Company Highlights: Electric Vehicle Tax Credits, Walmart Revenue
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Which electric vehicles are eligible for the new US tax credit? Websites offer help
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is moving forward with its plan to provide new tax credits to buyers of electric vehicles. This is part of the rollout of a huge new climate, tax and health law. Several new websites were launched on Tuesday to help people identify vehicles that qualify for credits. Based on data submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least 31 new 2022 and 2023 models are eligible for the tax credit. For starters, they must be made in North America to qualify. President Joe Biden signed into law the Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill on Tuesday afternoon. It includes a tax credit of up to $7,500 that could be used to defray the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle.
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Companies facing 1st tax on stock buybacks in Biden bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pulled off a quiet first in legislation passed this month: creating a tax targeting stock buybacks. The bill includes a new 1% excise tax on corporate purchases of their own stock, a tactic companies have long used to return cash to investors and bolster their stock prices. Democrats say that instead of buying back stock, big companies should use the money to raise employee salaries or invest in their business. But is this likely to happen with the tax? Some experts are skeptical. The tax on share buybacks is expected to come into effect on January 1.
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Hot dogs vs deli meats; Rising Costs Shape Choices at Walmart
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported better-than-expected second-quarter results as more Americans sought to cut grocery costs at the nation’s largest retailer in the face of soaring inflation. However, this price increase meant that customers were cutting back on unnecessary purchases. Walmart reported quarterly profit of $5.15 billion on Tuesday. It easily beat Wall Street’s earnings and sales forecasts. ___
Home Depot posts record profits and revenue; sticks to the outlook
NEW YORK (AP) — Home Depot sales increased in its second fiscal quarter, boosted by continued demand for items related to home improvement projects. Revenue for the three months ended July 31 rose 6.5% to $43.79 billion. That topped the $43.35 billion that analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were claiming. Sales at stores open for at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, climbed 5.8%. In the United States, the figure increased by 5.4%. While the number of customer transactions fell by 3%, the amount spent by buyers per transaction increased by 9.1%.
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Amazon: FTC probe tracking Bezos, executives; too broad subpoenas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon has complained to federal regulators that they were harassing company founder Jeff Bezos and senior executives. The e-commerce giant says regulators are making impossible demands in their investigation of Amazon Prime, the popular streaming and shopping service with free shipping and around 200 million members worldwide. The Federal Trade Commission investigated Amazon Prime’s registration and cancellation practices, beginning in May 2021 with the issuance of civil subpoenas, the retail and tech giant disclosed in a petition to the agency. The petition asks the FTC to rescind or extend the deadline for responding to subpoenas issued to Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy.
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American Airlines posts bond on 20 supersonic jets
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines said it has agreed to buy up to 20 supersonic jets that are still on the drawing board and years away from flying. American announced the deal with Boom Supersonic on Tuesday. Neither company gives financial details, such as how much Americans pay in what they call a non-refundable deposit. Almost 20 years have passed since the last supersonic passenger flight of Concorde, the Franco-British aircraft. Boom CEO Blake Scholl said tickets on one of his company’s planes would cost between $4,000 and $5,000 and would fly from New York to London in about three and a half hours.
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Amazon workers in upstate New York file for union elections
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon workers in upstate New York filed a petition for a union election on Tuesday, kicking off a major labor fight against the company. A National Labor Relations Board spokesperson said the petition was filed for a warehouse in the town of Schodack, near Albany. To qualify for a union election, the NLRB requires the signatures of 30% of eligible voters. The agency must now verify whether the workers are qualified to run for office. The Amazon Labor Union supports the organizing effort. Earlier this year he picked up a historic victory at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, but also suffered a loss at another nearby location weeks later.
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Airbnb is rolling out new filtering tools to stop parties
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Airbnb is announcing the rollout of new technology to track and block people who attempt to use the short-term rental service to host a party. Airbnb said Tuesday that the new system looks at the tenant’s history on Airbnb, how far away they live from the rental listing and other factors. The system has been tested since last October in parts of Australia, and Airbnb says it has resulted in a 35% drop in unauthorized parties. Airbnb has come under increasing pressure to crack down on parties since 2019, when a Halloween party in a suburb of San Francisco ended in the deaths of five people in a shooting.
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The S&P 500 added 8.06 points, or 0.2%, to 4,305.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239.57 points, or 0.7%, to 34,152.01. The Nasdaq slipped 25.50 points, or 0.2%, to 13,102.55. The Russell 2000 Small Business Index fell 0.82 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,020.53.
