The New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. financial markets are shutting down today as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the nation's largest city. The shutdown might be extended through tomorrow. The move was coordinated with other financial exchange operators, regulators and government officials. The shutdown applies to all trading, including electronic orders.
- World stock markets fell today as a mammoth storm heading toward the eastern U.S. caused the New York Stock Exchange and CME Group to shut trading floors. Stocks ran out of momentum as traders refrained from bold moves amid global growth woes. Benchmark crude oil fell below $86 per barrel. The dollar gained against the euro but fell against the yen.
- Stocks capped a losing weak with little change in Friday trading. For the week, the key averages were down between 0.6 to 1.8 percent.
- The economic calendar for the coming week features the monthly unemployment report, due Friday. Analysts look for a slight rise in the jobless rate up to 7.9 percent.
- A closely watched copyright suit against a student is pitting some pretty big companies against one another in a case before the Supreme Court. Costco, eBay, Google and the nation's top art museums are backing the Thai graduate student. Book publishers, the movie and music industries and others are suing him. It's over his idea to tap into the market for cheaper college textbooks by reselling copyrighted books that relatives first bought abroad.
