Business News

JPMorgan’s Dimon hopes for soft landing for US economy but says stagflation is a possible scenario

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he’s hopeful the Federal Reserve can bring down inflation without causing a recession but wouldn’t rule out more troubling possibilities, such as stagflation. In an interview with The Associated Press at a Chase branch opening in The Bronx, Dimon said he remained “cautious” about the U.S. economy and said inflation may be stickier for longer and that stagflation is on the list of possible things that could happen to the U.S. economy. Stagflation occurs when the economy is weak, or in recession, yet prices keep moving higher. Dimon also reiterated his support for an independent Federal Reserve.

Fed’s preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures stayed elevated last month

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained uncomfortably high in March, likely reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut interest rates anytime soon and underscoring a burden for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Prices rose 0.3% from February to March, the same as in the previous month. It was the third straight month that the index has run at a pace faster than is consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Measured from a year earlier, prices were up 2.7% in March, up from 2.5% in February. After peaking in 2022, the Fed’s favored inflation index cooled for most of 2023. Yet so far this year, the index has remained stuck above the Fed’s target rate.

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

NEW YORK (AP) — Rooting for Donald Trump to fail has rarely been this profitable. Just ask a hardy band of mostly amateur investors who have collectively made tens of millions over the past month by betting that the stock price of his social media business – Truth Social – will keep dropping despite wild swings that appear to mirror the candidate’s latest polls, court trials and outbursts on Truth Social itself. Several of these investors interviewed by The Associated Press say their bearish gambles using “put” options are driven less by their personal feelings about the former president than by their enduring faith in the woeful underlying financials of the company.

The TikTok law kicks off a new showdown between Beijing and Washington. What’s coming next?

WASHINGTON (AP) — TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company or face a ban. A battle in the courts will almost certainly be backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.-China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young Americans to connect online. Beijing has signaled TikTok should fight what it has called a “robbers” act by U.S. lawmakers “to snatch from others all the good things that they have.” But should a legal challenge fail, observers say Chinese authorities are unlikely to allow a sale, a move that could be seen as surrendering to Washington.

These are the countries where TikTok is already banned

LONDON (AP) — TikTok is banned in a handful of countries and not allowed on government-issued devices in a number of others. That’s due to official worries that the popular video-sharing app poses privacy and cybersecurity concerns. Now it’s in the crosshairs in the U.S., where new law threatens a ban unless its China-based parent ByteDance sells off TikTok. Places that have implemented total bans on TikTok include Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Somalia. Australia, Canada and many European countries like Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands have banned the app from work phones. In the U.S., TikTok is banned from official devices issued by the government agencies, many states, Congress and the military.

Stock market today: Alphabet and Microsoft push Wall Street toward its first winning week in a month

NEW YORK (AP) — Alphabet and Microsoft are leading the U.S. stock market toward its first winning week in the last four. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 166 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.1%. Google’s parent company jumped after breezing past analysts’ expectations for profit and announcing a dividend. Microsoft climbed after also topping forecasts. They helped offset a slide for Intel after it gave a forecast for profit that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Treasury yields eased after a report on inflation for March came in close to expectations.

US probes whether Tesla Autopilot recall did enough to make sure drivers pay attention

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is investigating whether last year’s recall of Tesla’s Autopilot driving system did enough to make sure drivers pay attention to the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website Friday that Tesla has reported 20 more crashes involving Autopilot since the recall. The crashes raised concerns at the agency about the effectiveness of the remedy. The recall involved more than 2 million vehicles, nearly everything Tesla had sold at the time. The agency pushed the company to do the recall after a two-year investigation into Autopilot’s driver monitoring system, which measures torque on the steering wheel from a driver’s hands. The fix involves an online software update to increase warnings to drivers.

Mining giant Anglo-American rejects BHP’s $39 billion takeover offer, says it’s ‘opportunistic’

LONDON (AP) — U.K.-based mining giant Anglo American has rejected a 31 billion pound ($39 billion) takeover offer from BHP Group, saying it significantly undervalues the company and its growth potential. Anglo American said Friday that its board unanimously rejected the bid from BHP, which was announced a day earlier. The deal would create the world’s largest copper miner as the transition to renewable energy drives demand for the metal. BHP said Thursday that the deal would boost its production of copper as demand for the metal soars amid the shift to clean energy. The combination would also increase BHP’s holdings of potash, a widely used fertilizer, and coking coal used in steel production.

The world’s largest 3D printer is at a university in Maine. It just unveiled an even bigger one

ORONO, Maine (AP) — The university that boasts the world’s largest 3D printer developed one even bigger. A printer unveiled Tuesday at the University of Maine is four times larger than the current one and is capable of printing ever mightier objects. That includes scaling up its bio-based 3D-printed home technology to eventually demonstrate how printed neighborhoods can offer affordable housing. The thermoplastic polymer printer was dubbed the “Factory of the Future 1.0.” It can print objects 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high. And it has a voracious appetite, consuming as much as 500 pounds of raw material per hour.

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

NEW YORK (AP) — Catch and kill. Checkbook journalism. Secret deals. Testimony by former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker during former President Trump’s hush money trial has been shocking even for people who bring a healthy degree of skepticism whenever they read the supermarket tabloid. Pecker has taken the stand to reveal details of a deal he made with Trump prior to his first presidential campaign to boost his candidacy, denigrate his rivals and silence embarrassing stories. The Enquirer has a scandalous reputation but has been an iconic part of American culture. Its reporters once broke some genuine news. Now it’s hard to see how it recovers.