Business News

Fears of Houthi attacks are rerouting commercial ships away from the Red Sea

LONDON (AP) — The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world’s top shipping companies and oil giants. That has effectively rerouted global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies athat is expected to trigger delays and rising prices. BP said Monday that it’s “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. Oil prices rose partly over market nerves about attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis. They’ve targeted container ships and oil tankers in a narrow waterway that connects to the Red Sea, where an estimated 10% of the world’s trade passes through.

Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it’s going through a reckoning

NEW YORK (AP) — The promise of self-checkout has meant that customers can avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers can be freed of doing those monotonous tasks themselves and retailers can save on labor costs. But it has also meant customers griping about clunky technology, workers having to stand around and monitor both humans and machines, and retailers contending with theft. Now, self-checkout faces a reckoning of sorts just as retailers are in the midst of their busiest time of the year. This past fall, Walmart removed self-checkout kiosks in three stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To reduce wait times, Target is now limiting the number of items to 10 that shoppers can scan in a handful of stores nationwide.

Storied US Steel to be acquired for more than $14 billion by Nippon Steel

U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh steel producer that played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, is being acquired by Nippon Steel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $14.1 billion. The transaction is worth about $14.9 billion when including the assumption of debt. Nippon, which will pay $55 per share for U.S. Steel, said Monday that the deal will bolster its manufacturing and technology capabilities. It will also expand Nippon’s production in the U.S. and add to its positions in Japan, India and the ASEAN region.

European Union investigating Musk’s X over possible breaches of social media law

LONDON (AP) — The European Union has made Elon Musk’s online platform X the first tech company to face an investigation under Europe’s tough new regulations designed to clean up social media and protect people from toxic online content. The investigation announced Monday will look into whether X, formerly known as Twitter, failed to do enough to curb the spread of illegal content. It also will see whether measures to combat “information manipulation,” especially through its crowd-sourced Community Notes fact-checking feature, were effective. The EU will examine whether X was transparent enough with researchers and look into suspicions that its user interface, including for its blue check subscription service, has a “deceptive design.”

How to manage holiday spending when you’re dealing with student loan debt

NEW YORK (AP) — The holidays can be a challenging time if you’re on a budget. This year, millions of people have had to start paying back their student loans, adding to the financial pressure and making gift-giving even more stressful. Experts say that the first step is to acknowledge that you’re feeling pressure and have candid conversations with your family and friends about what you can afford. You can also be proactive about making a budget so you’re not spending more than you have and be creative about giving the gift of your time rather than material things.

Southwest Airlines reaches $140 million settlement over holiday flight-canceling meltdown last year

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines is paying $140 million to settle a government investigation over a meltdown last holiday season that led to thousands of canceled flights. The airline will pay a $35 million fine and get credit for compensation provided to travelers. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday the settlement shows his department will hold airlines accountable if they fail to treat customers properly. The airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights as a winter storm paralyzed operations in Denver and Chicago and then snowballed when a crew rescheduling system couldn’t keep up. Southwest says it didn’t violate consumer protection laws but is striking the agreement to settle the matter.

Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski says buy now, pay later is used by shoppers who otherwise avoid credit

NEW YORK (AP) — Sebastian Siemiatkowski is a co-founder and CEO of Klarna, the Sweden-based company that’s one of the world’s biggest providers of buy now, pay later services to customers. Klarna started off in Europe and entered the U.S. market in 2015. Siemiatkowski spoke to the AP about how popular buy now, pay later has gotten since the pandemic, why consumers are choosing it and how the company is using artificial intelligence software in how it hires.

Adobe calls off $20 billion deal for Figma after pushback from Europe over possible antitrust issues

Adobe’s planned $20 billion acquisition of online design company Figma is being called off due to pushback in Europe over antitrust concerns. The companies announced the cash-and-stock deal in September 2022, seeking a path with Figma’s web-based, multi-player capabilities to accelerate the delivery of Adobe’s creative cloud technologies on the web. Last month the UK Competition and Markets Authority said an early review of a potential tie-up between the two would lead to “substantial lessening of competition” in the global market for all-in-one product design software for professionals, as well as editing software.

Stock market today: Wall Street edges higher; US Steel soars after deal with Nippon Steel

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are edging higher on Wall Street, continuing a strong streak that has brought seven straight weeks of gains. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in morning trading Monday. Energy companies were putting up some of the biggest gains as the price of crude oil jumped amid worries about shipping being attacked in the Red Sea. U.S. Steel soared 27% after agreeing to be acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel. The Pittsburgh steel maker played a key role in the nation’s industrialization. Treasury yields were higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.96%.

Germany’s economy seen shrinking again in the current quarter as business confidence declines

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s central bank says the country’s economy is likely to shrink again slightly in the current fourth quarter. Also on Monday, a survey showed business confidence in Europe’s biggest economy retreating unexpectedly. The economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter after growing by the same amount in the previous three-month period, according to official figures. The Bundesbank said in its monthly report that “real gross domestic product in Germany is likely to decline again slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023” as a result of weak performances in industry and construction. Germany is the only major economy expected to shrink this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.