Business

/

ArcaMax

Royal Thai Navy/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Iran war threatens to wreck Trump dream of lower interest rates

Business / Business News /

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s benchmark financial asset — 10-year U.S. Treasuries — are poised to mark their biggest monthly tumble since Donald Trump returned to the White House, casting a shadow over the economic outlook as the administration struggles to contain an energy crisis.

While Bessent has assured that the global oil ...Read more

Daniel Thornberg/Dreamstime/TNS

First tariffs, now Iran war causing financial woes for Minnesota farmers

Business / Business News /

Adding war in the Middle East to an ongoing trade war equates to the math not working for farmers.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have deterred China from buying vast amounts of U.S.-grown grains and soy as well as forced the Eastern power to instead purchase from Brazil. All this while the price of grains has fallen in recent years, and ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Cost of fed oversight of UAW skyrockets as union moves from scandal

Business / Business News /

Federal oversight of the United Auto Workers has cost the union more than $25.3 million, according to an annual report released Tuesday that illustrates rising costs amid multiple investigations into President Shawn Fain and his team.

The union's annual LM-2 Labor Department filing provided an updated cost of a federal watchdog, lawyer Neil ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

US Bank partners with Amazon on small-business credit cards

Business / Business News /

U.S. Bank is partnering with online retail giant Amazon on two new credit cards tailored to small-business owners.

The Minneapolis-based lender hopes the new partnership with the world’s biggest retailer will offer better credit options and expand its client base, said Courtney Kelso, U.S. Bank’s head of payments. Both cards are set to ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Poll shows most Americans believe sports betting on prediction markets is gambling

Business / Business News /

Kalshi is under a temporary restraining order that prohibits the prediction market from operating in Nevada, and a recent poll shows that Americans feel strongly that prediction platforms should comply with state gaming regulations.

New polling, commissioned by Gambling is Not Investing and conducted by Morning Consult, found that 81 percent of...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Costco wants you to check out in 8 seconds with new pay stations

Business / Business News /

Hold on to your hat when you shop at Costco: The Issaquah, Washington-based retailer is testing new pay stations that should exponentially speed up checkout times.

Earlier this month, the big-box warehouse club chain announced the rollout of a pilot program featuring new automated pay stations. They expedite checkout times to an average of ...Read more

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Boeing is sending humans to the moon, but its space unit is struggling

Business / Business News /

A Boeing-built rocket is set to propel four astronauts to orbit the moon, marking the first time humans have left Earth orbit since the Apollo missions more than 50 years ago.

That rocket — known as the Space Launch System — completed an uncrewed mission to the moon in 2022, the first in a series of launches designed to land humans on the ...Read more

Staff file/Baltimore Sun/TNS

McCormick to combine with Unilever foods business in $20B deal

Business / Business News /

Maryland-based McCormick & Co. announced a sweeping deal to combine with Unilever’s global foods business, a move that would create a $20 billion “flavor” giant while the company also reported solid quarterly earnings Tuesday.

Under the agreement, McCormick will merge with Unilever’s foods division — excluding India and certain other ...Read more

Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Michael Hiltzik: The Disney/Sora fiasco shows the limits of the AI craze

Business / Business News /

It was supposed to be Bob Iger's legacy.

On Dec. 11, Iger, the departing Disney chief executive, joined OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to announce what they labeled a "landmark" deal enabling users of OpenAI's text-to-video platform to generate videos featuring "beloved" Disney characters, including even Mickey Mouse.

Iger and Altman embarked on a ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Starbucks lays off dozens after Seattle store closures

Business / Business News /

Starbucks laid off 69 workers after its recently announced closures of five Seattle stores, according to a state filing.

The closures, announced this month, impact stores on First Hill, in the University District, in the Seattle Center Armory, in Seattle Children’s hospital and in the Metropolitan Park East building downtown.

These choices ...Read more

Liz Rymarev/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS

Can Panera come back? The remake is on after higher prices and sinking sales

Business / Business News /

FENTON, Missouri — Growing up, Julia Johns would regularly go with her mom to St. Louis Bread Co. They’d each order a “You Pick Two” meal — two half-size entrees of the diner's choice.

She loved the seasonal sugar cookies.

“It was just this cute little thing we would do,” Johns said.

Today, Johns doesn't visit much. Prices are ...Read more

Stellantis/TNS/TNS

Jeep's latest ad play involves sex jokes and dark humor

Business / Business News /

Jeep's advertising formula has been more or less consistent over the years: lots of mud, sand and river crossings. Throw in a flapping American flag and maybe some World War II footage for good measure.

Lately, though, the brand has injected some sex jokes and dark humor — and discovered a new spokeswoman of sorts in the comedian Iliza ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

Stellantis slashed jobs for years. Now it's on a hiring spree

Business / Business News /

Stellantis NV employment grew last year for the first time in the carmaker's history as it added more than 10,000 jobs worldwide, with 4,700 of those in North America, newly released corporate filings show.

The company had methodically cut costs in the years after its 2021 formation, as former CEO Carlos Tavares oversaw a nearly 50,000-employee...Read more

Robert Holmgren/ZUMA Wire/TNS

Apple at 50: How a garage startup became a $3.5 trillion titan

Business / Business News /

Fifty years ago, Steve Wozniak knew he built a great personal computer, but the young engineer couldn't convince his employer, Hewlett-Packard, to buy into the big idea.

"Five times they turned me down for the personal computer. I wanted Hewlett-Packard to do it. I loved my company, but now Steve Jobs and I had to go into business," Wozniak ...Read more

David Guralnick, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

GM lays off 1,300 workers at FactoryZero EV plant

Business / Business News /

General Motors Co. temporarily laid off 1,300 workers at its FactoryZero electric vehicle plant in another sign of sluggish demand for battery-powered cars, the company confirmed Monday.

Workers at the plant on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck were laid off March 16 and are set to return April 13.

"Factory ZERO will temporarily adjust ...Read more

Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS

Ford, GM take steps to boost truck production

Business / Business News /

Ford Motor Co. has canceled summer shutdowns at its four plants producing F-Series pickup trucks in an effort to make up for lost volumes due to an aluminum shortage stemming from fires last fall at a supplier, and General Motors Co. is adding a production day at its heavy-duty truck plant in Flint.

Ford on Monday said its Dearborn Truck Plant,...Read more

ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

New contract for 190 Philly-area DHL Teamsters includes self-driving vehicle ban

Business / Business News /

Over 190 DHL employees in Sharon Hill and West Deptford, Pennsylvania, could soon get more protections against AI in a new union contract that also bans self-driving cars and raises wages.

The Philadelphia-area workers are among thousands of DHL employees in 16 states represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Teamsters ...Read more

Mattel goes through another round of layoffs

Business / Business News /

Mattel announced another round of layoffs targeting dozens of employees, the latest in a flurry of cost-cutting moves made by the company in recent years.

According to a notice sent to state and local officials, the company behind Barbie and Hot Wheels will lay off 65 employees from its El Segundo headquarters, effective on May 22 — about a ...Read more

Stellantis/Stellantis/TNS

Auto review: The Jeep Cherokee returns for 2026, but in a surprisingly different way

Business / Business News /

It’s time to roll out the red carpet for an old friend, one that had quietly slipped offstage, like a graduate student who realized that bourbon is not a food group. That would be the Jeep Cherokee, which reemerges for 2026 as a — no, don’t faint — gas-electric hybrid. That’s right. A Cherokee. Hybrid.

It’s been a long trip since ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Californian chocolate recalled for being spiked with Viagra ingredients

Business / Business News /

Chocolate products from a Californian company have been recalled after they were found to have been spiked with the potentially dangerous ingredients used in Viagra and Cialis.

The San Francisco Bay Area's Gear Isle recalled the products after they were found to contain undeclared prescription drug ingredients used to treat erectile ...Read more