INVESTORS’ FEAR OF INFLATION IS LIKELY OVERBLOWN

WASHINGTON» A sudden fear of surging inflation and higher interest rates helped ignite the past week’s stomach-churning stock market losses and violent bouts of volatility. Does that mean much higher inflation is on the way? Not necessarily. So far, the gauges that economists monitor show little evidence that price increases are on the verge of accelerating.

Tax cut, bonuses for workers? Many businesses still unsure.

NEW YORK» While some big corporations are giving employees cash bonuses because of the new tax law, staffers at many small and mid-sized companies are waiting to see if their bosses get a big enough break to pass on. Big companies can award bonuses because they already know their top tax rate is dropping. But with many regulations still to be written, many small business owners have less certainty. Big companies also have billion-dollar cash cushions and credit lines, unlike their smaller counterparts.

Space sports car now flying toward asteroid belt beyond Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.» The world’s first space sports car is cruising toward the asteroid belt, well beyond Mars. SpaceX chief Elon Musk confirms the new, more distant route for his rocketing Tesla Roadster. The car was the unorthodox cargo aboard his company’s test flight of a new rocket Tuesday. Musk says the firing of the upper stage put his red convertible into a solar orbit that now stretches all the way to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

U.S. consumers boosted borrowing in December.

WASHINGTON» American consumers stepped up their borrowing by $18.4 billion in December, a solid performance that followed a massive gain the previous month. The Federal Reserve says the increase reflects gains of $5.1 billion in the category that covers credit cards and $13.3 billion in the category for auto and student loans. In recent months, Americans have been increasingly confident and willing to take on more debt.

Lululemon CEO had relationship with subordinate, sources say.

Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s reasons for parting ways with chief executive officer Laurent Potdevin included a relationship that he had with a subordinate, according to people familiar with the situation.

The employee, who worked as a designer at the yogawear brand, resigned in 2014 but later came back as a contractor, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Her contract wasn’t renewed in 2018, they said. CNBC previously reported on Potdevin’s relationship, saying it was an issue that contributed to the executive’s abrupt departure. The incident was just a part of the misconduct allegations that led to Potdevin’s resignation, the people said.

Spirit Airlines’ site crashes.

Spirit Airlines’ website was down for several hours Wednesday, leaving customers unable to book flights online directly with the carrier.

The discount airline’s site failed before noon Eastern time but appeared to be functioning normally about four hours later.

A Spirit spokesman said flights were not affected. He said he did not know the cause of the outage.