Tacoma port commissioners on Thursday approved a contract for design work to equip one of its container terminals to handle the biggest container ships now envisioned.
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Thursday that it lost $2 billion in a trading portfolio designed to hedge against risks the company takes with its own money.
The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits ticked down last week following a sharp drop the previous week.
Advisers to government health regulators on Thursday recommended that they approve sales of what would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in the U.S. in more than a decade, despite concerns over cardiac risks.
For the first time in nearly four years, the U.S. government last month took in more money than it spent.
Beauty products maker Coty Inc. is raising its buyout offer for direct-seller Avon Products Inc. by about 6.5 percent to almost $10.7 billion, with help from billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Apple is the world’s most valuable company. The Dow Jones industrial average is probably the world’s best-known stock index. So don’t they deserve each other?
WASHINGTON — Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week. Cheap mortgage rates have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.
When Facebook goes public in the coming weeks, there will be a lot of winners. Among them is one of the stalwarts of the tech industry, Microsoft, which has a small stake in the company.
Upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc. said its first-quarter net income rose a slim 2.7 percent as it spent more on free shipping and other initiatives that boosted sales but squeezed its profit margin.
The Korean grocery chain H-Mart will open a store in Lakewood in the autumn.
Sea-Tac Airport next week will become the second airport in the country to offer active-duty military members an expedited trip through pre-flight security checks.
More than a year after they closed due to budgets cuts, Tacoma has put the Swan Creek and Martin Luther King Jr. library buildings on the market – but what happens with the proceeds has yet to be determined.
WASHINGTON - The government has identified hundreds of hospitals whose Medicare patients are incurring especially high bills, a first step toward using bonuses and penalties to encourage more efficient health care nationwide.
NEW YORK — The founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., who was ousted as chairman for a stock sale that violated company policy, said the transaction was triggered after he was caught off-guard by a swift drop in the coffee maker’s stock price.
India’s Supreme Court has banned the former Exxon Valdez from entering India, saying the ship involved in one of the worst U.S. oil spills will not be allowed in for dismantling until it has been decontaminated.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. said Wednesday that it agreed to buy smaller home goods retailer Cost Plus Inc. for about $495 million after getting promising results from a joint effort to put a specialty food department in some Bed Bath & Beyond stores.
Macy’s Inc.’s first-quarter profit rose a better-than-expected 38 percent. But investors sent its shares down nearly four percent after the department store chain left its annual profit guidance for the most part unchanged.
U.S. mortgage giant Fannie Mae reported its first net income gain since it was taken over by the government during the 2008 financial crisis. Fannie said Wednesday that it earned net income attributable to common stockholders of $2.7 billion in the January-March quarter. Instead of seeking additional aid from taxpayers, the company will pay a dividend of $2.8 billion to the Treasury Department.
NEW YORK — The struggling countries of Europe have cut spending for two years in hopes of averting financial catastrophe and persuading bond investors to buy their debt.
LOS ANGELES — The percentage of U.S. homeowners behind on their mortgage payments dropped in the first three months of this year to the lowest level since 2009, according to a new report.
The Texas company that produces Twinkies and Wonder Bread has warned about 250 Washington workers they face layoffs within 60 days unless the company can gain union concessions.
Lakewood is ending the reprieve it has given most businesses when city officials try to shut them down.
U.S. wholesalers’ inventories grew more slowly in March.
WASHINGTON – Almost four years after America’s financial near-collapse, regulators are now empowered to police financial markets as never before. Yet some of the most important rules to curb Wall Street’s bad behavior have yet to take effect – and could be watered down.
Washington workers are not as confident this year as last.
WASHINGTON – The heavy fuel that oceangoing vessels burn adds so much to air pollution hundreds of miles inland that the United States joined with Canada during President George W. Bush’s administration to ask the International Maritime Organization to create an emissions-control area along the coasts.
McDonald’s Corp. said Tuesday that a key revenue figure rose in April as strength in the U.S. and parts of Europe helped offset weakness in Japan. But the results fell short of Wall Street expectations and the fast food chain’s own guidance.
Tacoma home prices declined by 8.7 percent in March compared with March a year ago, a study by a business statistics provider shows.
The Wendy’s Co. on Tuesday reported a first-quarter profit that missed Wall Street expectations and cut its forecast for the year, as the hamburger chain struggled in its revival efforts amid higher costs for fresh beef and weaker-than-expected sales.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. said Tuesday that it has hired two new senior executives as the company looks to regain market share.
Ford says it will make 40,000 additional cars and trucks this year by cutting a week out of the normal summer shutdown at 13 factories.
“This time it’s different” is one of the most dangerous sentences ever used in connection with the stock market and investing.
Amazon is so serious about its next big thing that it hired three women to do nothing but try on size 8 shoes for its Web reviews. Full time.
The government says gasoline will be cheaper this summer than previously expected thanks to a drop in the price of oil.
Puget Sound Energy customers will see their monthly gas and electricity bills rise beginning next week as a result of a rate increase recently approved by state regulators.
The former Tacoma Borders store at South 38th and Steele streets is getting a makeover in preparation for a re-opening as a furniture store. A sign posted on the two-story brick building at the northern entrance to the mall announces that the building will become an Ashley Furniture HomeStore.
WHAT HAPPENED? In three separate elections, voters rejected the belt-tightening that governments imposed in response to Europe’s debt crisis. Greek voters punished the political parties that accepted a bailout in return for making painful spending cuts. Election gains went instead to those who rejected the rescue terms.
Walmart has its building permit for a 24-hour Supercenter in Central Tacoma, but it doesn’t have a firm date for the beginning of construction or opening. The Arkansas-based retailer and the City of Tacoma are working on how Walmart will meet the city’s requirements for traffic control.
ATLANTA - AT&T Mobility is breaking into the home security market with a package of wireless services that will let customers control the safety of their residence from miles away.
A major Yahoo shareholder has made a legal demand for internal records about the embattled Internet company’s hiring of CEO Scott Thompson.
Exxon Mobil has bumped Walmart from first place among the Fortune 500 top revenue-generating U.S. companies, thanks to rising oil prices. Fortune Magazine released its annual list on Monday.
Americans swiped their credit cards more often in March and took out more loans to attend school. That drove the biggest one-month increase in U.S. consumer borrowing in a decade.
The nation’s second-largest grocery chain says it will adopt purchasing policies that favor more humane treatment of pigs.
A second experimental cholesterol medicine in a once-promising class of drugs meant to replace blockbusters such as Lipitor has failed in testing, casting doubt on whether any of the drugs will ever make it to pharmacies.
OMAHA, Neb. – Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that Europe will have a hard time resolving its fiscal problems because of the structure of the European Union and this weekend’s election results in Greece and France.
HIRES/PROMOTIONS
As you may have read last week, the Port of Tacoma is adopting a new logo and a new slogan as part of its effort to rebrand itself as it adjusts its focus on attracting 21st century business.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. A municipal revitalization project, launched with an abundance of enthusiasm and optimistic projections of its financial viability, collides with the reality of the market and the economy, leaving public officials scrambling to stem the ever-mounting losses and “borrowing” funds from other services to fill the budgetary hole.
If you're a fan of storing critical files online so you can get tothem anywhere, these are good times.
OMAHA, Neb. – Berkshire Hathaway shareholders made their annual pilgrimage to Omaha this weekend, and this year they have to confront an uncomfortable truth: Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s CEO, can’t go on forever.
Google recently took off the wraps off along-anticipated product that it views as one of its most importantlaunches of the year, as the Internet giant continues its push toupload users to a future where their photos, spreadsheets and otherdata primarily live on the Internet "cloud" instead of a PC or someother device.
Money Watch
Key rate: Friday, 1 year ago
For the first time in 36 years, the Port of Tacoma is updating its public identity.
Elks Lodge No. 174 sold its property in central Tacoma for $12.2 million, according to a filing Friday with Pierce County.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has news about employment and training opportunities for unemployed veterans.
The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a loss of $2.43 billion, nearly three times the year-ago loss.
Facebook’s $11.8 billion initial public offering will cement the status of 27-year-old Mark Zuckerberg as one of the world’s richest people and put his social network among the nation’s highest-valued companies.
The organization in charge of expanding the number of Internet address suffixes – the “.com” part of domain names – is apologizing for delays but says it’s favoring “quality, not speed.”
The Obama administration said Friday it will require companies drilling for oil and natural gas on public and Indian lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.
Groupon Inc., the biggest online coupon company, has lost half its value since a November initial public offering amid concern over its ability to translate growth into profit along with accounting missteps.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Yahoo was forced this week to admit its new chief executive claimed a computer science degree he does not have, and said that its board is launching a review of the embarrassing disclosure and will report the findings to shareholders.
President Barack Obama’s high-profile signing of an executive order to protect Post-9/11 GI Bill users from predatory practices of for-profit schools is viewed by veterans’ service organizations as a big step, but only a first step, toward curbing abuses within the U.S. education industry.
WASHINGTON — With financial losses mounting, the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service is urging the House to quickly pass legislation that would give it broad authority to close thousands of low-revenue post offices, reduce labor costs and end Saturday delivery.
The United States had another month of disappointing job growth in April, the Labor Department said Friday.
A Walmart in Tacoma is moving closer to reality, as the sale of the Elks property in Central Tacoma could close by today.
Contract liquor store owners and others who bid on the former state-run liquor stores at auction, raised concerns Thursday at a state Liquor Control Board meeting. They were worried about fees they’re facing once the state transitions to private sales June 1.
For the first time in more than four years, the median price of homes sold in Western Washington turned upward in April, a report reveals.
WASHINGTON — Federal officials are seeking $655,125 in fines against Alaska Airlines and its Horizon Air affiliate for alleged safety violations, including failing to inspect a plane for cracks.
WASHINGTON — Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, offering more incentive for Americans to buy or refinance homes.
NEW YORK — Facebook Inc., the world’s most popular social- networking site, is seeking as much as $11.8 billion in its initial public offering, the largest on record for an Internet company.
BOSTON — A mutual fund manager usually can count on having a good year if the largest investment in the portfolio is surging. But that’s not the case for Tony Trzcinka.
Five more banks are on deck with the state and federal officials who negotiated the recent $25 billion settlement over mortgage fraud and abuse.
The Tacoma Regional Convention + Visitor Bureau has a new CEO.
Tacoma’s MultiCare Health System plans to spend the next few months meeting with community members, staff and doctors at Auburn Regional Medical Center to determine how the Auburn hospital will best fit into MultiCare’s South Sound health delivery system, MultiCare’s chief executive officer said Wednesday.
Sears executives tried Wednesday to ease concerns about the troubled retailer’s long-term outlook amid ever-sinking sales, emphasizing the company’s financial strength, increased liquidity and prospects to boost operational results.
A stronger box office slate, a new deal with Netflix and a better TV advertising climate contributed to growth at Time Warner Inc. to start off 2012.
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, topped profit and sales estimates in the first quarter after gains in broadband customers helped mitigate the 20th consecutive loss in video subscribers.
Shoppers in Latin America, the Asia Pacific and the Middle East powered a 25 percent increase in MasterCard’s profit for the first three months of the year.
Visa said Wednesday that its profit for the first three months of the year was up 30 percent from the year before, primarily because credit card use rose in the United States and overseas.
New studies show that fund investors paid less, on average, for their funds last year, continuing a long, slow trend.
BERLIN — A court in Germany ruled Wednesday that Microsoft infringed two patents held by Motorola, in a case that could affect sales of its popular Xbox 360 console and the Windows 7 operating system.
LOS ANGELES — The number of workers added to private-sector payrolls in April fell to the lowest level in seven months, a payroll-processing company reported, sparking trepidation for the official government employment numbers coming Friday.
MIAMI — After a career in law enforcement, security and private investigations work, Oscar Paz was looking for something to fill his “semi-retired” years.
Here’s what happens when a neighborhood grocery – in this case, Saar’s Marketplace – closes.
When it comes to government’s role in economic development, discussions of how to attract business often revolve around incentives.
Remember that firefighter who wanted you to privatize liquor?
LONDON — A committee of British lawmakers called Rupert Murdoch unfit to run his global media empire – a finding that reflects just how deeply the phone-hacking scandal born of his defunct News of the World has shaken the relationship between the press and politics.
WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace in 10 months, suggesting that the economy is healthier than recent data had indicated.
Student loan debt has soared to about $1 trillion, with many college students naively tying a noose around their futures with crippling levels of debt. But what about their parents?
A Seattle-based construction company has been fined $10,000 for spilling 177 gallons of diesel into the Blair Waterway.
Microsoft Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. announced Monday that they’ve teamed up in the digital books industry, creating a new subsidiary that will compete with Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and others in the digital reading and college textbooks businesses.
The union representing more than 700 health care workers at three local hospitals will be holding an informational picket line Tuesday.
OLYMPIA — Improving credit quality, including no loan loss provision for originated loans, helped Heritage Bank’s parent earn a $4.2 million profit in the first quarter, up from a $764,000 profit in the same quarter a year ago.
Wise strategies are not always clear when managing finances. In some cases, it’s even the counterintuitive option that is most valuable.
The world’s biggest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV said Monday its first-quarter net profit jumped 75 percent thanks to lower financing costs and taxes as well as bigger beer sales.
Sunoco agreed on Monday to be sold to Energy Transfer Partners, a pipeline operator, for $5.3 billion, in the latest deal in America’s rapidly expanding oil and natural gas industry.
PepsiCo Inc. is tweeting to a new generation of music lovers.
HIRES/PROMOTIONS
Humana Inc. said Monday that its first-quarter profit fell 21 percent as the health insurer paid out more in claims and beefed up spending to handle expected growth in its lucrative Medicare Advantage membership.
Park yourself at the plaza just inside the entrance gate at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on a sunny Sunday afternoon and within an hour you may count more baby strollers than the number of cars the automakers build in a year.
WASHINGTON – Gene Richards is a lifelong Vermonter, but on a recent weekday afternoon he found himself back on Florida’s west coast, scouting foreclosures to add to the collection of rental properties he has amassed in the wake of the housing crisis.
Woolrich, a 182-year-old clothing company, describes its new chino pants as an elegant and sturdy fashion statement, with a clean profile and fabric that provides comfort and flexibility.
So bleak was the financial situation at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center in March 2009 that manager David Bobo wrote to his supervisor, Mike Combs, saying “answers need to be found before it reaches crisis proportions in less than two years.”
The Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center is well-maintained, well-priced, spic-and-span, useful. To an expert’s eye, the facility seems younger than its seven years.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The first 787 Dreamliner assembled here waited Friday morning to roll out into the hot southern sunshine, “Made with pride in South Carolina” stenciled on its forward fuselage.
Numbers. So many numbers.
Coinstar Inc.’s first-quarter earnings soared as its Redbox kiosks proved there is still plenty of money to be made renting low-priced DVDs.
Kimberly-Clark said Thursday it plans to demolish its closed pulp-and-paper mill on Everett’s waterfront and sell the 66-acre property.
Weyerhaeuser Co.’s first-quarter net income dropped 59 percent from year-ago period that included a large gain from the sale of some timberlands, but its adjusted results beat Wall Street’s expectations.
China Eastern Airlines is adding the first long-range Boeing jets to its fleet.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — On Thursday, the eve of the historic roll-out of the first commercial jet built in South Carolina, a white display board on the shop floor inside a new Boeing facility here might worry the company’s Pacific Northwest production workers.
AUSTIN, Texas — Online retailer Amazon.com reached an agreement with Texas officials Friday to settle a sales tax dispute by expanding operations in the state and starting to collect sales taxes.
Grocery chain Safeway Inc. reported a sharp jump in net income for the first quarter, helped in part by strong cost controls.
Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. said Thursday that its first-quarter profit rose almost 4 percent as higher prices and cost-cutting helped offset declines in cigarette volumes.
The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits remained stuck near a three-month high last week, a sign that job gains will likely remain modest.
Chrysler had its best quarterly profit in 13 years. Not bad for a company that almost died three years ago.
Exxon Mobil struggled just about everywhere in the first quarter.
DETROIT – The owner of a German factory that makes a key resin used in auto parts said Thursday that the plant will be out of commission until at least October.
WASHINGTON – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has dipped to near its record low.
Now the scrambling begins as the Port of Tacoma prepares to handle three new shipping line customers by mid-summer.
SAN FRANCISCO – Signaling the gravity of the government’s antitrust investigation against Google Inc., the Federal Trade Commission has hired a prominent Washington, D.C., litigator to serve as its outside counsel in the case, the first time in at least five years the federal regulatory agency has taken such a step.
Shareholders of Tacoma-based Columbia Banking System heard good news Wednesday as board chairman William Weyerhaeuser announced a regular cash dividend of 8 cents per share and a special, additional dividend of 14 cents per share to be paid May 23.
NEW YORK — Exxon is raising its quarterly dividend by 21 percent. In doing so, it becomes the top corporate dividend payer, surpassing AT&T.
The iPhone boosted struggling Sprint Nextel Corp. in the latest quarter.
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it has agreed on a patent deal with Pegatron Corp. that covers smartphones, tablets and other devices running on the Android or Chrome operating systems.
The Coca-Cola Co. is seeking its first stock split in 16 years.
Rising fares haven’t kept passengers away, judging by financial results at Delta Air Lines and US Airways.
The Federal Reserve says the economy is growing moderately while cautioning that risks from Europe remain. It’s holding off on taking any further steps to boost the recovery.
Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside.
A former Puyallup man has been charged with allegedly billing Medicaid for medical supplies never turned over to patients, the state Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday.
The site of a former massive aluminum smelter could become a bulk goods terminal if the Port of Tacoma is successful with a new plan to attract iron ore and potash exports to the port.
Heavy-duty truck maker Paccar Inc. said Tuesday that first-quarter profit rose 69 percent on higher sales of trucks in North America and parts.
The Pierce County economy created 2,500 jobs in March, but it wasn’t enough to create much of a dent in its jobless rate.
Sue Goetz has come to T-town, and brought all her garden creativity with her. The Gig Harbor-based garden expert, who owns the design company The Creative Gardener, has set up shop in Tacoma’s Dome district, creating a green oasis where urban gardeners can buy unique plants, lavender, books and more. Appropriately enough, it’s called The Urban Garden Company, and it makes a convenient place to delve into Goetz’ deep knowledge of what plant goes where.
Walmart Stores Inc. is creating a new global compliance officer position following reports that the world’s largest retailer covered up results of an internal probe proving that its Mexican subsidiary bribed officials there.
Home prices dropped in February in most major U.S. cities for a sixth straight month, a sign that modest sales gains haven’t been enough to boost prices.
The Fitch Ratings agency lifted Ford’s credit rating from junk status to investment grade Tuesday, a sign that the company’s recovery from near collapse is almost complete.
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, is trumping skeptics once again by reporting blow-out iPhone sales. Apple says it sold 35 million iPhones in its most recent quarter, almost twice as many as it sold a year earlier.
Hidden in AT&T Inc.’s financial statements is a story that runs counter to its optimistic profit projections: The company is making less and less from each new smartphone subscriber.
If you started a business during the last few years, and then watched too much of your earnings evaporate at tax time, you might be able to change that.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google is hoping to build the world’s largest digital filing cabinet in the latest attempt to deepen people’s dependence on its services.
Using space-faring robots to mine precious metals from asteroids almost sounds easy when former astronaut Tom Jones describes it – practically like clearing a snow-covered driveway.
Pierce County’s economy still is struggling to create jobs as county unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in March from a revised 9.6 percent rate in February, according to state Employment Security Department data released today.
During the first quarter of 2012, Pierce County had the highest percentage of distressed home sales in a four-county area, according to a Bellevue-based short-sale negotiating firm.
NEW YORK — Allegations that Walmart covered up the findings of an internal probe that proved its Mexican subsidiary bribed officials in that country could have huge implications for the world’s biggest retailer and its executives.
Netflix says it suffered its first quarterly loss in seven years as the video subscription service dealt with rising licensing fees and international expansion costs.
ConocoPhillips said Monday that its first-quarter profit dropped 3 percent because it produced less oil and natural gas from a shrinking pool of assets.
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