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Robocall relief? FTC announces lifetime ban for auto warranty telemarketers

Business / Business News /

Consumers across the United States might not be getting as many of those annoying “warranty services” robocalls now that a South Florida network of businesses agreed to a lifetime ban.

American Vehicle Protection Corp. (AVP) and a handful of related defendants, including CG3 Solutions, Tony Gonzalez Consulting Group, Tony Allen Gonzalez and...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

US officials signal new rules for banks after SVB, Signature failures

Business / Business News /

Top U.S. financial officials on Tuesday outlined what’s likely to be the biggest regulatory overhaul of the banking sector in years, in an initiative aimed at addressing underlying issues that contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other U.S. regional lenders.

“I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity ...Read more

Starbucks/Starbucks/TNS

New Starbucks CEO inherits Schultz-drafted future and labor worries

Business / Business News /

When Howard Schultz returned to be Starbucks CEO for the third time last year, he made it clear he wasn't staying. Last week, he stepped down, handing over the role to Laxman Narasimhan.

Narasimhan, a former PepsiCo executive and chief executive of U.K.-based Lysol-maker Reckitt, was picked for the job last September. He spent the transition ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

US housing cools further, with prices down 3% from the peak

Business / Business News /

The U.S. housing slump stretched into a seventh month in January.

Home prices nationally fell 0.2% from December, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. The index is now down 3% from its record high, reached in June.

Prices have continued to soften as seller discounts become more common in a market where buyer ...Read more

Behind the Latter-day Saint church's vast wealth are two centuries of financial hits and misses

Business / Business News /

During the first weekend of April 2023, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will hold its semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City. Tens of thousands of members will attend in person, with millions watching from home.

Over two days, Latter-day Saints – often called “Mormons” – will hear an array of talks ...Read more

Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/TNS

With thefts still high, California Prius drivers wait months for new catalytic converters

Business / Business News /

When the catalytic converter was stolen from Vanessa Reimer's Toyota Prius in Long Beach, California, she thought the repair would be a simple one, taking a few weeks at most.

Then her local dealership delivered the bad news: The replacement part could take six months to arrive. Reimer, who is pregnant, may have a baby before her Prius has a ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Nurse shortage named 'global health emergency'

Business / Business News /

A total 13 million nurses will need to be replaced globally within the coming years, according to a March 2023 International Council of Nurses report. With the global nursing shortage as high as 30.6 million in 2019 — and only exasperated by the pandemic — nurses have found themselves in a profound staffing crisis.

“Three years into the ...Read more

Chuck Myers/TNS/TNS

Banning noncompete contracts for medical staff riles hospitals

Business / Business News /

Dr. Jacqui O’Kane took a job with a hospital in southern Georgia in 2020, as the lone doctor in a primary care clinic in a small town that’s a medically underserved area. She soon attracted nearly 3,000 patients.

But she said the hospital pressed her to take more new patients, so she had to work nights and weekends — not ideal for the ...Read more

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California lawmakers approve Newsom's oil bill. Here's what you need to know

Business / Business News /

California lawmakers on Monday approved Gov. Gavin Newsom's legislation to increase transparency in the oil industry, in the final hours of a special session he called last year to penalize excessive profits.

After months of deliberation, the final bill does not cap oil refinery profits or penalize the industry as Newsom had intended when he ...Read more

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Cruise, port leaders at Seatrade conference in South Florida see fortunes rising post COVID-19

Business / Business News /

Passengers are returning to their favorite ships. And cruise line industry leaders are feeling better about their prospects after the COVID-19 pandemic nearly destroyed their businesses three years ago.

Where do the world’s big cruise lines, a major cog in South Florida’s tourism industry, go from here?

Answers emerged quickly Monday at ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

The most striking claims in the CFTC's lawsuit against Binance

Business / Business News /

The top U.S. derivatives regulator’s lawsuit against crypto giant Binance Holdings Ltd. and Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao hammers at the company’s alleged concealment of rules violations in a breakneck pursuit of growth.

As the Commodity Futures Trading Commission goes after the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange — in the...Read more

Patricia De Melo Moreira/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE/TNS

Binance isn't FTX. It's much bigger and more systemically important to crypto

Business / Business News /

In every single corner of the crypto landscape, one name pops up: Binance.

Run by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the world’s largest crypto exchange is a dominant force in everything from Bitcoin trading and digital art to venture capital. With its power and influence only increasing after the collapse last year of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire,...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

FDIC grants First Citizens rare credit line for SVB

Business / Business News /

First Citizens BancShares Inc.’s acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank came with an unusual provision: a $70 billion line of credit, courtesy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The financing is meant to help First Citizens meet liquidity needs that arise in the next two years as it integrates SVB into its operations, the Raleigh, North ...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Moving hazardous chemicals by train is far safer than trucks, says top regulator who pushed merger and wants more freight moved by rail

Business / Business News /

Not even the toxic fireball over an Ohio derailment could shake Martin Oberman’s belief that railroads are a safer way to move hazardous chemicals, and most other freight, than long-haul trucks.

“Would you rather have your family and your SUV driving down the highway at 75 miles an hour next to a truck filled with chlorine, and the guy ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Disney layoffs begin this week. Iger says 7,000 job cuts to finish before summer

Business / Business News /

Walt Disney Co. this week begins its plan to cut 7,000 jobs as part of a wider effort to rejuvenate the Burbank entertainment giant's finances and reach profitability at its streaming business.

The first wave of employees facing layoffs will be notified by Disney bosses over the next four days, Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a Monday memo to ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

A last-minute guide to filing your 2022 return: EV credits, shrinking refunds and the end of pandemic tax relief

Business / Business News /

With weeks to go before the April 18 deadline, the majority of the nation’s 168 million tax filers are once again scrambling to download software, organize receipts and call their accountants for last-minute help.

Procrastinators may find what early filers already know: Tax year 2022 is not producing as many happy returns as in previous years...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Half of US employees earn extra cash on the side, survey finds

Business / Business News /

To meet increasing spending needs, households can generally do two things: cut spending or raise income. A large share of Americans are doing the latter, according to a new survey.

Almost half of employed consumers hold a side job or have some other form of supplemental income such as selling artisan products, data released Monday by ...Read more

Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Can California put an end to corporate greenwashing?

Business / Business News /

LOS ANGELES — Nearly three years ago, American Airlines pledged to eradicate its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in an effort to help avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

One of the largest airlines in the world, American carved a path toward its net-zero goal by focusing on six key sectors, including sustainable aviation ...Read more

Extra food assistance cushioned the early pandemic's blow on kids' mental health

Business / Business News /

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

Despite the heightened poverty and unemployment seen when the COVID-19 pandemic got underway, many low-income U.S. children did not experience a decline in their emotional and mental health, we found in a new study.

We looked specifically at kids whose ...Read more

Noah Berger/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

First Citizens Bank will buy Silicon Valley Bank

Business / Business News /

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh’s First Citizens Bank is buying most of Silicon Valley Bank, the tech-focused financial institution which collapsed earlier this month.

First Citizens will acquire all deposits and loans of the former Silicon Valley Bank in exchange for company stock worth up to $500 million, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation...Read more