BUSINESS NEWS 29TH, 2016
Coming on the heels of the worst day for stocks since mid-February, U.S. shares were under pressure again Friday as investors reacted to a mixed earnings season, the latest moves or lack of moves from the world's central bankers and fresh incoming economic data.The Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 211 points Thursday, its worst one-day point drop since Feb. 11, fell 56 points, or 0.3% to close at 17,775 Friday after being down much more earlier in the session. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which also had a tough day Thursday, was off 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite, which got hit the worst Thursday after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said he had dumped his entire stake in iPhone-maker Apple, was off 0.6%.
CORE MEDIA GROUP DECLARES BANKRUPTCY
If the Core Media Group doesn’t sound familiar, the show they backed definitely will. The Group had backed the hit show ‘American Idol’. Less than a month after the finale of the hit talent show aired, Core Media declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. American Idol was huge for profits. Every season, it had an average viewership of about 20 million, peaking at 31 million viewers in 2006. However, it lost its top rating in the last few years, with the finale getting only 13.3 million viewers. According to the Core Media Group website, it managed the careers of several Idol winners.
SECOND LONGEST MARKET UPSWING IN HISTORY
Surpassing the climb from 1949 to 1956, the streak from the recession of 2008 to the economic status present day has been nothing short of a roller coaster. In the days of the recession, it was like "people were basically pricing in Armageddon," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. However, after the government bailed out Wall Street, that scenario was no longer a potential reality. Since then the bull market has experienced a 2,608 day upswing. It now sits second only to the 1987-2000 run.
AGUSTAWESTLAND DEAL: CHOPPER SCAM
The Narendra Modi government on Friday said it was determined to bring those guilty in the AgustaWestland chopper deal bribery case to justice and denied NSA Ajit Doval or PM's key aide Nripendra Mishra were any way involved.In a second statement in two days, the government said it will not leave any stone unturned in finding the truth."The investigative agencies remain determined to bring to justice the key perpetrators of this misdeed, both inside and outside the country," said the statement by the information and broadcasting ministry, adding that all means are being pursued to arrest alleged middleman James Christian Michael. The first statement had been issued by the defence ministry.