Business News

Regulator proposes capping credit card late fees at $8, latest in Biden’s campaign against junk fees

NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to cap credit card late fees at $8. It’s the latest effort in the White House push to end what it has called junk fees and is a move that regulators say will save Americans up to $10 billion a year. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the average credit card late fee is around $32. President Joe Biden plans to highlight the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday. The Democratic president is forming a new strike force to crack down on unfair pricing on things like groceries and prescription drugs.

Target posts hefty holiday profits but sales suggest Americans remain cautious on spending

NEW YORK (AP) — Target is reporting a 58% increase in fourth-quarter profits and handily beat Wall Street expectations as the retailer cut costs and maintained a lean inventory during the holiday season. Revenue rose slightly from a year ago and were above analysts’ projections. Comparable sales _ those from stores or digital channels operating at least 12 months _ slipped 4.4%. That was a smaller decline than the 4.9% drop in third quarter and a 5.4% decline in the second quarter. The Minneapolis-based discounter offered on Tuesday a cautious outlook. The results were announced hours before Target holds its annual investor meeting that should offer clues about shopping behavior and its strategies to improve sales for the year.

China’s plans for 2024 prioritize technology, offer scant comfort for businesses and investors

BEIJING (AP) — China’s blueprint for its economy in 2024 is replete with goals and promises, but it’s also notable for not spelling out specific moves to attain long-promised reforms that foreign businesses and investors have been hoping for. The work report presented Tuesday by Premier Li Qiang to the National People’s Congress outlines plans for modest increases in overall spending and a hefty 7.2% jump in funding for the military. The ruling Communist Party’s target is to grow the economy by about 5% this year, an ambition that economists say may be hard to attain. Li says China also will focus on supporting research and industries to attain breakthroughs in key technologies including computer chips.

Some urban lit authors see fiction in the Oscar-nominated ‘American Fiction’

NEW YORK (AP) — “American Fiction” is an entertaining movie, authors and publishers say. And it has a lot to say about Black families and the struggles of Black authors in an industry that remains predominantly white. But the featured plot of a Black literary author finds unexpected success through a crudely written, profanely titled novel seems a little outdated to some. “American Fiction,” nominated for best picture and in four other categories, was adapted from a 2001 novel that came out when a genre often called “urban lit” was peaking. Those kinds of books no longer sell so well.

China sets an economic growth target of around 5% but acknowledges it will not be easy to achieve

BEIJING (AP) — Premier Li Qiang says China aims to achieve 5% economic growth this year but acknowledges it will be a challenging goal in difficult times. In his address to the annual session of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday, Li outlined plans to boost spending on developing advanced technology, fortifying China’s military and supporting the economy, among many other longstanding goals. But there was no big package of stimulus to help boost markets and reassure worried investors. Li said the government would continue with a “pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy,” suggesting no major change in the leadership’s approach to the economy. China’s economy grew at a 5.2% pace last year, but that was on top of just 3% annual growth rate in 2022.

Mideast Starbucks franchisee is firing staff after being targeted in Israel-Hamas war boycott

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Middle East franchisee of Starbucks has begun firing staff at its coffee shops across the region after the brand found itself targeted by activists during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The Kuwait-based Alshaya Group issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging the firings. It is a private family firm holding franchise rights for a variety of Western companies including The Cheesecake Factory, H&M and Shake Shack. Alshaya declined to answer questions about how many employees it was firing. It runs about 1,900 Starbucks branches and had employed over 19,000 staff.

Stock market today: Wall Street inches lower as retailers post holiday numbers

Wall Street pointed modestly lower as more retailers post results from the holiday season and ahead of appearance by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before Congress later this week. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.3% early Tuesday and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Target reported flagging sales, but a 58% increase in fourth-quarter profits handily beat Wall Street expectations as the retailer cut costs and maintained a lean inventory. Shares of Minneapolis-based Target jumped 8.5% before markets opened. On Wednesday, Fed Chair Powell will testify before a House of Representatives committee about monetary policy.

JetBlue and Spirit are ending their $3.8 billion merger plan after a federal judge blocked the deal

JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are ending their proposed $3.8 billion merger after a federal judge blocked the deal, ruling it would hurt competition. JetBlue said Monday that even though both companies still believe in the benefits of a combination, they felt they were unlikely to meet the required closing conditions before a July 24 deadline. The airlines say they are mutually agreeing that terminating the deal is the best decision for both. A merger would have eliminated Spirit, the nation’s biggest discount airline. The Justice Department sued to block the deal and won in court.

Apple gets fined nearly $2 billion by the EU for hindering music streaming competition

LONDON (AP) — The European Union has fined Apple nearly $2 billion by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps. Monday’s move is the 27-nation bloc’s first antitrust penalty against the U.S. tech giant. The EU’s executive commission says Apple muzzled streaming services from telling people about payment options available through their websites. That would avoid the 30% fee charged when people pay through apps downloaded with the iOS App Store. A complaint from Spotify triggered the investigation amid a yearslong feud with Apple over music streaming supremacy. Apple says the EU didn’t “uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm” and vowed to appeal.

Saks CEO Marc Metrick on how he’s tackling online return fraud, a growing industrywide issue

NEW YORK (AP) — At Saks Fifth Avenue’s return area at its Manhattan flagship, shoppers now see a camera and signage highlighting the enhanced video surveillance and a new policy: customers must now show a photo ID. The company is also looking at ways to better scrutinize packages sent back to the warehouse. Saks’ increased measures, to be rolled out at all 39 stores in some form, are the latest moves that a growing number of retailers including Macy’s are undertaking to combat a rise of return fraud, particularly online, seen in the past two years. Other measures including mandating receipts and charging return fees. It’s a problem worth $101 billion, or 13.7% of all returns, according to the National Retail Federation.