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S&P 500 notches 3rd straight weekly gain after wobbly day

Wall Street finished a milestone-setting week on a downbeat note Friday after a late flurry of selling nudged stocks lower, ending the market's four-day winning streak. Even with the modest losses the market delivered its third straight weekly gain, with the benchmark S&P 500 index hovering just below its record high close from a day earlier. That milestone, which eclipsed the benchmark index’s last record close on April 30, came amid a swift turnaround for stocks this month that has erased the losses from a steep sell-off in May. The major U.S. stock indexes are up more than 7% ...

Fed: Largest banks would survive crisis, in latest tests

NEW YORK (AP) — All 18 of the nation’s largest and most complex banks are strong enough to withstand a severe economic downturn and would be able to stay in business without collapsing, the Federal Reserve said Friday. The results are from the first round of the central bank’s annual stress tests, which showed the 18 big banks have benefited from an improving economy and have balance sheets strong enough to withstand a deep global downturn and the U.S. unemployment rate rising to double digits. The Fed adjusts its stress tests each year, depending on the economic climate. In ...

US stocks climb, sending S&P 500 index toward a new high

Stocks marched broadly higher on Wall Street Thursday afternoon, placing the S&P 500 on track to close at an all-time high. The benchmark index was slightly above the record close it reached April 30. The rally came as investors balanced optimism over the possibility that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in response to a slowing global economy and jitters about the prospects of dimmer corporate profits should a severe slowdown take hold. Those worries continued to fuel demand for U.S. government bonds, sending yields on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2%, the lowest ...

Walmart to pay $282M over foreign corruption

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Walmart agreed Thursday to pay $282 million to settle civil and criminal allegations of overseas corruption, including payment through a Brazilian subsidiary of more than $500,000 to an intermediary known as a “sorceress” for her uncanny ability to make permit problems disappear. The settlements include civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as a guilty plea by Walmart’s Brazilian subsidiary to a criminal charge filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Criminal prosecutors went after Walmart under the Foreign ...

Trump, Canada’s Trudeau talk trade at WH meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to demonstrate a united front Thursday in the uphill effort to get a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement over the finish line. At Trump’s insistence, the U.S., Canada and Mexico agreed to an update of the 25-year-old agreement. But the agreement faces opposition from many House Democratic lawmakers and labor unions. “I hope politically they can do what they have to do,” Trump said of Democratic lawmakers. “Now, the day after the election it would win with ...

Business Briefs for June 17

Avera named to Forbes’ Best-In-State Employers List Avera has been named to the inaugural Forbes list of America’s Best-in-State Employers 2019. Avera is ranked No. 1 in South Dakota and in the Top 20 in Minnesota. Based on an independent survey, researchers made the list from a vast sample of more than 80,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 500 people in their U.S. operations. “To be given this distinction certainly makes us proud, yet humbled. The recognition is even more special coming from our employees — especially since it is based on what ...