Business Highlights: Wall Street’s slump, workers sought
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Stocks fall broadly on Wall Street, extending market losses
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street, extending the market’s losses amid worries about inflation and the path ahead for the economy. The S&P 500 shed 2.1% Monday, its biggest drop since mid-June. Some 95% of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground. It finished in the red last week, breaking a four-week winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq also fell. Technology companies and retailers had some of the heaviest losses. Signify Health soared after The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon would bid for the company. Investors are looking ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve conference.
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Wanted: 7,000 construction workers for Intel chip plants
JOHNSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s largest-ever economic development project is coming with a big employment challenge. Intel announced earlier this year a $20 billion semiconductor manufacturing operation near Columbus. The company says about 7,000 construction workers will be hired to build the two factories ahead of a planned 2025 opening. Those jobs must be filled even though several other big central Ohio construction projects are already employing thousands. The need also comes during a national shortage of construction workers. Intel says finding workers won’t be without its challenges but is confident there’s enough demand that the jobs will be filled.
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Ford cutting 3,000 white-collar jobs in bid to lower costs
DETROIT (AP) — About 3,000 white-collar workers at Ford Motor Co. will lose their jobs as the company cuts costs to help make the long transition from internal combustion vehicles to those powered by batteries. Leaders of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker made the announcement Monday in a companywide email, saying that 2,000 full-time salaried workers would be let go along with another 1,000 contract workers. The salaried worker cuts are about 6% of the work force of 31,000 in the U.S. and Canada. Ford’s 56,000 union factory workers are not affected. The cuts will come across the company in the U.S., Canada and India. Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley said in the email that Ford will provide benefits and significant help for workers to find new jobs.
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Cineworld considers bankruptcy as cinema struggles continue
LONDON (AP) — Cineworld Group says it’s considering a U.S. bankruptcy filing for Chapter 11 protection, as it contends with billions of dollars in debt and more empty seats at its screens than expected. One of the world’s largest movie theater chains, the owner of Regal Cinemas in the United States said Monday that bankruptcy is one option it’s weighing amid a financial crunch. Cineworld faces challenges specific to itself after building up $4.8 billion in net debt. But the entire industry is navigating a tenuous recovery after the pandemic shut theaters worldwide. Box-office revenue has rebounded this summer, but it’s still running nearly 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
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Musk subpoenas former Twitter CEO and friend Jack Dorsey
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has subpoenaed his friend and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as part of an effort to back out of his $44 billion agreement to acquire the company Dorsey helped found. Twitter and Musk are headed for an Oct. 17 trial in Delaware that should determine whether or not Twitter can force the billionaire to go through with the acquisition. Twitter has subpoenaed a host of tech investors and entrepreneurs connected to Musk, including prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, the founding chief operating officer of PayPal.
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Judge rules against Ben & Jerry’s in fight over Israel sales
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a request by Vermont ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s to block a plan by its corporate parent to have an intermediary sell its products in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. In the decision issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter says Ben & Jerry’s failed to show that the decision by London-based consumer goods conglomerate Unilever would hurt Ben & Jerry’s progressive social mission or confuse its customers. Earlier this year, Unilever announced that it was selling its interest in Israel in the Vermont ice cream maker to its Israeli licensee, which would market Ben & Jerry’s products in east Jerusalem and the West Bank with Hebrew and Arabic labels.
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Buffett’s company likely to add to its stake in Occidental
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s company now has clearance to boost its current 20% stake in Occidental Petroleum up to 50% of the oil producer. But it’s not immediately clear how many more shares Berkshire Hathaway plans to buy. Occidental shares soared nearly 12% Friday after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revealed that it had approved the purchases. The stock gave up some of those gains Monday to trade just below $70 after speculation that Berkshire might try to buy the entire company cooled. Analysts that follow Berkshire expect Buffett to buy more Occidental shares once the price falls below $60 again.
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Adidas CEO to step down next year, successor sought
BERLIN (AP) — Sports apparel maker Adidas says CEO Kasper Rorsted will step down next year and it has started looking for a successor. The Germany-based company said Monday that Rorsted and its supervisory board “mutually agreed” that he will hand over during the course of 2023. He’s been CEO since 2016. Supervisory board chairman Thomas Rabe says “after three challenging years that were marked by the economic consequences of the COVID-19-pandemic and geopolitical tensions, it is now the right time to initiate a CEO transition and pave the way for a restart.”
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The S&P 500 tumbled 90.49 points, or 2.1%, to 4,137.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 643.13 points, or 1.9%, to 33,063.61. The Nasdaq shed 323.64 points, or 2.5%, to 12,381.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 41.60 points, or 2.1%, to 1,915.74.