DIS Walt Disney Co

By Derek Hall 

American Airlines Group Inc.

The future of more than 32,000 airline workers is up in the air. American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. said they would move forward with that many job cuts after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a coronavirus-aid package. They said they would bring workers back if a deal could be reached shortly. Airlines received $25 billion in earlier government aid and say more is needed to offset deep declines in travel. American Airlines shares rose 2.4% Thursday.

Walt Disney Co.

The Magic Kingdom hasn't yet found the right spell for the coronavirus. Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it would lay off about 28,000 domestic theme-park employees who have been on furlough since April. In announcing the layoffs Tuesday, Disney said the impact of the pandemic had been exacerbated in California by the state's "unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen" -- another example of the ongoing tension between governments trying to curb the spread of coronavirus and businesses struggling to pay the bills amid operating restrictions. Disney shares fell 1.1% Wednesday.

Uber Technologies Inc.

London travelers will soon be able to Uber once again. A London court found Monday that Uber Technologies Inc. was now "fit and proper" to operate in the U.K. capital, despite some continued breaches. The company said in a statement that it had been granted an 18-month license that made it subject to a bevy of new conditions. The ruling is the latest development in Uber's ongoing struggle to build trust with regulators after the company regularly tested the regulatory and legal envelope of countries while under the leadership of its co-founder and former chief executive Travis Kalanick. Uber shares rose 3.2% Monday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The nation's largest bank by assets is paying a hefty price for "spoofing." JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $920 million and admit misconduct tied to claims its traders "spoofed" to manipulate the price of Treasury securities, one of the largest and most liquid trading markets in the world. Spoofers enter and quickly cancel large orders in an effort to deceive others about supply and demand. The settlement resolves investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prosecutors and regulators began cracking down on spoofing in 2014, and financial institutions have paid more than $1 billion in fines tied to civil and criminal spoofing probes. JPMorgan shares fell 0.8% Tuesday.

NextEra Energy Inc.

NextEra Energy Inc. wants to plug into Duke Energy in what would be the largest utility deal ever. Duke rebuffed NextEra's approach, but the largest public utility company in the U.S. is still interested in pursuing a takeover, according to people familiar with the matter. If successful, it would be a $60 billion-plus combination of two Southern utilities and the biggest merger so far this year. But in order to pull it off, NextEra would have to overcome any resistance from Duke and its executives, and any agreed deal would have to pass muster with an array of government officials in a highly regulated industry. NextEra shares fell 2% Wednesday.

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Palantir Technologies Inc. gained fame as a spy-software and analytics machine, but its debut in the red-hot IPO market was mired by technical issues. Palantir and Asana Inc. made history by both completing direct listings on the same day, something the New York Stock Exchange had never dealt with before. Technical issues with Morgan Stanley software prevented some existing Palantir investors from unloading shares for much of the afternoon, according to people familiar with the matter. Palantir shares closed 5% below their opening price.

Amazon.com Inc.

Amazon.com Inc. became the first major U.S. employer to disclose Covid-19 infection data when the company announced on Thursday that more than 19,000 of its workers have tested positive for the virus. Amazon employs more than 1.3 million workers in the U.S. and has tested thousands of employees since March. The company said the number of positive cases is below what it expected, and Amazon has touted its safety protocols. Early in the pandemic, the company faced criticism from employees about its response to the virus and lack of transparency. Amazon shares fell 3% Friday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2020 20:46 ET (00:46 GMT)

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