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Wall Street falls as FedEx warning adds to market woes

Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street, leaving the market with another week of sizable losses, as a stark warning from FedEx about rapidly worsening trends in the economy gave investors more to worry about. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Friday. The Nasdaq lost almost 1% and the Dow lost almost half a percent. FedEx had its biggest loss on record after saying a sharp dropoff in its business had worsened in recent weeks. Markets were already on edge because of stubbornly high inflation as well as the higher interest rates being used to fight it, which will slow the economy.

Treasury recommends exploring creation of a digital dollar

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving one step closer to developing a central bank digital currency, known as the digital dollar. Administration officials say it'd help reinforce the U.S. role as a leader in the world financial system. The White House said Friday that after President Joe Biden issued an executive order in March calling on agencies to look at ways to regulate digital assets, the agencies came up with nine reports. One Treasury recommendation is the U.S. “advance policy and technical work on a potential central bank digital currency." The Atlantic Council nonpartisan think tank says many other countries already are exploring or have created a central bank digital currency.

Serious breach at Uber spotlights hacker social deception

The ride-hailing service Uber says all its services are operational following what security professionals are calling a major data breach. It says there is no evidence the hacker got access to sensitive user data. But the breach, apparently by a lone hacker, put the spotlight on an increasingly effective and polished break-in routine: The hacker appears to have gained access by tricking an Uber employee into surrendering their credentials. Screenshots the hacker shared with security researchers indicate they obtained full access to the cloud-based systems where Uber stores sensitive customer and financial data. It is not known how much data the hacker took.

DOJ to use ‘carrot and stick’ approach on corporate crime

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official has announced new incentives for companies that cooperate with corporate criminal investigations and a $250 million Congressional budget request to expand its work. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Thursday there has been a decline in the number of corporate criminal prosecutions over the last decade. To help address that, she is directing every division that prosecutes corporate crime to develop programs that incentivize companies to report misconduct.  In some cases, no one will have to plead guilty to criminal charges if the violation was self-reported and the company fixed it. Companies will also be required to come forward more quickly with evidence of suspected misdeeds to get leniency.

China's consumer, factory activity improve but still weak

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese official data show consumer spending and factory output improved in August but were still weak. Forecasters warned the world’s second-largest economy is vulnerable to disruption from repeated shutdowns of cities to fight virus outbreaks. Housing sales plummeted while prices edged lower. That adds to a slide in real estate activity under pressure from a government campaign to control debt that set off an economic slump in mid-2021. Chinese leaders are trying to prop up economic growth that sank to 2.5% over a year earlier in the first six months of 2022, less than half the official 5.5% target.

Q&A: Craig Newmark aims to defend democracy via philanthropy

NEW YORK (AP) — Craig Newmark twists a “Batman” quote to jokingly refer to himself as “not the nerd you want, but maybe, now and then, I’m the nerd you need.” Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, has since retired from the pioneering website that made him a billionaire, according to Forbes, but the 69-year-old says he is now busier than ever with his philanthropy. Newmark sees the bulk of his philanthropic work as a way to help protect democracy – a cause that has already claimed more than $250 million of his donations, including the Newmark Civic Life Series of Recanati-Kaplan Talks, which runs through Oct. 11 in New York City.

Oktoberfest is back but inflation hits brewers, cost of beer

MUNICH (AP) — Oktoberfest is on tap again in Germany after two years of pandemic cancellations. The beer will be just as cold and the roast pork knuckle just as crispy. Mayor Dieter Reiter says the return of the city’s hallmark tourist event on Saturday is “beautiful.” But brewers and visitors are under pressure from inflation in ways they could hardly imagine in 2019. Energy, barley, hops, even paper and glue for labels, cardboard for cases and steel barrels have all gone up in price as record inflation has taken hold across Europe. The price of one of the hefty mugs that revelers will hoist has gone up by 15%, with the brewing industry under pressure from rising costs.

PayPal says if Sarver stays, it won't remain Suns sponsor

PayPal says the company will no longer sponsor the Phoenix Suns if owner Robert Sarver remains part of the franchise when his suspension ends. PayPal says its current partnership deal with the Suns ends after the coming 2022-23 season, meaning it will expire during Sarver’s one-year suspension from the NBA. Later Friday, the executive director of the NBA players union said players want Sarver banned from the league. Sarver was suspended this week, plus fined $10 million, after an investigation showed a pattern of lewd, misogynistic, and racist speech and conduct during his 18 years as owner of the Suns.

Tentative labor deal averts threat of nationwide rail strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rail companies and their workers reached a tentative agreement to avert a nationwide strike that could have shut down the nation’s freight trains and devastated the economy less than two months before the midterm elections. President Joe Biden announced the deal Thursday. It emerged from a marathon 20-hour negotiating session at the Labor Department and came just one day before the threatened walkout. The deal includes a 24% pay raise and relaxes strict railroad attendance policies. It will go to union members for a vote after a cooling-off period of several weeks.

Germany takes control of 3 Russian-owned oil refineries

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is taking control of three Russian-owned refineries to ensure energy security before a European Union embargo on oil from Russia takes effect next year. German officials said Friday that two subsidiaries of Russian oil giant Rosneft would be put under the administration of a German government agency. As a result, the agency will also control the companies’ shares in the refineries in Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the move was “a far-reaching energy policy decision to protect our country” and that "Russia isn’t a reliable supplier of energy anymore.” Rosneft accounts for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity. It previously made clear it had no intention to stop importing oil to Germany. the

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FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — Nimi Rama started working at McDonald’s at age 14. His career at McDonald’s has taken him throughout the East Coast and …

The Biden administration will transfer $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan central bank funds to benefit the Afghan people as hunger grips every province there. In an announcement Wednesday, a year after the tumultuous U.S. withdrawal, the U.S. said the Taliban government will not have access to the fund, which will be held at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland. The Biden administration says robust safeguards have been put in place "to prevent the funds from being used for illicit activity.” Funds will be dispersed after trustees of the new Afghan Fund meet to determine a timetable. The trustees are two Afghan economists, a U.S. government representative and a Swiss government representative.

The founder of outdoor gear company Patagonia says the company is transferring all of its voting shares into a trust dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature. In a letter posted on the privately held company’s website, founder Yvon Chouinard said the 50-year-old company would transfer 100% of the its voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust. All of its nonvoting stock has been given to the Holdfast Collective. And each year after reinvesting profits back into the company, remaining funds will be distributed as a dividend to the trusts in their ongoing efforts to fight the climate crisis.

A Lebanese activist group says they will continue to organize bank heists to help people retrieve their trapped savings in this crisis-hit Mideast country. Activists from the Depositors' Outcry group made these remarks at a press conference on Thursday, after the group had helped Sali Hafez retrieve $13,000 in her savings to help fund her sister's cancer treatment on Wednesday. The group told The Associated Press that they had also coordinated with a man who tried to take some of his money from a bank in the mountainous town of Aley. Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency since 2019, tying up the savings of millions. About three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty as Lebanon's economy continues to spiral.

Thousands of nurses in Minnesota launched a three-day strike Monday, pressing for salary increases they say will help improve patient care by resolving understaffing stresses that have worsened in the coronavirus pandemic. Some 15,000 nurses at seven health care systems in the Minneapolis and Duluth areas walked out, a number the union says makes it the largest strike ever by private-sector nurses. The affected hospitals said they have recruited temporary nurses and expected to maintain most services. Nurses are seeking pay raises of more than 30% over three years, while hospitals have offered 10% to 12%. The hospital systems say the nurses' demands are unrealistic.

The European Central Bank has made its largest-ever interest rate increase to combat record inflation that is squeezing consumers and pushing the 19 countries that use the euro currency toward recession. The bank’s 25-member governing council raised its key benchmarks by an unprecedented three-quarters of a percentage point Thursday. The ECB joined the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in the global stampede of rapid rate hikes. Russia’s war in Ukraine has fueled inflation in Europe, with Russia sharply reducing supplies of cheap natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and run factories. That has driven up gas prices by 10 times or more.

Members of one union have rejected a tentative deal with the largest U.S. freight railroads, while two ratified agreements and three other unions remained at the bargaining table just days ahead of a national strike deadline. A strike would intensify snarls in the nation’s supply chain that have contributed to rising prices. But the IAM agreed to delay any strike by its members until Sept. 29 to allow more time for negotiations and to allow other unions to vote. Amtrak has already cancelled a number of its long-distance trains this week, and it said the rest of its long-distance trains would stop Thursday ahead of the strike deadline.

Jury selection has begun in the fraud trial of Trevor Milton. The founder and former executive chairman of Nikola Corp. is accused of lying about the electric truck startup’s vehicles. Milton was indicted last year on charges of securities fraud and wire fraud. He has pleaded not guilty and was freed after his arrest on $100 million bail. Milton started Nikola in 2015, and announced that its stock would be publicly listed in 2020. He resigned in September of that year, after the company had signed a $2 billion agreement with General Motors but following a report making allegations of fraud.

Tentative labor deal averts threat of nationwide rail strike

Louisiana legislators are once again discussing a possible path toward eliminating income tax, hoping an overhaul of the state's tax structure would keep and attract residents, businesses and corporations. But lawmakers say any proposal is bound to meet fiscal hurdles, considering personal income taxes make up $4.3 billion of the state’s $39 billion annual operating budget. A subcommittee is now tasked with conducting an analysis of the state’s tax structure, looking at what exemptions and credits cost and what other taxes can be afforded to change.

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