman: Pilgrims Pride, Wabash National look good on this ratio
Want to invest in a company that is better at generating sales than profits? On the surface, that sounds like a remarkably bad idea. But investing in a company that has robust revenues and skimpy profits can sometimes pay off. New management, new products or plain old cost cutting may...
Pittsburgh refugee nonprofit Hello Neighbor bids goodbye to NLRB charge with $198K settlement
A Pittsburgh nonprofit that provides services to refugees has settled a labor dispute with workers and agreed to pay nearly $200,000 in back pay and wage increases following a complaint filed last year. Hello Neighbor, based in the city’s Larimer neighborhood, faced charges of unfair labor practices in February 2023....
Amazon Prime Day is a major cause of injuries for warehouse workers, Senate review says
NEW YORK — Amazon’s popular Prime Day sales event has been “a major cause of injuries” for warehouse workers who pick and pack customer orders at the e-commerce giant’s facilities across the United States, according to a report released Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders. The report, which draws information from...
Retail sales unchanged in June from May, underscoring shoppers’ resilience
NEW YORK — Shoppers paused their spending in June from May, defying economic forecasts for a pullback and proving their resilience in the face of an uncertain economy Retail sales were unchanged in June from May, after being revised upward to a 0.3% increase in May, according to the Commerce...
Macy’s ends takeover talks with Arkhouse and Brigade citing lack of certainty over financing
Macy’s is terminating its monthslong buyout talks with two investment firms, citing a substandard offer and the lack of certainty over financing. In announcing the end of negotiations on Monday, Macy’s alleged that Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management did not meet its request for information by a June 25...
Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded from a third-party platform in security breach
The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded from a third-party platform in a security breach, the company said Friday, as cyberattacks against businesses, schools and health systems continue to spread globally. The breach, which took place in April of this year but mostly involved...
European Union says X’s blue checks are deceptive ‘dark patterns’ that breach its social media laws
LONDON — The European Union said Friday that blue checkmarks from Elon Musk’s X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements, the first charges against a tech company since the bloc’s new social media regulations took effect. The European Commission outlined the preliminary...
Patagonia asks some employees to relocate to hub cities, including Pittsburgh
Patagonia asked about 90 of its remote employees to relocate within 60 miles of one of the brand’s seven hub cities — including Pittsburgh — or leave the company. Patagonia’s sole Pennsylvania location is its store on Walnut Street in Shadyside. J.J. Huggins, public relations and communications manager at Patagonia,...
U.S. wholesale inflation picked up in June in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in the United States rose by a larger-than-expected 2.6% last month from a year earlier, a sign that some inflation pressures remain high. The increase, the sharpest year-over-year increase since March 2023, comes at a time when other price indicators are showing that inflation has continued...
2 state lawmakers call on Pirates to increase player payroll, citing economic impact
Two Pennsylvania lawmakers are calling on the Pittsburgh Pirates organization to increase spending on player salaries, which, in turn, they said, will result in millions more for the local economy. State Reps. Tim Bonner, R-Mercer/Butler and Jim Gregory, R-Blair, said a report released Wednesday by Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office showed...
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage falls slightly, easing borrowing costs for home shoppers
LOS ANGELES — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell slightly this week, providing modest relief for home shoppers facing record-high home prices. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate fell to 6.89% from 6.95% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.96%. The average rate has...
Higher costs and low base fares send Delta’s profit down 29%. The airline still earned $1.31 billion
Americans are traveling in record numbers this summer, but Delta Air Lines said Thursday that it saw second-quarter profit drop 29% due to higher costs and discounting of base-level fares across the industry. The airline is also predicting a lower profit than Wall Street expects for the third quarter. On...
IRS collects milestone $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth taxpayers
WASHINGTON — The IRS announced Thursday that it has collected $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats — a milestone meant to showcase how the agency is making use of the money it received as part of the Biden administration’s signature climate, health care, and tax package signed...
U.S. inflation cools again, potentially paving way for Fed to cut interest rates soon
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States cooled in June for a third straight month, a sign that the worst price spike in four decades is steadily fading and may soon usher in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. In a better-than-expected report, consumer prices declined 0.1% from May...
Costco raises annual membership fees for the 1st time since 2017, boosting them an additional $5 to $10
ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco bargain hunters are going to have to pay an additional $5 to $10 annually as the popular warehouse chain prepares to raise its membership fees for the first time in seven years. The Issaquah, Washington, company disclosed the forthcoming 8% increase in the fee to gain...
S&P 500 tops 5,600 as Wall Street’s record-breaking rally keeps rollingVideo
NEW YORK — Wall Street’s blistering rally stretched into a seventh day Wednesday and vaulted the U.S. stock market to more all-time highs. The S&P 500 jumped 1% and topped the 5,600 level for the first time. The Nasdaq composite also rallied to a seventh straight gain and added 1.2%...
Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang convicted of securities fraud
NEW YORK — The founder of Archegos Capital Management, a hedge fund that collapsed in 2021, was convicted Wednesday of securities fraud in a scheme that prosecutors said cost global investment banks billions of dollars. Bill Hwang looked straight ahead as the verdict was read, taking several sips of water...
Samsung brings tech’s latest fashion to wearable technology with AI twists in new watch and ring
SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung is dressing up its wearable devices in technology’s latest fashion — artificial intelligence. The South Korean electronics giant on Wednesday revealed that both its first-ever premium smartwatch and a smart ring heralding its entry into a niche market will include AI features that are supposed to...
CNN to cut 100 jobs as it prepares to launch digital subscription products
CNN is cutting 100 positions across the company as it accelerates its push into digital subscription products that reach beyond its shrinking cable TV audience. In a lengthy Wednesday memo, CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson told employees that the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned unit “will lean more heavily into...
Powell stresses message that U.S. job market is cooling, a possible signal of coming rate cut
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday reinforced a message that the Fed is paying growing attention to a slowing job market and not only to taming inflation, a shift that signals it’s likely to begin cutting interest rates soon. “We’re not just an inflation-targeting central bank,” Powell...
California fast food workers now earn $20 per hour. Some franchisees respond by cutting hours
LOS ANGELES — Lawrence Cheng, whose family owns seven Wendy’s locations south of Los Angeles, took orders at the register on a recent day and emptied steaming hot baskets of French fries and chicken nuggets, salting them with a flourish. Cheng used to have nearly a dozen employees on the...
Biden administration to tax foreign-made steel and aluminum imports routed through Mexico
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum shipped from Mexico that were made elsewhere — an attempt to stop China from avoiding import taxes by routing goods through one of the United States’ closest trading partners. Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic...
John Dorfman: Valero and D.R. Horton are on the Casualty List
Get ’em while they’re cold. That’s the idea behind my Casualty List, a quarterly compendium of stocks that have recently been knocked down, and that I believe will rise again. You’d never guess it from watching the market averages, but about half of all U.S. stocks were down in the...
Fed’s Powell highlights slowing job market in signal that rate cuts may be nearing
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve faces a cooling job market as well as persistently high prices, Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony Tuesday to Congress, a shift in emphasis away from the Fed’s single-minded fight against inflation of the past two years that suggests it is moving closer to cutting...
Delta and an airline that doesn’t fly yet say they’ll run flights between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia
Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it has entered into a partnership with startup Riyadh Air with the goal of operating flights between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh Air, which plans to begin passenger flights next summer, is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and is part of the...
