Business

The Federal Reserve system was stung in late 2021 when it declared signs of emerging inflation to be “transitory” and delayed taking strong action to tamp down price increases. The central bank has been running from its critics ever since. Under its chairman, Jerome H. Powell, it has instituted the …

Every financial crisis starts with the untimely demise of a canary in a relatively small metaphorical coal mine. The death is sudden and tragic, and the authorities are “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” Reluctant governmental support is nevertheless quickly provided to the financial victims …

An Amazon worker at a Bakersfield warehouse alleges the company fired him last month for seeking time off to grieve his parents’ deaths, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Kern County Superior Court. Scott Brock, who worked at Amazon’s BFL1 fullfillment center, lost both his parents, Mary Massengale Brock …

Listen to this episode of The Times: Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Google Podcasts Amazon Music When inflation is high, the Federal Reserve has historically raised interest rates. But the recent failures of banks like Silicon Valley Bank have sparked worries about the stability of our banking system. Now the feds …

British billionaire Richard Branson’s rocket-launch firm Virgin Orbit has paused operations as the company searches for more funding. The Long Beach-based company announced the operational pause Wednesday and it goes into effect Thursday. As part of the move, the firm has furloughed most of its nearly 700 employees. Those employees …

How many text messages have you received lately about a missed delivery of a package you didn’t order? Or a prize you’ve earned for being a loyal customer of a company you don’t use? Or a nonexistent withdrawal just made on your account? Bogus messages like these have skyrocketed in …

The historic Fox Studio Lot, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated movie factories, is set to get a $1.5-billion upgrade that would change the skyline of Century City and add new production facilities to meet industry demand. The far-reaching Fox empire now controlled by the Murdoch family was birthed in the …

Highway fatalities are on the rise again — 46,000 in the U.S. in 2022, up 22%, according to numbers released last week. How many of those deaths involved distracted driving? “It’s much bigger than the data show,” said Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Data collection …

It’s never a good sign when “bank collapse” is trending on Twitter. Such was the case Monday as investors pummeled shares of First Republic Bank and Western Alliance Bancorporation, among several other regional financial institutions. Evidently, they feared that these banks would suffer the same fate as Silicon Valley Bank …

On Jan. 18, William C. Martin, a short-seller and former hedge fund executive, warned his Twitter followers that they were missing something important about Silicon Valley Bank. SVB’s shares had lost about 65% of their value over the previous 12 months. Investors had been “rightly fixated” on the bank’s exposure …