Новости за 22.12.2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates dropped to record lows in Alabama, California, Hawaii, Mississippi and Texas in November. The Labor Department's report on state unemployment released Friday showed rates fell in 19 other states, a positive sign for U.S. economic growth. Over the past 12 months, 27 states have added payroll jobs. Job totals have essentially been unchanged in 23 other states. During the past year, the largest absolute gains were in Texas, where the number of jobs climbed 330,600. Читать дальше...

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are slightly lower Friday morning as a subdued week of trading comes to a close. Losses for athletic apparel maker Nike weigh on retailers. Technology companies are also lower. High-dividend stocks are making small gains even as bond yields remain near their recent highs. The price of bitcoin fell sharply after making gigantic gains throughout the year. KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index stayed at 2,684 as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 6 points to 24,777. Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans stepped up their purchases of new homes at the fastest pace in more than 25 years in November, with sales skyrocketing 17.5 percent amid robust demand and a continued shortage of existing homes on the market. New home sales last month jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733,000 units compared to 624,000 in October, the Commerce Department said Friday. That's the biggest monthly gain since January 1992 and the most homes sold in a month since July 2007, just months before the economic downturn. Читать дальше...

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers could end up smelling like roses, if they succeed in passing a law to ban unpleasant odors. Lawmakers from the opposition Save Romania Union on Friday submitted a "Smell Law" that aims to outlaw some of the country's most offensive stenches and includes fines for violators. A party statement says that despite clean air laws, Romanian citizens frequently complain of "olfactory discomfort" from garbage dumps, animal farms and petrochemical fumes. The statement... Читать дальше...

NEW YORK (AP) — A payment technology firm says that holiday spending is surging in the days before Christmas. First Data said Friday that overall spending, excluding gas, rose 9.2 percent from Nov. 1 through Monday, outpacing the 3.7 percent pace for the year-ago period. The company analyzes online and in-store payments for 1.3 million merchants. Retail spending, which excludes grocery stores, restaurants, auto parts merchants and gas stations, is up 6.6 percent, more than the 2 percent growth for the year-ago period. Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — US sales of new homes surged 17.5 percent in November, biggest monthly jump in more than 25 years.

NEW YORK (AP) — Qualcomm says it won't back any of the candidates that Broadcom and Silver Lake Partners are proposing for its board of directors, saying they are conflicted and have no incremental skills or expertise to offer. The announcement Friday comes with the chipmaker continuing to fend off Broadcom's unsolicited $103 billion takeover attempt. Qualcomm said again that the bid undervalues the company. Broadcom Ltd. proposes that Qualcomm shareholders elect its 11-person slate and then enlarge... Читать дальше...

The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local): 9:35 a.m. Stocks are opening slightly lower on Wall Street as technology and consumer-focused companies took losses. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 1.5 percent in early trading Friday. Nike dropped 4.3 percent after reporting disappointing results in its North American business. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 2,682. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 19 points, or 0.1 percent, to 24,764. The Nasdaq composite lost 19 points... Читать дальше...

What's in a name? These days, if it's anything close to "bitcoin," it's Wall Street gold. The latest example of a company trying to tie its fortunes to the cryptocurrency craze came Thursday in form of an iced tea maker. Long Island Iced Tea Corp. until this week was known for its ready-to-drink beverages in flavors such as peach, raspberry, guava, lemon and mango. But Thursday said that it was undertaking a radical rebranding. The company announced it will now be known as Long Blockchain Corp.,... Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers stepped up their spending last month, a good sign for the holiday shopping season. The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending rose a sharp 0.6 percent from October, outpacing a 0.3 percent increase in personal income. As a result, the savings rate fell to 2.9 percent of after-tax income in November, lowest since November 2007. The numbers bode well for the holidays and for the overall economy: Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of... Читать дальше...

LONDON (AP) — A regional airport in England has halted flights after a plane that had just landed left a runway while taxiing. Officials said Friday there were no injuries from the mishap Friday at Bristol Airport involving a bmi regional flight from Frankfurt, Germany. Airport and airline officials say 25 people were on board the twin-engine Embraer 145 jet during the incident, which happened while the plane was taxiing. The incident caused severe disruption at the airport located 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of London. Читать дальше...

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The largest U.S. health insurer is expanding deeper into South America by spending about $2.8 billion to buy a health care provider and insurer that operates in Chile, Columbia and Peru. UnitedHealth Group Inc. said Friday that it will start an offer next week to buy all outstanding shares of Empresas Banmédica. The insurer expects to complete the deal in next year's first quarter. Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth covers nearly 45 million people in the U.S. and another 4 million people internationally. Читать дальше...

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose last month by 1.3 percent, boosted by orders for both commercial and defense aircraft. A category that measures business investment slipped for the first time since June. The increase in orders for durable goods — products meant to last at least three years — comes after a 0.4 percent decline in October, the Commerce Department said Friday. October's drop followed solid gains in September and August. American industry continues to look healthy, helped... Читать дальше...

LONDON (AP) — Stock markets around the world eased back Friday in light pre-holiday trading and amid renewed uncertainty over the restive Spanish region of Catalonia. Bitcoin endured another big retreat and means the volatile crypto-currency has lost a quarter of its value in just 24 hours. KEEPING SCORE: In a shortened pre-Christmas trading session, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares came back from all-time highs to end 0.2 percent lower at 7,592.66. Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent at 13,073... Читать дальше...

BERLIN (AP) — Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile Austria unit has announced plans to buy cable operator UPC Austria in a deal that values the company at 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion.) T-Mobile said Friday that buying UPC Austria, an indirect subsidiary of Liberty Global plc, will enable it to mount a stronger challenge to current market leader A1 Telekom Austria. It will allow the unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom to offer a broader range of mobile, fixed-line, internet and TV services. T-Mobile says it expects the deal... Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — US consumer spending climbs a solid 0.6 percent in November as Americans drain their savings to shop.

WASHINGTON (AP) — US durable goods orders increase 1.3 percent in November, boosted by orders for commercial and defense aircraft.

NEW YORK (AP) — A bitcoin sell-off that began at the beginning of the week is gaining momentum, with a quarter of its value evaporating in just the past 24 hours. Shortly before U.S. markets opened Friday, bitcoin was trading at $13,659.85, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. The cost had soared close to $20,000 as of Sunday. That is a radical price change in just one month. In mid-November, the bitcoin was trading at less than $6,000. The cryptocurrency has been notoriously volatile, with a significant crash every quarter. Читать дальше...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The 95-year-old founder of the Lotte Group and his son and group chairman were convicted on corruption charges on Friday but will avoid jail. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced founder Shin Kyuk-ho to four years in prison but didn't issue a warrant to arrest him in consideration of his age, court officials said on condition of anonymity, citing office rules. The court also handed a 20-month prison term to his son and chairman Shin Dong-bin but suspended that sentence for two years, the officials said. Читать дальше...

TOKYO (AP) — Shares are mixed, with benchmarks slipping in Europe after a day of gains in most Asian markets. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 0.2 percent to 22,893.06 following Cabinet approval of a budget plan that includes record defense outlays and an extra 2.9 trillion yen ($25.6 billion) in stimulus spending. KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX slipped less than 0.1 percent to 13,107.59 while the CAC 40 in France fell 0.1 percent to 5,382.36. The FTSE 100 in Britain gained 0.1 percent to 7,608.42. The... Читать дальше...

What's in a name? These days, if it's anything close to "bitcoin," it's Wall Street gold. The latest example of a company trying to tie its fortunes to the cryptocurrency craze came Thursday in form of an iced tea maker. Long Island Iced Tea Corp. until this week was known for its ready-to-drink beverages in flavors such as peach, raspberry, guava, lemon and mango. But Thursday said that it was undertaking a radical rebranding. The company announced it will now be known as Long Blockchain Corp.,... Читать дальше...

'Ramas Para Un Nido' is Viggo Mortensen's latest collection of photographs. A beautiful examination of the details which make up home.