GM to end production of current Camaros

The Chevrolet Camaro, for decades the dream car of many teenage American males, is going out of production.

General Motors, which sells the brawny muscle car, said Wednesday it will stop making the current generation early next year.

The future of the car, which is raced on NASCAR and other circuits, is a bit murky. GM said another generation may be in the works.

“While we are not announcing an immediate successor today, rest assured, this is not the end of Camaro’s story,” Scott Bell, vice president of Chevrolet, said in a statement.

When the current generation Camaro came out in 2016, Chevrolet sold 72,705 of them. But by the end of 2021 that number fell almost 70% to 21,893. It rebounded a bit last year to 24,652.

GM said the last of the 2024 model year of the cars will come off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan, in January.

If GM revives the Camaro, it almost certainly will be electric, said Stephanie Brinley, an associate director with S&P Global Mobility.

“It would be unlikely to see another internal combustion engine vehicle,” she said.

Newsmax, DirecTV OK multiyear deal

Newsmax is returning to DirecTV after a dispute between the parties saw the conservative network removed from the satellite carrier.

The pair initially were unable to agree to financial terms on an agreement, which led to DirecTV losing the rights to distribute Newsmax programming on Jan. 25.

The companies said Wednesday that they’ve now reached a multiyear distribution deal that will see the Newsmax channel return to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse starting today.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Supreme Court chews on dog toy dispute

A dispute between Jack Daniel’s and the makers of a squeaking dog toy that mimics the whiskey’s signature bottle gave the Supreme Court a lot to chew on Wednesday.

The question for the court involves whether the toy’s maker infringed on Jack Daniel’s trademarks and the justices were largely on their best behavior, not picking up on the toy’s poop humor and puns.

Still, with three of the justices either completely or almost totally silent, it wasn’t clear from the arguments whether Jack Daniel’s case is on the rocks or whether the makers of the Bad Spaniels toy had been, well, bad.

Justice Samuel Alito expressed skepticism for Jack Daniel’s arguments.

“Could any reasonable person think that Jack Daniel’s had approved this use of the mark?” he asked at one point, suggesting the toy was an unmistakable parody and legally acceptable.

Markets tumble after Fed’s latest rate hike

Stocks fell sharply Wednesday after the Federal Reserve indicated the end may be near for its economy-crunching hikes to interest rates, but it also doesn’t expect to cut rates anytime soon despite Wall Street’s hopes.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6% for its first drop in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 530 points, or 1.6%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.6%.

Stocks of smaller- and mid-sized banks fell sharply. First Republic Bank dropped 15.5%, and PacWest Bancorp. fell 17.1%.

Some of the biggest excitement was around what are called “meme stocks.”

GameStop shot up 35.2% after it reported a surprise profit for its latest quarter. Analysts were expecting another loss for the struggling video-game retailer.

Compiled from Associated Press reports.