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Stock market today: Wall Street begins to bounce back after a slow start to the week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street pointed modestly higher before the opening bell Thursday after two straight days of losses with the U.S. economy appearing to chug along despite the odds that the Federal Reserve is not done raising interest rates.Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% before the bell Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1%.Minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting released Wednesday suggested that board members are unsure of their next move after raising their key lending rate to a two-decade high. Traders had hoped the board would decide inflation was under control and last month’s rate hike was the last.Inflation has slowed significantly since the central bank started its rate-raising campaign a year-and-a-half ago, but with consumer prices up 3.2% year-over-year, it’s still higher than the Fed’s target of 2%. Despite the furious pace of rate hikes, the labor market is robust and Americans remain the economic engine for the U.S. as the...

U.S. jobless claims applications fall as labor market continues to show resiliency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

The U.S. labor market continues to flex its muscle as applications for jobless claims fell again last week and remain at healthy levels in the face of high interest rates and inflation.Applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 11,000 to 239,000 for the week ending August 12, down from 250,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 2,750 to 234,250.Jobless claim applications are seen as a proxy for the number of layoffs in a given week.Overall, 1.72 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended August 5, about 32,000 more than the previous week.——Matt Ott, The Associated Press

The return of schedules: How parents can make the most of back-to-school energy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

Olivia Dreizen Howell has spent the summer running her online business, Fresh Starts Registry, from her Long Island home while caring for her two sons. At ages 9 and 7, they are full of energy. “So many times,” Howell says, “I’ll be on a radio interview that’s live and my kids are banging on the door asking for string cheese.”Howell isn’t wishing her final weeks of summer away, but she’s eagerly anticipating the moment when classes begin and her kids are occupied all day on a predictable schedule.Summer can be difficult for the growing community of parents who now work partly or fully from home. And experts say that just like kids, adults can benefit from the energy and new possibilities that the start of the school year brings.Especially if they do some planning. Desiree Martinez, a marketing consultant for small businesses and a mother of two young kids in Ann Arbor, Michigan, says parents should aim to harness the fall’s momentum, and not let any time that’s opened up...

Out-of-control wildfire scorches Spain’s Tenerife island, affecting thousands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — An out-of-control wildfire on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife has burned thousands of acres and affected some 7,600 people who are either evacuated or confined, Regional President Fernando Clavijo said Thursday.He said some 250 firefighters and members of the Spanish army are tackling the blaze, located in the north of the island. Clavijo said the fire had a nearly 30-kilometer-long (19-mile) perimeter.“This is probably the most complicated blaze we have had on the Canary Islands, if not ever, at least in the last 40 years,” Clavijo told reporters. Extreme temperatures in the island, he said, added to “specific meteorological conditions” caused by the fire that turned the area into a virtual oven.The seven-island archipelago is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain. Spanish authorities said their main goal is to contain the fire and prevent it from reaching more populated areas. The island’s main town, Santa Cruz, is ...

In an era of inflation, Walmart’s future is looking brighter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart reported strong second-quarter sales results as the retailer’s low-price model continues to attract budget conscious consumers in a tough economic environment. The nation’s largest retailer boosted its annual outlook again, sending shares up as much as 2% before the opening bell Thursday. Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, earned $7.89 billion, or $2.92 per share, for the three-month period ended July 31. Adjusted results were $1.84 per share, or 13 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey of industry analysts by FactSet. It was also up from last year’s quarterly profit of $5.15 billion.Sale rose nearly 6% to $161.63 billion, a shade better than expected. Comparable store sales — those from established stores and online operating over the past 12 months — rose 6.4% at Walmart’s U.S. division. That compares with 7.4% in the quarter ended April and the 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Global online sales sur...

Canopy Growth to sell Hershey Drive facility back to Hershey Canada for $53M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

SMITHS FALLS, Ont. — Canopy Growth Corp. says it has signed a deal to sell its facility in Smiths Falls, Ont., that was once home to a Hershey chocolate factory back to the chocolate maker.The cannabis company says Hershey Canada Inc. has agreed to pay about $53 million in cash for the property.Canopy, which has been selling assets and working to cut costs, says net proceeds received from the sale will be used primarily to pay down the company’s senior secured credit facility.The company announced earlier this year that it was winding down operations at the Hershey Drive facility as part of a plan to lay off 800 workers.The sale follows the centralization of the company’s post-harvest manufacturing at its former beverage facility in Smiths Falls and the consolidation of its flower cultivation at the company’s sites in Kincardine, Ont., and Kelowna, B.C.Canopy says once the Hershey sale is complete it will have sold seven properties for a total of $155 million since...

North Korea is preparing for a new round of weapons tests, South Korean spy agency says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is preparing for a new round of provocative weapons displays such as long-range missile tests and a spy satellite launch, as it ramps up illicit activities to support its fragile economy, South Korea’s intelligence service told lawmakers Thursday.North Korea’s chronic economic hardships and food shortages have worsened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and U.N. sanctions. But it still has conducted a record number of missile tests since last year amid suspicions that its weapons programs are funded by illegal cyber activities and covert exports of banned items. The National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that North Korea’s economy shrank each year in 2020-2022 and its gross domestic product last year was 12% less than in 2016, according to Yoo Sang-bum, one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing.Outside experts believe North Korea’s current food shortages and economic troubles are the worst since leader Kim ...

Sweden raises its terror threat level to 2nd-highest following recent Quran burnings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden on Thursday raised its terrorism alert level one notch to the second-highest setting, following recent Quran burnings in the Scandinavian country by a handful of anti-Islam activists, which sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.The Scandinavian country’s domestic security service, SAPO, said the overall security situation has deteriorated and the risk of terrorism in Sweden was now at level four — “high” — on its five-point scale. It was the first time since 2016 that SAPO raised the alert to that level.Sweden has in recent weeks warned citizens abroad and businesses linked to the country to “observe increased vigilance and caution” following a string of public Quran burnings by an Iraqi asylum-seeker. Earlier this year, a far-right activist from Denmark burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.Police have allowed the protests, by a handful of demonstrators, citing freedom of speech.Like many Western countries, Sw...

Hawaii is vowing to protect landowners on Maui from being pressured to sell after wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii’s governor vowed to protect local landowners from being “victimized” by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds from deadly wildfires that incinerated a historic island community and killed more than 100 people.Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged the move would likely face legal challenges. “My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab,” Green said at a news conference. “People are right now traumatized. Please do not approach them with an offer to buy their land. Do not approach their families saying they’ll be much better off if they make a deal. Because we’re not going to allow it.”Since flames consumed much of Lahaina just over week ago, locals have feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors, according to Lahaina native Richy Palalay...

Thursday Forecast: Thunderstorms likely, high winds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:34:47 GMT

Thursday: Showers and some thunderstorms are likely this morning as southwest winds gust up to 30-35 mph under mostly cloudy skies. The clouds will decrease this afternoon, but a slight chance for showers or storms will linger in areas east of I-57.  Breezy northwest winds will help keep temperatures in the upper 70s this afternoon.  Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Thursday Night: Tonight, the skies will become clear.  Some patchy fog is possible as lows fall into the upper 50s.Chicago Area Radar | WGN TV