AP National Business

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The number of homes on the market has been rising, albeit from very low levels. Home listings rose on an annual basis in May and June, snapping a streak of annual declines going back three years. But many would-be buyers looking for a more modestly

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the nation’s financial watchdog is having second thoughts about using fines to deter illegal behavior in the financial industry, saying some companies have gotten so big that the money makes little difference. In an interview with The Associated Press, Rohit Chopra signaled

LONDON (AP) — Shell posted record profits Thursday for a second straight quarter as the energy giant benefited from soaring prices of oil and natural gas fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine. London-based Shell said it’s second-quarter adjusted earnings rose to $11.5 billion from $5.5 billion in the same three-month period last year. The latest

By The Associated Press Merck is posting second-quarter sales that easily topped Wall Street expectations, boosted by sales growth of some of its key drugs. Profit was $3.94 billion in the period, or $1.87 per adjusted share, easily beating the $1.70 that analysts surveyed by data firm FactSet expected. Sales of $14.6 billion, 28% higher

By DAVID KOENIG and MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writers JetBlue Airways is buying Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion in a deal that could increase competition at the top end of the U.S. airline industry while eliminating the largest discount airline for travelers on a tight budget. The agreement announced Thursday capped bidding war that began

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Police say cars crashed into tires and other garbage piled on a highway in the northern Netherlands by radical farmers protesting against government plans to rein in nitrogen emissions. Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday branded the protests “unacceptable.” Police in the northern province of Friesland say nobody was injured

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Automaker Stellantis has reported higher earnings in the first half of 2022 compared with last year, pointing to a nearly 50% increase in global sales of battery electric vehicles. The world’s fourth-largest automaker says net revenue reached 88 billion euros. That’s a 17% increase from the first half of last year. Net

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo has signed a $236.7 million agreement with a U.S. government agency to support its energy sector, promote women’s participation and boost development, according to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani’s office. The deal with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, or MCC, was signed a day earlier at the American Congress in Washington. Osmani

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge has ordered Samsung to pay $9.8 million in penalties for misleading advertising over how water-resistant some models of smartphones are. Justice Brendan Murphy on Thursday gave South Korea-based Samsung’s Australian subsidiary 30 days to pay the fines. Samsung admitted to making false and

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. has reported its operating profit rose 12% in the April-June quarter thanks to strong demand for server chips. The world’s top producer of smartphones and memory chips said in a statement Thursday that its operating profit for the last quarter rose to 14.1 trillion won ($10.8 billion)

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s push to obtain UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a former gold mine key to the nation’s industrialization will be delayed. The Sado Island mine in northern Japan operated for nearly 400 years and was once the world’s largest gold producer before closing in 1989. But the

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — New forecasts by Australia’s government say runaway inflation will remain unacceptably high for the next two years and economic growth will slow without falling into recession. Treasurer Jim Chalmers outlined to Parliament on Thursday a deterioration in the country’s economic outlook since a new government was

By ED DAVEY Associated Press A new report by says many of the world’s biggest banks are falling far short of aligning their practices with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The evaluation of 27 giant banks, obtained by The Associated Press, was carried out

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and HELEN WIEFFERING Associated Press LENORAH, Texas (AP) — To the naked eye, the Mako Compressor Station outside the dusty West Texas crossroads of Lenorah appears unremarkable, similar to tens of thousands of oil and gas operations scattered throughout the oil-rich Permian Basin. What’s not visible through the chain-link fence is the

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — When General Motors went through the biggest industrial bankruptcy proceedings in history, 20,000 retirees from GM’s Delphi Corp. subsidiary saw their retirement savings slashed. They fought unsuccessfully in court for 13 years to get that money back. Now, they’re focused on congressional legislation to restore what they

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Dave Muffley thought he had it made when it came to a solid retirement. The Indiana man spent roughly 30 years as a salaried maintenance technician for Delphi Corp., a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., and expected to retire with a comfortable income by the time he

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell delivered a tough message at the start of a news conference Wednesday: Inflation is way too high, and the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on taming it with higher borrowing costs. Yet despite his resolute words, the Fed chair also said for the first time

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — What started as a $4 trillion effort during President Joe Biden’s first months in office to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems has ended up a much slimmer, but not unsubstantial, compromise package of inflation-fighting health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies that

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The owner of an underwater oil pipeline that spilled some 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean off Southern California last year will pay nearly $1 million in cleanup costs. The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to accept a proposed claim settlement with Amplify Energy Corp. over

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy has cut its annual sales and profit forecast, citing surging inflation that has dampened consumer spending on gadgets. The Minneapolis-based company echoed Walmart, which earlier this week said higher prices on basic necessities are forcing shoppers to cut back on discretionary items. Shares

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — NFL owners will decide on Aug. 9 whether to approve the proposed $4.65 billion sale of the Denver Broncos to the Waltons, heirs to the Walmart fortune and America’s richest family. The league’s finance committee met Wednesday and unanimously recommended the transaction for approval.

By The Associated Press Airbus said net income plunged in the second quarter and warned that supply chain challenges were leading it scale back production targets for its commercial aircraft. Airbus said it now expects to deliver 700 aircraft this year, down from a target of 720 aircraft announced in May. Over the long term,

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, posted its first revenue decline in history Thursday, dragged down by a drop in ad spending as the economy falters — and as competition from rival TikTok intensifies. The results largely followed a broader decline in the digital advertising market that

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Now that the Mega Millions lottery jackpot has topped $1 billion — only the fourth time a lottery game has reached such heights — plenty of people who rarely play the game are considering risking $2 or joining an office pool in hopes of an