Business category, Page 4
Boeing settles with a man whose family died in a 737 Max crash in Ethiopia
CHICAGO — Boeing reached a settlement Friday with a Canadian man whose wife and three children were killed in a deadly 2019 crash in Ethiopia, averting the first trial connected to the devastating event that led to a worldwide grounding of Max jets. The jury trial at Chicago’s federal court...
Kraft Heinz to split, report says
Kraft Heinz may be headed for a breakup. The packaged food conglomerate is planning to spin off a large chunk of its grocery business, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, effectively undoing a 2015 merger that’s now widely regarded as a strategic blunder. Anonymous sources told the newspaper the new...
Allegheny County creates new way for workers to report threats to union rights
Allegheny County launched a web page Thursday for workers to report violations or threats to their union organizing rights. The move comes at a time of local labor flare-ups and gridlock at the National Labor Relations Board. This new, confidential Right to Organize Incident Report Form asks for information about...
Walgreens shareholders approve $10 billion private equity buyout
Shareholders of Walgreens Boots Alliance overwhelmingly approved the drugstore chain’s $10 billion acquisition by private equity firm Sycamore. It is a rough era for national pharmacy chains like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite-Aid, closing hundreds of stores due to changing consumer behavior, declining pharmacy reimbursements and rising costs. Walgreens will close...
Elon Musk’s X platform investigated in France for alleged data tampering and fraud
PARIS — French prosecutors have launched a police investigation into alleged data tampering and fraud involving X, Elon Musk’s platform. The Paris prosecutor’s office, in a statement Friday, announced the opening of the investigation, and said that a branch of the French gendarmerie is conducting the inquiry. The investigation is...
Trump plans to hike tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said in a Thursday letter that he will raise taxes on imported goods from Canada to 35%, deepening a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. The letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is an...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rises to 6.72%, ending 5-week slide
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage edged up this week, ending a five-week decline in borrowing costs for homebuyers. The long-term rate ticked up to 6.72% from 6.67% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.89%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate...
Snap, crackle, sale: Nutella maker Ferrero plans to buy WK Kellogg for $3 billion
Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands such as Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old U.S. cereal company WK Kellogg in an effort to expand its North American sales. The Ferrero Group said Thursday it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share, or approximately $3.1 billion. The transaction includes WK...
Investors snap up U.S. homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one
LOS ANGELES — Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers. Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors,...
John Dorfman: Kraft Heinz, Helmerich & Payne hit the Casualty List
Give me your battered, your cheap, Your wounded stocks that crave a second chance, The wretched refuse of the market’s heap. They’ve stumbled, yet they soon again may dance. That little poem (with apologies to Emma Lazarus) sums up the idea behind my Casualty List. It’s a roster of stocks...
Samsung unveils its new line of foldable devices at Unpacked
NEW YORK — Samsung introduced several updates to its foldable devices lineup on Wednesday, with the new Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and the new Z Flip 7 FE taking stage at the latest Unpacked event. The Korean electronics company unveiled the upgrades — including new versions of...
X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after 2 years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she’s stepping down after two bumpy years running Elon Musk’s social media platform. Yaccarino posted a positive message Wednesday about her tenure at the company formerly known as Twitter and said “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with” Musk’s...
Chipmaker Nvidia becomes most valuable company in the world at $4 trillion
NEW YORK — Chipmaker Nvidia became the first public company to top $4 trillion in value on Wednesday after a two-year investor frenzy. Nvidia shares rose 2.5%, or $3.97, in early trading Wednesday, topping $164 each. At the beginning of 2023, Nvidia shares were around $14 each. The poster child...
Trump’s trade blitz produces few deals but lots of uncertainty
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his advisers promised a lightning round of global trade negotiations with dozens of countries back in April. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro predicted “90 deals in 90 days.” Administration officials declared that other countries were desperate to make concessions to avoid the massive...
Musk’s AI company scrubs inappropriate posts after Grok chatbot makes antisemitic comments
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it’s taking down “inappropriate posts” made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler. Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s...
Waymo begins offering teen accounts, starting in metro Phoenix
Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo is launching a new account type that lets teenagers hail a robotaxi and ride alone, expanding its rider base while continuing to test its service in more U.S. cities. Teens from 14 to 17 can have a user profile paired to a parent’s account starting on Tuesday,...
Trump administration pulls back on plans to rewrite Biden-era asbestos ban
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is dropping plans to allow continued use of the last type of asbestos legally allowed in U.S. manufacturing after an outcry from asbestos opponents. The Environmental Protection Agency said in a court filing Monday that it will now defend the Biden administration’s ban of chrysotile...
EQT buys Olympus for $1.8B, consolidates grip on Southwestern Pa. natural gas
Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer EQT Corp. has acquired local competitor Olympus Energy for $1.8 billion. The deal, which officially closed last week, consolidates EQT’s control over regional natural gas deposits at a time of rising demand. “This strategic transaction strengthens our position as the leading natural gas producer in the...
Turkey-raising ceases at Pounds Turkey Farm in Allegheny Township, market remains open
There are fewer mouths to feed this summer at Pounds Turkey Farm in Allegheny Township. About 3,000 fewer, as owners Tim, Beverly and Rick Pounds announced Tuesday their long-lamented decision to cease raising fresh turkeys annually on the family farm that has been in operation since 1935. Beverly Pounds and...
Here are some Amazon Prime Day deals for the week
Break out those credit cards — Amazon Prime Day has returned. The longest Prime Day to date, sales begin Tuesday and last through 11:59 p.m. Friday. This year marks the 11th Prime Day, and historically, Amazon has dropped deals on popular products like Apple AirPods, Dyson cordless vacuums, the Laneige...
A look at the countries that received Trump’s tariff letters
President Donald Trump sent letters to 14 countries Monday outlining higher tariffs they’ll face if they don’t make trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1. In the letters, which were posted on Truth Social, Trump warned countries that they would face even higher tariffs if they retaliated by increasing...
Trump sets 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and new import taxes on 12 other nations
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other nations that would go into effect on Aug. 1. Trump provided notice by posting letters on Truth Social that were addressed...
What to know about a potential deal to keep TikTok running in U.S.
Less than a month after extending a deadline to ban TikTok for the third time, President Donald Trump told reporters late Friday night that, “We pretty much have a deal,” on TikTok — but he did not offer details. The details and timing of a potential deal are not clear....
EPA delays pollution limits, drawing jeers from environmentalists, cheers from U.S. Steel
The Trump administration is delaying mandates that would have forced steelmakers U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs to cut toxic emissions, drawing industry praise and environmentalist dismay. A July 1 order from the Environmental Protection Agency postpones until April 2027 stricter emissions standards for the country’s integrated steel mills, all of which...
U.S. tariffs on European goods threaten to shake up the world’s largest 2-way trade relationship
FRANKFURT, Germany — America’s largest trade partner, the European Union, is among the entities awaiting word Monday on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will impose punishing tariffs on their goods, a move economists have warned would have repercussions for companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. Trump imposed...
