National Business

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — ExxonMobil said it plans to explore for oil and gas in a disputed area off South America’s coast where the Venezuelan military had previously expelled two U.S. oil companies.

OTTAWA — Canada posted a merchandise trade deficit of $312 million in December, the first monthly trade deficit since July, as exports of cars and light trucks fell and lower oil prices weighed on energy shipments.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of New York Community Bancorp fell another 11% Wednesday after the bank's credit rating got downgraded to “junk” and investors worried that regional lender could suffer the same fate Silicon Valley Bank did last year.

NEW YORK (AP) — If you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you no longer have to wait until the big game to see what advertisers have in store for viewers.

MONTREAL — Laurentian Bank of Canada announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors. Board chair Michael Boychuk says Johanne Brunet, Jamey Hubbs and Paul Stinis have joined the board, effective today.

MONTREAL — Héroux-Devtek Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $9.0 million, up from $1.8 million a year earlier as its sales rose 16 per cent.

TORONTO — Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. raised its dividend as it reported a profit of US$95 million in its latest quarter from its stake in the asset management business it owns with Brookfield Corp.

Bolts that helped secure a panel to the frame of a Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing before the panel blew off the Alaska Airlines plane last month, according to accident investigators.

Bluesky, a Twitter-like social network championed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has emerged from its cocoon and is now allowing anyone to create an account and join the service.

Facebook and Instagram users will start seeing labels on AI-generated images that appear on their social media feeds, part of a broader tech industry initiative to sort between what’s real and not.