House Speaker Confident Trump Will Sign Gov. Funding Bill
House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’s confident President Donald Trump will sign a spending bill that averts a looming government shutdown, even though the bill does not pay for Trump’s long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said he and other GOP leaders have spoken to Trump in recent days, adding, “I’m confident he will sign” the spending bill.
The House is set to vote Wednesday on a wide-ranging, $854 billion bill that funds the military and many civilian agencies for the next year and provides a short-term fix to keep the government open through Dec. 7.
The Senate approved the bill last week. Trump’s signature would avert a partial government shutdown that would begin Monday, weeks ahead of midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Ford CEO Says Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Will Cost Company $1B
Ford CEO Jim Hackett says the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum will cost the company $1 billion.
Ford says the figure is a year-over-year increase from March through 2019.
Hackett told Bloomberg television that Ford gets most of its metals from U.S. producers, which raised prices due to the tariffs this year.
IHS Markit Senior Analyst Peter Nagle says other automakers will see the same cost increases. Eventually they’ll have to raise prices of cars and trucks or reduce discounts to cover the added costs.
The U.S. slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from some countries in March and added Canada, Mexico and the European Union in June. The administration justified the tariffs by calling foreign steel and aluminum a threat to U.S. national security.
US New-Home Sales Rose 3.5% in August
Sales of new U.S. homes climbed 3.5 percent in August, snapping a two-month decline as buying surged in the pricey Northeast and West housing markets.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that newly built homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 last month. Sales of new homes have advanced 6.9 percent this year. Still, rising costs and higher mortgage rates have tempered some of the enthusiasm from would-be buyers.
The sales gains mostly came from a 47.8 percent jump in the Northeast and a 9.1 percent increase in the West. New-home sales edged up in the Midwest and fell in the South. The regional figures can be extremely volatile on a monthly basis.
The average sales price has risen 5.2 percent from a year ago to $388,400.
Fox Plans to Sell Stake in Sky to Comcast for $15B
21st Century Fox will sell its remaining stake in British pay TV provider Sky to Comcast in the latest financial wrangling as Disney prepares to acquire Fox’s entertainment assets.
Over the weekend, Comcast won a rare bidding auction for 61 percent of Sky offering 17.28 pounds per share, almost 30 billion pounds ($39 billion). Fox will sell its 39 percent stake to for 11.6 billion pounds ($15.25 billion).
Last December a bidding war between Walt Disney Co. and Comcast began over Fox’s entertainment assets. Walt Disney Co. prevailed and is in the process acquiring Fox. Comcast dropped out of that contest to focus on its acquisition of Sky.
Disney says the sale will significantly reduce the amount of debt it is taking on by acquiring Fox’s entertainment assets.
Amazon, Whole Foods Pushes Grocery Delivery to New Cities
Amazon continues to expand delivery from its Whole Foods grocery stores, announcing new service in 10 cities while broadening delivery areas where it’s already operating.
The Seattle company said Wednesday that it’s broadening delivery areas in New York and Seattle, and announced the first expansion of free grocery pick-up service to five new cities.
Amazon’s entry into the grocery arena has forced traditional stores to expand amenities for customers, or at least speed up plans to do so.
Amazon is expanding delivery to its Prime members in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, Jacksonville, Florida, Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Omaha, Orlando, St. Louis, Tampa and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Delivery is now available in 48 cities. Customers can order through the company’s app or online.
CBS Taps Media Industry Veteran Parsons as Interim Chairman
CBS says it has named media industry veteran Richard Parsons as interim chairman of the board as the company moves to reshape itself following the ouster of longtime chief Les Moonves.
Parsons is the former chairman of Time Warner and Citicorp. He was added to the board of CBS earlier this month along with five others as the company pursues an independent investigation into Moonves.
Moonves resigned just after six women joined others who had previously accused the long-time television executive with sexual misconduct.
CBS also said Tuesday that two other board members were stepping down. Bruce Gordon and William Cohen had been on the company’s board since it became a standalone public company in 2006.
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