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A11 B USINESS THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022 p DOW 34,108.64 +103.60 BRIEFING U.S. inflation slowdown eases some pressure Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pres- sures they continue to in- flict on American house- holds. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the govern- ment said Tuesday. That was down sharply from 7.7% in October and a re- cent peak of 9.1% in June. It was the fifth straight decline. Measured from month to month the consumer price index inched up just 0.1%. And so-called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs , slowed to 6% com- pared with a year earlier. From October to Novem- ber, core prices rose 0.2% — the mildest increase since August 2021. All told, the latest figures provided the strongest evidence to date that inflation in the United States is steadily slowing from the price ac- celeration that first struck about 18 months ago and reached a four-decade high earlier this year. Gas prices have tum- bled from their summer peak. The costs of used cars, health care, airline fares and hotel rooms also dropped in Novem- ber. So did furniture and electricity prices. Grocery prices, though, remained a trouble spot last month, rising 0.5% from October to Novem- ber and 12% compared with a year ago. Hous- ing costs also jumped, though much of that data doesn’t yet reflect real-time measures that show declines in home prices and apartment rents. p NASDAQ 11,256.81 +113.08 bendbulletin.com/business p S&P 500 4,019.65 +29.09 q 30-YR T-BOND 3.53% -.05 p CRUDE OIL $75.39 +2.22 p GOLD $1,813.90 +33.40 p SILVER $23.80 +.58 —Bulletin wire reports EURO $1.0635 +.0112 FUSION BREAKTHROUGH Discovery a milestone for climate, clean energy BY MATTHEW DALY, MICHAEL PHILLIS, JENNIFER MCDERMOTT AND MADDIE BURAKOFF Associated Press WASHINGTON — Scien- tists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it — a major break- through in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved the re- sult, which is called net energy gain, the Energy Department said. Net energy gain has been an elusive goal because fusion happens at such high tempera- tures and pressures that it is in- credibly difficult to control. The breakthrough will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the fu- ture of clean power, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other officials said. “Ignition allows us to rep- licate for the first time certain conditions that are found only in the stars and the sun,’’ Gra- nholm told a news conference in Washington. “This mile- stone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society.’’ Fusion ignition is “one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century,” Gra- nholm said, adding that the breakthrough “will go down in the history books.” Appearing with Granholm, White House science adviser Arati Prabhakar called the fu- sion ignition “a tremendous example of what perseverance really can achieve” and “an engineering marvel beyond belief.’’ Proponents of fusion hope that it could one day offer nearly limitless, carbon-free energy and displace fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources. Producing energy that powers homes and busi- nesses from fusion is still de- cades away. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, joined at right by Arati Prabhakar, the president’s science adviser, announces a major scien- tific breakthrough in fusion research that was made at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, during a news confer- ence at the Department of Energy in Washington, Tuesday. See Fusion / A12 The science of ranching Country Natural Beef begins collecting data for regenerative ranching effort Chipmaker shelves plans for $5 billion factory in Gresham BY MIKE ROGOWAY The Oregonian United places huge order with Boeing to replace aging planes United Airlines said Tuesday that it ordered 100 new Boeing 787s, a large, twin-aisle jetliner, to replace planes that are nearing retirement age and allow United to expand its international flying. United also added to its order book for the smaller Boeing 737 Max, which is used on domes- tic flights. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the orders. United said it can choose among three sizes of the 787, which carry list prices ranging from $248 million to $338 million per plane, but air- lines routinely negotiate deep discounts on aircraft orders. Moody’s Investors Ser- vice estimated the value of the 787 orders at $16 billion after discounts. Other analysts said it could be worth up to $19 billion depending on the mix of 787 versions that United eventually selects. United is scheduled to begin receiving the 787s in 2024, and it took op- tions on 100 more. The order also is wel- come news at Boeing. The U.S. aircraft maker is still struggling to recover from two deadly Max crashes, production flaws that halted deliveries of the 787 for nearly two years, and setbacks in other programs includ- ing a contract to build two new Air Force One presidential planes. It has lost more than $21 billion since 2019. p George Plaven/Capital Press From left: Dallas Hall Defrees, regenerative ranching program director for Sustainable Northwest; Dan Probert, marketing director for Country Natural Beef; and Dan Barnhart gather at Barnhart’s ranch along the Luckiamute River in Western Oregon. BY GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press PHILOMATH — A small herd of cat- tle grazed lazily on a bright and sunny November afternoon in the tall grass at Dan Barnhart’s ranch along the Luck- iamute River, surrounded by densely for- ested mountainsides. It is a scene evoking the environmental ethos of Country Natural Beef, a ranch- er-owned cooperative that prides itself on sustainable practices and animal wel- fare and grew from the efforts of Doc and Connie Hatfield on their ranch near Brothers. The co-op is now working to reinforce “We know ranchers can be part of the climate solution while also supporting clean water and wildlife habitat. We’ve seen it, and we’ve done it. Now we’re going to measure it, track it and prove it.” — Dan Probert, marketing director for Country Natural Beef that ideology with science. Earlier this year, members began collecting base- line data about their operations for a new program, called Grazewell, that will measure the overall health of the land and suggest methods for improvement. Grazewell is supported by a five-year, $10 million U.S. Department of Agricul- ture grant in partnership with Sustainable Northwest, a Portland-based nonprofit focused on natural resource stewardship. Advocates say the program will be the largest climate-smart ranching initiative in the U.S., sequestering up to 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over 6.5 million acres managed by Country Nat- ural Beef in 11 states across the West. See Ranching / A12 SKIN CANCER Merck, Moderna detail potential vaccine progress BY TOM MURPHY Associated Press Moderna’s stock soared Tuesday after the COVID-19 vaccine maker detailed prog- ress in developing a preven- tive shot for a deadly form of skin cancer. The company said a pos- sible melanoma vaccine it is studying with pharmaceuti- cal giant Merck fared well in a small study of patients who had the cancer surgically re- moved. The drugmakers said a combination of the vaccine and Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a statistically significant improvement in survival before the cancer returned in patients with ad- vanced melanoma. “We are very excited, we are moving very quickly with Merck onto phase 3 for this study,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC Tuesday morning. Phase 3 is generally the largest and most expensive stage of clinical research be- fore regulators review a po- tential drug for approval. Moderna developed one of the most popular vac- cines used to protect patients against COVID-19, and the drugmaker brought in more than $3 billion from its Spikevax in this year’s third quarter. But vaccine use has slowed, and Moderna de- pends on Spikevax for nearly all its revenue. Like Spikevax, the poten- tial skin cancer vaccine uses mRNA technology. It trains a patient’s immune system to recognize and respond spe- cifically to mutations in the DNA of the patient’s tumor. In a mid-stage clinical trial involving 157 patients, re- searchers compared the vac- cine-Keytruda combination with Keytruda alone. Keytruda, Merck’s top seller, primes the body’s im- mune system to detect and fight tumor cells. Regulators have approved it to treat sev- eral types of cancer. The patient group that took the potential vaccine and Key- truda saw a 44% reduction in the risk of death or the cancer returning, the companies said. The treatments contin- ued for about a year in both groups unless the disease came back or side effects be- came too severe. Merck and Moderna expect to start a phase 3 study next year, and the companies say they intend to expand their approach to other tumor types. Merck and Moderna estab- lished an agreement to work together in 2016, and the companies plan to share costs and profits in their collabora- tion. Merck also paid Mod- erna $250 million. Shares of Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts-based Moderna Inc. soared 23% to top $200 in midday trading while broader indexes climbed. Kenilworth, New Jersey-based Merck & Co. climbed less than 1%. Microchip Technology has decided not to build a $5 bil- lion factory in Gresham or anywhere else, eliminating one of Oregon’s best prospects for adding new semiconductor manufacturing jobs. “They have decided not to expand at all in the U.S. be- cause of … extenuating cir- cumstances with a current partner,” said Monique Clai- borne, CEO of Greater Port- land Inc., the regional business recruitment organization that had been courting Arizo- na-based Microchip. Microchip didn’t immedi- ately respond to an inquiry about what changed its plans. Claiborne said one of the com- pany’s manufacturing partners has opted to expand in the U.S., and so Microchip has de- cided it no longer needs to do so itself. In the past two years, con- tract chipmakers Taiwan Semi- conductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung have each announced plans for new U.S. factories. TSMC announced another Arizona factory just last week, and it’s possible that Microchip has decided to hire a contractor to do the manu- facturing it had been planning to take on in its own new fac- tory. Microchip has operated a chip factory in Gresham for 20 years, where it employs close to 900. It announced its U.S. ex- pansion plans in October, de- scribing a $5 billion investment that would add 650 jobs. The company said it was consid- ering Oregon and other sites, subsequently describing the project as an advanced factory using 300-millimeter wafers. Microchip’s sales are up 25% through the first six months of its fiscal year, and the company had said previously it planned to add 300 more Gresham jobs over the next two years, whether or not it built a new factory on the site. Claiborne said Oregon had been competing with New York for Microchip’s factory. She said Microchip considered New York’s incentives supe- rior to Oregon’s initial bid, but Claiborne said Oregon im- proved its offer and had a good chance at landing the new fac- tory before Microchip shelved its expansion plans. “I’m satisfied, in the last cou- ple weeks, with the effort the state has shown,” Claiborne said. See Chipmaker / A12
