Business News

  • The White House says the dozens of U.S. technology hubs President Joe Biden is announcing will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to its competitiveness. Biden is designating 31 technology hubs that reach 32 states and Puerto Rico. The tech hubs are designed to help spur innovation in industries concentrated in these areas and to create jobs. The Democratic president announced the tech hubs Monday. The tech hubs are the result of a process the Commerce Department launched in May for cities to share $500 million in grants. The hubs tie into Biden's economic message that people should able to find good jobs wherever they live.

    October 23, 2023
  • The eighth installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has been postponed a year, signaling a new wave of release schedule juggling for Hollywood studios as the actors strike surpasses three months of work stoppage. Paramount Pictures on Monday shifted the release date of the next “Mission: Impossible” movie from June 28 to May 23, 2025. As Hollywood’s labor turmoil has continued, it has increasingly upended release plans not just for movies this fall that want to wait until their stars can promote them, but some of next year’s top big-screen attractions. This year's “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” starring Tom Cruise earned $567.5 million worldwide.

    October 23, 2023
  • Federal prosecutors have expanded investigations into Tesla beyond the electric vehicle maker’s partially automated driving systems, and they have issued subpoenas for information instead of simply requesting it. The company disclosed in a Monday regulatory filing that the Department of Justice is looking into “personal benefits, related parties, vehicle range and personnel decisions” without giving details. Legal experts say that the filing indicates that prosecutors may be investigating CEO Elon Musk, and whether the company has been candid in describing the features of its vehicles. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment.

    October 23, 2023
  • Prince William will travel to Singapore next month to name the winners of his Earthshot Prize, a global competition to find solutions to the challenges of climate change. William created the prize three years ago to encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to develop technologies to combat global warming and mitigate its impact on the environment. During his four-day trip to Singapore, the prince will meet with local groups to learn how they are working to protect and restore the planet. William will also attend the United for Wildlife global summit, featuring representatives of law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and corporations that are working to combat the trade in illegal wildlife products, which is estimated at $20 billion annually.

    October 23, 2023
  • A body found wrapped in plastic inside a Georgia dumpster 35 years ago has been identified as that of a South Korean woman. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Monday that they used DNA analysis to determine that 26-year-old Chong Un Kim was the person whose body was discovered in rural Millen in February 1988. Kim died from asphyxiation, but it’s unclear whether someone killed her or who dumped her body. Investigators say Kim lived for several years in Hinesville, 70 miles south of Millen. Her body was found wrapped with plastic inside a suitcase. Investigators say Kim had been dead four to seven days when her body was found.

    October 23, 2023
  • The United Auto Workers union has once again escalated its strikes against Detroit Three automakers, this time adding a factory that makes Ram pickup trucks for Stellantis. The union says in a statement that 6,800 members walked out Monday morning at the Sterling Heights, Michigan, Assembly Plant, a huge profit center for the company. The move came just three days after union President Shawn Fain reported progress in talks with General Motors and Stellantis but said the companies will have to make better offers. No progress was reported with Ford. The union went on strike Sept. 15 at one assembly plant from each company. About 40,800 workers are now on strike against all three automakers.

    October 23, 2023
  • Chevron is buying Hess Corp. for $53 billion and it’s not even the biggest acquisition in the energy sector this month as major producers seize the initiative while oil prices surge. The Chevron-Hess deal comes less than two weeks after Exxon Mobil said that it would acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for about $60 billion. Crude prices are up 9% this year and have been hovering around $90 per barrel for about two months. Chevron said  Monday that the acquisition of Hess adds a major oil field in Guyana as well as shale fields in North Dakota.

    October 23, 2023
  • Wall Street wobbled to a mixed close, continuing a monthslong run where it’s slavishly followed the cue of the bond market. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Monday. The Dow fell 190 points, and the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.3%. All three indexes slumped at the start of trading, hurt by a continued rise for Treasury yields. The 10-year yield again touched its highest level since 2007. But yields eventually eased back after crude oil prices tumbled to take some pressure off inflation. That helped to relax conditions for the stock market, particularly for Big Tech and other high-growth companies.

    October 23, 2023
  • A mother is suing a shuttered Christian boarding school in Missouri, blaming her son’s death on a gang rape and other abuse he endured there. Agape Boarding School has been subjected to a wave of litigation as a series of abuse allegations emerged, but the case filed in federal court by Kathleen Britt is believed to be the first wrongful death suit. The suit said that mental health problems plagued Britt’s son, Jason Britt, after he left the private school. The suit said he lifted weights obsessively and ingested copious steroids so he would become so strong that he never would be victimized again. Eventually, his heart and kidneys failed, and he died in February 2022.

    October 23, 2023
  • ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — Capital Bancorp, Inc. (CBNK) on Monday reported third-quarter profit of $9.8 million. The bank, based in Rockville, Maryland, said it had earnings of 70 cents per share.…

    October 23, 2023
  • Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: FMC, Ultra Clean fall; Textainer, EngageSmart rise

    October 23, 2023
  • Benchmark U.S. crude oil for December delivery fell $2.59 to $85.49 a barrel Monday. Brent crude for December delivery fell $2.33 to $89.83 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for November delivery fell 5 cents to $2.33 a gallon. November heating oil fell 6 cents to $3.10 a gallon. November natural gas rose 3 cents to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gold for December delivery fell $6.60 to $1,987.80 an ounce. Silver for December delivery fell 29 cents to $23.21 an ounce and December copper rose 2 cents to $3.59 a pound. The dollar fell to 149.58 Japanese yen from 149.87 yen. The euro rose to $1.0675 from $1.0592.

    October 23, 2023
  • Italian soccer club AC Milan has recorded a profit for the first time in nearly two decades. Milan reported a profit of $6.51 million for the 2022-23 financial year at a shareholders meeting. That compares to losses of $66.7 million last year. It is the first time Milan has been in the black since 2006. That has been driven by club record revenue of $431.4 million. Milan president Paolo Scaroni says “this marks an important step in our club’s history with a return to net profit after 17 years.” Milan’s finances were boosted by the team reaching the Champions League semifinals last year.

    October 23, 2023
  • Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has compared Hungary’s membership in the European Union to more than four decades of Soviet occupation. Orbán made the comments during a speech on Monday commemorating the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution. Orbán accused the EU of seeking to strip Hungary of its identity by imposing a model of liberal democracy that he said Hungarians reject. He said that Brussels employs methods against Hungary that hearken back to the days of Soviet domination by Moscow. On Monday evening, several thousand demonstrators marched down a central avenue in Budapest in opposition to Orbán’s education policies, as well as Hungary’s continued relationship with Russia despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

    October 23, 2023