(Newser) - The winners of " Darwin Awards " die in a stunning variety of stupid ways, but the great majority of those killed trying to clean chimneys with grenades, ride in shopping trolleys hitched to trains, and so forth have one thing in common: They're men. A tongue-in-cheek study in... More »
(Newser) - A time capsule placed by Paul Revere and Sam Adams, among others, when the US was just 19 years old was carefully removed from a cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House yesterday. The 1795 time capsule—rediscovered during building maintenance—is thought to contain objects such as coins from as... More »
(Newser) - The investigation into the burning death of Mississippi teen Jessica Chambers is in full swing. Sheriff's deputies with canine units have been spotted picking up items and bagging them in the Courtland area where police first encountered Chambers (who, CNN notes, was not on fire when they found her... More »
(Newser) - Keira Knightley and her husband of a year and a half , James Righton, are expecting their first child, Knightley's rep confirmed to Elle UK today. Multiple sources told Page Six the same thing yesterday. Rumors started swirling last month but really ramped up Sunday night, when Knightley did not... More »
(Newser) - As SeaWorld attendances drop and the share price heads toward Davy Jones' locker, the theme park company's chief executive is stepping down. CEO and President Jim Atchison will depart in January and an undisclosed number of workers will be laid off, reports the Orlando Sentinel . A company spokesman wouldn'... More »
(Newser) - Could tribal marijuana be as big a moneymaker as tribal casinos? The federal government has cleared the way for Native American tribes across the country to grow and sell marijuana on their land, reports the AP . The Justice Department says growing and selling will be allowed on reservations—even in... More »
Stocks tanked, the price of oil fell, and bonds rallied on Friday. For the week, the Dow Jones lost 3.7%, the blue-chip index's worst week since November 2011. The S&P 500 lost 3.5%, its worst week since May 2012, and the Nasdaq lost 2.7% during the week.
First, the scoreboard:
Dow: 17,280.8, -315.5, (-1.8%)
S&P 500: 2,002.3, -33, (-1.6%)
Nasdaq: 4,653.6, -54.5, (-1.1%)
And now, the top stories on Friday:
1. Oil was the big story again on Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell below $58 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 as crude oil continues to tumble. After starting the week at around $65 a barrel, WTI fell more than $7 over the course of the week. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, also made new lows, falling below $62 a barrel.
2. As oil sold off and stocks fell, US Treasury bonds, seen as one of the safest investments an investor can make, continued to rally, with long-date bonds the big winners. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell below 2.1% on Friday and settled at a new low of 2.08% for the year. The 30-year bond also rallied, falling to 2.74%, the lowest yield in over two years.
3. Bond yields around the world are falling, with German bond yields going negative for durations out to four years and the 10-year bund making a new record low of 0.623% on Friday.
4. On Friday, the University of Michigan's preliminary reading on consumer confidence for the month of December came in at a nearly eight-year high of 93.8, blowing away expectations for an 89.5 reading. Following the report, Paul Dales at Capital Economics said that coupled with Thursday's better-than-expected retail sales report, the holiday shopping season looks like it could be the strongest in nine years. Deutsche Bank's Torsten Slok also circulated a chart showing that those in the lowest third of household incomes had the biggest rise in confidence this month, bolstering prospects for a strong holiday season.
5. Producer prices in November fell more than expected, declining 0.2% against expectations for a 0.1% decline. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 60% of the decline in prices for final demand goods can be attributed to the index for gasoline, which dropped 6.3%.
6. In Federal Reserve news, noted dove Narayana Kocherlakota announced that he will stepping down from his post as president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve in 2016. Kocherlakota has recently been a dissenter at Federal Open Market Committee meetings, urging the FOMC to favor a more accommodative policy than it has currently pursued. The Fed will hold its last meeting of the year next week, making its final monetary policy announcement of 2014 on Wednesday.
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