The first half of the year comes to a close Friday, and it certainly has been a strong period for stocks. Year-to-date gains through Thursday: the Dow was up 7.7 percent, the S&P 500 is up 8 percent and the standout Nasdaq has soared over 14 percent. Over the past two decades, stocks have generally […]
Category: Market
Walgreens Ends Rite-Aid Take Over Bid; Still Buys 2,000 Stores
Walgreens Boots Alliance is scuttling its yearslong effort to buy competitor Rite Aid and will instead buy more than 2,000 of its stores for $5.18 billion. The less ambitious move follows resistance from federal regulators since the two drugstore chains first proposed a merger in 2015. Thursday morning’s announcement represented the second time the two […]
Amazon To Pay $13.7B To Acquire Whole Foods
Amazon.com Inc. will acquire Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion, a bombshell of a deal that catapults the e-commerce giant into hundreds of physical stores and fulfills a long-held goal of selling more groceries. Amazon agreed to pay $42 a share in cash for the organic-food chain, including debt, a roughly 27 percent premium to the […]
May Jobs Report: 138,000 Jobs Up, Unemployment Down
The U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs in May, according to the monthly jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning. The national unemployment rate nudged lower, to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent — a 16-year low. The 4.4 percent level had been the lowest since since 2007, before the recession hit. […]
China’s Credit Rating Is Downgraded As Debt Grows
SHANGHAI/BEIJING Moody’s Investors Service downgraded China’s credit ratings on Wednesday for the first time in nearly 30 years, saying it expects the financial strength of the economy will erode in coming years as growth slows and debt continues to rise. The one-notch downgrade in long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings, to A1 from Aa3, […]
Over 200,000 Jobs Added, Beating Projections
Hiring in the United States rebounded in April as employers added a brisk 211,000 jobs, a sign that the economy’s slump in the first three months of the year could prove temporary. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent — its lowest point in a decade — from 4.5 percent in March. The figures suggest […]
French Election Could Impact Stock Market
As French voters head to the polls, investors are grappling with a remote yet not implausible possibility — victory for Marine Le Pen. The anti-euro leader of the far-right National Front is unlikely to triumph in the two-round presidential vote that kicks off Sunday. But few observers discount a win for Ms. Le Pen entirely, […]
Trump Tanks The Dollar
The dollar fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump criticized its recent strength, but analysts expect the greenback to bounce back soon. Trump said the currency was “getting too strong” in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that’s my fault because people have confidence […]
Jobs Report Shows Disappointing Growth
Payroll growth weakened significantly last month amid harsher winter weather as employers added 98.000 jobs in a sharper pullback than anticipated. The unemployment rate, which is calculated from a different survey, fell to 4.5% from 4.7%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected 180,000 employment gains, based on their median estimate. Analysts […]
Maker Of Tomahawk Missiles See A Rise In Stock Price
Raytheon, the company that makes the Tomahawk missiles used in the air strikes on Syria by the United States, is rising in early stock trading Friday. Investors seem to be betting President Trump’s decision to retaliate against Syria after the chemical attack on Syrian citizens earlier this week may mean the Pentagon will need more […]
Trade Deficit Shrinks At Record Rate
The U.S. trade deficit declined sharply in February as imports from China fell by a record amount and American exports rose for a third straight month. The Commerce Department says the deficit fell to $43.6 billion in February, 9.6 per cent below January’s deficit of $48.2 billion. Exports rose a tiny 0.2 per cent to […]
Trump To Tackle American Trade Deficit
President Donald Trump is expected to sign two executive orders on Friday, which aim to fulfill key campaign promises to make trade more fair. The first commissions a report on trade practices that contribute to the trade deficit, while the second seeks better collection of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The report, spearheaded by the Commerce […]