Wire stories category, Page 78
Disney+ hits 95 million subscribers as earnings beat expectations
Walt Disney Co. said Thursday its marquee streaming service Disney+ grew to nearly 95 million subscribers during the first quarter of its fiscal year, while the pandemic continued to weigh on the entertainment giant’s finances. The Disney+ subscriber count of 94.9 million is up from the 86.8 million the company...
U.S. jobless claims fall slightly to 793,000 with layoffs high
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to 793,000, evidence that job cuts remain high despite a substantial decline in new confirmed viral infections. Last week’s total declined from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That figure was revised higher from the previously...
Autoworkers face dimmer future in a new era of electric cars
When General Motors boldly announced its goal last month to make only battery-powered vehicles by 2035, it didn’t just mark a break with more than a century of making internal combustion engines. It also clouded the future for 50,000 GM workers whose skills — and jobs — could become obsolete...
U.S. stocks edge lower as investors weigh caution, optimism
Stocks edged lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday as investors remain cautiously optimistic about prospects for a new round of government aid as the economic recovery seemingly stalls. Wall Street continued to digest solid corporate earnings and updates on a decline of new virus cases. The latest government...
Kraft Heinz sells Planters brand to Hormel Foods
Hormel Foods is going nuts. The Austin, Minnesota-based company, known for its meat brands like Spam and Applegate, said Thursday it is buying the Planters nut business from Kraft Heinz Co. for $3.35 billion. Included in the deal are Planters brands like Nut-rition, Cheez Balls and Corn Nuts. “The acquisition...
Jerome Powell stresses commitment to full employment, low rates
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday underscored the Fed’s commitment to reducing unemployment to multi-decade lows, where it stood before the pandemic, while signaling little concern about the risk of potentially high inflation or financial market instability. Powell stressed in prepared remarks for a webcast to the Economic Club...
Taxing time: How the pandemic will affect filing your taxes
The pandemic has made everything a bit trickier — tax filing season is no exception. The whole process is starting a bit later this year and there are a few wrinkles to be aware of for those who received unemployment benefits, worked from home, took on gig work, were a...
U.S. stocks edge lower after S&P 500 winning streak ends
Stocks edged lower in afternoon trading on Wall Street Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 ended a six-day winning streak. A report showing that inflation remained tame last month was encouraging for investors because it suggested the U.S. economy is in a strong position to receive more stimulus without...
Aunt Jemima brand gets a new name: Pearl Milling Company
Aunt Jemima is making her last batch of pancakes. Quaker Oats said Tuesday that its Aunt Jemima brand pancake mix and syrup will be renamed Pearl Milling Company. Aunt Jemima products will continue to be sold until June, when the packaging will officially change over. Quaker Oats, a division of...
Election of Democratic chair portends change at Postal Service
WASHINGTON — A former labor leader and Obama administration official was elected Tuesday to serve as chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, marking the first step in a potential shakeup under President Joe Biden. Ron Bloom replaced a former Republican National Committee chair, Robert “Mike” Duncan, who...
Family of novice investor who killed himself sues Robinhood
LOS ANGELES — The family of a novice stock trader who killed himself after mistakenly believing he lost more than $700,000 are suing Robinhood Financial, claiming the popular stock-trading platform’s business practices “directly” led to their son’s death. The complaint, filed Monday in state court in Santa Clara County, Calif.,...
Stocks push to more gains, and record highs, on Wall StreetVideo
Stocks notched more gains and pushed to new highs Monday, extending a winning streak that just gave the market its best weekly gain since November. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, it’s sixth straight gain. The three major indexes climbed to an all-time high, as did a benchmark of smaller company...
Super Bowl ads aim to entertain with light humorVideo
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl 55 in Tampa Bay, Florida, a different kind of action is taking place off the field. After a year of pandemic fear and isolation and a tumultuous election, brands are waging battle during the game’s commercial...
Stocks rise on Wall Street, despite dismal jobs report
Stocks were moving higher in afternoon trading on Friday, despite the fact that Wall Street got a dismal jobs report for January that showed the U.S. economy remaining in dire straits due to the pandemic. Investors continue to hope that more help for the economy is on the way from...
More GameStops possible as small investors flex muscles
LOS ANGELES — GameStop and a handful of other stocks whose meteoric rise last month shocked Wall Street began falling back to Earth this week. But the campaign that briefly pushed GameStop up by 1,600% at the expense of hedge funds that were betting it would lose value, known as...
Solid company earnings and hopes for aid send stocks higher
Stocks moved higher in early trading on Thursday, helped by strong company earnings as well as optimism that Washington can reach a deal for another round of fiscal stimulus for the millions of Americans who need it. The S&P 500 index was up 0.4% as of 9:55 a.m. Eastern. The...
Parler CEO John Matze says he’s been terminated by company’s board
Parler, the social media platform partial to the far right, has dismissed its CEO John Matze, according to several media outlets. Matze confirmed the decision in a text to Reuters, which was originally reported by Fox News. Parler CEO John Matze said he was fired on Friday by the social-media...
Major stock indexes end with modest gains on Wall Street
Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading with modest gains Wednesday, as investors focused on some strong earnings reports from Big Tech companies while remaining cautiously optimistic that Washington will deliver more economic stimulus. The S&P 500 inched up 0.1% after swinging between a gain of 0.6% and a...
GameStop’s stupefying stock rise doesn’t hide its reality
NEW YORK — Behind GameStop’s stock surge is the grim reality of its prospects: The video game retailer is floundering even as the industry around it is booming. GameStop has been swept up in a battle between big-moneyed hedge funds betting against it and small investors trying to prop it...
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, will step down as CEO
NEW YORK — Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he’s had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company announced Tuesday. Bezos, 57, will be replaced...
Tesla to fix touch screens, ending spat with U.S. regulators
After initially refusing a request from U.S. safety regulators, Tesla has now agreed to recall about 135,000 vehicles because the large touch screens on the console can go dark. The recall of certain 2012 through 2018 Model S sedans and 2016 through 2018 Model X SUVs ends a fight with...
Wall Street recovers some of last week’s drop, silver climbsVideo
Stocks notched broad gains Monday on Wall Street, clawing back some of their losses following the market’s worst weekly loss since October. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%. The benchmark index was coming off a 3.3% slide last week, when volatility spiked as online traders hoping to inflict damage on hedge...
CBO projects 4.6% growth in Biden’s first year, jobs lag
The economy is projected to grow at a robust 4.6% annual rate this year, but employment isn’t expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday. The 10-year outlook said the economic recovery from the coronavirus got a boost from an unprecedented wave of government...
Wall Street’s GameStop bug may have mutated; silver surgesVideo
NEW YORK — The erratic trading in shares of underdog companies like GameStop that turned markets combustible last week appears to have migrated to commodities, sending silver prices surging to an eight-year high. Silver futures jumped more than 9% on Monday to $29.42 per ounce with #silversqueeze trending on Twitter....
For GameStop day traders, the moment they’ve dreamed about
WASHINGTON — They’ve endured a financial crisis. Two deep recessions. Mounds of student debt. Stagnant pay. Costly health care. Dim job prospects. They’ve seen the uber-rich grow richer while a pandemic threw tens of millions of people out of work and left many more isolated and vulnerable at home. Now,...
