Business News

JPMorgan’s Dimon warns inflation, political polarization, wars creating risks not seen since WWII

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s most influential banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors that he continues to expect the U.S. economy to be resilient and grow this year. But he worries geopolitical events including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Gaza war, as well as U.S. political polarization, might be creating an environment that “may very well be creating risks that could eclipse anything since World War II.” The comments came Monday in an annual shareholder letter from Dimon, who often uses the letter to weigh in broad topics like politics, regulation and global events and what it might mean to JPMorgan Chase, as well as the broader economy.

US will push China to change policy that threatens American jobs, Treasury Secretary Yellen says

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the Biden administration will push China to change an industrial policy that poses a threat to U.S. jobs. Yellen said this on Monday after four days of talks with Chinese officials. She also said during her visit to Beijing that they had “difficult conversations” about national security, including American concerns that Chinese companies are supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine. But the focus of her trip was industrial policy, and what the U.S. and Europe describe as manufacturing overcapacity in China. Wealthy nations fear a wave of low-priced Chinese exports that will overwhelm factories at home.

Two years after its historic win, a divided Amazon Labor Union lurches toward a leadership election

The first labor union for Amazon workers in the United States is divided, running out of money and still does not have a contract two years after clenching a historic victory in New York City. Despite campaigns at several facilities in the past few years, a Staten Island warehouse still is the only site in the U.S. where the retail giant’s workers have voted in favor of union representation. Cracks emerged within the Amazon Labor Union ranks after it lost votes at two other warehouses, spurring strategy disagreements. Prominent members resigned quietly or left to form a dissident labor group. The union also continues to face roadblocks from Amazon.

Spain will scrap ‘golden visas’ that allow wealthy non-EU residents to stay if they buy real estate

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government says it will scrap so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy people from outside the European Union to obtain residency permits on investing more than half a million euros (dollars) in real estate. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his minority coalition government would study the reform in the weekly Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Sánchez said the reform was part of the government’s push to make housing a right not a speculative business. The government says some 10,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was brought into law in 2013 by a previous right-wing Popular Party government as a means to attract foreign investors. “Golden visas” are strongly criticized for spurring price hikes and speculation in the housing sector.

Key lawmakers float new rules for personal data protection; bill would make privacy a consumer right

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two lawmakers from opposing parties are floating a new plan to protect the privacy of Americans’ personal data. The draft legislation was announced Sunday by two lawmakers from Washington state — Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell. Their proposal would make privacy a consumer right and set new rules for companies that collect and transfer personal data. Congress has long debated ways to safeguard personal data, but partisan disputes have doomed previous proposals. The new measure from Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers hasn’t been introduced yet, but their bipartisan support indicates the measure is likely to get serious consideration.

Insider Q&A: Nellie Borrero recounts 4 decades of addressing racism and bringing change to Accenture

NEW YORK (AP) — It didn’t take long for Nellie Borrero to encounter racism in 1986 when she joined a major consulting firm that was the predecessor to Accenture. At her first Christmas party, the partner who hired her gave her gift that turned out to be roach spray, saying everyone knew Puerto Ricans had roaches in their homes. The next Monday, Borrero confronted the partner, who expressed remorse and promised to help her change the company’s culture if she stayed. Borrero shared these stories in a newly released memoir detailing her nearly 40-year effort to build a diversity and inclusion practice at Accenture, where she is now a senior strategic adviser for global inclusion and diversity. She discusses her book and the current climate surrounding DEI in an interview with The Associated Press.

Stock market today: Wall Street holds steadier after last week’s sharp swerves

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting in quiet trading after last week’s roller-coaster end left them shy of their records. The S&P 500 was down 0.1% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 23 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher. The focus on Wall Street has been on interest rates and when the Federal Reserve will lower them. Hot reports on inflation and the economy have forced traders to delay forecasts for when relief on rates could arrive. That raises the pressure on companies to deliver strong profits to justify higher stock prices. Reports on inflation and corporate profits are due later this week.

Biden administration announces $6.6 billion to ensure leading-edge microchips are built in the US

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The Biden administration has pledged to provide up to $6.6 billion so that a Taiwanese semiconductor giant can expand the facilities it is already building in Arizona and better ensure that the most-advanced microchips are produced domestically for the first time. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that Monday’s announced funding for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. means the company can expand on its existing plans for two facilities in Phoenix and add a third, newly announced production hub. Raimonda said, “These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence,” and she added that they also “underpin our economy.”

Will China flood the globe with EVs, green tech? What’s behind latest US-China trade fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — China’s burgeoning production of electric cars and other green technologies has become a flashpoint in a new U.S.-China trade fight. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s five-day visit to China is highlighting the issue. China has sharply ramped up production of cheap electric vehicles, solar panels, and batteries, just as the Biden administration has pushed through legislation supporting many of those same industries in the U.S. Concerns are growing also in Europe and Mexico that China will seek to bolster its own struggling economy with a wave of exports that could undercut factories overseas. China argues that its low-priced products are helping the world combat climate change.

Salvage crews have begun removing containers from the ship that collapsed Baltimore’s Key bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Salvage crews have begun removing containers from the deck of the cargo ship that crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an important step toward the full reopening of one of the nation’s main shipping lanes. Officials said Sunday that the removal of the containers from the deck of the Dali would continue this week as weather permits. Crews are progressing toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow to eventually allow it to move. The Dali has been trapped under mangled steel in the Patapsco River since it slammed into the bridge on March 26, killing six workers.