A year and a half ago, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) had applied for just eight patents related to auto batteries. Recently, it has hired a bevy of engineers, just one of whom had already filed for 17 in his former career, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis.
North America
Contract negotiators for U.S. West Coast ports reach tentative deal
A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union clinched a tentative labor deal on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia.
Warren Buffett's old Cadillac fetches $122,500 at auction
Warren Buffett's 2006 Cadillac attracted a high bid of $122,500, more than 10 times its market value, in a charity auction that concluded on Thursday night.
Shell says no agreement in U.S. refinery strike talks
Lead U.S. oil company negotiator Shell Oil Co said face-to-face negotiations on Friday with the United Steelworkers union (USW) failed to yield an agreement to end the 20-day-old U.S. refinery strike.
UAW president calls GM share buyback proposal premature
United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams, whose union indirectly controls the largest single block of General Motors Co (GM.N) shares, told Reuters an investor group’s proposal that GM buy back $8 billion of its stock is premature, and the amount too high for the company’s long-term health.
Latest News
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in February at its fastest rate since November, after notching its lowest reading in a year in the prior month, an industry report showed on Friday.
Crude prices ended mixed on Friday as the number of U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell far less than expected this week, while heating oil jumped 6 percent after severe winter cold crimped output at three refineries.
The Dow and S&P 500 ended at record highs on Friday while the Nasdaq notched an eighth straight day of gains after Greek and euro zone finance ministers reached a deal to extend heavily indebted Greece's financial rescue by four months.
U.S. consumers are shifting away from weight-management foods, forcing companies ranging from Kellogg Co to Nestle SA to change ingredients and focus their marketing on different health benefits as sales slip.
As the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closes in on the all-time high it reached in March 2000, investors are facing a market that barely resembles the go-go era of 15 years ago.
Santander Bank, N.A. has agreed to change the way it screens applicants for checking and savings accounts, becoming the third bank to reach such a pact with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering fresh evidence that the labor market was gathering steam.
The Dow and S&P 500 eased on Thursday following declines in energy shares and a disappointing outlook from Wal-Mart, while the Nasdaq hit another 15-year high as Priceline shares jumped.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it would raise entry-level wages to $9 an hour, a 24 percent increase from the U.S. minimum wage that some employees now earn, succumbing to longstanding pressure to pay its workforce more.
