U.S. nuclear plant closes after 49 years
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- A nuclear power plant long considered to be the oldest in America shut down Monday, the victim of its age and inability to compete with newer, cheaper gas-fired power plants.
The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey went offline at noon Monday, powering down without incident for the final time after nearly a half-century of operation.
Oyster Creek and the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station near Oswego, N.Y., both went into operation in December 1969.
Nine Mile Point says it went into commercial operation on Dec. 14, 1969; Oyster Creek says it did so on Dec. 23, 1969. But Oyster Creek's license was granted on April 10, 1969, the company said, about four months before one was given to Nine Mile Point, according to a 1970 document from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a precursor agency to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
But the plant has been the mainstay of the local economy in Lacey Township, a small town in the Pinelands near Barnegat Bay where fishing and recreation draw residents. The power plant was by far the town's largest employer and source of property taxes; the township's coat of arms has a nuclear isotope in it.
-- The Associated Press
Average Wall Street salary up 13% in '17
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Salaries on Wall Street rose last year to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, according to a report issued Monday by New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The report puts the average salary in New York City's securities industry in 2017 at $422,500, a 13 percent increase over the year before.
"Wall Street has profited every year since the end of the recession in 2009, and compensation last year reached its highest point since the financial crisis," said DiNapoli, a Democrat. "The industry is on track for another good year absent a major setback later in the year."
Overall, Wall Street posted $24.5 billion in pretax profits in 2017, rising 42 percent from 2016's figures. Profits for the first half of 2018 stand at $13.7 billion, 11 percent higher than for the same period last year.
Securities jobs have the highest average pay of any occupation in the city. They account for 21 percent of all private-sector wages in the city but make up less than 5 percent of all private-sector jobs.
DiNapoli's report found that there are now about 120 firms operating broker-dealer operations on the New York Stock Exchange. There were more than 200 before the financial crisis.
Nearly 200,000 people are employed in the securities industry in New York, more than any other state.
-- The Associated Press
FedEx reports $835M quarterly profit
MEMPHIS -- FedEx Corp. on Monday reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $835 million.
The Memphis-based company said it had net income of $3.10 per share. Earnings, adjusted for nonrecurring costs, were $3.46 per share.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.78 per share.
The package-delivery company posted revenue of $17.05 billion in the period, exceeding Wall Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $16.88 billion.
FedEx expects full-year earnings in the range of $17.20 to $17.80 per share.
FedEx shares have climbed 2.5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 8 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $255.73, a climb of 19 percent in the past 12 months.
-- The Associated Press
Macy's bedding supplier under scrutiny
A supplier of bedding to Macy's is under scrutiny in Texas after a report suggested it misled consumers about the quality of one of its products.
Sunham Home Fashions markets its four-piece Barrett Collection queen sheet set as having a 1,400-thread count. Yet a third-party test commissioned by the state's Agriculture Department found it has a thread count of 505, "which constitutes a materially false, misleading or deceptive act or practice," the agency said in a July 25 letter.
"TDA has determined the distributor, manufacturer and retailer may have engaged in deceptive acts and practices within the State of Texas," according to the letter sent to Sunham's New York office, Sunham Bedding Ltd., and Macy's, and obtained by Bloomberg.
Thread count is the term for how many threads are in each square inch of material. Broadly speaking, the higher the count, the softer and more pricey the sheets.
Sunham President Jane Bognacki initially said she would speak with a reporter, but then didn't respond to subsequent voice mails or emails. Macy's declined to comment.
As of Monday, Macy's was still offering the Barrett Collection sheet set, which is made of a cotton and polyester mix. The queen-size set has a list price of $200 on the retailer's website, though a sale and extra discounting brought the price to $55.99. The package back says the set is made in India.
-- Bloomberg News
NLRB proposes new joint-employer rule
NEW YORK -- The National Labor Relations Board has rewritten its joint-employer standard, a move that would ease the rule's impact on companies including franchise owners and businesses that subcontract work to others.
The board last week proposed a rule that says a company can be considered a joint employer "only if it possesses and exercises substantial, direct and immediate control over the essential terms and conditions of employment." A company's control over employment must not be limited, and it must be routine.
The joint-employer rule was on the list of President Barack Obama-era federal regulations that President Donald Trump's administration wanted to eliminate. The proposal is a big shift away from a 2015 NLRB ruling that expanded the concept of joint employer; it said one company's indirect control over another's workers could make both joint employers.
After Trump was elected and began naming new members to the NLRB, the board reversed the 2015 rule and began writing its own standard. In a statement Thursday, the NLRB said the proposed rule "would foster predictability, consistency and stability in the determination of joint-employer status."
The definition of joint employers is an issue for franchise companies, staffing firms and businesses with subcontractors, all of which have relationships with other businesses that can involve interconnecting operations or, in the case of staffing companies, involves supplying employees to another business.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 09/18/2018