Business*
New-home sales reach 3-month high
posted: 05/24/2013 3:29 a.m. Discuss
Builders sold more U.S. new homes than projected in April as cheaper borrowing costs and job gains drew more buyers into the market.
Yields on Japanese bonds spike
posted: 05/24/2013 3:24 a.m. Discuss
Japan’s financial markets gyrated wildly Thursday, underscoring the vulnerability of its economy to a loss of investor confidence as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempts shock monetary easing to end two decades of stagnation.
Jobless-aid requests fall by 23,000
posted: 05/24/2013 3:22 a.m. Discuss
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell 23,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, a level consistent with solid job growth.
Aussies get Ford notice of goodbye
posted: 05/24/2013 3:20 a.m. Discuss
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that it will stop making cars in Australia, nine decades after founder Henry Ford first began building the Model T in the country, as a surge in the currency undermines the local industry’s ability to compete with imports.
McDonald’s dogged by ‘junk food’ label
posted: 05/24/2013 3:18 a.m. Discuss
McDonald’s once again faced criticism at its annual shareholder meeting Thursday that it sells junk food and markets to children.
MARKET REPORT: Stocks plummet, mostly recover
posted: 05/24/2013 3:16 a.m. Discuss
Investors recovered their poise after a shaky start to trading on Wall Street that sent stocks sharply lower.
Business news in brief
posted: 05/24/2013 3:14 a.m. Discuss
QUOTE OF THE DAY “We’re definitely moving in the right direction. If we can get back to 330,000 or lower, that’s going to be an early sign that the economy is accelerating into the second half of the year.” Carl Riccadonna, U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., on the number of applications last week for unemployment benefits Article, 1D
NEWS IN BRIEF
posted: 05/24/2013 3:13 a.m. Discuss
Labor group files against Wal-Mart The labor group Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) on Thursday filed 30 counts of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, alleging “widespread and egregious attempts” by the retailer to quell workers who have been calling for change in the way the company treats employees.
LR airport fears D.C. flight at risk
posted: 05/23/2013 3:47 a.m. Discuss
Ron Mathieu, executive director of the state’s largest airport, is urging U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to let US Airways keep all its slots at Reagan National Airport as a way to ensure the daily direct flight between Little Rock and Washington, D.C., continues as scheduled.
Bernanke: Jobs puny, stimulus stays
posted: 05/23/2013 3:45 a.m. Discuss
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Fed to end its extraordinary stimulus programs.
Target’s quarterly earnings fall 29%
posted: 05/23/2013 3:42 a.m. Discuss
Target Corp. reported a 29 percent drop in first-quarter profit as unusually cool spring weather and financial pressures chilled customers’ appetite for spending.
U.S. home resales climb to ’09 level
posted: 05/23/2013 3:40 a.m. Discuss
Sales of previously owned homes ticked up last month to the highest level in three and a half years, helped by a jump in the number of houses for sale.
Tax less if Albert Pike has old look
posted: 05/23/2013 3:39 a.m. Discuss
The more the Albert Pike Hotel changes when it undergoes a $6 million renovation, the more it will look like its old self — from the street and in the common areas of the historic structure, that is.
Farmers leery of trading pollution credits, Boozman warns
posted: 05/23/2013 3:38 a.m. Discuss
A proposed system to allow farmers and city wastewater plants to trade pollution credits with one another would likely improve water quality, but U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas on Wednesday warned that “a spirit of mistrust” between farmers and federal regulators would make such a system difficult to run.
MARKET REPORT: Stocks ride Fed seesaw, then slide
posted: 05/23/2013 3:37 a.m. Discuss
The Federal Reserve took financial markets for a ride Wednesday, pushing stock prices up in the morning then sending them down in afternoon.
