A promotional video for a rebrand of British luxury car brand Jaguar is being criticized online for showing models in brightly colored outfits — and no car. The rebrand, which includes a new logo, is slated to launch Dec. 2 during the Miami Art Week, when the company will unveil a new electric GT model. But Jaguar Land Rover, a unit of India’s Tata Motors Ltd., has been promoting it online. The Jaguar brand is in the middle of a transition to going all-electric. “Copy Nothing,” marketing materials read. “We're here to delete the ordinary. To go bold. To copy nothing.” The promotional video, posted on X and Instagram, shows models dressed in futuristic brightly colored outfits walking in an alien-like landscape. “Break Moulds,” copy reads. It drew ire online, with people complaining about the lack of a car and the confusing message. X owner Elon Musk wrote on X, “Do you sell cars?” People also complained about the new, stylized, logo. The “leaper” jaguar image has also been reimagined. Charles Taylor, marketing professor at the Villanova School of Business in Villanova, Pennsylvania, said the promotional video strikes the wrong tone for potential buyers, and said the company is making a mistake by not using the brand's heritage as an elegant British high-performance sports car in its marketing. “If they came back with a really good electric vehicle, they could build on their prior image as opposed to really throwing out the heritage of the brand and going in this kind of direction,” he said. “It’s hard to see how the market of people that would like that approach is large enough for them to thrive.” Rebranding is a common tactic for companies seeking to spark sales. Campbell Soup Co. on Wednesday officially changed its name to Campbell's Co., and companies like Airbnb and Instagram update their logos from time to time. But if they strike a wrong chord, the result can be disastrous. Past rebranding failures include Tropicana changing its logo in 2009 to omit its trademark orange — it soon changed it back. And Radio Shack rebranded to “The Shack” in 2008, alienating its core shoppers, before eventually filing for bankruptcy protection in 2015. Jaguar Land Rover, based in Whitney, Coventry, in the U.K., did not return a request for comment.

Forty years after its founding, Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has more than 2,500 stores worldwide. Sales at its parent company, Fast Retailing Co., recently topped 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) annually for the first time. The name Uniqlo comes from joining the words for “unique” and “clothing.” The chain’s basic concept is “LifeWear,” or everyday clothing. Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing Co. Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai, ranked by Forbes as Japan’s richest man and estimated to be worth $48 billion, spoke recently to The Associated Press at the company’s Tokyo headquarters. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: What were the biggest challenges over the past 40 years? A: Actually 40 years, upon reflection, went by so fast they feel more like three years. You know what they say in Japan: Time flies like an arrow. I started a regional business, then expanded nationwide. When we became No. 2 or No. 3 in Japan’s casual wear, and being No. 1 was right within reach, we became a listed company in 1994. That was followed by our fleece boom, which doubled our revenue in one year to 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion). I’d been thinking about going global when our revenue reached 300 billion yen ($2 billion) so we opened 50 stores in Great Britain, hoping to be a winner there just like we had conquered Japan. Instead, we got totally knocked out. We opened 21 outlets in a year and a half, but had to close 16 of them, leaving just five. We didn’t succeed as we had hoped. This is not an easy job. It’s very tough. But these days, our sales are strongest in London, and also Paris. We made progress gradually. Q: What are some of the sustainability and other key issues you have faced over the years? A: We make clothes that last a long time. Not just clothes that last for one season. The cashmere sweater I’m wearing today is $99. But please don’t say “cheap.” Please call it “reasonable.” We sell quality products at reasonable prices. We’ve done various sustainability efforts, and we talk only about what we have really achieved. Sustainability is crucial to our operations. And we’ve done just about everything — recycling, employing the disabled, support for refugees. The prices may be cheaper at Wal-Mart, but our products offer real quality for the price. We take the greatest care and time, and involve a lot of people. Our rivals are more careless. Q: What is behind Uniqlo’s success and what resonated with global buyers? A: When we say Uniqlo is “made for all,” one might imagine products for the masses, like what’s at a Wal-Mart or a Target. But what we mean is a high-quality product that appeals to all people, including the extremely rich, not only those with sophisticated taste and intelligence, but also people who don’t know that much about clothes, and the design is fine-tuned, the material fine quality, and sustainability concerns have been addressed. We were first a retailer, then a manufacturer-cum-retailer. Now we are a digital consumer retailer. That is why we are successful. If we had stayed the same, then we can’t hope to succeed. Being a digital consumer retail company means we utilize information at a high level to shape the way we do our work. We gain information about our customers, the workers at the store, the market, all that information. Changing daily is the only way we can hope for stable growth. The world is changing every day. Q: Are you confident you can keep it up another 40 years? A: Of course. We’ve been preparing to reach 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) revenue all these years. And we are finally starting to be known. But we still have a long way to go. We are just getting started, and we are going to keep growing. There is more potential for growth in Europe and the U.S., as well as China and India, given the 1.4 billion population in each country. Clothing is a necessity, so population size is key.

Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday following an election that will send Donald Trump back to the White House, an outcome that had been strongly backed by CEO Elon Musk in the closing months of the race. Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. Tesla shares jumped 13% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Trump has proposed tariffs of 10% to 20% on foreign goods that would also impact electric vehicle maker's outside the U.S., especially in China, and shares of EV makers there slid as well in U.S. markets. “Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.” Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles. Shares of rival EV maker Rivian plunged 9% and Lucid Group fell 3.1%. NIO, a Chinese EV maker, slid 6%. Musk was one of Trump's biggest donors, putting more than $70 million of his own money into the presidential run and other GOP causes. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee. Yet it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter. The U.S. opened an investigation into the company's “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years. And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress. Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

With theme, ‘New Opportunities, New Markets, New Partnerships,’ the two-day ‘Bangladesh Remittance Fair’ is going to begin on October 20 at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in New York. The Bangladesh-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mukti Dhara New York and the US-Bangla Business Link are jointly organising the event powered by Dhaka Bank. Islamic Bank, National Bank and Bank Asia will be honored as the top remittance-receiving banks. Expatriates sent $986 million remittance in first 12 days of October Focusing on promoting legal remittance flows and sustainable growth, the fair aims to explore how to increase these foreign earnings and encourage expatriates to utilise legitimate channels for remittance, thereby further energizing the economy. Participating institutions include banks, financial institutions, money transfer operators, remittance channel partners, mobile financial services, offshore banking service providers, and expatriate small entrepreneurs. Over 30 financial institutions from both Bangladesh and the United States including IFIC Bank, Islamic Bank, Standard Bank, Social Islamic Bank Limited, Dhaka Bank, Chevron Express, and Standard Express will take part in the event. Islami Bank holds views-exchange with foreign banks to strengthen remittance earning The fair will also feature seminars and symposiums on remittances, along with awards for the top 10 Bangladeshi-American remittance senders. According to data from Bangladesh Bank, the three top remittance-receiving banks this year have received significant amounts from the United States: Islamic Bank with $663.99 million, National Bank with $379.64 million, and Bank Asia with $212.95 million. Moreover, awards will be given to the top three money exchange or remittance channel companies. The fair will remain open from 4pm to 10pm (NY time) on both days at the venue where popular artists Pousali Banerjee and Shah Mahbub will enthrall audiences through performance on October 20.

Growth in South Asia is expected to increase to 6.4 percent this year, exceeding earlier projections and keeping the region on track to be the fastest growing in the world, according to the World Bank. The region can grow even faster and achieve its development goals by unlocking untapped potential by increasing women’s participation in the labor force and opening further to global trade and investment, said the World Bank in its twice-yearly regional outlook released on Thursday. The latest South Asia Development Update, Women, Jobs, and Growth forecast a broad-based upturn in the region, supported by strong domestic demand in India and faster recoveries in most other South Asian countries. Growth is expected to remain robust at 6.2 percent a year for the next two years, it said. This forecast is subject to downside risks including extreme weather, debt distress, and social unrest. Policy missteps such as delays in planned reforms could also set the region back. Fragile fiscal and external positions leave little buffer against these risks. WB to provide USD 3.5 billion to support Bangladesh's reform initiatives: Ajay Banga “South Asia’s outlook is undoubtedly promising, but the region could do more to realize its full economic potential,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank Vice President for South Asia. “Key policy reforms to integrate more women into the workforce and remove barriers to global investment and trade can accelerate growth. Our research shows that raising female labor force participation rates in the region to those of men would increase regional GDP by up to 51 percent.” Female labour force participation in South Asia is among the lowest in the world. Only 32 percent of working-age women were in the labour force in 2023, compared to 77 percent of working-age men in the region. For all South Asian countries except Bhutan, female labour force participation rates in 2023 were 5 to 25 percentage points lower than in countries at similar levels of development. This shortfall in the female labour force is most pronounced after marriage. On average, once married, women in South Asia reduce their participation in the workforce by 12 percentage points, even before they have children. Bangladesh has the opportunity to implement unaddressed critical reforms: WB Vice President The shift toward service activities, usually associated with greater demand for female labour, has not yet led to higher levels of female employment in the region, and firms often state an explicit preference for male workers. Supply-side constraints such as childcare access, mobility and safety, legal restrictions, and conservative gender norms are also significant barriers. “South Asia’s female labor force participation rate of 32 percent is well below the 54 percent average in emerging market and developing economies,” said Franziska Ohnsorge, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. “Increasing women’s employment requires action from all stakeholders. Our report recommends a multi-pronged effort where governments, the private sector, communities and households all have a role to play.” The report’s recommendations include legal reforms to improve gender equality, measures to accelerate job creation, and removal of barriers to women working outside the home such as lack of safe transport and quality child and elder care. Such measures could be more effective if social norms became more accepting of female employment. Another key area of reform is increasing trade openness. Most countries in South Asia rank among the least open to global trade and investment. This greatly limits the region’s ability to take advantage of the reshaping of global supply chains. Within the region, greater export orientation has been linked to greater female employment. Therefore, increased openness could help the region spur growth as well as boost job creation, especially for women.  

Expectations are high for the long-awaited unveiling of Tesla's robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night. Too high for some analysts and investors. The company, which began selling software it calls “Full Self-Driving” nine years ago that still can't drive itself, is expected to show off the so-called “Cybercab” vehicle, which may not have a steering wheel and pedals. The unveiling comes as CEO Elon Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it struggles to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles. Some analysts are predicting that it will be a historic day for the Austin, Texas, company as it takes a huge step toward a long-awaited robotaxi service powered by AI. But others who track self-driving vehicles say Musk has yet to demonstrate Tesla's system can travel safely without a human driver ready to step in to prevent crashes. 5th recall for Tesla Cybertruck within a year, the latest due to rearview display “I don't know why the headlines continue to be ‘What will Tesla announce?’ rather than ‘Why does Tesla think we’re so stupid?'” said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles. He doesn't see Tesla having the ability to show off software and hardware that can work without human supervision, even in a limited area that's well-known to the driving system. “We just haven't seen any indication that that is what Tesla is working toward,” Walker Smith said. “If they were, they would be showcasing this not on a closed lot, but in an actual city or on an actual freeway.” Without a clear breakthrough in autonomous technology, Tesla will just show off a vehicle with no pedals or steering wheel, which already has been done by numerous other companies, he said. “The challenge is developing a combination of hardware and software plus the human and digital infrastructure to actually safely drive a vehicle even without a steering wheel on public roads in any conditions,” Walker Smith said. “Tesla has been giving us that demo every year, and it's not reassuring us.” Many industry analysts aren't expecting much from the event either. While TD Cowen's Jeff Osborne expects Musk to reveal the Cybercab and perhaps the Model 2, a lower-cost electric vehicle, he said he doesn't expect much of a change on self-driving technology. Safety concerns over Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system growing “We expect the event to be light on details and appeal to the true long-term believers in Tesla,” Osborne wrote in a note. Musk's claims on the readiness of Full Self Driving, though, will be crucial “given past delays and ongoing scrutiny” of the system and of Tesla's less-sophisticated Autopilot driver-assist software. Tesla's model lineup is struggling and isn't likely to be refreshed until late next year at the earliest, Osborne wrote. Plus, he wrote that in TD Cowen's view the “politicization of Elon” is tarnishing the Tesla brand among Democrat buyers in the U.S. Musk has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and has pushed many conservative causes. Last weekend he joined Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. Musk has been saying for more than five years that a fleet of robotaxis is near, allowing Tesla owners to make money by having their cars carry passengers while they're not in use by the owners. But he has acknowledged that past predictions for the use of autonomous driving proved too optimistic. In 2019, he promised the fleet of autonomous vehicles by the end of 2020. However, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who is bullish on Tesla stock, wrote in an investor note that robotaxi event, dubbed “We, Robot,” by the company, will be a new chapter of growth for Tesla. Tesla cars performing ‘dance of lights’ to 'Naatu Naatu' goes viral Ives expects many updates and details from Tesla on the robotaxi, plus breakthroughs in Full Self Driving and artificial intelligence. He also is looking for a phased-in strategy for rolling out the robotaxis within the next year, as well as a Tesla ride-sharing app, and demonstrations of technology “designed to revolutionize urban transportation.” Ives, whose organization will attend the invitation-only event at the Warner Bros. studio, wrote that he also expects updates on Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot, which the company plans to start selling in 2026. “We believe this is a pivotal time for Tesla as the company prepares to release its years of Robotaxi R&D shadowed behind the curtains, while Musk & Co. lay out the company’s vision for the future,” Ives wrote. The announcement comes as U.S. safety regulators are investigating Full Self Driving and Autopilot based on evidence that it has a weak system for making sure human drivers pay attention. In addition, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forced Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic laws, especially near intersections. Tesla was to fix the problems with an online software update. Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a Tesla using Full Self-Driving hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver told authorities that he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. NHTSA says it's evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials. The Justice Department also has sought information from Tesla about Full Self-Driving and Autopilot, as well as other items.

Boeing on Friday replaced the head of its troubled defense and space business, which has struggled with money-losing government contracts and embarrassing setbacks involving its Starliner space capsule. The company said Theodore “Ted” Colbert III was removed immediately as president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security and replaced temporarily by the division's chief operating officer, Steve Parker. A search is underway for a permanent replacement. Colbert spent 15 years at Boeing, serving as chief information officer and leading its global-services business before running the defense unit. Kelly Ortberg, who took over as Boeing CEO last month, said in a memo announcing Colbert's departure, “At this critical juncture, our priority is to restore the trust of our customers and meet the high standards they expect of us to enable their critical missions around the world. Working together we can and will improve our performance and ensure we deliver on our commitments.” Boeing is trying to dig out from unprofitable contracts with the Pentagon and NASA, including new Air Force One presidential planes and refueling tankers for the Air Force. Since the start of 2022, the defense and space division has lost $6 billion, slightly more than Boeing’s airplane business. The Starliner capsule that Boeing built for NASA suffered problems with thrusters on its first crewed mission to the international space station. NASA decided this month it was too risky for two astronauts to fly home in the capsule, so they will stay in space until February and ride back to Earth on a SpaceX capsule.

The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India. The New York-based investment firm Blackstone, which owns Motel 6’s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million. The transaction will also include the sale of the Studio 6 motel brand, which caters to customers seeking extended stays. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year. “This acquisition is a significant milestone for a startup company like us to strengthen our international presence,” Gautam Swaroop, OYO’s international division chief, said in a statement. Blackstone had purchased Motel 6 and Studio 6 in 2012 for $1.9 billion. Since then, the private equity giant says it has heavily invested in the brand and pursued a strategy that converted the chain into a franchise. “This transaction is a terrific outcome for investors and is the culmination of an ambitious business plan that more than tripled our investors’ capital and generated over $1 billion in profit over our hold period,” Rob Harper, the head of Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management Americas, said in a statement. Under the deal, Oravel Stays, which owns Oyo, will acquire G6 Hospitality.

Aircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at Boeing factories near Seattle and elsewhere after union members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike and reject a tentative contract that would have increased wages by 25% over four years. The strike started at 12:01 a.m. PDT, less than three hours after the local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced 94.6% of voting workers rejected the proposed contract and 96% approved the work stoppage, easily surpassing a two-thirds requirement. The labor action involves 33,000 Boeing machinists, most of them in Washington state, and is expected to shut down production of the company’s best-selling airline planes. The strike will not affect commercial flights but represents another setback for the aerospace giant, whose reputation and finances have been battered by manufacturing problems and multiple federal investigations this year. The striking machinists assemble the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling airliner, along with the 777, or “triple-seven” jet, and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. The walkout likely will not stop production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are built by nonunion workers in South Carolina. Outside the Renton factory, people stood with signs reading, “Historic contract my ass” and “Have you seen the damn housing prices?” Car horns honked and a boom box played songs such as Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” The machinists make $75,608 per year on average, not counting overtime, and that would rise to $106,350 at the end of the four-year contract, according to Boeing. However, the deal fell short of the union’s initial demand for pay raises of 40% over three years. The union also wanted to restore traditional pensions that were axed a decade ago but settled for an increase in new Boeing contributions of up to $4,160 per worker to employee 401(k) retirement accounts. Under the rejected contract, workers would have received $3,000 lump sum payments and a reduced share of health care costs. Boeing also had met a key union demand by agreeing to build its next new plane in Washington state. Several workers said they considered the wage offer inadequate and were upset by a recent company decision to change the criteria on which annual bonuses are paid. Toolmaker John Olson, 45, said he has received a 2% percent raise during his six years at Boeing. “The last contract we negotiated was 16 years ago and the company is basing the wage increases off of wages from 16 years ago," Olson said. "They don’t even keep up with the cost of inflation that is currently happening right now.” Boeing responded to the strike announcement by saying it was “ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.” “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members. We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union,” the company said in a statement. Very little has gone right for Boeing this year, from a panel blowing out and leaving a gaping hole in one of its passenger jets in January to NASA leaving two astronauts in space rather sending them home on a problem-plagued Boeing spacecraft. As long as the strike lasts, it will deprive the company of much-needed cash it gets from delivering new planes to airlines. That will be another challenge for new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who six weeks ago was given the job of turning around a company that has lost more than $25 billion in the last six years and fallen behind European rival Airbus. Ortberg made a last-ditch effort to salvage a deal that had unanimous backing from the union’s negotiators. He told machinists Wednesday that “no one wins” in a walkout and a strike would put Boeing’s recovery in jeopardy and raise more doubt about the company in the eyes of its airline customers. “For Boeing, it is no secret that our business is in a difficult period, in part due to our own mistakes in the past,” he said. “Working together, I know that we can get back on track, but a strike would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together.” The head of the union local, IAM District 751 President Jon Holden, said Ortberg faced a difficult position because machinists were bitter about stagnant wages and concessions they have made since 2008 on pensions and health care to prevent the company from moving jobs elsewhere. “This is about respect, this is about the past, and this is about fighting for our future,” Holden said in announcing the strike. The vote also was a rebuke to Holden and union negotiators, who recommended workers approve the contract offer. Holden, who had predicted workers would vote to strike, said the union would survey members to decide which issues they want to stress when negotiations resume. Depending on how long the strike lasts, suspension of airplane production could prove costly for the beleaguered Boeing. An eight-week strike in 2008, the longest at Boeing since a 10-week walkout in 1995, cost the company about $100 million daily in deferred revenue. Before the tentative agreement was announced Sunday, Jefferies aerospace analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu estimated a strike would cost the company about $3 billion based on the 2008 strike plus inflation and current airplane-production rates. Solomon Hammond, 33, another Renton toolmaker, said he was prepared to strike indefinitely to secure a better contract. Boeing's offer “just doesn’t line up with the current climate. The wages are just too low," Hammond said. "I make $47 an hour and work paycheck to paycheck. Everything costs more.”

Global shares were mixed in cautious trading Monday ahead of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., when stock exchanges are closed. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3% in early trading to 7,611.64, while Germany's DAX fell 0.1% to 18,881.14. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, down less than 0.1% at 8,370.39. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1% at 41,613.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% to 5,654.25. Investors were also looking ahead to the U.S. employment report set for release Friday for an indication of the strength of the American economy. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.1% to finish at 38,700.87, after the Finance Ministry reported capital spending by Japanese companies in the April-June quarter increased 7.4% from the previous year. After a period of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing signs of a recovery. Next week, Japan will release revised gross domestic product, or GDP, data, a measure of the value of a nation’s goods and services. The preliminary data released earlier showed the first growth in two quarters. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 8,109.90, while South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.3% to 2,681.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.7% to 17,691.97. The Shanghai Composite dipped 1.1% to 2,811.04. A bit of pessimism rolled in over China’s growth prospects over the weekend, as its National Bureau of Statistics reported that August manufacturing PMI, a barometer of industrial output, fell from 49.4 to 49.1. That was weaker than market forecasts. Recent reports on the U.S. economy, including inflation, consumer spending and income, have been encouraging. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption and expenditures report showed prices rose 0.2% from June to July, up slightly from the previous month’s 0.1% increase. That means price rises are slowing down, and that’s likely to lead to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time in more than four years. The market expects the Fed will start cutting rates later this month. In other encouraging news, Friday’s Commerce Department report showed Americans stepped up their spending by 0.5% from June to July and incomes rose 0.3%, faster in July than the previous month. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 5 cents to $73.60 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 6 cents to $76.99 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 146.68 Japanese yen from 146.18 yen. The euro cost $1.1071, up from $1.1053.