The daily business briefing: February 12, 2016

Utility plugs California gas leak, Yellen says the Fed considering negative interest rates if economy falters, and more

A truck leaves the Southern California Gas Co. facility where a natural gas well has been leaking uncontrollably for weeks in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles.
(Image credit: AP Photo/ Brian Melley)

1. California natural gas leak plugged after 4 months

Southern California Gas Company announced Thursday that it had "temporarily controlled" a natural gas leak that has released more than 80,000 tons of gas just north of Los Angeles since Oct. 23. Crews drilled down almost 8,500 feet to inject the leak with a mud-like compound. The next step is pumping in concrete, which will begin as early as Friday. Nearly 5,000 households had to move out of the Porter Ranch area due to health concerns. The leak has cost $300 million, and the company faces 67 pending lawsuits.

Ars Technica Los Angeles Times

2. Yellen says Fed is considering below-zero interest rates

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told lawmakers on Thursday that the central bank's policy makers were examining whether they should consider cutting interest rates below zero if the economy stumbles. Japan, Sweden, and a small but growing number of other nations have cut rates below zero recently, and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) asked whether the move was under consideration at the Fed. Yellen said the idea had been rejected in 2010 but it's "not off the table" given "the experience of European countries and others that have gone to negative rates."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Bloomberg USA Today

3. Pandora puts out feelers for potential buyers

Music streaming service Pandora is holding discussions about selling itself, according to people briefed on the matter. Pandora is the biggest internet radio service, with 78.1 million users, compared to about 10 million subscribers for Spotify and Apple Music. Pandora had 81.5 million users in 2014, however, and its market value has fallen to $1.8 billion from $7 billion two years ago. Pandora is working with Morgan Stanley to find potential buyers.

The New York Times

4. Boeing shares dive as sales slow

Boeing shares plummeted by 11 percent on Thursday over fears about slowing sales and production. The aircraft maker's stock also took a hit from a Bloomberg report indicating that Securities and Exchange Commission regulators are looking into its accounting of costs and expected sales of its two biggest jetliners, the 747 and 787. On Wednesday, Boeing said it was cutting middle management and executive positions. The streamlining comes as it faces competition from European rival Airbus.

Reuters Bloomberg

5. U.S. benchmark oil price hits 12-year low

The price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell Thursday to the lowest level in more than 12 years. The price hit $26.13 a barrel, beating a January low of $26.19. Oil prices have dropped by nearly 30 percent this year. The three main U.S. stock indexes dropped Thursday due to fears the oil prices signal a global economic slowdown, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to rebound early Friday, with Dow futures up 0.7 percent.

Bloomberg MarketWatch

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.