Business News

Stocks fall as investors grapple with Fed’s recovery timeline

Stocks fall as investors grapple with Fed’s recovery timeline

Wall Street was struggling on Thursday, torn between improving economic data and a Federal Reserve that said the path to recovery would be very long. Stocks took a nosedive at the opening bell and fought back from their lows, before finding themselves deep in the red again around midday. The Dow, which even briefly turned…

After 36 years, Papa John’s moves some operations out of its hometown

After 36 years, Papa John’s moves some operations out of its hometown

Papa John’s is moving much of its operation from Louisville, Kentucky, to a new global headquarters to Atlanta. The pizza chain hasn’t picked the specific location for its Atlanta office yet, but it’s expected to complete the selection process by the end of the year, according to a press release. “We’re thrilled to open a…

Small stocks may thrive in 2021 — no matter who wins the election

Small stocks may thrive in 2021 — no matter who wins the election

The stock market is, to put it mildly, having a strange year. The S&P 500, a market cap weighted index heavily influenced by the FAANGs, is up nearly 4% in 2020 while the tech-laden Nasdaq has soared more than 20%. But the Russell 2000, the index that is home to America’s small cap public companies,…

Ford to build new electric F-150 at historic Dearborn site

Ford to build new electric F-150 at historic Dearborn site

Ford announced plans Thursday for a new plant to build the electric version of its bestselling vehicle, the F-150 pickup. The plant will be located in Ford’s massive Rouge complex, the company’s historic factory site in Dearborn, Michigan, just south of Detroit. The new building will be a gleaming structure of glass and steel, a…

Why are stocks dropping? Hint: It involves Jerome Powell

The Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates near rock bottom for a long time to come. But a hazy outlook for an economy deeply scarred by the pandemic is still worrying investors, pushing US stock futures down sharply on Thursday. What’s happening: The Fed indicated on Wednesday that it would hold rates at…

Another 860,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week

Another 860,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week

Another 860,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. It was another week-on-week decline for jobless claims as the jobs recovery drags on, but the improvements have been slow and the jobs recovery is running out of steam. Weekly claims have improved since…

Barack Obama is publishing a memoir — right after the election

Barack Obama is publishing a memoir — right after the election

Former President Barack Obama’s long-awaited presidential memoir is coming this year — but not until after the November election. A flood of hot-selling political books have hit shelves in recent weeks in the run-up to the election. Readers will have to wait for Obama’s book, though: He tweeted early Thursday that the book, “A Promised…

Why people are flocking to ugly produce during the pandemic

Why people are flocking to ugly produce during the pandemic

When the pandemic hit the United States in March, Imperfect Foods found itself scrambling to keep up with a sudden spike in demand. In early 2020, the five-year-old online grocery startup was delivering about 100,000 food boxes a week. By May, that weekly figure had doubled. From June to August, weekly orders have remained at…

More than half of businesses that closed during the pandemic won’t reopen

More than half of businesses that closed during the pandemic won’t reopen

About 60% of businesses that have closed during the coronavirus pandemic will never reopen, and restaurants have suffered the most, according to new data from Yelp. The reviews site has been keeping tabs on closures since March. Businesses can update their status to temporarily or permanently closed on Yelp. As of August 31, nearly 163,700…

Jim Carrey will play Joe Biden on ‘SNL’

Jim Carrey will play Joe Biden on ‘SNL’

“Saturday Night Live” has found its Joe Biden. Jim Carrey will play the Democratic nominee and former vice president on this season of “SNL,” NBC announced Wednesday. The variety series will return just in time to mock the 2020 presidential election when it debuts on October 3. The series will premiere with five consecutive episodes…

Kodak stock soars after review finds no insider trading

Kodak stock soars after review finds no insider trading

Kodak stock briefly surged more than 80% on Wednesday after a special committee’s investigation found no evidence of insider trading prior to the announcement of a US government loan. Although the review found no signs of Kodak breaking the law, it did find the company mishandled stock options granted to its CEO in the days…

Retail sales growth slowed down in August

Retail sales growth slowed down in August

Retail sales ticked up in August from the previous month but at a slower pace after the enhanced unemployment benefits provided by the federal government ended. US retail sales rose 0.6% in August, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That’s below the 1% predicted by economists surveyed by Refinitv. In July, retail sales grew 0.9%, the…

DOJ orders Al Jazeera platform to register as foreign agent

DOJ orders Al Jazeera platform to register as foreign agent

The Justice Department ordered an Al Jazeera online news platform based in the US to register as a foreign agent on Monday, declaring that the outlet is “an agent of the Government of Qatar,” according to a letter from the Justice Department obtained by CNN. The designation for that platform, AJ+, came on the same…

Chuck E. Cheese wants to destroy 7 billion prize tickets

Chuck E. Cheese wants to destroy 7 billion prize tickets

This might qualify as a kid’s wildest dream: a mountain of 7 billion Chuck E. Cheese prize tickets. It’s enough paper to fill 65 shipping containers, each 40 feet long, with tiny pieces of paper emblazoned with the image of the chain’s mascot, a rat named Chuck. And enough to cash in for $9 million…

Getting to net zero emissions could cost $2 trillion a year, report says

Getting to net zero emissions could cost $2 trillion a year, report says

Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is possible but will cost $1 trillion to $2 trillion a year, according to a new report, which warns that the cost of unmitigated climate change will be much higher. The Energy Transitions Commission, a coalition of senior executives from 45 energy producers, financial institutions and environmental…

McDonald’s new ‘Travis Scott Meal’ is in short supply at some restaurants

McDonald’s new ‘Travis Scott Meal’ is in short supply at some restaurants

The Travis Scott meal has been such a success that McDonald’s is running out. McDonald’s launched the limited-time meal based on the rapper’s favorite childhood order earlier this month. Scott, a Grammy Award-nominee, is the first celebrity to have his name on McDonald’s menu since Michael Jordan’s “McJordan” nearly 30 years ago. “Some of our…

Fed pledges to keep interest rates near zero for years

Fed pledges to keep interest rates near zero for years

The Federal Reserve committed Wednesday to do more to help the US economic recovery, promising more asset purchases and lower interest rates for even longer than it previously expected. The Federal funds rate remained unchanged at zero to a quarter percentage point, and will stay there until America’s labor market has recovered “consistent with the…

The outlook for top global economies is improving, OECD says

The outlook for top global economies is improving, OECD says

The huge shock to many of the world’s biggest economies from the coronavirus pandemic may not be quite as bad as economists feared just a few months ago. In a report published on Wednesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development upgraded its forecast for global economic output this year, noting that while declines were…

Thomas Cook relaunches as an online travel business under Chinese ownership

Thomas Cook relaunches as an online travel business under Chinese ownership

Thomas Cook is back — this time, with a different business model. The British tour operator relaunched on Wednesday as an online-only venture, one year after a collapse that left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded. The company has reinvented itself as a digital booking platform as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hobble global demand…

Here’s why some state economies are recovering faster than others

Here’s why some state economies are recovering faster than others

Six months into the pandemic, some states are recovering faster than others from the severe economic blow. In Maine, real estate is booming. In Nebraska, unemployment is below 5%. And in Rhode Island, small business employees have recently been working more hours than they did before the pandemic. As of last week, these states’ economies…

Take it from the Fed: Low interest rates aren’t going anywhere

Take it from the Fed: Low interest rates aren’t going anywhere

The Federal Reserve has committed to keeping interest rates lower for longer. But will that be enough to support an economy grappling with a historic shock, especially with Congress at an impasse on additional government spending? That’s the big question from investors ahead of the Fed’s Wednesday meeting, its last before the November election. Having…