Business

JD, Shopify venture to help US merchants sell in China

Editorial Bureau January 19, 2022

BEIJING — JD.com Inc., China’s biggest online retailer, and Canadian e-commerce service Shopify launched a venture Tuesday to give independent U.S. merchants access to JD.com’s 550 million customers. The companies said the tie-up would allow U.S. brands to start selling in China in three to

Business

Norway’s Telenor to sell stake in Myanmar’s Wave Money

Editorial Bureau January 18, 2022

BANGKOK — Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor plans to sell its 51% stake in the Myanmar fintech company Wave Money to its main partner in the venture, Yoma Strategic Holdings. Telenor confirmed the $53 million deal, reported earlier, in a statement seen Tuesday on its website. Yoma was founded by Myanmar tycoon Serge Pun. The purchase […]

Business

COVID, China, climate: Online Davos event tackles big themes

Editorial Bureau January 16, 2022

GENEVA — The coronavirus pandemic has forced the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of world leaders, business executives and other heavyweights to go virtual for the second year in a row, but organizers still hope to catapult the world into thinking about the future with a scaled-down online version this week. The gathering, an online […]

Business

December retail sales slide 1.9% amid shortages, omicron

Editorial Bureau January 15, 2022

NEW YORK — Americans, beset by product shortages, rising prices and the arrival of omicron, sharply cut their spending in December after a burst of early spending in the fall that helped bolster the holiday season. Retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.9% in December compared with the previous month when sales increased 0.3%, the […]

Business

Industrial output falls 0.1% unexpectedly amid supply issues

Editorial Bureau January 15, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. industrial production fell 0.1% in December, the first decline since September, with manufacturers still struggling with snarled supply chains. Many economists had expected a small increase in production last month as factories recovered. Yet manufacturing output actually fell by 0.3%, with output at auto plants down 1.3%. Automakers have been hurt by

Business

Martin Shkreli ordered to return $64M, is barred from drug industry

Editorial Bureau January 15, 2022

NEW YORK — Martin Shkreli must return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped from jacking up the price and monopolizing the market for a lifesaving drug, a federal judge ruled Friday while also barring the provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. U.S. District Judge […]

Business

Lawsuit: Google, Facebook CEOs colluded in online ad sales

Editorial Bureau January 15, 2022

Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges. The original, redacted lawsuit, filed in December 2021, accused Google of “anti-competitive conduct” […]

Business

JPMorgan 4Q earnings fall 14%, but 2021 profit sets record

Editorial Bureau January 14, 2022

NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase says fourth-quarter profits fell 14% from a year earlier, due to a weaker performance from its trading desk and higher compensation expenses for employees. Even with the weaker quarter, JPMorgan had a record annual profit, nearly $50 billion. The total is significantly more than what the bank brought in during […]

Business

Ponzi schemer gets over 17 years, ordered to repay $103M

Editorial Bureau January 14, 2022

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A man once dubbed “King Perry” was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in prison for his role in masterminding a long-running investment scam that collected more than $115 million from 1,000 investors nationwide. Perry Santillo appeared in federal court in Rochester, New York, more than two years after pleading guilty […]

Business

US to allow teen semi drivers in test apprenticeship program

Editorial Bureau January 14, 2022

DETROIT — The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program. Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old, but an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease supply chain backlogs would let 18-to-20-year-old truckers […]