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Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot shareholders approve merger

MILAN (AP) — Shareholders of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot have voted to merge the U.S.-Italian and French carmakers to create world’s 4th-largest auto company. The merger is built on the promise of cost savings in the capital-hungry industry. But what remains to be seen is if the long-sought tie-up will be able to preserve jobs and heritage brands in a global market still suffering the shakeout from the pandemic. Shareholders of both companies on Monday overwhelmingly approved the deal to for the new company, which will be called Stellantis. The new company will have the capacity to produce 8.7 million cars a year, behind Volkswagen, Toyota and Renault-Nissan. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 16.

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Bid to address health costs by 3 corporate giants is over

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A health care venture conceived by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan to attack soaring costs is dissolving only a few years after launching. A company spokeswoman said Monday that Haven will end operations in February. The representative gave no reason for the move. The independent company was created in 2018 to improve care delivered to employees of the companies backing it while doing a better job managing the expense. Benefits experts expected plans developed by Haven to become widely adopted if they proved effective in controlling costs. The company’s high-profile CEO, author Dr. Atul Gawande, left last May.

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Google workers form new labor union, a tech industry rarity

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — A group of Google engineers announced Monday they have formed a union, creating a rare foothold for the labor movement in the tech industry. About 225 employees at Google and its parent company Alphabet are the first dues-paying members of the Alphabet Workers Union. They represent a fraction of Alphabet’s workforce, far short of the threshold needed to get formal recognition as a collective bargaining group in the U.S. But its members say they want more of a voice not just on wages, benefits and protections against discrimination and harassment but also broader ethical questions about how Google pursues its business ventures.

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Stocks fall as trading starts for year of great expectations

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed lower Monday as big swings return to Wall Street to start a year when the dominant expectation is for a powerful economic rebound to sweep the world. The S&P 500 was 1.5% lower at the close after earlier dropping as much as 2.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell from its record set last week. Coronavirus cases keep climbing at frightening rates around the world, threatening to bring more lockdown orders that would punish the economy. Tuesday’s upcoming runoff elections to determine which party controls the Senate may also be contributing to the volatility.

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Amazon’s Bezos tops list of richest charitable gifts in 2020

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The world’s richest person made the single largest charitable contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of top donations, a $10 billion gift that is intended to help fight climate change. Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates at roughly $188 billion, used his contribution to launch his Bezos Earth Fund. The fund has paid out $790 million so far, according to the Chronicle. Setting aside Bezos’ whopping gift, though, the sum of the top 10 donations last year — $2.6 billion — was the lowest since 2011, even as many billionaires vastly increased their wealth in the stock market rally that catapulted technology shares last year.

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Minority-owned companies waited months for loans, data shows

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks to accept their applications. Or, they were disadvantaged by the program’s terms. Data from the Paycheck Protection Program analyzed by The Associated Press show many minority owners desperate for a loan didn’t receive one until the PPP’s last weeks. Meanwhile, many more companies owned by whites were able to get loans. The program helped many businesses survive the first months of the virus outbreak. But it struggled to meet its promise of aiding communities that historically haven’t gotten needed

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OPEC, allies adjourn meeting over oil production levels

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Members of the OPEC oil cartel and allied countries including Russia have adjourned a meeting weighing whether to restore more oil production next month. The group is trying to decide as the pandemic continues to sap demand for energy and create uncertainty about when recovery might come. The oil producing countries, which held an online meeting Monday, were to meet again Tuesday. In December, the group decided to add back a modest 500,000 barrels per day to the oil market at in January, and to review production monthly after that with a goal of restoring 2 million barrels a day from cuts made last year.

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The S&P 500 fell 55.42 points to 3,700.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 382.59 points, or 1.3%, to 30,223.89. The Nasdaq composite lost 189.84 points, or 1.5%, to 12,698.45. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 28.94 points, or 1.5%, to 1,945.91.