QVC prepares for bankruptcy protection in the era of influencers, TikTok and Temu
NEW YORK — The owner of home shopping network pioneer QVC — which for years garnered the attention of millions of TV viewers looking for a deal on baubles and housewares, is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A filing about imminent bankruptcy protection by parent company QVC...
Walmart stores in Bethel Park, Unity among 32 Pa. stores set for upgrade
Walmart plans to remodel 32 stores in Pennsylvania this year, including two in the Western Pennsylvania region. The retailer announced Thursday morning that the remodels are part of ongoing efforts to modernize the in-store and digital shopping experience at its stores. The remodels include upgrades to layouts, technology, and services....
Could more cattle cause record beef prices to drop? Ranchers say it’s not that simpleVideo
MANDAN, N.D. — It’s never been so expensive for Americans to buy a steak or hamburger, but cutting those costs requires ranchers like Stephanie Hatzenbuhler to raise more cattle — and that’s not an easy ask. For a host of reasons, Hatzenbuhler and other ranchers across the country are reluctant...
Report: Spirit Airlines may liquidate its assets as soon as this weekVideo
Spirit Aviation Holdings could make the decision to liquidate its assets as soon as this week, according to reporting by Bloomberg News. If that happens, officials at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity say they are prepared. Airport officials had already begun discussions with other national carriers following Spirit’s announcement...
Mobile home park owner takes over as Westmoreland County’s top taxpayerVideo
A New Jersey-based company that owns mobile home parks and prefabricated residential communities in a dozen states will be Westmoreland County’s largest taxpayer in 2026. New totals from the county’s tax assessment office reveal United Mobile Homes Properties Inc. has taken the top spot among local taxpayers, replacing the owners...
U.S. probes suspicious oil trades made before Trump pivots
The top U.S. derivatives regulator is investigating a series of suspiciously well-timed trades in the oil futures market ahead of recent policy pivots by President Donald Trump related to the war in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leading the probe into...
Wall Street hits a record as S&P 500 continues its 2-week rally on hopes for the Iran war
NEW YORK — The stock market hit a record Wednesday after adding to its two-week rally built on hopes the war with Iran won’t create a worst-case scenario for the global economy. Whether Wall Street is correct to have so much hope for peace and whether stocks should be the...
Data center boom meets resistance in Maine as lawmakers pass yearlong freeze
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is set to impose the nation’s first statewide moratorium on energy-hungry data centers in a sign of growing political opposition to tech giants’ massive structures that have stoked fears about blackouts, rising electricity bills and voracious water needs. The legislation arose in a state that isn’t...
Walmart is repackaging its Great Value brand to reflect changing consumer habits
NEW YORK — Walmart is redesigning the packaging of its Great Value products to help customers instantly spot whether a bag of spicy chips is gluten-free or how much protein is packed into a serving of chicken nuggets. Encompassing 10,000 different products, Great Value is Walmart’s biggest store brand and...
Prosecutors seek access to Federal Reserve building as Trump threatens to fire Powell
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors made an unannounced visit this week to a construction site at Federal Reserve headquarters that is the focus of an investigation into a $2.5 billion renovation project, according to two people familiar with the visit. Two prosecutors and an investigator from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office...
As energy costs rise, some states back off ambitious climate goals
ALBANY, N.Y. — Seven years ago, New York lawmakers set ambitious goals for slashing greenhouse gas emissions with clarion calls about saving the future. Now, with slow progress made and political realities shifting, Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking a delay, saying she wants to save consumers money. Times have ”...
AI chatbots give misleading medical advice 50% of the time, study finds
Artificial intelligence-driven chatbots are giving users problematic medical advice about half the time, according to a new study, highlighting the health risks of the technology that’s becoming increasingly integral in day-to-day life. Researchers from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom evaluated five popular platforms — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta...
How the rich shrink their tax burden
With the IRS expecting 164 million individual income tax returns this year, there’s a common conception that rich people pay less tax in the U.S. than what many would consider fair. It’s a sentiment that shows up in polling on Americans’ attitudes about the federal tax system and animates a...
John Dorfman: Baseball has 30-30 Club, so why not companies?
Baseball is one of the few worlds as much in love with statistics as the stock market is. In baseball, the “30-30 Club” is for players who hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in the same season. Think Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds...
Wall Street rallies to the edge of its all-time high as oil prices ease
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rallied to the edge of an all-time high Tuesday, and oil prices eased as hopes climbed that the United States and Iran may try again on talks to end their war and avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy. The S&P 500 added 1.2%...
Polling shows most Americans still think they’re overpaying on taxes
WASHINGTON — Most Americans still think their taxes are too high, according to recent polls, even after last year’s tax law fulfilled several of President Donald Trump’s tax-related campaign promises. In fact, a new Fox News poll indicates people are more upset about taxes than they were last year. The...
Glassport sandwich shop opens location in Penn Township
A Glassport sandwich shop has expanded to a second location in Penn Township. Glads Deli opened in March along Route 130 at Crossroads Plaza. The building formerly housed a Subway. Owner Jason Billingsley ran Affordable Bathrooms and Kitchens by JB from 2000 to 2023 before getting into the restaurant industry....
U.S. wholesale prices surged 4% last month after the war in Iran sent energy prices soaring
WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale prices surged last month as the Iran war drove up the cost of energy. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.5% from February and 4% from March 2025. The year-over-year gains was...
Construction begins on $10B natural gas power plant and data center in Indiana CountyVideo
Construction has begun on a proposed $10 billion project to create a 4.4-gigawatt natural gas-fueled power plant and hyperscale data centers on a hilltop outside Homer City in Indiana County. The aboveground construction began more than a week ago, after extensive underground foundation work was completed at what the company...
Stocks rally and return to where they were before the U.S.-Iran war
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rallied Monday and recovered the last of their losses caused so far by the U.S.-Iran war, as Wall Street remains hopeful that the global economy can still avoid a worst-case scenario. The S&P 500 rose 1% and is back to where it was before the...
Man accused in Molotov cocktail attack of OpenAI CEO’s home charged with attempted murder
SPRING, Texas — San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday that 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama has been charged with attempting to kill the OpenAI CEO as well as a security guard at the residence when he threw the incendiary device at the gate of Sam Altman’s home on April 10....
Already under financial pressure, Midwest soybean farmers are squeezed further by tariffs, Iran war
WAHOO, Neb. — Strong winds whipped around Doug Bartek, a fifth-generation farmer, as he headed into a grain bin to shovel soybeans onto a conveyor chute. The 60-year-old was anxious at the onset of the spring planting season, rattling off the long list of issues affecting his family’s livelihood at...
U.S. home sales fall in March, marking a slow start to the spring homebuying season
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March to their slowest pace in nine months, as easing mortgage rates failed to motivate home shoppers during what’s traditionally been the busiest time of the year for the housing market. Existing home sales fell 3.6% last month from February to a...
Oil prices rise after the U.S. says it would block Iranian ports starting Monday
NEW YORK — Oil prices rose in early market trading Sunday after the U.S. said it would blockade Iranian ports beginning Monday. The price of U.S. crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 7% to $102.29. Brent crude has swung dramatically...
Lessons learned in ’70s have made U.S., world economies less vulnerable to oil shocks
WASHINGTON — The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s. Oil prices are once again surging in the wake of war in the Middle East, driving up the cost of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and threatening a return to stagflation — the toxic mix of higher...
