Wall Street has been on a good run, of late. The key averages closed higher for a third straight session. The Dow added 35 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,943. The S&P was up 4 points, while the Nasdaq surged 23 points.
- Microsoft says an accounting adjustment reflecting its weak online ad business led to the software giant's first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company. Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned 73 cents a share, which topped forecasts. Revenue was shy of expectations.
- A possible merger was on the menu as the CEOs of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways huddled for breakfast in Washington today. A source says American's chief told the US Airways CEO that he won't be rushed into any deals.
- A report from the U.S. Department of Transportation says no decision has yet been made on where to build a new air traffic control center that will serve the busy New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia metro areas. The FAA plans to combine 49 aging air traffic facilities in the Northeast down to four at a cost of about $2.3 billion. The goal is to finish them by 2023.
- The U.S. Conference of Mayors says economies of the nation's cities are starting to recover from the recession and even grow again. But they're calling on state and federal governments to increase spending on roads and highways to reduce congestion and encourage further growth.
