Arctic offshore drilling by Royal Dutch Shell PLC drew protests on two continents this year, but a more modest proposal for extracting petroleum where polar bears roam has moved forward with much less attention. While Shell proposed exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea about 80 miles off Alaska’s northwest coast,… Read More

Dow Chemical and the DuPont Co. announced Friday that they are merging in a $130 billion chemical industry megadeal. The merger would combine two companies that sell agricultural products to millions of farmers around the world, and make a variety of chemicals for consumer and industrial products ranging from electronics,… Read More

Oil prices have been lower for longer than expected. Now, with OPEC’s decision to keep pumping at current levels, analysts expect oil to remain relatively cheap well into 2016 and maybe longer. That, of course, is good news for consumers and fuel-guzzling industries like airlines, but oil producers are being… Read More

Chipotle shares continued falling Monday as the company faces its first decline in a key sales figure after an outbreak of E. coli linked to its restaurants. The chain known for touting its quality ingredients said Friday it expects sales to drop between 8 percent and 11 percent at established… Read More

The huge philanthropic pledge by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife — totaling perhaps $45 billion — reflects the fast-paced emergence of a new Gilded Age of giving. The changes excite many in the charity world, but also raise questions about effectiveness, ethics and the impact on older charities… Read More

Retailers are rolling out online deals on so-called “Cyber Monday.” But now that shoppers are online all the time anyway, the 10-year-old shopping holiday is losing some of its luster. Still, Monday was expected to be the biggest online shopping day ever, with estimates that it would rack up over $3… Read More

U.S. shoppers no longer blow the bulk of their holiday budgets on the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday. It’s a major shift that has made it difficult for stores to track and learn from shoppers’ spending habits during the traditional start to the busy holiday shopping season. Take… Read More

Regulators are proposing new procedures to monitor high-speed trading more closely in response to wild market swings brought on by a series of technical breakdowns. More than 70 percent of all trading today is automated, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday as it voted unanimously in favor of new… Read More