A Waymo vehicle navigates the roads at a company facility in Atwater (Merced County).
A Waymo vehicle navigates the roads at a company facility in Atwater (Merced County).
Photo: Michael Macor, The ChronicleStocks set
another record
U.S. stocks rallied to record highs Monday as Hurricane Irma weakened without causing as much damage as many had feared, and a North Korean holiday passed without missile launches. Financial and technology companies lead the way.
Investors were relieved as Irma, which is still deluging Florida and Georgia, didn’t appear to be as bad as it did in projections last week. Insurance companies jumped, especially smaller ones that do a lot of business in Florida. So did travel companies. Home improvement retailers fell. Their stocks had climbed recently as investors expected post-storm repairs to boost their business.
Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have been on investors’ minds recently, and on Monday global markets advanced as the situation didn’t get any worse.
In the U.S., bond prices fell, sending yields higher. That helped bank stocks because rising yields mean banks can charge higher interest rates on loans.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index made its biggest gain since late April as it rose 26.68 points to finish at a record 2,488.11.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 259.58 points to 22,057.37. The Nasdaq composite jumped 72.07 points to 6,432.26, three points below the record closing high it set Sept. 1. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 15.40 points to 1,414.83.
Autonomous cars
Minor crash
for Waymo van
Waymo, formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project, reported its latest minor traffic accident Monday — and for once, it didn’t involve a human driver rear-ending one of the company’s autonomous vehicles at a light.
Instead, the details of the incident, which happened while the Waymo minivan was under human control, make one wonder how well the car’s programming would have handled the same circumstances.
According to an accident report the company filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the incident happened on Aug. 26 in Palo Alto, near the intersection of Alma Street and El Verano Avenue.
The Waymo vehicle, part of the company’s fleet of specially designed Chrysler Pacificas, was heading east in the left lane of Alma and operating in autonomous mode. As required by California law, a Waymo employee sat behind the wheel, ready to take over if needed.
A vehicle ahead of the minivan swerved to avoid an object in the road. The Waymo driver disengaged the autonomous driving system and steered right, into the next lane. In so doing, the van’s back fender scraped the front fender of a 2006 Odyssey. Both cars were traveling less than 30 mph, according to the report, and no one was injured.
The incident is interesting in that it’s an example of when the human driver for Waymo feels the need to disengage the autopilot. It could become a scenario that Waymo uses to teach its autonomous vehicles.
Antitrust
Google appeals
European fine
Google took its fight over a record European Union antitrust fine to the EU courts, starting a legal challenge that could take years to conclude.
The Mountain View company filed its appeal on Monday at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg.
EU judges are the ultimate arbiter of EU antitrust regulators, who’ve often received support for their attempts to curb large companies’ behavior. Any ruling from the General Court can also be appealed at the bloc’s highest tribunal, the EU Court of Justice.
Santa Clara’s Intel waited eight years for a ruling on its legal challenge to a 2009 fine, only to be told last week that the General Court must re-examine the case.
Autos
Tesla chargers
in city centers
Tesla is building electric charging stations in city centers to attract urban buyers who don’t have a garage to charge in.
Stations in Boston and Chicago opened Monday. Tesla’s website shows urban stations planned for New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other cities this year. The stations offer less power and are slower than Tesla’s highway Superchargers.
States sue over
fuel standards
New York, California and three other states are suing the Trump administration, saying it must put in place higher penalties for automakers that violate federal fuel economy standards.
The Department of Transportation more than doubled civil penalties for fuel economy violations last year after Congress ordered agencies to adjust their fines for inflation, but the federal government delayed the rule indefinitely in July, saying it didn’t adequately consider the cost to automakers.
Philanthropy
Couple donates
$50 million
Officials say the Iowa State University College of Business will be renamed because of a $50 million commitment from two Bay Area benefactors.
The university said in a news release Monday that the college will be renamed the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, pending approval by the Iowa Board of Regents. Officials say it’s the largest-ever commitment to the college. The gift will establish an endowed fund that eventually will provide the college around $2 million annually.
Alumnus Jerry Ivy is president and CEO of Auto-Chlor System in Mountain View, and Debbie Ivy is a member of the executive team.
Chronicle News Services
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