Stocks fall ahead of Fed (9/16/16)
Stocks stumbled on Friday as investors processed the latest inflation data ahead of next week’s central banks meetings.
The Dow fell 88 points, with 22 of its components declining; the S&P 500 Index dropped 8; and the Nasdaq retreated 5. Decliners outpaced advancers by almost five to three on the NYSE and by nearly seven to six on the Nasdaq. Treasury prices strengthened. Gold futures lost $7.80 to close at $1,310.20 an ounce. Crude-oil futures slid $0.90 to settle at $43.62 a barrel.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.20%, the S&P 500 Index added 0.52%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.32%.
In earnings news:
- Business software company Oracle reported earnings in the latest quarter grew 5% on increased demand for its cloud-computing operations. First-quarter earnings came in at 43 cents a share, versus 40 cents a share a year ago. Adjusted per-share earnings were 55 cents. Revenue increased 2% to $8.6 billion. Analysts expected adjusted earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $8.7 billion. Shares of Oracle (ORCL) fell 4.80%.
In other business news:
- Inflation inched closer to the Federal Reserve’s goal as U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2% in August, according to the Labor Department. Economists expected an increase of 0.1%. Excluding fuel and food costs, the core consumer price index rose 0.3%. Year-over-year, the CPI rose 1.1% and core CPI advanced 2.3%. Shelter and health care costs drove August’s index higher.
- September’s preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment remained unchanged from August final reading of 89.8. Economists expected the number to edge up to 90.8. While consumers continue to be slightly optimistic about their overall economic prospects, concerns over income prospects linger.
- Stock market advances and rebounding home prices helped increase the net worth of U.S. households to a record $89.1 trillion in the second quarter, according to the Federal Reserve.
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Another week, another $200 bill from the vet. You could almost mistake our beagle, Milo, for a cat the way she’s burned through nine lives in her 13 years. But there’s nothing we wouldn’t do to keep her happy and healthy. And our family’s not alone. It’s estimated that we’ll spend up to $62.75 billion on our pets in 2016. It feels like Milo may have accounted for nearly half that—let’s see how people are spending the rest of the money:
· An Australian woman spent her fish’s weight in gold in order to save its life. Her one-year-old goldfish, Courage, swallowed a pebble nearly twice its length. When it began to choke, she rushed it to the vet, where the fish had surgery to remove the pebble. The operation was successful but set the owner back $377—4,166% of what the fish initially cost. Just goes to show you that any fin is possible.
· The average dog watches about nine hours of TV a week, according to research from Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, a researcher in animal computer interaction at the University of Central Lancashire. Since the demand is there, it only makes sense that the University would partner with British pet food maker Wagg to develop a remote control for pets. Before you even ask, yes, there is a paws button.
· What if your pooch is growing a pouch watching TV? For $50 a month, dog owners in Alexandria, Virginia can make sure their canines are in top-notch shape at the Frolick Dogs Canine Sports Club. The 6,000 square foot, air conditioned facility has treadmills, balance balls, and an agility course with tunnels, hurdles, and balance beams. Training can be ruff. If your pet needs pampurring, there are plenty of pet spas that offer services like K9 massages, blueberry facials, or sugar and honey paw scrubs.
If we’re spending this much money on our pets, it’s only appropriate that they start pulling their weight. That requires you to pull out your phone. Pets with over 100,000 fans on Instagram can make at least $2,000 for an event appearance or product sponsorship. I know what you’re thinking: “You’ve cat to be kitten me.” Sounds impawsible, I know, but with the right Instagram posts, your furry friend might have the pettential to be the next fat cat in Pawllywood.
