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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising in early trading on Wall Street, putting them on track to extend a winning streak that has erased most of this year's losses. Banks are trading higher after JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America announced plans to buy back their own shares. The price of oil rose again, lifting energy stocks.
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta's airport is insisting that Uber drivers get fingerprint-based background checks to pick up passengers, but the ride-sharing service is balking at the proposed rule. The San Francisco-based company says it wouldn't be possible for Uber to operate at Atlanta's airport under the proposed rules. Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said earlier this month that they were moving toward allowing Uber and other ride-sharing services.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is using BP funds to construct a multimillion-dollar beachfront hotel and conference center, just weeks after a federal judge blocked the state from paying for the work with money from the oil giant. The director of the project says the construction work under way at Gulf State Park is legal because the judge only shut the lid on one pot of money from the BP oil spill. He says the project is being funded from another pile of BP money. The hotel and conference center will replace a state lodge that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
NEW YORK (AP) — Starwood is calling off a $12.2 billion buyout agreement with Marriott in favor of an offer from a group of investors led by the Chinese insurance company Anbang. The decision came after Anbang upped its offer for Starwood by nearly $370 million, bringing the total deal to more than $14 billion. Starwood, which owns the Sheraton and Westin hotel brands, has to pay Marriott $400 million to end the deal. Marriott has until March 28 to make another offer.
ZURICH (AP) — FIFA (FEE'-fuh) has signed its first World Cup sponsor since 2013. Soccer's international governing body agreed today to a four-tournament deal with a Chinese conglomerate that has links to Sepp Blatter, who was forced out as FIFA president by a corruption crisis. FIFA says the deal with property and cinema giant Dalian Wanda Group runs through the 2030 World Cup. A subsidiary of the firm is led by Blatter's nephew. The value of the top-tier partnership wasn't disclosed.
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