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Stephen King testifies for government in books merger trial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bestselling author Stephen King has testified in a federal antitrust trial in Washington. Tracing his own history beginning as an unknown author in the 1970s, King laid out a portrait of a publishing industry that has become increasingly concentrated over the years. He testified as a witness for the U.S. Justice Department. The government is trying to convince a federal judge that the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and rival Simon & Schuster, two of the world’s biggest publishers, would thwart competition. In his testimony Tuesday, King described himself as “a freelance writer.” He said publisher consolidation "is bad for competition.”

House panel subpoenas gunmaker for data on rifle sales

WASHINGTON (AP) — The gunmaker Smith & Wesson is facing new scrutiny from Congress. The House Oversight panel subpoenaed the company Tuesday for documents related to the manufacture and sale of AR-15-style guns. The move came after Smith & Wesson's CEO refused to appear for a hearing on the firearms frequently used in mass shootings. The committee said the Massachusetts company's CEO Mark P. Smith originally agreed to testify along with the heads of two other companies, but abruptly canceled. Democratic Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York says the company also hasn’t provided all the information the committee needs for its investigation into gunmaker profits from AR-15-style weapons.

Stocks slip on Wall Street after another meandering day

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday as Wall Street’s modest August retreat continued another day. Stocks wavered over the day as investors are unsure whether the market’s strong run in July is the start of a turnaround or a temporary blip. The S&P 500 finished down 0.7% and the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell. Analysts cited comments from Federal Reserve officials that suggested continued hikes to interest rates are coming in order to knock down inflation. Caterpillar took a hit after reporting weaker sales than expected. Uber shares took off following its own strong quarterly report. Treasury yields climbed.

Number of uninsured Americans drops to record low

Washington (AP) — The number of people living in America without health insurance coverage hit an all-time low of 8 percent this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.  The findings come days after Democrats hammered out a 725-page climate, health care and tax deal that would extend generous federal subsidies for people who buy private health insurance that are credited with driving down the number of uninsured Americans.  Democrats have proposed spending $64 billion to extend those price breaks for three more years.

Rent-A-Center settles alleged California overpricing dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Officials say one of the nation’s largest rent-to-own companies will pay $15.5 million to settle California’s allegations that it misled and overcharged tens of thousands of customers. Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that an investigation of the Rent-A-Center's kiosk business in retail stores found that since 2014 it used an inflated cash price for products that was 15% higher than the true retail price, among other alleged violations. The company will return $13.5 million in the form of restitution to California consumers under the settlement. Rent-A-Center did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. The company did not admit any violations.

U.S. job openings slid to 10.7 million in June

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers posted fewer job openings in June as the economy contends with raging inflation and rising interest rates. The Labor Department said Tuesday job openings fell to a still-high 10.7 million in June from 11.3 million in May. In its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, the Labor Department said that the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell slightly in June while layoffs fell. The job market has been resilient so far this year: Employers have added an average of 457,000 a jobs a month in 2022; and unemployment is near a 50-year low.

Elon Musk's tech allies miffed about Twitter subpoenas

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk’s wealthy high tech allies don’t seem too happy about receiving subpoenas from Twitter as part of the company’s legal battle with the Tesla CEO. San Francisco-based Twitter is suing Musk in Delaware in an attempt to get him to complete his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company, a deal Musk is trying to get out of. According to a report from The Washington Post, Twitter’s legal team has asked for information about a host of tech investors and entrepreneurs connected to Musk in a wide-ranging subpoena. Twitter declined to comment. One of those receiving the subpoena posted in response a picture of a Mad Magazine cover of a hand raising a middle finger.

Starbucks reports record revenue as store count, prices rise

Starbucks reported record revenue in the April-June period, benefitting from hundreds of new stores and higher prices. The Seattle-based coffee giant said its revenue rose 9% to $8.2 billion, a quarterly record. That surpassed Wall Street’s forecast. Global same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 3%, which was just shy of Wall Street’s expectations. Starbucks said traffic was slower, mostly due to continuing closures in China. But customers spent more when they visited. Starbucks said its net income fell 21% as the company spent more on labor, worker training and supply chain costs.

Airbnb posts 2Q profit of $379 million on record bookings

Airbnb is reporting a profit of $379 million for the second quarter, and it says bookings were a record. The company also said Tuesday it will spend up to $2 billion to buy its own stock, something that usually drives up the price of shares. The results were a reversal from losses in the second quarter of both last year and 2019. Airbnb is benefitting from the increase in travel and the exodus of workers from offices, which frees them to work from just about anywhere they can get Internet access. Airbnb says bookings in the second quarter were about one-fourth higher than last year and the second quarter of 2019.

Uber's stock surges on positive trends despite big Q2 loss

Uber’s effort meld its pioneering ride-hailing service with food and freight delivery showed signs of progress during the past quarter, even though the company sustained a huge loss stemming from a sharp decline in its outside investments. Rather than dwell on Uber’s second-quarter loss of $2.6 billion announced Tuesday, investors celebrated the San Francisco-based company reaching a significant milestone. The good news came under a key metric known as free cash flow. Uber generated $382 million in cash during the April-June period, marking the first quarter the company’s 13-year history that it hasn’t hemorrhaged money.  The breakthrough helped lift Uber's slumping stock by nearly 17%.

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For more than a decade, US Bank pressured its employees to open fake accounts in their customers’ names in order to meet unrealistic sales goals, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday, in a case that is deeply similar to the sales practices scandal uncovered at Wells Fargo last decade. The CFPB alleged that US Bank accessed consumers credit reports to open checking and savings accounts, credit cards and lines of credit without their permission. Employees were encouraged to do so, in order to meet the bank’s goals of selling multiple products to each customer with the bank.

GREAT FALLS, S.C. (AP) — More than 115 years have passed since two dams were built on the Catawba River in the sleepy town of Great Falls to p…

EXPLAINER: Bid to block book merger sets competition fight

US economy shrinks for a 2nd quarter, raising recession fear

A giant Mega Millions lottery jackpot ballooned to $1.02 billion after no one matched all six numbers and won the top prize. After no winner on Tuesday, the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize. The jackpot has grown so large because there have been 29 consecutive drawings without anyone winning the top prize. Tuesday’s numbers were: 07-29-60-63-66, with a Mega Ball of 15. The $1.02 billion prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 30 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for the next drawing is an estimated $602.5 million.

When General Motors went through the biggest industrial bankruptcy proceedings in history, 20,000 retirees from GM's Delphi Corp. subsidiary saw their retirement savings slashed. They fought unsuccessfully in court for 13 years to get that money back. Now, they're focused on congressional legislation to restore what they lost. Lawmakers from the left and right support the bill, which passed the House on Wednesday. But there's also some resistance to spending tax dollars to bail out pension funds. Supporters are hopeful for swift Senate action. And President Joe Biden's White House has expressed support for the measure.

Saudi Aramco has announced a $2.65 billion agreement to acquire Valvoline’s global products business, which includes motor oils, transmission fluids, coolants and other automotive maintenance products. Valvoline said Monday the transaction will separate its global products from its retail services businesses, transforming it into a purely automotive service provider. The company operates and franchises around 1,700 service centers, with stores across the United States offering oil changes and other quick services. Valvoline says the deal will also help it to accelerate focus on servicing electric vehicle cars. Aramco, the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia, has been expanding its downstream business in past years.

Members of the United Auto Workers union have rescinded an increase in strike pay that had been approved earlier in their annual convention. The Detroit Free Press reported that after some delegates raised concerns about the potential cost of the higher $500 a week strike pay it was dropped. But a previous increase in strike pay that union officials made earlier this year remains in place. So striking workers will still receive $400 a week, up from the previous $275. There has been a spate of strikes since the pandemic began amid the ongoing nationwide worker shortages.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sales, closing price and net change of the 10 most active NYSEAMERICANissues, trading nationally.

The developer of a geothermal power plant facing legal challenges in Nevada has agreed to temporarily suspend construction of the project. The move came just hours after a U.S. appeals court refused Monday morning to halt the project that environmentalists and a Nevada tribe say would harm an endangered toad and destroy sacred hot springs. Power plant developer Ormat Nevada, the government and lawyers for the opponents filed the new agreement in federal court in Reno later Monday. It suspends construction for at least 30 days _ and perhaps until the end of the year _ to better assess potential harm to the toad, which was declared endangered in April.

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