The Dow Jones industrial average fell 70.06 points to close at 15,258.24 Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 6.92 points to 1,691.75 and the NASDAQ composite fell 5.83 points to 3,781.59.
SEPTEMBER GAS PRICES FALLING
Gasoline prices have been falling steadily through September, and drivers should look forward to even cheaper fill-ups in the weeks ahead. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.42, down from $3.59 on Sept. 1. The price is the lowest it’s been at this time of year since 2010 and is likely to keep falling. Wholesale gasoline prices have fallen faster in recent days than pump prices, so drivers can expect to pay even less as the pump prices catch up.
US CONSUMERS BOOST SPENDING 0.3% IN AUGUST
U.S. consumers increased their spending slightly last month as their income grew at the fastest pace in six months. The figures point to only modest economic growth in the July-September quarter. Consumers’ spending on goods and services rose 0.3% in August, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s up from a 0.2% gain in July, which was slightly more than the 0.1% reported last month. Consumer spending drives 70% of economic activity. Many analysts say the increases are not enough to accelerate economic growth in the third quarter from the 2.5% annual rate in the April-June quarter.
FHA DRAWING $1.7 BILLION FROM TREASURY MONDAY
The FHA that insures mortgages for millions of low- and middle-income borrowers says it requires $1.7 billion in taxpayer aid immediately to cover its losses. The head of the Federal Housing Administration sent a letter Friday informing Congress that it must draw the funds from the Treasury Monday, the first time the agency has taken taxpayer support in its history. The agency, part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been struggling with billions of dollars in losses on mortgages it insures. The FHA is required by law to maintain reserves equal to 2% of the mortgages it insures. It currently has about $30 billion in reserves, FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said in the letter. She said that is enough to cover future expected losses.
KROGER ANNOUNCES STEVE MCKINNEY AS NEW PRESIDENT
CINCINNATI, Sept. 27, 2013 - The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) announced today the promotion of Steve McKinney as president of the Fry's Food Stores division. Fry's operates 119 food stores in Arizona. McKinney, 57, has been vice president of operations at the company's Ralphs division since 2007. He succeeds Jon Flora, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.
KB HOME Q3 REPORT
On September 24, 2013, KB Home reported its Q3 FY 2013 financial results (period ended August 31, 2013). The Company reported revenue growth of 29.3% YoY to $549.0 million. The Company's homebuilding operating income came in at $36.0 million compared to $10.9 million in Q3 FY 2012. Net income significantly increased to $27.3 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, from $3.3 million or $0.04 per diluted share in Q3 FY 2012. "The momentum we have built in our business continued to fuel our financial performance in the third quarter as we generated strong revenue, net income and earnings per share results," said Jeffrey Mezger, President and CEO. "We are clearly seeing meaningful top-line and bottom-line benefits from our strategy of investing in attractive land positions across the country, primarily targeting locations with limited housing inventory and higher household incomes."
MERITAGE HOMES OPERATION HOMEFRONT
Meritage Homes Corp. announced that Operation Homefront has selected three military families to receive newly-built, mortgage-free homes. The Company informed that the energy-efficient Meritage homes are located in Goodyear, Arizona, outside of Phoenix; Cary, North Carolina, outside of Raleigh; and Converse, Texas, outside of San Antonio, and each one of the homes will be unveiled to the families in November 2013 during the week leading up to Veterans Day. Further, Meritage Homes said that each of the veterans were selected based on a number of qualifications including, but not limited to, family needs and ties to the community.
YAHOO, SOFTBANK BACK ALIBABA in HONG KONG IPO BATTLE
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba may be looking to the U.S. for its potentially mammoth IPO. Its biggest shareholders, Yahoo and Japan’s Softbank Corp., on Friday backed the company’s unusual management structure that Hong Kong’s stock exchange was unwilling to accommodate, which may turn it toward the U.S. for its market debut. The company broke off talks for a Hong Kong initial public offering because the stock market wasn’t willing to make an exception to its listing rules. Instead, it’s looking to New York for an initial public offering that analysts estimate could value the company at more than $100 billion. That would trump Twitter’s hotly anticipated offering, which is estimated to have a market value of $10 billion.
SPAIN RAISES FORECASTS, BUT RECOVERY SLOW
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s government said Friday that the worst of the recession is over for the country as it improved its forecasts for unemployment and economic growth. But the recovery is likely to be slow and hard. The government expects the jobless rate to average 25.9% in 2014. While that is down from a previous forecast of 26.7% and slightly better than the current 26.3%, it is still close to a record high for Spain.
The economy is forecast to grow 0.7% next year, up slightly from the previous estimate of 0.5% released in April. Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria announced the figures alongside the government’s budget for next year, which she described as “the first budget of recovery.”