Business News

Lower auto prices are finally giving Americans a break after years of inflationary increases

DETROIT (AP) — Price increases for cars and trucks in the United States, which helped fuel inflation for nearly three years, are slowing and in some cases falling, helping cool overall inflation and giving frustrated Americans more hope of finding an affordable vehicle. Behind the price slowdown is a vastly expanded number of vehicles on dealer lots after years of severe shortages. With more autos available, the pressures that had sent prices surging have eased. Though inventories are still well below the levels that prevailed before the pandemic, the rising availability suggests that 2024 will be the most affordable year of the past five in which to buy a new car or truck.

Biden acts to better protect Americans’ personal data such as health records and finances

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is signing an executive order aiming to better protect Americans’ personal data on everything from biometrics and health records to finances and geolocation from foreign adversaries like China and Russia. Wednesday’s action seeks to authorize the attorney general and other federal agencies to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to what the White House calls “countries of concern.” It also erects safeguards around other activities that can give those countries access to Americans’ sensitive data. The goal is to do so without limiting legitimate commerce around data.

US economy grew solid 3.2% in fourth quarter, a slight downgrade from government’s initial estimate

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a robust 3.2% annual pace from October through December, propelled by healthy consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday in a slight downgrade from its initial estimate. The expansion in the nation’s gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — was down from a red-hot 4.9% from July through September. The fourth-quarter GDP numbers were revised down from the 3.3% pace Commerce initially reported last month. U.S. growth has now topped 2% for six straight quarters, defying fears that high interest rates would tip the world’s largest economy into a recession,

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts as bitcoin bounces again

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting on Wall Street, and the S&P 500 is edging down by 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 109 points Wednesday, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower a day after nearing its record set in 2021. The market regressed as AI darling Nvidia pulled back a bit from its breathtaking run. Treasury yields were relatively stable after a report said the U.S. economy likely grew a touch slower at the end of 2023 than earlier estimated. Bitcoin rose above $61,000 for the first time since 2021, helping to lift stocks of crypto-related companies.

US looks at regulating connected vehicles to prevent abusers from tracking victims

DETROIT (AP) — The agency that regulates U.S. telecommunications is considering a rule that could stop domestic abusers from tracking their partners through vehicles that are connected wirelessly. In a statement Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says she is asking other commissioners to start the process of drawing up a new regulation. Nearly all new vehicles have features that use telecommunications to find cars in parking lots, start the engine remotely, and even connect with emergency responders. But those features can also let abusers track the whereabouts of their partners. The commission will look into whether a recently passed law gives it authority to regulate the automobile systems.

Activists urge Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in deeply polluted Niger Delta

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Local activists and international environmental groups want Nigeria’s government to delay approving the $2.4 billion sale of oil company Shell’s onshore assets. They claim the London-based Shell is trying to shirk its environmental and social responsibilities in the highly polluted Niger Delta. The company is trying to sell its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company — which operates its onshore assets in the delta — to Renaissance Africa Energy Company, a consortium of local companies. Activists say Shell has a history of poor divestment in the region. Shell says it assesses the environmental performance records of companies it sells assets to.

Zuckerberg meets LG, Samsung chiefs in Seoul as Meta ramps up AI ambitions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has discussed cooperation on extended reality devices with LG Electronics executives as part of his visit to South Korea that highlights Meta’s ambitions in artificial intelligence. Zuckerberg has already visited Japan and will travel to India after South Korea. LG Electronics says Zuckerberg met its CEO William Cho for two hours for talks on business strategies and considerations for extended reality — also known as XR — device development. Later Wednesday, Zuckerberg reportedly met Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. He is scheduled to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday.

Soviet ex-premier Nikolai Ryzhkov, who vainly tried to prevent USSR’s economic meltdown, dies at 94

MOSCOW (AP) — Former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov has died at age 94. Ryzhkov presided over botched efforts to shore up the crumbling national economy in the final years of the USSR. Ryzhkov worked during his six-year tenure to implement Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s liberal reforms that lifted rigid centralized controls and encouraged private initiative. But it failed to adapt to the quickly changing economic and political environment and set the stage for the 1991 Soviet collapse. Ryzhkov’s death was announced Wednesday by the speaker of the upper house of Russian parliament where he served until October.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer asks judge to reject 100-year recommended sentence

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer says a recommended sentence of 100 years in prison for the FTX founder is “grotesque” and “barbaric” for cryptocurrency crimes. Bankman-Fried lawyer Marc Mukasey filed presentence arguments late Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, seeking leniency. He wrote that the long sentence recommended by the court’s Probation office was improperly calculated. On March 28, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan will sentence the man prosecutors say cheated investors and customers of at least $10 billion in businesses he controlled from 2017 through 2022. His FTX trading platform collapsed in November 2022. He was brought to the United States from the Bahamas for trial and convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy charges.

Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs’ org, looks to local leaders to bridge divides

Laurene Powell Jobs’ philanthropy Emerson Collective announced Wednesday its fifth cohort of Emerson fellows. They include an oral historian in Montana, a civic designer in Los Angeles and a campaigner for political unity from Utah. The collective’s cohort of fellows this year are all local leaders who are pursuing projects of their own creation through a wide-range of methodologies. They will receive $125,000 from the collective and do not need to report back about how they spend those funds. Laurene Powell Jobs made her fortune along with her late husband, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.