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Powell says ‘no decision’ on the Fed’s next move on rates
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stressed Wednesday that the central bank’s policymakers have yet to decide how large an interest rate hike to impose at its next meeting in two weeks in its drive to defeat high inflation. Powell had made a similar comment on Tuesday to a Senate panel but had not included the caveat that “no decision has been made.” Powell’s more nuanced remarks Wednesday appeared to be an effort to quell any assumption that the Fed has already decided to raise rates more aggressively, based on a recent string of data that pointed to strong economic growth and still-high inflation.
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Adidas wonders what to do with Yeezy shoes after Ye split
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas is still wrestling with how to dispose of $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy shoes after its breakup with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The split forced the German sportswear maker into a big loss at the end of last year and expectations of more pain ahead. The company’s CEO said Wednesday that selling the popular line of shoes would mean paying royalties to Ye. He says destroying them could raise “sustainability issues,” while restitching them for resale “is not very honest.” Donating them would likely mean a resurgence of the shoes “so that’s not really an option.” The breakup helped drive the company to a net loss of 513 million euros in the fourth quarter.
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Biden budget aims to cut deficits nearly $3T over 10 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s upcoming budget proposal aims to cut deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the announcement Wednesday, confirming what an administration had told The Associated Press earlier, on condition of anonymity. The deficit reduction goal is significantly higher than the $2 trillion that Biden had promised in his State of the Union address last month. It’s also a sharp contrast with House Republicans, who’ve called for a path to a balanced budget but have yet to offer a blueprint. The president’s package is unlikely to pass the House or Senate as proposed.
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US probes Tesla Autopilot, steering wheels that can come off
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla. They have announced investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it hit a parked firetruck. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is launching a special crash-investigation team to probe a Feb. 18 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a ladder truck from the Contra Costa County, California, fire department. The probe is part of a larger investigation by the agency into multiple instances of Teslas using the automaker’s Autopilot system crashing into parked emergency vehicles that are tending to other crashes. Messages were left Wednesday seeking comment from Texas-based Tesla. —-
White House, states tackle ‘junk fees’ that cost consumers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has brought together state lawmakers, federal officials and others for a virtual meeting where participants traded ideas about how to fight “junk fees” that inflate the cost to consumers for everything from hospital visits and airline tickets to student loans and concert seats. President Joe Biden said in February that his administration would work with state and local officials to identify ways to crack down on such fees. A government report from 2018 on event ticket sales found that primary ticket providers charged fees averaging 27% of a ticket’s price. The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is encouraging states to enforce consumer protection laws already on the books.
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Railroads propose safety reforms after fiery Ohio derailment
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The major freight railroads have announced a number of steps they are taking to improve safety in the wake of last month’s fiery Ohio derailment. It’s not clear, however, that the actions they announced Wednesday will be enough to satisfy regulators and members of Congress who are pushing for changes. Many of the proposals from the Association of American Railroads trade group focus on strengthening the network of trackside detectors the railroads use to spot problems before they can cause derailments. The group proposes installing roughly 1,000 more of them nationwide and tweaking the way railroads use the data from them.
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From marketing to design, brands adopt AI tools despite risk
NEW YORK (AP) — Even if you haven’t tried artificial intelligence tools that can write essays and poems or conjure new images on command, chances are the companies that make your household products are already starting to do so. Mattel has put the AI image generator DALL-E to work by having it come up with ideas for new Hot Wheels toy cars. Used vehicle seller CarMax is summarizing thousands of customer reviews with the same “generative” AI technology that powers the popular chatbot ChatGPT. But AI experts warn that businesses should carefully consider potential harms to customers, society and their own reputations before rushing to embrace these products.
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Xi accuses U.S. of trying to block China’s development
BEIJING (AP) — Is the United States out to sabotage China? Chinese leaders think so. President Xi Jinping accused Washington this week of trying to isolate his country and hold back its development. That reflects the ruling Communist Party’s growing frustration that its pursuit of prosperity and global influence is threatened by U.S. restrictions on access to technology, its support for Taiwan and other moves. Xi said a U.S.-led campaign of “containment and suppression” has “brought unprecedented, severe challenges.” China is hardly the only government to fume at Washington’s dominance of global strategic and economic affairs. But Chinese leaders see the United States as making extra effort to thwart Beijing as a challenger for regional and possibly global leadership.
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Wall Street steadies itself a day after its steep tumble
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street a day after sinking to one of their worst days of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Wednesday. The Dow fell slightly and the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. Stocks were coming off a sharp drop the prior day after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its hikes to interest rates if pressure on inflation stays high. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again Wednesday pressure on inflation seems to running higher than expected. But he also stressed the Fed hasn’t made a decision on the size of future hikes.
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The S&P 500 rose 5.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,992.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06 points, or 0.2%, to 32,798.40. The Nasdaq composite gained 45.67 points, or 0.4%, to 11,576. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies inched up 0.75 points, or less than 0.1%, to 1,879.48
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