Sequestration Takes Effect, but Impact Is Not Immediate

WASHINGTON — University officials, city managers, day care providers and others spent Saturday assessing how they would absorb their part of the across-the-board cuts in federal spending that began taking effect over the weekend. But even as the institutions that depend on federal money nervously took stock, most Americans were largely unaffected by the cuts, at least for now. At Los Angeles...

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Penney’s and Macy’s Battle Over Martha Stewart Products

Fred R. Conrad/The New York TimesExclusive products, like the Martha Stewart lines, are competitive products prized by retail chains, particularly in a rebounding housing market. Two of the biggest names in retail are fighting over Martha Stewart. In one corner is Ron Johnson, the chief executive of the embattled J. C. Penney. In the other is Terry Lundgren, the chief of Macy’s. Both want...

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Groupon Dismisses Its Chief, Andrew Mason

Andrew Mason, the irreverent programmer and musician who turned a failed social action site into the daily deals phenomenon Groupon, was dismissed Thursday as chief executive. A day earlier, Groupon reported weak fourth- quarter earnings, which caused investors to shave off a quarter of the Chicago company’s value. The news about Mr. Mason, released after the market closed, sent shares up...

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Lockheed Criticized by F-35 Jet Program Chief

The general in charge of building the new F-35 fighter jet sharply criticized the main contractors on Wednesday, saying that Lockheed Martin and the engine maker, Pratt & Whitney, were trying to “squeeze every nickel” out of the program. The comments, by Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, echoed a pointed critique he made last September, when he suggested that a poor relationship between Lockheed...

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Deal Professor: In Wall St. Tax, a Simple Idea but Unintended Consequences

Some say that a financial transaction tax is a cost-free way to kill many a bird with one stone — raising revenue, preventing financial crashes and making markets safer. But advocates of this neat idea conveniently ignore the century of less-than-successful experience with this tax, including New York State’s own failed attempt.The idea behind a financial transaction tax, which is a tax on individual...

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DealBook: Confirmation Hearing for Mary Jo White Said to Be Scheduled for March

Mary Jo White appears poised to face a confirmation hearing next month, a crucial step for the former federal prosecutor on her path to becoming the top Wall Street regulator.Ms. White, whose nomination to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has lingered for over a month, plans to testify in March before the Senate Banking Committee, two Congressional officials briefed on the matter said....

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Anemia Drug Recalled After Allergic Reactions; 3 Patients Died

The suppliers of a new drug to treat anemia in patients undergoing kidney dialysis have recalled all lots of the product after reports that it had caused severe allergic reactions, including some that were fatal. Affymax and Takeda Pharmaceutical, which jointly market the drug, Omontys, or peginesatide, announced the recall late on Saturday, and the notice was also posted by the Food and...

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Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States

Major banks have quickly become behind-the-scenes allies of Internet-based payday lenders that offer short-term loans with interest rates sometimes exceeding 500 percent. With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders have set up online operations in more hospitable states or far-flung locales like Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade statewide...

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Fed Officials Debate Bank’s Losses Once Economy Mends

The Federal Reserve’s plans for the eventual wind-down of its economic stimulus campaign could provoke a political reaction that will make it more difficult to control inflation, a current Fed official and a former Fed governor said Friday. Peter Newcomb/ReutersJames Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, sees political fallout from coming losses. Pat...

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Homeowners Still Face Foreclosure Despite Billions in Aid

A year after five of the nation’s biggest banks reached a pact with state and federal officials over claims of vast foreclosure abuses, the banks are taking credit for giving more than half a million struggling homeowners roughly $45.8 billion in relief. But despite the banner numbers released on Thursday in a report by Joseph A. Smith, the independent overseer of the settlement, thousands...

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With PlayStation 4, Sony Aims for Return to Glory

For the Sony Corporation, a tech industry also-ran, the moment of reckoning is here. The first three generations of PlayStation sold more than 300 million units, pioneered a new style of serious video games and produced hefty profits. PlayStation 4, introduced by Sony Wednesday evening, is a bold bid to recapture those long-ago glory days. The first new PlayStation in seven years was...

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DealBook Column: A Reputation, Once Sullied, Acquires a New Shine

How do you describe Steven L. Rattner?Up until three years ago, he was typically referred to in these pages as a former journalist turned successful financier — the vice chairman of the investment bank Lazard and then a co-founder of the Quadrangle Group, the private equity firm.With much fanfare, he then became the White House auto czar assigned to fix General Motors and Chrysler, after years of...

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Editorial: Wages, From the Bottom Up

President Obama was right about the need to increase the federal minimum wage, but it was too bad that he pulled his punches in calling on Congress to lift the wage only to $9 an hour by the end of 2015, from $7.25 an hour, where it has been since 2009. His proposal would boost the annual pay of an employee working full time at the minimum wage from $14,500 now to $18,000, which is still...

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The Education Revolution: In China, Families Bet It All on a Child in College

Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesWu Caoying studied English under her father’s watchful eye in 2006. She is now a sophomore in college. More Photos »HANJING, China — Wu Yiebing has been going down coal shafts practically every workday of his life, wrestling an electric drill for $500 a month in the choking dust of claustrophobic tunnels, with one goal in mind: paying for his daughter’s education. ...

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DealBook: SAC Clients Said to Seek $1.7 Billion in Refunds

Clients of SAC Capital Advisors have asked to withdraw $1.7 billion from the giant hedge fund as the government’s insider trading investigation intensifies, according to people briefed on the matter.That amount represents slightly more than a quarter of the $6 billion that the fund manages for clients, and underscores the reputational damage to SAC from a spate of criminal cases tied to former employees...

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A Tiffany at Costco? Not Now, or Ever, Tiffany Lawsuit Says

The discount warehouse chain Costco got something from Tiffany for Valentine’s Day: a lawsuit claiming it had sold diamond engagement rings falsely marketed in stores using the jeweler’s name. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, says a shopper complained to Tiffany late last year “that she was disappointed to observe that Costco was offering for sale what...

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Media Decoder Blog: Time Warner Considers Spinning Off Some of Its Magazines

9:15 p.m. | Updated Time Warner is in talks to shed much of Time Inc., the country’s largest magazine publisher and the foundation on which the $49 billion media conglomerate was built, according to people involved in the negotiations.Time Warner is in early discussions with the Meredith Corporation to put most of Time Inc.’s magazines — including People, InStyle and Real Simple — into a separate,...

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