Business News at a Glance

Oscars to Add ‘Popular Film’ Category, Creating Questions

Alarmed by plunging television ratings for the Academy Awards, the organization behind the Oscars said Wednesday it would add a category for blockbuster films and shorten the telecast by giving out some statuettes during commercial breaks. Yet adding a category for “outstanding achievement in popular film” could create new problems for the beleaguered organization, according to a letter sent by John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The letter did not say what would constitute a “popular” film or whether movies nominated in that category could also be nominated for best picture. (An academy spokeswoman later clarified that they could.)

Playing Catch-Up With Walmart, Amazon Offers Digital Grocery Pickup at Whole Foods

Amazon has found itself in the rare position of playing catch-up with its rivals. The e-commerce giant announced Wednesday that its Whole Foods stores will allow customers to order their groceries online and pick them up in person. Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, already offers online grocery pickup in nearly 1,800 stores across the United States, and plans to roll out the service to as many as 2,200 stores by the end of the year. Amazon’s new service is starting in Sacramento, California, and Virginia Beach. Shoppers who pay the Amazon Prime subscription fee can order groceries online and pick them up 30 minutes later.

Tech Companies Banned Infowars. Now, Its App Is Trending.

Just days after Google, Facebook and Apple purged videos and podcasts from the right-wing conspiracy site Infowars from their sites, the Infowars app has become one of the hottest in the country. On Wednesday, Infowars was the No. 1 overall “trending” app on the Google Play store, a metric that reflects its sudden momentum. Among news apps, Infowars was No. 3 on Apple and No. 5 on Google, above all mainstream news organizations. And the app stood at No. 66 overall on Google, excluding game apps, while on Apple it reached No. 49, above popular apps like LinkedIn, Google Docs and eBay.

Wall Street Salivates After Elon Musk Floats Taking Tesla Private

A day after Elon Musk declared he might try to convert Tesla into a private company, Wall Street banks raced to figure out how such a transaction might work and how they might get a piece of the action. Executives at banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are discussing ways a deal could be structured, angling to land the potentially prestigious assignment of taking the maker of electric cars off public markets, according to people familiar with the discussions. Bankers and lawyers on Wall Street said any deal is likely to be valued at $10 billion to $20 billion.

Who Gets a New 20% Tax Break? The Treasury Department Speaks, and Trump May Save

A new 20 percent tax break included in last year’s $1.5 trillion tax overhaul could wind up benefiting President Donald Trump’s real estate empire given how the Treasury Department plans to implement the provision, several tax experts said. On Wednesday, the Treasury Department issued a sprawling regulation outlining the types of companies and professionals eligible to qualify as “pass-through” entities and get the 20 percent tax deduction. The widely anticipated rule has huge implications for law firms, real estate trusts, family farms and other companies that are structured so their profits are taxed as individual income for their owners.

ProPublica to Fund Investigative Reporting Focused on State Government

The nonprofit news organization ProPublica announced an initiative Wednesday to provide funding for local news outlets to pursue investigative projects focused on state government. In recent years, as the difficult economic environment facing the media industry has taken a particular toll on local news organizations, coverage of state governments has dropped significantly. ProPublica’s initiative, which is being financed by an undisclosed donor, is intended to “try to help fill that gap,” Richard Tofel, the president of ProPublica, said. "Over the last 13 years the business results of almost every journalism organization has continued to deteriorate and that’s especially acute at the local level,” he said. “This project, generally, is a response to that.”

Happy Meal Ad Is OK for Children, UK Regulator Says. Coco Pops Ad Isn’t.

What is the difference between a McDonald’s Happy Meal and a box of Coco Pops? Beyond the obvious, one can be advertised to children on British television, and the other cannot. Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority ruled Wednesday that the fast food giant McDonald’s could market its Happy Meal during children’s programs, but ordered Kellogg’s, which makes Coco Pops cereal, to remove commercials it had broadcast alongside a children’s show. The decisions highlighted the British government’s increased scrutiny of fatty and sugary food and drinks being marketed to young people, part of a broader effort to promote healthier eating among children.

Trump’s Tariffs Are Changing Trade With China. Here Are 2 Emerging Endgames.

The United States and China have sparred repeatedly over trade. But beneath the acrimony, two potential paths for China seem to be emerging, according to participants in the trade negotiations and their advisers. Both would deliver trade wins for President Donald Trump. While the policies have drawn loud complaints from U.S. companies that have become reliant on imports from China, they have been forcing multinationals to rethink their supply chains and start moving them away from China. Over time, such changes could reduce the trade deficit between the two countries and limit national security concerns, two big sources of discontent for Trump.