U.S. stocks end at records, close out strong week of gains

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, with major indexes all ending at records as technology shares led the way higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64 points, or 0.3%, to 22,267. The S&P 500 gained 4 points to 2,500, up 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 19 points, or 0.3%, to 6,448. All three hit intraday records and closed at all-time highs. For the week, the Dow rose 2.2%, the S&P rose 1.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.4%. Semiconductors were among the strongest of the day, with the sector up 1.8%. Among the notable movers, Nvidia Corp. rose 6.3% while Advanced Micro Devices was up 2.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

New Yorkers accused of defrauding government by pretending Hurricane Sandy destroyed their home

A Staten Island, New York couple stands accused of defrauding the federal government out of $750,000 by pretending that they owned a home that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Court documents show that they actually abandoned the home seven months before the storm hit, but still claimed that they lived there and used that deception to “unlawfully obtain” over $750,000 in aid intended for people displaced by the storm. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

Aerosoles joins list of retailers filing for bankruptcy

AGI HoldCo Inc., which does business as Aerosoles, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The women’s shoe company has already started closing stores, with plans to keep just four in New York and New Jersey, it said in a release. Customers can also continue to shop the brand online. The company has 80 stores, according to The Wall Street Journal, and had as many as 125 in 2012 and 2013. Aerosoles expects to complete the restructuring in four months. Aerosoles joins a long list of retailers including The Sports Authority and Gymboree that have filed for bankruptcy in recent months amid a shift to e-commerce. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 6.5% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 11.6% for the period.

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From:: Stock Market News

Boeing stock rallies to record, accounts for nearly half of the Dow’s gain

Shares of Boeing Co. rallied $4.09, or 1.7%, in afternoon trade to a record high, enough to pace the gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average , after Canaccord Genuity raised the price target ahead of the aerospace giant’s investor gathering next week. The stock’s price gain was adding about 28 points to the Dow’s price, which was up 65 points, also at a record high. Canaccord analyst Ken Herbert raised his target to $235, which was still 5.7% below current levels, from $215, while keeping his rating at hold given concerns over valuation. At the annual investor meeting on Sept. 18 to Sept. 19, Herbert said he expects Boeing to provide some new information on the 787 cost and execution progress and substantial discussion on the state of the commercial market. “[Boeing] is clearly benefiting from both macro and company-specific tailwinds, but we believe the upside potential is largely reflected in the stock price,” Herbert wrote in a note to clients. The stock has run up 27.6% over the past three months, while the Dow has gained 4.3%.

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From:: Stock Market News

3M, Boeing, Apple stocks deliver a 50-point boost to Dow industrials record climb

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was climbing on Friday, looking to cap a sharply weekly gain, with shares of Boeing Co., and 3M Co., doing the heaviest lifting for the benchmark. Shares of Boeing were up 1.8%, or $4.52, adding about 30 points to the price-weighted Dow , while 3M Co. , was up 0.9%, or $1.84, adding about 12 points to the average, while shares of Apple Inc., up $1.72, or 1.1%, were adding about the same amount. A $1 move in any one of the Dow’s 30 components equates to a 6.89-point swing in the equity gauge. The Dow’s move puts it on track to carve out a fresh all-time high, most recently at 22,260, up 0.3%. That would mark its 39th record close of 2017 and its 6th straight positive session. Overall, the market was showing modest gains, but sufficient to put the other major benchmarks in record territory. The S&P 500 index was up 0.1% at 2,497, while the Nasdaq Composite Index , up 0.3% at 6,446.

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From:: Stock Market News

Ohio senators press Ross on steel import probe

Two Ohio senators on Friday said a delay in the Trump administration’s probe into steel imports has allowed foreign competitors to dump steel into the U.S. market. “Further postponement of the Section 232 investigation will invite a growing deluge of steel imports into the U.S. and cause even greater damage to the U.S. steel sector,” said the letter from Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, to Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross. U.S. Steel , Nucor , ArcelorMittal and AK Steel together employ more than 8,200 Ohio workers.

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From:: Stock Market News

Wal-Mart to build new home office

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it will build a new home office in its Bentonville, Ark. that will consolidate the 20 buildings that now make up the company’s campus. The new home office, which is expected to take five-to-seven years to complete, will include better parking, meal services, and fitness facilities along with other features, Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a letter posted on the company’s website. Wal-Mart shares are up 16% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 11.6% for the period.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil prices end flat for the session, but gain more than 5% for the week

U.S. oil prices ended flat for Friday’s session, but gained roughly 5.1% for the week. They found support from stronger global demand expectations, an improvement in oil-producer compliance with output cuts, and a post-hurricane recovery in U.S. refining activity that’s likely to help draw down crude stockpiles. October West Texas Intermediate crude settled unchanged at $49.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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From:: Stock Market News

Ginnie Mae investigating aggressive lenders targeting veterans for quick refinances

Ginnie Mae is looking into a number of mortgage lenders that are aggressively targeting servicemembers and military veterans for quick and potentially risky refinances of their mortgages. Ginnie Mae’s investigation comes at the urging of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who raised concerns about lenders that may be “aggressively and misleadingly marketing the refinancing of mortgages backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.” …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

Gold prices suffer first weekly loss in a month

Gold prices fell on Friday to their lowest finish so far this month, as record highs for the key U.S. stock market indexes lured investors away from the precious metal ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting next week. Prices tallied a loss of roughly 1.9% after posting gains in each of the last three weeks. December gold fell $4.10, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,325.20 an ounce. That was the lowest finish since Aug. 31, according to FactSet data.

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From:: Stock Market News