Business News

New funds will make investing in bitcoin easier. Here’s what you need to know

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a dozen new bitcoin funds began trading in U.S. markets for the first time Thursday, providing increased access to the cryptocurrency for everyday investors. ETFs give investors a way to get in on trading in oil, gold, corporate bonds and now bitcoin without actually having to own a barrel of oil, a bar of gold, or a bitcoin. That means you don’t have to find a place to store them. These funds closely track the price of bitcoin and provide an entry for smaller investors into the cryptocurrency, which now cost more than $47,000 each. Bitcoin rose 2% Thursday and trading in the bitcoin ETFs is mixed.

From housing to energy to food, US inflation picks up, though some costs rise only mildly

WASHINGTON (AP) — Higher energy and housing prices boosted overall U.S. inflation in December, a sign that the Federal Reserve’s drive to slow inflation to its 2% target will likely remain a bumpy one. Overall prices rose 0.3% from November and 3.4% from 12 months earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, though, so-called core prices rose just 0.3% month over month. Core prices were up 3.9% from a year earlier — the mildest such pace since May 2021. Economists pay particular attention to core prices because, by excluding costs that typically jump around from month to month, they are seen as a better guide to the likely path of inflation.

US is investigating if Boeing made sure a part that blew off a jet was made to design standards

Federal officials are investigating Boeing’s oversight of production of a panel that blew off a jetliner in midflight last week. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that the investigation is focusing on door plugs like the one that came off an Alaska Airlines Boeing jetliner over Oregon. The FAA says Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to meet high safety standards. The plane involved is a Boeing 737 Max 9, and all similar planes operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines remain grounded.

Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams amid cost-cutting drive

Google says it has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures. The company said the moves were made as Google aims at “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.” Google earlier said it was eliminating a few hundred roles, with most of the impact on its augmented reality hardware team. The cuts follow pledges by executives of Google and its parent company Alphabet to reduce costs. In January 2023, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees or around 6% of its workforce.

Feds charge eBay over employees who sent live spiders and cockroaches to couple; company to pay $3M

BOSTON (AP) — Online retailer eBay has agreed to pay a $3 million fine to resolve criminal charges over employees who harassed a Massachusetts couple by sending live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing items to their home. The Justice Department charged eBay in a criminal information with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice on Thursday. The employees already were prosecuted more than three years ago in the scheme to intimidate David and Ina Steiner. The Massachusetts U.S. attorney’s office says eBay has entered a deferred prosecution agreement that could result in the charges against the company being dismissed if it complies with certain conditions. Ebay CEO Jamie Iannone called the company’s conduct in 2019 “wrong and reprehensible.”

Stock market today: Wall Street falls and yields wobble following inflation update

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is slipping after a warmer-than-expected report on inflation forced some investors to push back forecasts for when the Federal Reserve could deliver long-sought cuts to interest rates. The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower Thursday after erasing an early gain. The Dow was down 56 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower. Treasury yields wobbled following the inflation report after some traders pushed back bets for how soon the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Crude oil rose to recover some of its sharp losses from earlier in the week.

Here are the ‘Worst in Show’ CES products, according to consumer and privacy advocates

The best CES products pierce through the haze of marketing hype at the Las Vegas gadget show to reveal innovations that could improve lives. The worst could harm us or our society and planet in such “innovatively bad” ways that a panel of self-described dystopia experts has judged them “Worst in Show.” The third annual contest that no tech company wants to win announced its decisions Thursday and faults a number of well-known brands including BMW, Amazon, Instacart and Sennheiser.

Alaska Airlines cancels flights on certain Boeing planes through Saturday for mandatory inspections

Alaska Airlines is canceling all flights on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until Saturday while it waits for new instructions on how to inspect and fix the planes. The airline said Wednesday that could mean canceling up to 150 flights a day. Federal officials grounded Boeing Max 9s after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jet in midflight on Friday night. Alaska and United Airlines are the only U.S. carriers affected by the grounding.

Average long-term mortgage rates rise again, reaching their highest level in 4 weeks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose for the second time in as many weeks, climbing to its highest level in four weeks. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.66% from 6.62% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.33%. The latest increase follows a nine-week string of declines at the end of last year that lowered the average rate after it surged in late October to 7.79%, the highest level since late 2000. Still, the average rate remains sharply higher than just two years ago, when it was 3.45%.

US applications for jobless benefits fall to lowest level in 12 weeks

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits inched down to its lowest level in nearly three months last week as the U.S. labor market continues to flex its muscle in spite of elevated interest rates. Jobless claim applications fell to 202,000 for the week ending Jan. 6, down by 1,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Overall, 1.83 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Dec. 30, a decline of 34,000 from the previous week. Weekly unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels in the face of high interest rates and elevated inflation.