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Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will plead guilty in a federal hush-money case, his lawyers said in a Chicago court on Thursday. Hastert was charged in May with attempting to hide cash transactions as part of an effort to pay hush money to hide claims of past misconduct.
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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said late Wednesday its board will pay out its quarterly dividend Dec. 11. The 36-cents-a-share dividend, which is nearly 7% higher than the year-ago period, will be paid to shareholders of record as of Nov. 16. Walgreens Boots shares were flat at $84.03 after hours.
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Natural-gas futures turned slightly lower on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose 100 billion cubic feet for the week ended Oct. 9. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 91 billion cubic feet and 95 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 3.733 trillion cubic feet, up 447 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 168 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. November natural gas was at $2.511 per million British thermal units, down nearly a penny, or 0.2%. It traded at $2.571 before the supply data.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – A strict rule-based approach to Federal Reserve policy would not give the U.S. central bank enough flexibility to adjust to a “complex and ever-changing” world, said William Dudley, the president of the New York Fed, on Thursday. “I don’t believe that any prescriptive rule…can take the place of a monetary policy framework that incorporates the Fed’s collective assessment of the large number of factors that impact the outlook,” Dudley said in a speech to the Brookings Institution. Some House Republicans are pushing legislation that would mandate the Fed follow a policy rule like the one developed by Stanford University economist John Taylor and explain to Congress when the central bank deviated from its prescribed path. Dudley said the Taylor rule had its merits but was not forward-looking. Having to justify deviations from a rule to Congress would have slowed down how the central bank responded to a crisis, he said.
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First Data Corp. shares opened at $16.39 on their first day of trading, above their issue price of $16. The payment-processing company priced the deal late Wednesday below its price range of $18 to $20. The company sold 160 million shares to raise $2.56 billion. Grocery retailer Albertsons Companies. Inc. opted to delay its IPO, which was also expected to price on Wednesday, citing market conditions. Retail stocks took a beating on Wednesday, after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unveiled a plan to beef up its U.S. and e-commerce businesses that will entail a lot of spending and erode profits. The company also said it will buy back $20 billion of stock over two years. Neiman Marcus postponed its IPO on Tuesday, in the hope that the market will improve by early next year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Interest rates on home mortgage rose slightly in mid-October, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.82% in the week ended Oct. 15, up from 3.76%. That’s the 12th straight week the 30-year benchmark has held below 4%. One year ago the 30-year rate stood at 3.97%. Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.03% in mid-October, up from 2.99%. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate mortgage was unchanged at 2.88%. And the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.54%, down a tick.
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Under Armour Inc. Chief Financial Officer Brad Dickerson, who said earlier this week that he was leaving the performance athletic apparel company, will join privately-held fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service Blue Apron in early 2016. Under Armour’s stock fell 2% on Wednesday after the company said Dickerson was leaving to pursue another opportunity outside the athletic performance industry, and then dropped 4% on Thursday, before bouncing 1.6% on Friday. “Blue Apron is now shipping five million meals per month to customers across the country, up from one million meals per month less than a year ago,” said Blue Apron Chief Executive Matt Salzberg. “Brad brings deep experience in scaling fast-growing iconic brands, and we expect his leadership will be an invaluable asset to the company as we continue to grow at a rapid pace.”
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U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday as investors weighed earnings from big banks and economic data. The S&P 500 rose 7 points, or 0.3%, to 2,001, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 18 points, or 0.1%, to 16,942. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 26 points, or 0.6%, to 4,809. Ahead of the bell, data showed first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits matched the lowest level since 1973. Separately, data showed the consumer price index fell by 0.2% in September.
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CSX Corp. said on Thursday it will cut about 300 jobs, as it reduces its train operations in Erwin, Tenn. because of significantly decreased coal traffic through the region. The railroad company said it will close a locomotive service center, project and car shops and eliminating switching operations. The company said coal revenue has declined by about $1 billion over the past four years, as low natural gas prices and regulatory actions significantly reduced coal movements, the company said in a statement. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, had tumbled 25% year to date, while the S&P 500 has slipped 3.1%.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. could hit its debt limit sooner than earlier estimated, according to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He told lawmakers in a letter Thursday that “we expect Treasury would be left with less than $30 billion to meet all of the nation’s commitments -an amount far short of net expenditures on certain days, which can be as high as $60 billion,” Lew said. This $30 billion would be depleted quickly, Lew said, urging Congress to take action as soon as possible to raise the debt limit.
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