Hartford Courant Business

By Josie Reich, Cailley LaPara and Dorothy Ma, Bloomberg News Justin Stoneman has been in the trucking industry for 27 years, operating out of central Michigan’s agricultural heartland. Hauling grain and fertilizer around the Midwest, his 12-odd tractor trailers generated more than $3 million in annual revenue during their best times. Those days are over. In the past year, Stoneman’s business has been squeezed by a range of pressures, from war-fueled spikes in diesel prices to rising insurance c

By DEE-ANN DURBIN The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday it is ordering Delta Air Lines, Walmart and other companies to provide detailed information on how they use consumers’ data when they’re setting prices. The commission said it is also studying how ride-sharing and delivery companies like Uber use their independent drivers’ personal data when setting compensation rates. “We intend to scrutinize the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determin

By SOPHENG CHEANG SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) — A U.S. cruise ship on an around-the-world voyage that touted its cabins as floating homes suspended its three-year voyage in Cambodia due to fuel costs, forcing hundreds of passengers to disembark. The MV Odyssey set sail two years ago on a voyage to the seven continents marketed as combining long-term living at sea with global travel. Its operator had offered to “make the Odyssey your permanent home,” with the purchase price of a suite for the li

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Business Writer Wendy’s shares jumped more than 14% Wednesday after noted investor Nelson Peltz made an offer to buy the chain, which has been struggling with high beef prices and aging stores. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and several partners are offering Wendy’s $7.35 per share in cash, or a premium of nearly 19% over the stock’s closing price on Tuesday, in a deal that would take the company private. Wendy’s, which is based in Dublin, Ohio, confirmed receipt of th

By Nilesh Christopher, Los Angeles Times Anthropic, creator of the Claude artificial intelligence model, filed its long-awaited paperwork for a historic public offering that could shape the future of the AI boom. The company’s filing Monday revealed that it will trade under the symbol “ANT” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Although its expected valuation of $1.5 and $2 trillion wasn’t part of the filing, analyst project it could make it one of the largest listings in history. “The advent of m

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The bond market swung Wednesday, while U.S. stocks ticked higher following the Federal Reserve ’s decision not to raise its main interest rate to bring down high inflation. The bond market’s moves indicated traders see less of a chance of hikes to rates in the future that would help ease inflation but could also hurt the economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after drifting between small gains and losses through the day, both before and after the Fed’

By Lauren Rosenblatt, The Seattle Times Boeing lost $116 million in the third quarter this year, as it celebrated certification milestones for two new Max variants but slowed its progress on increasing monthly Max production. Boeing is working to increase its monthly Max production rates from 42 planes per month to 47 but expects that stabilization period” will last into early next year, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Tuesday morning in an interview with CNBC. Ortberg acknowledged that, “Everybody wants

By Victor Stefanescu, The Minnesota Star Tribune MONTEVIDEO, Minnesota — A better-than-expected harvest may yield needed profits and financial relief for many farmers who need it this year, after rough results in 2025 fueled worries about a broader foreclosure crisis. Higher crop prices are making some farmers more hopeful than they felt in the spring, when international conflict suddenly made planting crops costly. Conflict continues to increase farmers’ diesel costs, but it’s also leading to c

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday at about 3.9% despite stubbornly high inflation, as Chairman Kevin Warsh suggested its policies are already showing signs of having an impact. The Fed said “inflation remains elevated” in the statement it released after its two-day meeting, and added that holding off on a rate increase allows “the accumulation of more information” that will inform the Fed’s next steps. Th

When James E. Golden was diagnosed with prostate cancer he was suddenly faced with the daunting task of interviewing surgeons on “something I know nothing about,” Golden said. Nearly a year later, Golden, 74, is cancer-free and is sure he made the right choice in urologist Dr. Isaac Kim of the Yale New Haven Health System,  a world renowned expert in single-port robotic surgery. His approach to surgery wasn’t the only box Kim checked for Golden, but it was a factor in his decis

By Lauren Rosenblatt, The Seattle Times Boeing rolled the first 737 Max 10 out of its Everett, Washington, factory Monday, marking a milestone for the newly certified aircraft program and the newly opened North Line. The North Line, which adds a fourth Max production line to the three already operating in Renton, opened in July. The grand opening was nearly two years behind schedule as the company navigated the fallout from a midair panel blowout in January 2024. Now, the first plane loaded into

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers are likely to keep their key interest rate unchanged Wednesday when they finish what may seem like an uneventful meeting. But investors and economists will be looking between the lines of the central bank’s statement Wednesday for clues about its next moves and where it thinks inflation is headed. The Fed’s Oct. 27-28 meeting will be the fourth of Chairman Kevin Warsh’s tenure, which has been marked by que

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer Any time a company looks to start selling shares on Wall Street, it’s required to disclose potential risks to investors. In the case of artificial intelligence giant Anthropic, that has included the possibility that its products could threaten nothing less than humanity itself. The risks laid out by the San Francisco company in its filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission included discussion of bad actors potentially using AI models to bu

By MATT OTT, AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — American confidence in the economy rebounded somewhat in October as gas prices fell modestly, though it remains much more expensive to fill up a tank than last year at this time. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 7.5 points to 91.7 in October from 84.2 last month. September’s reading was the lowest in the board’s survey since April 2014 and below the lowest level reached during the pandemic. Yet Ameri

By Julie Appleby, KFF Health News Rising healthcare costs aren’t a problem just for those who buy their own health insurance. Increases hit employers and their workers this year, too, and more are expected for 2027 plans — adding to growing concerns about affordability heading into the midterm elections. Polls show that healthcare costs— and affordability, in general — are among top concerns cited by likely voters. Much attention has been focused on mounting costs and declining enrollment in Aff

It’s football season, which also means tailgating. If you love to throw a pregame party at your home or in a stadium parking lot, then you know hosting can be expensive. But you don’t have to let cost get in the way of a good celebration, because we have plenty of ideas for how to save money. As a regular party host myself, I make planning ahead my guiding principle to control costs. I set the menu well in advance so I have more time to hunt for sales. Amy Webb, an accredited financial counselor

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry led Wall Street higher on Tuesday, as their yo-yo moves swing back upward. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and pulled within 1.2% of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%. The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell, but the gains for influential AI stocks made up for that. AI stocks rose to

Walk down a commercial street in almost any neighborhood or a busy corridor in the suburbs and it’s hard to escape some form of suspect food imagery. Burgers with weird bun patterns, burritos that might induce trypophobia (a fear of holes), rice that looks like maggots, cheese dripping over a sandwich in suspicious symmetry, shrimp so circular it’s obviously fake. What’s being referred to as “AI slop” — a relatively new term to describe content of dubious quality that’s been generated by artific

Evy Ruiz usually earns money with her traveling vintage coffee and drink vehicle, but on Nov. 1 she will be serving free Mexican hot chocolate to likely hundreds who will be attending the fourth annual Helena Casita Day of the Dead Celebration. In what’s known in Spanish as Día de Muertos, Ruiz will be remembering the lives of her dearly departed grandfather, grandmother and a sister in her early twenties that the family lost unexpectedly. Hundreds around her will also be celebrating and r

For the second time in a decade, Branford is poised to decide whether to let developers build a big-box warehouse store on about 40 acres of former apple orchards in the town’s northeastern corner. A band of residents is campaigning against the proposed 107,000-square-foot BJ’s Wholesale Club near Interstate 95, warning it would cause environmental damage and traffic jams while eroding the shoreline town’s charm and providing no economic value. “Retail box stores are amon