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Stocks climb back after steep slide on Fed, Ukraine jitters
NEW YORK: Stocks recovered from big early losses Monday as investors jumped in before the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung 1,217 points and closed up 0.3% after dropping 1,000 points as investors anticipated inflation-fighting measures from the Federal Reserve and fretted over possible conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Benchmark indexes flirted with near 4-month lows as the market readies for the Fed to raise interest rates to tame inflation, which is at its highest level in nearly four decades. Retailers notched some of the biggest gains: Gap jumped nearly 8%.
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Fed to signal rate hike as it launches risky inflation fight
WASHINGTON: With inflation punishing consumers and threatening the economy, the Federal Reserve will likely signal its intent this week to begin raising interest rates in March for the first time in three years. The Feds challenges will get only harder from there. Among Fed officials, there is broad support for a rate increase one that would come much sooner than the officials had expected just a few months ago. But after that, their policymaking will become more complicated and could sow internal divisions, especially as a number of new officials join the Fed. How many times, for example, should the Fed raise rates this year?
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Feds launch website for claiming part 2 of child tax credit
WASHINGTON: The White House and Treasury Department launched a revamped Child Tax Credit website meant to help people who were eligible for the expanded tax credit under last years pandemic relief bill claim the second half of the payment they were due. The website includes a new tool that will help filers determine their eligibility and how to get the credit. Many families became eligible for the credit after President Joe Biden expanded the credit as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Families received half of their expanded 2021 credit on a monthly basis and the other half will be received once they file their taxes. The enhanced portion of the child tax credit program has since lapsed.
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DC, 3 states sue Google saying it invades users privacy
WASHINGTON: The District of Columbia and three states are suing Google. They allege the internet search giant deceives consumers and invades their privacy by making it nearly impossible for them to stop their location from being tracked. In the lawsuit filed in a District of Columbia court, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine says Google has systematically deceived consumers about how their locations are tracked and used. He also claims Google has misled users of its services into believing they can control the information the company collects about them. The attorneys general of Texas, Indiana and Washington state are filing similar lawsuits in their state courts.
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Railroad contract talks head for mediation after impasse
OMAHA, Neb.: Contract talks between the biggest freight railroads and unions that represent 105,000 employees are headed to mediation this week. The development comes after the unions declared an impasse following more than two years of negotiations. The unions said Monday that the contract talks had deadlocked because the railroads are still seeking concessions. That, even after workers remained on the job throughout the pandemic and endured significant staff cuts in recent years as the railroads overhauled their operations. Michael Maratto with the National Railway Labor Conference that represents the railroads said it is routine for federal mediators to get involved in the contract talks. He says the railroads welcome the mediators help in reaching an agreement.
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Biden revives clean energy program with $1B loan guarantee
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has issued its first clean energy loan guarantee, reviving an Obama-era program that disbursed billions of dollars in guarantees to help launch the countrys first utility-scale wind and solar farms a decade ago but has largely gone dormant in recent years. The Energy Department said it would guarantee up to $1 billion in loans to help a Nebraska company scale up production of clean hydrogen to convert natural gas into commercial products that enhance tires and produce ammonia-based fertilizer. Lincoln-based Monolith Inc. says it can create both products while vastly shrinking greenhouse gas emissions. With $40 billion in loan authority, the Energy Department says it expects to make more loan commitments in 2022.
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Taxpayers face overloaded IRS as filing season opens Monday
WASHINGTON: U.S. taxpayers, brace yourselves because tax filing season starts Monday and you can expect the task to be more cumbersome than usual this year. Thats due to an overloaded and understaffed IRS workforce, as well as complications from pandemic-related programs. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the IRS has unacceptable backlogs and she says the customer service that people are receiving is not what the American public deserves. There will be plenty of new issues to navigate this year. For example, individuals who are eligible to claim the child tax credit and have gotten advance payments throughout the year may get a smaller refund than theyd normally see.
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Facebook parent Meta creates powerful AI supercomputer
MENLO PARK, Calif.: Facebooks parent company Meta says it has created what it believes is among the fastest artificial intelligence supercomputers running today. It hopes it will help lay the groundwork for its building of the metaverse, a virtual reality construct intended to supplant the internet as we know it today. The company says it believes the computer will be the fastest in the world once it is fully built in mid-2022. Supercomputers are extremely fast and powerful machines built to do complex calculations. Meta did not disclose where the computer is located or how much it is costing to build.
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The S&P 500 rose 12.19 points, or 0.3%, to 4,410.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 99.13 points, or 0.3%, to 34,364.50. The Nasdaq added 86.21 points, or 0.6%, to 13,855.13. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies advanced 45.59 points, or 2.3%, to 2,033.51.
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