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Boston Globe
12-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Stock markets surge Monday on signs of a trade truce between US and China
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up FAST FOOD Advertisement McDonald's plans summertime hiring binge McDonald's Corp. and its franchisees plan to recruit as many as 375,000 workers across the United States this summer in what the burger chain says is its biggest hiring spree in years. The Big Mac seller is gearing up to serve more customers as the weather warms up and the company expands, according to an announcement Monday. McDonald's said in 2023 that it would open 900 US locations over the following four years. The positions aren't intended to be seasonal or temporary. Roughly 800,000 people work at McDonald's restaurants. About 95 percent of the chain's more than 13,500 US locations are franchised, meaning they're run independently by operators who hire their own staff and set wages. The hiring announcement follows a disappointing first quarter for McDonald's, with executives pointing to consumer economic distress. Third-party data suggest that US trends have improved in April, thanks in part to the launch of a limited-time Minecraft meal. McDonald's estimates that about one in eight Americans have worked for the chain. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement AIR TRAVEL Flying through Newark? Keep waiting Most flights destined for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were being delayed at their origin airports by more than an hour and 40 minutes Monday because of a shortfall in air traffic control staffing. The Federal Aviation Administration said in an advisory that it was delaying the incoming flights from all US airports and some in Canada. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Limited staffing, software and hardware problems, and runway construction have caused sometimes lengthy delays at Newark in recent weeks. While incoming flights were being held, few flights to or from Newark had been canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking firm. Delays can have cascading effects on flights around the world. Monday's delay is the latest in a string of setbacks for Newark, one of the nation's busiest airports and a large hub for United Airlines. On Friday, an air traffic control facility that guides planes at the airport had a brief radar outage. A similar outage earlier in the month had left controllers unable to communicate with pilots for about 90 seconds. The Trump administration has also promised to install new fiber-optic cables connecting the airport and the facility, which was recently moved from Long Island in New York to Philadelphia. — NEW YORK TIMES Advertisement FUND-RAISING US clean-tech firms are eyeing the exits, expert says Clean-tech companies that were eligible for support under former president Joe Biden are now considering leaving the United States as the Trump administration pulls the plug on financing, according to the former head of the program that vetted the firms. As director of the Loans Programs Office at the US Department of Energy when Biden was president, Jigar Shah helped select roughly 400 companies with development plans to receive grants and loans upwards of $100 million each. Shah, who last year was included in Time magazine's list of the most influential people for his contribution to advancing the clean-energy transition, said that since the inauguration of Donald Trump in January, many of the companies that benefited from Biden-era programs are now looking to shift all or part of their business outside the United States. Against that backdrop, Shah said in an interview that he's been talking to officials in Brussels about re-domiciling companies in Europe. About two-thirds of the businesses are currently headquartered in the United States, he said. Among clean-tech industries represented are nuclear power generation, suppliers for heat pumps and batteries, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen. — BLOOMBERG NEWS ECONOMY N.Y. wind farm developer gets no help from White House visit, may kill project Equinor ASA got no new signals that the Trump administration would reconsider the halt imposed on the Empire Wind project when its CEO met with a top White House official last week. Now the company must decide whether it will kill the project. 'If no progress is made within days, Equinor will be forced to terminate the project,' Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, said Monday. 'We are still fighting every day to find a resolution.' That came after there was no indication of a change in stance from US officials when the Norwegian oil and gas company's chief executive Anders Opedal and other top officials met with US National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on May 6, spokesperson Magnus Eidsvold said Monday. A termination would cause the company to lose much of its $2.7 billion investment on the project. 'It would be a direct impact to Equinor and our balance sheet,' Morris said. The $5 billion project was halted in April when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had rushed its approvals. Empire 1 was fully-permitted and slated to start commercial operation in 2027. Its 54 turbines were designed to power 500,000 homes. The halt on Empire is bigger than Equinor or even offshore wind, Morris said. 'It's about honoring contracts and financial investments made in the US,' she said. 'They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement TECHNOLOGY Trump, Apple CEO Cook speak as phonemaker weighs first major price hike since 2017. President Trump said he spoke with Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook on Monday, just as the iPhone maker was reported to be considering price increases later this year. Apple is weighing whether to raise prices for an iPhone lineup coming in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter whom it didn't identify. The company is exploring whether to 'couple' price increases with new features and designs, while trying to avoid the perception that any hikes are tied to US tariffs, the Journal reported. Apple didn't respond to Bloomberg's request for comment. A few hours after the Journal report, Trump said he had spoken to Cook. He didn't address the potential price increases, instead focusing on how he thinks the company will end up raising its US spending plan beyond the $500 billion that it had pledged in February. 'He's going to be building a lot of plants in the US for Apple,' Trump said. Consumers and analysts have been bracing for Apple price increases for more than a month. Apple hasn't changed the starting price of its flagship iPhone model since it debuted the iPhone X in 2017 — keeping it at $999. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement
Boston Globe
07-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Mega Millions tickets rise to $5, but the lottery promises more giant jackpots
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up ECONOMY Advertisement Inflation more urgent tariff issue right now, Fed's Kugler says Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler. Al Drago/Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said President Donald Trump's trade policy currently has more pressing implications for inflation than for economic growth. Kugler said consumers' moves to purchase products before newly announced tariffs take effect may be offering support for economic activity in early 2025, while there are signs the changes in trade policy are already putting some upward pressure on prices. 'The takeaway is that I view, right now, inflation as being more pressing as far as the effects of tariffs that we're already seeing,' Kugler said during a question-and-answer session Monday at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 'Maybe this frontloading is going to help, at least in terms of keeping economic activity at the beginning of the year.' She made the comment in describing the tension between how the Fed would typically respond in the case of a weakening economy compared with times of accelerating inflation. Trump last week unveiled sweeping and aggressive tariffs on US trading partners, which analysts broadly estimate will both slow economic growth and cause higher inflation. 'If we tighten policy, we may weaken the economy. We ease policy, on the other hand, we may drive inflation higher,' Kugler said. 'So we have to be very careful in how we navigate this period.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement ENTERTAINMENT 'Minecraft' movie's $163 million debut is year's best so far Jack Black attends the world premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 30 in London, Warner Bros. Pictures A Minecraft Movie, a Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. film based on the namesake video game, opened at No. 1 in US and Canadian theaters this weekend, marking the biggest debut this year. The picture, co-produced by Legendary Entertainment, delivered weekend sales of $163 million, Warner Bros. said Monday in a statement, storming past industry tracker Box Office Pro's forecast of $85 million to $100 million. The film took in an additional $150.7 million in theaters internationally. Estimates for the movie soared last week based on advanced ticket-buying data. The live-action comedy and fantasy picture stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa as misfits pulled into a cubic world based on the game. The tally marked the largest opening weekend ever for a film based on a video game and continues a string of recent successes for such movies, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The film overcame a 49 percent critics' score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The debut is good news for domestic theaters, which had seen ticket sales slide 11 percent before the start of the weekend. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement AIR TRAVEL Spirit Air's CEO steps down after emergence from bankruptcy A Spirit Airlines aircraft prepares to depart from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Nov. 13, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Spirit Airlines said Chief Executive Officer Ted Christie is stepping down, less than a month after the pioneering discount carrier emerged from bankruptcy. Christie's departure from the company and the board is effective immediately, parent Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. said Monday in a statement. Until a successor is named, the company will be led by three top executives. Matt Klein, the carrier's chief commercial officer, also is leaving. The surprise CEO change caps a rocky few years for Spirit, which nearly merged with JetBlue Airways Corp. before that deal was blocked on antitrust grounds. Spirit has struggled to keep costs manageable as an independent airline, and filed for bankruptcy late last year. The company recently engaged in unsuccessful combination talks with Frontier Group Holdings Inc. before emerging from bankruptcy last month. Christie had served as CEO since 2019, and joined the carrier in 2012 as chief financial officer. He previously worked at Frontier as chief financial officer. Spirit will be led temporarily by a newly formed office of the president that will include CFO Fred Cromer, Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis and General Counsel Thomas Canfield. — BLOOMBERG NEWS INTERNATIONAL US blocks sea salt imports from South Korean salt farm over forced labor concerns A salt farm owner walks around his salt farm on Sinui Island, South Korea, on Feb. 19, 2014. Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press The United States has blocked imports of sea salt products from a major South Korean salt farm accused of using slave labor, becoming the first trade partner to take punitive action against a decadeslong problem on salt farms in remote islands off South Korea's southwest coast. US Customs and Border Protection issued a withhold release order against the Taepyung salt farm, saying information 'reasonably indicates' the use of forced labor at the company in the island county of Sinan, where most of South Korea's sea salt products are made. Under the order issued last Wednesday, Customs personnel at all US ports of entry are required to hold sea salt products sourced from the farm. Taepyung is South Korea's largest salt farm, producing about 16,000 tons of salt annually, which accounts for approximately 6 percent of the country's total output, according to government data, and is a major supplier to South Korean food companies. The farm, located on Jeungdo island in Sinan and leasing most of its salt fields to tenants, has been repeatedly accused of using forced labor, including in 2014 and 2021. South Korean officials stated that this was the first time a foreign government had suspended imports from a South Korean company due to concerns over forced labor. In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, have been taking steps to address labor practices at Taepyung since 2021. While not providing direct evidence, it said it assesses that none of the salt produced there now is sourced from forced labor. The ministry said it plans to 'actively engage' in discussions with the US officials over the matter. The fisheries ministry said it plans to promptly review the necessary measures to seek the lifting of the US order. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement TECHNOLOGY Advertisement Microsoft workers say they've been fired after 50th anniversary protest over Israel contract A sign is seen at the Microsoft headquarters on July 3, 2024, in Redmond, Wash. David Ryder/Getty Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up to a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions. 'You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,' Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. 'Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.' The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk, which was livestreamed from Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft's founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer. 'Thank you for your protest, I hear you,' Suleyman said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and 'all of Microsoft' had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event. A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston Globe
03-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Coal-fired power plant, now retired, to become massive gas-powered campus for AI, data centers
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up DEALS Advertisement Siemens to buy Boston's Dotmatics for $5.1 billion The offices of Siemens AG in Nuremberg, Germany. Michaela Handrek-Rehle/Bloomberg Siemens AG has agreed to acquire Boston-based Dotmatics for $5.1 billion as part of a push to provide more artificial intelligence software to life sciences companies. The German company announced the deal for the Insight Partners-backed R&D software maker in a statement Wednesday that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of fiscal year 2026, Siemens said. 'Combining our next-generation scientific intelligence platform and industry-leading scientific applications together with Siemens' Digital Twin and AI capabilities, we'll drive a new wave of innovation in life sciences R&D,' Dotmatics chief executive Thomas Swalla said in a separate statement. The transaction comes at a time when Insight is in the process of exiting other portfolio companies to strategic buyers. Last month, Alphabet Inc. agreed to buy Insight-backed cloud-security company Wiz Inc., while CoreWeave Inc. said it was acquiring AI developer platform Weights & Biases and Roper Technologies Inc. said it would acquire CentralReach. Dotmatics was founded in 2005 by Merck & Co. scientists Stephen Gallagher and Alastair Hill. More than 2 million scientists in 125 countries use its software, which helps to digitize lab data, enhance collaboration, and analyze findings, according to the company's website. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement STOCKS Newsmax plunges 77 percent after $29 billion surge loses momentum Newsmax Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Newsmax Inc. shares shed more than three-quarters of their value on Wednesday after a raucous two-day surge fueled in part by retail traders briefly made it larger than Fox Corp. The stock slumped 77 percent, wiping out $23 billion in market value, after a 2,230 percent surge in Newsmax's first two days as a public company. Retail investors were less vocal about the stock in trader chatrooms compared to prior days, with buy orders on Fidelity's platform more muted compared to those for larger companies. Still, the company's stock remains up more than 400 percent from its $10 offer price, giving it a more than $6 billion market capitalization, which means plenty of early buyers are sitting on vast amounts of paper wealth. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement GAMING Nintendo's Switch 2 priced at $450 for June 5 launch A Nintendo Switch display at an electronics retail chain store in Tokyo. Koji Sasahara/Associated Press Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date and $449.99 price tag for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers. In its 60-minute Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday, the company revealed a more vibrant display on the Switch 2, a larger screen and several games that will launch with the console. Central to its updated system is a new 'C' button on its Joy-Con controller, which will launch a 'GameChat' feature that requires a subscription to Nintendo's Switch online service. It allows players to 'communicate with friends and family while playing a game,' and lets them share their game screen with others. A built-in microphone will also allow chatting with other gamers. 'When you think about some of the biggest titles on (the Nintendo Switch), it's like Mario Kart, Super Mario Jamboree, even though that's quite a new title, has cracked the top 10 of most played games on the console. So, it does make a lot of sense that the sort of headline feature is geared primarily towards that sort of use,' said Hannah Cowton-Barnes, a London-based video game industry expert for Tech Advisor. — ASSOCIATED PRESS GOVERNMENT HHS layoffs mean that data on drug use and mental health could sit unused The Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Most teenagers don't use drugs. There's data to show that because of a 50-year-old government survey that may now be in jeopardy. The entire 17-member US government team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health received layoff notices Tuesday, as part of the overhaul of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It's not clear whether there is an alternative plan to analyze the data, which local and state governments use to develop prevention measures and treatment services. The federal government distributes grant money to fight the opioid addiction crisis based on it. Researchers use it to study trends in depression, alcoholism, and tobacco use. An HHS spokesman did not immediately respond to a question about the survey's future. The nationally representative survey is conducted in person by an independent research group with about 70,000 people each year. It provides a more complete picture than trends in overdose deaths, which capture only a small segment of the problem, said Lindsey Vuolo of the Partnership to End Addiction. 'We use its findings on a near daily basis in our research, educational programming and resources, and communication materials,' Vuolo said of the survey. Before the layoffs, the government team was preparing to analyze 2024 data, the first year where trends would be reliable again since the pandemic disrupted data collection, said Jennifer Hoenig, the laid-off director of the Office of Population Surveys. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement GOVERNMENT SEC to restructure regional offices to streamline management The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg The US Securities and Exchange Commission will reorganize 10 regional offices under broader geographic areas and decrease the number of people reporting directly to the agency's enforcement director, acting Chair Mark Uyeda said in a staff-wide email Wednesday. 'The current management structure simply cannot be sustained,' Uyeda wrote in an email reviewed by Bloomberg. The change will be effective April 9. Enforcement staff will report to deputy directors for geographical areas and an enforcement director for the specialized units, according to the email. The new western region will cover Denver, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, while the southeast region will include Atlanta, Miami, and the SEC's home office in Washington, DC. The northeast geographic region will include the staff of the Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia offices. The email detailed changes on reporting structures and didn't say if offices would close. SEC regional offices conduct enforcement and examinations work for the agency, among other tasks. Uyeda in his message to the staff said the changes were intended to maintain the importance of the regional offices. 'The reporting lines in the Divisions of Enforcement and Examinations will be realigned to better reflect each Division's national programs and are intended to improve efficiency, management, and oversight of the Divisions,' the SEC said in a statement. Reuters reported earlier the SEC plans to restructure its enforcement division. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement
Wall Street Journal
04-03-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Chipotle Says It Won't Raise the Price of Guacamole
A Chipotle restaurant in San Francisco. (DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS) Chipotle Mexican Grill, a global buyer of avocados, expects that tariffs imposed on Mexican imports could weigh on its profit margins this year. The company on Monday said it aims to absorb potential cost increases, rather than raising customer prices, because of uncertainty about how long the tariffs could last. Chipotle said on an investor call last month that its cost of goods could increase by around 0.6% this year if the tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China go into effect. About half of Chipotle's avocados come from Mexico. Chipotle also sources limes and other produce from Mexico. The company in recent years has worked to diversify the sources of its imported goods.
