AP National Business

Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday: Abbott, Allstate fall; Procter & Gamble, NexTier rise.

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday meant to lower the cost of shipping goods across oceans. It’s a move the White House says will help ease logistical costs for retailers that have remained high since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and helped fuel record inflation. The

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s central bank has announced a one-half of a percentage point increase to a key interest rate Thursday, the first increase in nearly 15 years. It indicated the move was an attempt to ward off inflationary pressures as food and fuel prices rise worldwide. The Swiss National Bank said the rate hike

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Markets worldwide are back to tumbling on Thursday, and a wipeout on Wall Street has stocks down nearly 4% as worries about a fragile economy roar back to the fore. The S&P 500 was 3.9% lower in afternoon trading, more than reversing its blip of

By AMY TAXIN Associated Press SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti pleaded guilty Thursday to four counts of wire fraud and a tax-related charge in a federal court case in Southern California accusing him of cheating his clients out of millions of dollars. Avenatti, who is in federal custody and representing himself

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press RINGWOOD, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey officials are suing Ford Motor Company, alleging the automaker contaminated the ancestral homeland of a Native American tribe by dumping paint sludge and other pollutants into a former mine. It seeks unspecified damages to restore the land, and to compensate the state and local

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is launching a task force dedicated to fighting online harassment and abuse. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy attended the announcement on Thursday, as did Sloane Stephens, a Black professional tennis player who’s faced a torrent of racist abuse. After

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Soaring gasoline prices have left many consumers with no choice but to cut spending on non-essentials, but it might be coming full circle by stopping some drivers from filling up their tanks. This “demand destruction” occurs when persistently high prices cause demand to drop.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Travelers beware: The Netherlands’ busiest airport is reining in flight departures over its busy summer period. That’s because shortages of security staff mean the airport cannot cope with the high demand as many families take to the skies for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic eased. The decision was

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s central bank has announced a one-quarter of a percentage point increase to a key interest rate Thursday, the first increase in nearly 15 years. It indicated the move was an attempt to ward off inflationary pressures as food and fuel prices rise worldwide. The Swiss National Bank said the rate hike

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Markets worldwide are back to tumbling on Thursday, and Wall Street is down roughly 3% in a widespread wipeout as worries about a fragile economy roar back to the fore. The S&P 500 was 3.1% lower in afternoon trading, more than reversing its blip of

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The cryptocurrency company Circle says it will start issuing its first euro-denominated cryptocurrency, a stablecoin known as Euro Coin, later this month. It would be the first stablecoin in euros backed by a large player in the industry and could potentially become a major conduit

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is appealing a federal court ruling that upheld a securities fraud settlement over Musk’s tweets claiming that he had the funding to take Tesla private in 2018. Musk lawyer Alex Spiro filed a notice of appeal Wednesday with the federal appeals court in Manhattan. No grounds were stated,

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. is delaying by more than three years the opening of a campus in central Florida to which 2,000 workers were being relocated from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. Despite being targeted in recent months by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer In an unusual move for what’s been an unusual takeover bid for Twitter by the world’s richest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk met virtually with the social platform’s employees Thursday, even though his $44 billion offer has not yet been completed. “Trust is as trust does. I tend to

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Talks are going down to the wire as the World Trade Organization is set to wrap up its first ministerial-level meeting in more than four years. So far, no firm deal is in sight Thursday on issues like food security, the fight against overfishing in the seas

By MATTHEW BROWN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s largest city restarted its water plant Thursday after shutting it down amid record flooding that’s caused widespread damage in Yellowstone National Park and surrounding communities. Residents in ravaged areas, meanwhile, cleaned up from the mess and braced for the economic fallout while

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Revlon, a cosmetics maker that broke racial barriers and dictated beauty trends for much of the last century, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has been a mainstay on store shelves since its founding 90 years ago in New York City as

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates made their biggest one-week jump in 35 years, one day after the Federal Reserve raised its key rate by three-quarters of a point in bid to tame high inflation. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate climbed from