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Briefcase: ASCEND seeking students

Students are being recruited for 1st Summit Bank’s ASCEND 250 program. Teachers at 10 participating high schools in Cambria and Somerset counties are now nominating students for the first class. Students need two teacher recommendations before they are invited to apply. ASCEND 250 is a three-year paid banking apprenticeship. Participants become full-time, salaried employees of 1st Summit Bank on their first day. They spend 18 months learning throughout the bank and another 18 months specializing in an area of interest. The first class will begin in September 2027. Program details ...

US job openings rise to 7.3M

Employers posted slightly more job openings in July but the American labor market remained sturdy in the face of higher costs that are squeezing household budgets. U.S. job openings ticked up to 7.27 million in July from a revised 7.18 million in June, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs fell. But so did the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects. The report showed that gross hiring — before subtracting those who lost or quit their jobs — dipped to ...

Ticker: Stocks slip as Wall Street under pressure

Stocks fell on Wall Street as another round of U.S. military strikes on Iran sent oil prices higher, stoking worries about stubbornly high inflation. Bond yields moved higher, putting even more pressure on stocks. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 419 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite fell 1%. Big Tech stocks like Nvidia and Amazon were the heaviest weights dragging the market lower. Brent crude rose 4.6% and U.S. oil closed above $90 for the first time in more than a month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.79%. Chevron expected to ...

Oil prices rise, stocks fall after US hits Iranian sites

Wall Street closed out August on a downbeat note Monday as stocks fell and the price of oil rose after the U.S. launched its first military action in a month against Iran. The S&P 500 index fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. August had no shortage of turbulence for the market, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each posted a gain for the month after losing ground in July and June. The Dow, meanwhile, managed its fifth-straight monthly gain. Monday’s losses were broad, with nearly every sector within the benchmark S&P 500 ...

Kalshi bans ex-congressman for life

NEW YORK — The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos for his bets on whether he’d attend the State of the Union address and has fined and temporarily banned North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout for bets she now calls a “dumb mistake.” The company announced the ban on Santos, a Republican, after its Compliance Department found reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading, contributing to speculation over whether he would attend the address before turning a $17,839 ...

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FTC, 22 states sue Amazon over ad prices The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have filed a lawsuit against online retailer Amazon claiming that it defrauded advertising customers. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington. It claims Amazon overcharged 1.2 million advertising customers by misleading them on prices for online auctions for ads. The complaint says Amazon said it was offering competitive prices on several ad products when it was actually inflating auction prices. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson says millions of ...