Business Highlights: Spiking yields give Fed room to hold rates...

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2 Federal Reserve officials say spike in bond yields may allow central bank to leave rates alone

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Federal Reserve officials have suggested that the central bank may leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in three weeks.
That´s because a surge in long-term interest rates has made borrowing more expensive and could help cool inflation without further action by the central bank. Since late July, the yield, or rate, on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has jumped from around 4% to about 4.8%, a 16-year high.

The run-up in the yield has inflated other borrowing costs and raised the national average 30-year mortgage rate to 7.5%, a 23-year high. Business borrowing costs have also risen as corporate bond yields have accelerated.

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Nobel economics prize goes to Harvard´s Claudia Goldin for research on the workplace gender gap

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Claudia Goldin, a Harvard pertamina university professor, was awarded the Nobel economics prize for research that helps explain why women around the world are less likely than men to work and to earn less money when they do.

Fittingly, the announcement marked a small step toward closing a gender gap among Nobel laureates in economics: Out of 93 economics winners, Goldin is just the third woman to be awarded the prize and the first woman to be the sole winner in any year. Her award follows Nobel honors this year in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace that were announced last week.

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Stock market today: Oil prices climb following the latest Gaza war, but stocks rise with rate hopes

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices climbed with worries about violence in the Middle East.

The stock market was less fearful, though, and flipped from modest morning losses following potentially encouraging news on interest rates, which have been dragging Wall Street mainly lower since the summer. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow rose 197 points, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%.
They perked higher after two officials at the Federal Reserve suggested they may not need to raise interest rates again at their next meeting at the end of this month. Stocks of oil producers and defense companies led the market.

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Workers at Mack Trucks reject contract and join the thousands of UAW picketers already on strike

DETROIT (AP) - Union workers at Mack Trucks are on strike after voting down a tentative five-year contract agreement that negotiators had reached with the company.

The United Auto Workers said 4,000 unionized workers walked out at 7 a.m. Monday, adding to labor turmoil in the industry that has ensnared all three big Detroit automakers. Union President Shawn Fain said in a letter to Mack parent company Volvo Trucks that 73% of workers voted against the deal in results counted on Sunday.
The UAW represents Mack workers in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida. Union leaders had reached a tentative agreement on the deal on Oct. 1.

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A workforce crisis is damaging families´ access to therapies for babies with developmental delays

CHICAGO (AP) - American babies and toddlers with disabilities are entitled to publicly funded therapies known as Early Intervention, since all U.S.

states and territories accept federal funding for this program. But stagnant pay and an increasing cost of living mean many health care providers can no longer afford to participate in the program, and children´s development has suffered as a result. Almost all states have reported Early Intervention staffing shortages, and officials and experts say the situation has become critical post-pandemic, meaning young children are left waiting months for the care they need.

Speech-language pathologist Sarah Ziemba says when children don´t get the help they need at a young age, "sometimes we are limiting their potential into adulthood."

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Mexico to send diplomatic note protesting Texas border truck inspections causing major delays

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico´s president says he is going to send a diplomatic note to the United States protesting Texas truck inspections that have caused major delays at border crossings.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed Monday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott´s decision to enforce additional truck inspections was "very irresponsible" and politically motivated. Mexico´s national freight transport chamber said Sunday that 19,000 trucks were delayed at the border.

The freight association claimed the delayed trucks were carrying about $1.9 billion in goods. It said the delays were "severely affecting" cross-border trade. Bridge closures and train delays because of the influx of migrants crossing the border have also affected freight traffic.

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Airlines halt flights in and out of Israel after a massive attack by Hamas ignites heavy fighting

Major airlines are suspending flights to Israel after it formally declared war following a massive attack by Hamas.

American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines suspended service as the U.S. State Department issued travel advisories for the region citing potential for terrorism and civil unrest. Airlines in Europe and Asia are also halting flights, including Germany´s Lufthansa, Air France, Hong Kong´s main carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
British Airways said it´s planning to continue operating flights to Israel "over the coming days with adjusted departure times."

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Founder of Joby Aviation says electric air taxis will be in service in 2025

Joby Aviation is working to develop electric-powered aircraft that will take off and land like a helicopter but fly like a small plane.

Battery technology is helping Joby and other startups that are developing eVTOLs - short for electric vertical takeoff and landing. The company´s biggest shareholder is Toyota, and it has a partnership with Delta Air Lines. Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt says the company is the realization of a longtime dream of his to make a better way for people to get from one place to another.

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`The Exorcist: Believer´ takes possession of box office with $27.2 million opening

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Exorcist: Believer" took possession of the weekend box office with a North American opening of $27.2 million. According to studio estimates Sunday, the latest sequel to the 1973 horror classic was a runaway No.

1 in its opening weekend for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, but it still fell short of expectations with no other new releases with which to compete. Last week´s top film, "Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie," was a distant second, with $11.8 million, and has earned $38.9 million after two weekends.

Another horror sequel, "Saw X," was third for Lionsgate Films, with $8.2 million.

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The S&P 500 rose 27.16 points, or 0.6%, to 4,335.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.07 points, or 0.6%, to 33,604.65.

The Nasdaq composite rose 52.90 points, or 0.4%, to 13,484.24. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.44 points, or 0.6% to 1,755.99.