Business News

McDonald’s Quarter Pounder back on the menu after testing rules out beef patties as E. coli source

LOS ANGELES (AP) — McDonald’s says testing has ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to its Quarter Pounders. The company said Sunday it will resume selling Quarter Pounders at hundreds of affected restaurants in the coming week. McDonald’s said in a statement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that slivered onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination. Federal health officials said that as of Friday, the outbreak had expanded to at least 75 people sick in 13 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one person has died in Colorado.

Stock market today: Wall Street climbs ahead of a big week for Big Tech as oil drops 6%

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising as gains for Big Tech make up for slides in oil-and-gas stocks after the price of crude tumbled sharply. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to approach its all-time high set in July. Apple and other Big Tech stocks rose ahead of their profit reports that are scheduled to come later in the week. Oil prices tumbled more than 6% after an Israeli retaliation against Iran for earlier missile attacks proved to be more restrained than some investors had feared.

Oil prices fall as reality of weak global demand overtakes risk of wider war in Middle East

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared. Prices for crude spiked globally on October 2 after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. With many seeing that threat diminishing, at least in the near term, the price of benchmark U.S. crude and Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 6% Monday.

Ford quarterly profit drops almost 26% due to $1B write-offs for canceled electric SUV

DETROIT (AP) — Ford’s third-quarter net profit fell nearly 26%. The automaker took $1 billion in accounting charges to write down assets for a canceled three-row electric SUV. The Dearborn, Michigan, company said after financial markets closed on Monday that it made $892 million from July through September, compared with $1.2 billion it made a year earlier. Excluding the one-time items, Ford made an adjusted pretax profit of $2.6 billion, or 49 cents per share. That beat analyst estimates of 46 cents. Revenue rose 5.5% to $46.2 billion, also beating Wall Street predictions. Sales in the U.S., Ford’s most profitable market, rose just under 1% during the quarter to about 500,000 vehicles.

Boeing, in need of cash, looking to raise up to approximately $19B in offering

Boeing is looking to raise up to approximately $19 billion in a stock offering as the aerospace giant, which is dealing with a contentious strike, faces liquidity issues and tries to raise cash. Boeing Co. said Monday that it will offer 90 million in common stock and $5 billion in depositary shares. Last week Boeing factory workers voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a six-week strike that has halted production of its bestselling jetliners.

Apple launches the iPhone into the AI era with free software update

Apple has released a free software update that will inject its first dose of artificial intelligence into its iPhone 16 line-up as the trendsetting company tries to catch up with technology’s latest craze. The upgrade to the iOS 18 operating system came out Monday, more than a month after four iPhone 16 models equipped with the special computer chip needed to power the AI features went on sale. Two of last year’s premium iPhone 15 models also can process the AI features after the software update is installed. Among other things, the update will turn Apple’s virtual assistant Siri into a more conversational and versatile companion.

Biden calls out Musk over a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked in the US illegally

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden has slammed Elon Musk for hypocrisy on immigration after a published report that the Tesla CEO once worked illegally in the United States. The South Africa-born Musk denies the allegation. Biden criticized Musk during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Saturday after a Washington Post report on the matter. Biden said that “the wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here.” The newspaper reported that Musk worked illegally in the country while on a student visa. Musk wrote on X in reply to a video post of Biden’s comments: “I was in fact allowed to work in the US.”

Apple AirPods Pro’s new hearing aid feature could help people face a problem they’d rather ignore

Millions who could benefit from hearing aids have never tried them. Cost, access to health care and stigma create major barriers, even though the devices are available over-the-counter. An AirPods Pro 2 update will now put the devices in more Americans’ pockets. They might not be the perfect fit, but experts hope they’ll encourage people to test out a hearing aid and normalize using the devices.

After 127 years, Smucker’s has moved beyond jam. But its CEO still finds time to jam on weekends

Smucker’s Uncrustables could soon hit $1 billion in annual sales. To keep up with demand for the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, J.M. Smucker Co. is opening a third Uncrustables plant in the U.S. next year. It almost didn’t happen. CEO Mark Smucker says Uncrustables lost money for more than a decade after his company bought the brand. The manufacturer once known only for its jellies and jams spent years trying to figure out how to mass produce the pillowy Unscrustables bread. Smucker is the fifth generation of his family to run J.M. Smucker. He says having the time to get it right is one of the benefits of leading a 127-year-old company.

Tapestry, Capri file notice to appeal court decision blocking their $8.5 billion merger

NEW YORK (AP) — Tapestry and Capri Holdings have filed their notice to jointly appeal the decision by a U.S. District judge to temporarily halt the merger between the makers of Coach and Michael Kors handbags, according to a court filing Monday. In her ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon noted that Tapestry and Capri are “close competitors” and that the merger would result in “the loss of head-to-head competition” and raise prices for shoppers. The ruling came six months after the Federal Trade Commission sued to block Tapestry’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri, saying that the deal would eliminate direct competition between the fashion companies’ brands like Coach and Michael Kors in the so-called affordable luxury handbag arena.