Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be. The U.S. stock market finished slightly lower on Wednesday, adding to its losses so far this year. A survey on hiring did little to ease uncertainty about the health of the economy.
Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 227 points, or 1.4%, to close at 16,395 Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 28 points, or 1.5%, to 1,873. The NASDAQ composite rose 74 points, or 1.8%, to 4,351. Benchmark U.S. crude for April delivery fell $1.59 to $103.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
RADIO SHACK AXES 1,100 STORES, MORE MAY FOLLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- There will soon be about 1,100 fewer places to buy batteries. RadioShack said Tuesday that it plans to close up to roughly a fifth of its U.S. locations. The news came as the retailer reported a wider quarterly loss after a disappointing holiday season. CEO Joseph Magnacca said the closings would leave the company with more than 4,000 U.S. stores. The closings represent just the latest setback for RadioShack, which is fighting to update its image and compete with the rise of online and discount retailers.
STOCKS SURGE AS TENSION EASE IN UKRAINE
Stocks surged Tuesday after Russia pulled its troops back from the border of Ukraine. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 227 points, or 1.4%, to close at 16,395. The Standard & Poor's 500 index set another record high following a slump the day before. The NASDAQ composite rose 74 points to close at 4,351. Small-company stocks rose even more than the rest of the market as investors moved money into riskier assets. That shift also pushed the prices of bonds and gold lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.70%. Traders were relieved that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine to return to their bases.
SUPREMES RULE BROAD PROTECTION FOR SHISTLEBLOWERS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that whistleblower protections under federal law apply broadly to employees of publicly traded companies and contractors hired by the companies. The justices voted 6-3 in favor of two former employees of companies that administer the Fidelity family of mutual funds. The workers claimed they faced retaliation after they reported allegations of fraud affecting Fidelity funds. The case involved the reach of a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002 in response to the Enron scandal, which protects whistleblower activity. The measure was intended to protect people who expose the kind of corporate misdeeds that arose at Enron.
WHITE HOUSE SEES JOBLESS RATE OVER 6% UNTIL 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's $3.9 trillion budget for next year suggests that the U.S. economic recovery that began in 2009 will continue to gain momentum over the next few years but that the unemployment rate won't fall to pre-recession levels of below 6% until 2017. The administration projected the unemployment rate, 6.6% in January, will continue to slowly decline over the next five years, stabilizing at 5.4% by 2018.
FORMER NAACP HEAD JOINS TECH VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM
SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Just months after stepping down as head of the largest U.S. civil rights organization, former NAACP President Benjamin Jealous is changing his career from political activist to venture capitalist. It's a switch he hopes will help further his goal of growing opportunities for blacks and Latinos in the booming tech economy. Jealous, 41, was widely credited with improving the finances, donor base and outreach of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He will be joining entrepreneurs Mitchell Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein at their venture capital investment firm that backs information technology startups committed to making a positive social impact.
GOVERNMENT ENDS INVESTIGATION INTO FORD VEHICLES
DETROIT (AP) -- The federal government is closing an investigation into 1.6 million Ford vehicles that can lose engine power after Ford agreed to a remedy. The yearlong investigation involves Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs and Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans from the 2009 through 2013 model years. Some of these vehicles can suddenly lose power because of material buildup in the electronic throttle bodies. While the engines don't stall, vehicle speeds can drop as low as 5 miles per hour. Three accidents and one injury have been reported. The new software won't fix the issue, but it will allow affected vehicles to travel at least 40 miles per hour in what is known as "limp home mode." Ford also extended the warranty on the electronic throttle bodies.
REPORTS: FACEBOOK LOOKS TO BUY SOLAR DRONE COMPANY
NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook is in talks to buy Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones, to step up its efforts to provide Internet access to remote parts of the world, according to reports from technology blog TechCrunch and financial news outlet CNBC. Both websites cited anonymous sources who are familiar with the deal and put a purchase price at $60 million. Facebook spokesman Tucker Bounds said Tuesday that the company does not comment on rumors and speculation. Titan Aerospace representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
MEXICO CRACKS DOWN ON ILLEGAL IRON ORE MINING
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Hundreds of Mexican police, soldiers and government inspectors raided 11 iron ore yards at one of the country's largest seaports, following revelations that drug cartels had been exporting ore to China. Authorities seized almost 120,000 tons of ore as well as 124 bulldozers, backhoes, milling equipment and trucks as a result of Monday's raid on at the Pacific coast seaport of Lazaro Cardenas. Six Chinese citizens were also found at the yards; they are being investigated to determine whether they were in the country legally.
GENEVA: AUTOMAKERS CAST WARY EYE TOWARD RUSSIA
GENEVA (AP) -- Growing tensions over Ukraine have raised the specter of another slowdown in the European auto market, just as carmakers were beginning to count on a modest recovery from a six-year contraction. Russia's intervention in Ukraine has raised the possibility of sanctions against the country, which has been a key growth market for recession-battered European automakers. On the first day of the Geneva Auto Show on Tuesday, executives cast a wary eye toward the crisis. Barring a full-blown crisis over Ukraine, a modest recovery is expected but may be led by other factors, like fleet sales, and not consumer demand.
JC PENNEY HAS TURNED A CORNER ACCORDING TO CEO
The JCPenney turnaround is in its final stage, said CEO Myron Ullman on a fourth-quarter earnings call. The department store chain’s fourth-quarter same-store sales grew by 2 percent year on year; same-store sales for the November-December holiday shopping season rose by 3.1 percent. “We’ve rebuilt Penney’s from the inside out,” Ullman said. “We stabilized our business, both financially and operationally, and restored our promotions, inventory levels and focus on the customer. These important accomplishments reflect the progress we have made in our turnaround, which remains on course heading into 2014.” Ullman said this success is attributable to the decision to return to a more promotional marketing strategy and to dump some of the new brands introduced last year in a failed remerchandising attempt. Fourth-quarter sales at the website jumped by 26.3 percent year on year. The website’s success is attributable in part to the integration of the company’s brick-and-mortar and online buying, planning and allocation teams, Ullman said. The retailer has hired Mike Rodgers, a former chief information officer at Bloomingdale’s, as its first senior vice president of omni-channel execution and strategy. The company is set to open 46 additional Sephora boutiques inside JCPenney stores this year, bringing the total number of these to 492. The news was not all positive, however. JCPenney posted a $206 million loss for the quarter, and net sales slipped to $3.78 billion, from $3.88 billion a year ago. Year-on-year foot traffic, meanwhile, remains negative. Further merchandise adjustments and growing web sales will help reverse these numbers as the year progresses, Ullman says. The chain, which in January announced plans to close 33 stores by this May, will not be announcing any additional store closures until after another portfolio review next January, Ullman predicts.