Wall Street drops again to close its 5th straight losing week and its worst since the Iran war
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks deepened their drops as Wall Street finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years. The S&P 500 fell 1.7% Friday to close its worst week since the war with Iran began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.7% and fell more than 10% from its record set last month, while the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. President Donald Trump’s latest delay in his threat to obliterate Iranian power plants saw oil prices pull back briefly late Thursday, but they resumed their rise Friday as fighting continued in the Middle East.
When stock markets are rattled, even by war, it usually pays for investors to be patient
NEW YORK (AP) — When stock markets are falling, it’s natural to want to do something quickly to protect your retirement savings. Historically, though, staying calm has been best when it comes to investing. The U.S. stock market has a track record of recovering from every steep drop it’s taken. Whether it’s an oil shock or a military war, the S&P 500 has always recouped its losses to push on toward more records. Of course, that has sometimes taken years or even a decade, but anyone who sold their stocks after getting spooked by a steep decline missed out on the eventual recovery.
Iran starts to formalize its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz with a 'toll booth' regime
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Iran is cementing its hold over the Strait of Hormuz, demanding vessels give up detailed information and detour into Iranian waters before being vetted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In some cases, vessels have paid for passage. Traffic through the strait has fallen by 90% since the start of the war, sending global oil prices skyrocketing and creating alarming shortages in the Asian nations that get their oil from producers in the Persian Gulf. Yet ships with connections to Iran and its chief energy customer, China, continue to transit the strait.
US appeals court overturns $16 billion judgment over Argentina energy company nationalization
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A New York appeals court has overturned a ruling that had ordered Argentina to pay more than $16 billion to former shareholders of YPF, the country’s largest energy company that was nationalized in 2012. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a 2023 judgment by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska that would have compensated investors Petersen Energía and Petersen Energía Inversora. President Javier Milei hailed the decision as “the greatest judicial victory in national history” and blamed the original nationalization on former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Frustrated travelers hear a new message from airports: Don’t get here so early
The sight of travelers suffering through long security lines at U.S. airports this week have many people showing up way before their flights. But now some airports where the wait times have been manageable despite the partial government shutdown are telling travelers to stop arriving so early. In Ohio, John Glenn International Airport in Columbus says the early birds are only making things worse. The airport says getting there too early can create longer lines and says it’s better to space out arrival times to keep the lines moving smoothly. That’s welcome news for some travelers. But many wait times at airport security checkpoints remain unpredictable with long lines.
Dietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredients
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dietary supplement companies are pushing to expand the types of ingredients they can use in their products. The Food and Drug Administration is holding a meeting Friday to discuss the issue. The changes sought by the industry could open the door to more supplements containing peptides, probiotics and other trendy wellness ingredients. Companies want the FDA to broaden its definition of a dietary ingredient to substances that aren't found in foods. The meeting follows vows from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “end the war at FDA” on dietary supplements and other popular wellness products.
In the wake of US social media verdicts, a look at what limits other countries have imposed for kids
Dual jury verdicts this week have validated longstanding concerns about the dangers of social media for young people. But the U.S. lacks federal regulation that meaningfully addresses these harms. Other countries, meanwhile, have implemented a bevy of restrictions on children’s online activities, ranging from outright social media bans to to requiring younger teens to link their accounts to a parent’s. In 2024, Australia became the first country to kick kids under 16 off social media and other countries have followed suit.
Trump signs order to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS funding
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a promised executive action to pay Transportation Security Administration employees after a bid to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly fell apart in Congress. Trump signed the action Friday with an eye toward easing long security lines at many of the nation’s top airports. “America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,” Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says TSA workers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday.” Trump’s action came after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security.
Microsoft takes over a Texas AI data center expansion after OpenAI backs away
Microsoft is taking over a data center construction project in Texas after OpenAI declined to pursue it, in a move that will make the two companies neighbors at one of the nation’s largest complexes for running artificial intelligence. Data center developer Crusoe said Friday it is working with Microsoft to build two new “AI factory” buildings and an on-site power plant in Abilene, Texas, right next to where Crusoe has been building an even larger computing campus for OpenAI and Oracle. OpenAI’s existing project, the flagship of a broader initiative called Stargate, is so massive that President Donald Trump was first to officially announce it just after his inauguration last year.
TSA workers might get paid Monday, but their worries and airport woes could linger for longer
NEW YORK (AP) — Transportation Security Administration agents could start getting their paychecks as early as Monday after President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to pay them immediately. But travel experts and labor leaders said the mammoth security lines at some U.S. airports would not disappear overnight and could linger into next week or longer while TSA workers wait for their back pay, airports assess their staffing and Congress remains at odds over funding the Department of Homeland Security. A former TSA officer who runs a travel newsletter says the officers he knows want to receive their back pay quickly but also have confidence their income won't get suspended again.
