National Business

TORONTO — Slashed interest rates and a widespread economic shutdown ate into second-quarter profits at Canada's major banks, with financial institutions saying deep wells of cash are needed to protect themselves from the impact of the COVID-19 pandem

NEW YORK — Jonathan Karp, who has worked with authors ranging from Sen. Edward Kennedy to Susan Orlean, has been named the new CEO of Simon & Schuster. He replaces Carolyn Reidy, who died two weeks ago.

MONTREAL — Air Canada has increased the size of a financing deal announced earlier this week to roughly $1.4 billion as it works to bolster its coffers to deal with the pandemic. The company says the shares in the offering have been priced at $16.

BALTIMORE — April had a record collapse in Americans signing contracts to buy homes, a reflection of the broader shutdown of economic activity in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

CALGARY — An elevator salesman in Calgary says two months of working from his house in the northwest part of the city have convinced him there's no place like home to conduct business.

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Irving Oil has signed a deal to buy North Atlantic Refining Corp., including a refinery in Come By Chance, N.L., from U.S. investment firm Silverpeak.

TORONTO — Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took a nearly $1-billion hit to its second-quarter profit as its provisions for credit losses soared due to the pandemic and the plunge in oil prices.

WASHINGTON — U.S. orders for big-ticket factory goods plunged for the second straight month in April as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy. The Commerce Department said Thursday that orders for durable goods dropped 17.

TOKYO — Japanese automaker Nissan plans to close auto plants in Spain and Indonesia after sinking into the red for the first time in 11 years as the pandemic squashed global demand and disrupted production.

Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 U.S. jobs through layoffs and buyouts as the coronavirus pandemic seizes the travel industry. And the aircraft maker says more cuts are coming.