Bloomberg Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz sees a blessing in all the empty storefronts across the US. Facing a crush of vacancies—and the rise of e-commerce—retail landlords are beginning to cut rents, the executive said. That stands to benefit the world’s largest coffee chain, which has more than 14,000 US locations. “Over the last few weeks, I have been in …

Bloomberg FedEx Corp. is maintaining discounts for members of the National Rifle Association, even as calls for a boycott mount on social media after a deadly school shooting in Florida. The courier said it “has never set or changed rates for any of our millions of customers around the world in response to their politics, beliefs or positions on issues.” …

Bloomberg US stocks rose, Treasuries fluctuated and the dollar advanced as investors weighed comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying the central bank won’t rush to raise rates even though the economy should pick up steam. Powell’s testimony signalled optimism in economy, while data on durable orders fell well short of estimates and the US balance of trade worsened. …