More children are crowding into classrooms in Modesto, Calif. Parents are paying extra to send their kids to full-day kindergarten in Queen Creek, Ariz. And the school buses stopped rolling in one St. Louis area school district.
These are but a few of the unwelcome changes greeting children as they start the school year. Tight fiscal times are forcing school districts to lay off teachers, enlarge class sizes, cut programs and charge for services that were once free.
"School districts are going to be stripped down from what there were a few years ago," said Jack Jennings, head of the Center on Education Policy, an advocacy group. "They are really feeling the economic squeeze."
The national economic downturn has sucked state coffers dry, forcing cuts to school districts and municipalities. The Obama administration’s stimulus package softened the impact, but many districts still found themselves having to downsize.
"Every student is being affected in some way or another," said Dan Domenech, executive director of the America Association of School Administrators.
Teachers are experiencing the brunt of the budget cuts this year, even though Congress last week gave states an additional $10 billion to keep an estimated 140,000 educators and support staff employed.
Still, the number of teachers who won’t have a job this school year could be as high as 135,000, experts said.
While grateful for the federal funds, school officials are not sure they will be able to use it to bring back many teachers this year. Many states have yet to say how they will distribute the money and many districts have already started or set up their class schedules.
Some plan to use it to hire tutors, counselors and non-core classroom educators such as art and music teachers. But others say they may hold onto the money until the next school year, when the last of the stimulus money is set to disappear.
"We’re all looking ahead over the next couple of years and not seeing any respite," said Chris Nicastro, Missouri’s commissioner of education.
More kindergarteners per class
The great wave of layoffs means students will have to share their classrooms — and their teachers’ attention — with more of their peers.
In California, for instance, state education officials have approved 23 requests from local districts to increase their average class sizes beyond the maximum allowed. At least 33 more are scheduled to be reviewed in coming months.
This is quite a change from the previous decade, when the state received no requests.
"It’s rising exponentially," said Judy Pinegar, manager of the waiver office at the California Department of Education.
Facing a $25 million budget gap for this year, Modesto City Schools district officials decided to raise the average class size in kindergarten through third grade to 25 kids, up from 20.
The school district was initially looking to lay off one-third of its teachers, or 500 people personal loan for poor credit. But after educators agreed to give up their raises and some retired, only 50 teachers were not rehired for this school year.
Still, the larger class sizes will have an impact, said Megan Gowans, executive director of the Modesto Teachers Association.
"Students are going to feel that they are getting less one-on-one attention," she said.
Neighboring Sylvan Union School District now has elementary school classes with up to 34 students in them. That’s 12 more than the average size last year. The elementary schools now only have one librarian and no dedicated art teachers, when there used to be four of each. In all, there are 19 fewer educators on staff, said Superintendent John Halverson.
The district has gone so far to combine several grades, teaching kindergarten and first graders and first and second graders together for the first time in recent memory.
These moves allow school officials to keep some classrooms dark, helping close a $5 million gap in its $60 million budget. But the changes won’t go unnoticed.
"I can’t say it won’t have an impact because I think it will," said Halverson, who has been in the California school system for 33 years.
Paying for programs
Elsewhere in the nation, school districts have cut back on programs and services or are charging for them.
Take Queen Creek, a small town 38 miles southeast of Phoenix. When the state cut funding for full-day kindergarten programs, Queen Creek took a $900,000 hit, but decided to continue offering it…at a price. Parents have to pay $200 a month to enroll their 5-year-olds.
"Our community was used to having it," said Shari Zara, the district’s chief financial officer. "We thought we’d still offer it for those who could pay."
Some 122 kids signed up for the extended program, while another 216 are in the free half-day class. Charging tuition spared the district from having to cut teachers or programs, Zara said.
Busing is another area that has taken a hit in scores of districts.
In the Bayless school district in the St. Louis area, for example, the board and administrators decided to eliminate bus service instead of laying off staff and raising class sizes beyond the current 25 to 30 per room. The decision affects about 650 of the district’s 1,650 students and saves $240,000 a year, said John Stewart, chief financial officer.
Getting rid of transportation helped close the roughly $650,000 gap in the district’s $14 million budget. Employees also agreed to pay more toward their health insurance.
"We wanted to impact the classroom and educational process as little as possible," Stewart said.
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The global economy grew at a stronger-than-expected pace in the first six months of the year, but the risks to recovery have greatly increased, according to the International Monetary Fund.
In an update of its World Economic Outlook, released Wednesday, the IMF raised its growth forecast for 2010 to 4.6% from the 4.2% estimate it made in April.
However, the international organization warned that the risks to recovery have "risen sharply" due to renewed financial turbulence.
It left its 2011 forecast for world growth unchanged at 4.3%.
The IMF said world economic growth exceeded forecasts in the first half of the year, largely driven by expansion in Asia.
But looking ahead, it offered a more dour view no fax payday advance.
It cautioned that "recent turbulence in financial markets - reflecting a drop in confidence about fiscal sustainability, policy response, and future growth prospects - has cast a cloud over the outlook."
For 2011, the IMF sees cooling growth in China to 9.6% from 10.5% this year.
In the United States, it predicts growth will slow to 2.9% next year from 3.3% in 2010.
It forecasts a slight improvement, though, in Europe. The IMF expects the euro area economy to grow 1.3% next year after expanding a mere 1% this year.
Moody’s Investors Service cut BP’s long-term rating by three notches Friday, marking the second downgrade in a month, citing the worsening impact of the oil disaster.
Moody’s cut BP’s senior unsecured ratings and long-term debt securities to A2 from Aa2 and said there could be further downgrades as it continues to review BP’s ratings.
"Moody’s update assessment is that the spill will have a sustained negative impact on the group’s free cash flow generation and overall financial profile for a number of years," said the rating agency in a statement.
Also on Friday, Moody’s downgraded the senior unsecured issuer rating of BP Finance by three notches to A3 from Aa3 and the senior unsecured issuer rating of BP Corporation North America by four notches to Baa1 from Aa3.
The rating agency had downgraded BP once before, on June 3. On that same day, Fitch Ratings also announced a downgrade of the oil giant. Since then, Fitch announced a second downgrade to just above junk status.
Moody’s referred to the BP’s agreement to set up a $20 billion escrow to cover damages and liabilities related to the spill as a "mildly positive development."
"Establishing a clear funding mechanism to make payments to injured parties may moderate pressure for the government to pursue more punitive actions," said Moody’s.
BP (BP) owns 65% of the well that is spilling up to 60,000 barrels per day in the Gulf, according to government estimates. The problem has been ongoing since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig, which is owned by Transocean (RIG) and leased by BP, exploded and sank, killing 11 workers.
Since then, BP has been unable to plug the leak. The company’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, was subjected to blistering Congressional testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday, where he was accused of "stonewalling."
BP’s stock has plunged 47% since the accident by Thursday’s close. The company was not immediately available for comment. Under pressure from the government, BP has canceled its dividend for the rest of the year.
The company was not immediately available for comment.
US Airways Group Inc. said Thursday it ended merger talks with United Airlines, the biggest carrier at San Francisco’s airport.
A union of the two companies would have would have created a carrier nearly as big as Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s biggest airline.
“It remains our belief that consolidation makes sense in an industry as fragmented as ours,” said Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “Whether we participate or not, consolidation that leads to a more efficient industry better able to withstand economic volatility, global competition and the cyclical nature of our industry is a positive outcome.”
Parker, in his prepared statement, did not discuss why talks ended. But media reports indicate UAL Corp., United Airline’s parent, is considering a merger with Continental Airlines.
United Airlines accounts for one-third of the flights at San Francisco International Airport.
U.S. foreclosure filings rose 15 percent in January from a year earlier and exceeded 300,000 for the 11th consecutive month as modification programs failed to keep delinquent borrowers in their homes, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
A total of 315,716 properties received a notice of default, auction or bank seizure last month, or one in 409 households, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a statement. Filings fell 10 percent from December.
Bank seizures, also known as real-estate-owned or REOs, may rise to a record 3 million this year, RealtyTrac said last month. About 66,000 delinquent loans out of a targeted 4 million by 2012 were permanently modified as of Dec. 31 under the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, according to the Treasury Department. About 787,000 mortgages are in trial programs that change loan terms, the Treasury said Jan. 19.
“It’s almost inevitable that modifications will fail,” Michelle Meyer, New York-based U.S. economist for Barclays Capital Inc., said in an interview. “Over the next several months, we should see REOs increase at an accelerated pace.”
Foreclosure filings also fell in January of last year from December, only to rise in subsequent months, RealtyTrac said.
“If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Negative Equity
Unemployment and negative equity, where homeowners owe more than their properties are worth, are adding to the foreclosure total, said Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow.com. More than a fifth of U.S. homeowners had negative equity in the fourth quarter, the Seattle-based real estate data provider said yesterday in a report.
“It’s tough to come up with a program that works for unemployment-related foreclosures where the owner can’t pay, or for rate resets where the owner is way underwater,” Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s executive vice president for marketing, said in an interview yesterday.
The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7 percent in January, and payrolls dropped by 20,000, the Labor Department said Feb. 5 in separate reports. About 8.4 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007, with more than 4 million cut since Obama took office in January 2009.
Home Sales
Sales of existing U payday loans.S. homes rose 14 percent in the fourth quarter from the third while the median price fell 4.1 percent from a year earlier, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said today. The sales gain may not last when government support for housing, including the Federal Reserve’s $1.25 trillion purchase of mortgage bonds and a first-time buyer tax credit, ends as scheduled in the spring, Humphries said.
January’s total filings were down 12 percent from the July peak, according to RealtyTrac. Bank seizures climbed 31 percent from a year earlier, default notices rose 4 percent and scheduled auctions increased 15 percent.
Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate for the 37th straight month, with one in 95 households receiving a filing in January. Total filings in the state fell 18 percent from a year earlier to 11,854.
Arizona ranked second, with filings for one in 129 households. The rate for both California and Florida was one in 187 households, RealtyTrac said.
Utah, Idaho, Michigan, Illinois, Oregon and Georgia rounded out the 10 highest foreclosure rates.
California Filings
California had the most filings with 71,817, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier. Florida followed with 47,069, up 15 percent, and Arizona was third at 21,048, up 43 percent. The three states accounted for 44 percent of the U.S. total.
Illinois was fourth with 18,120 filings, up 25 percent from January 2009. Michigan ranked fifth with 17,574, up 54 percent. Texas, Nevada, Georgia, Ohio and New Jersey completed the 10 states with the most filings, RealtyTrac said.
Filings increased 23 percent from a year earlier to 6,146 in New Jersey. They rose 34 percent to 2,218 in Connecticut, and jumped 31 percent to 4,569 in New York.
Las Vegas had the highest foreclosure rate for cities with a population of more than 200,000. One in 82 households there got a filing, a 21 percent decrease from a year earlier.
Phoenix was second among the biggest cities at one in 102 households. Six California cities ranked third through eighth: Modesto, Stockton, Riverside-San Bernardino, Merced, Vallejo- Fairfield and Bakersfield, according to RealtyTrac.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Orlando-Kissimmee in Florida were ninth and 10th respectively, said RealtyTrac, which sells default data collected from more than 2,200 counties representing 90 percent of the U.S. population.
Missouri may have given birth to “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm and Grammy-winning singer Sheryl Crow but the state ranks 44th on a list of the best-looking states.
In light of Miss Virginia winning the Miss America crown Saturday, The Daily Beast ranked the states based on the hometowns of the winners of the Miss America and Miss USA pageants for the past decade, more than 300 male and female fashion models and the 125 men mentioned in 10 years’ worth of People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issues. The list also factored in health and fitness data for each state from 2006-2008, ranked by the Trust for America’s Health.
Illinois, home of supermodel Cindy Crawford, comes in at No. 11.
Washington, D.C., ranked No. 1 for its beautiful people, and North Dakota came in last.
European exports declined for a second month in November as the euro’s strength made goods from the region more expensive abroad.
Exports from the euro area dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent from October, when they decreased 0.1 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The trade surplus narrowed to 3.9 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in November as imports rose 0.3 percent from October, when they fell 1 percent. European inflation accelerated to 0.9 percent in December, a separate report showed.
The euro’s 10 percent advance against the dollar in the past year is threatening to undermine the region’s recovery by making exports less competitive. While European services and manufacturing industries expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years in December, the economy still faces a “bumpy road” ahead, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday.
“The exports-driven recovery of the preceding two quarters is fading,” said Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Paris. “Imports’ lack of dynamism suggests lackluster domestic demand.”
December inflation was the fastest since February 2009, with energy prices rising 1.8 percent from a year earlier, the statistics office said. Core inflation, excluding volatile costs such as tobacco, food and energy, accelerated to 1.1 percent in December from 1 percent in the previous month.
Greece’s Struggles
The euro fell the most in almost a month against the dollar today as Greece’s struggles to cut its budget deficit dented investor confidence in European assets. The 16-nation currency traded at $1.4366 at 3:43 p.m. in London, down 0.9 percent on the day.
The ECB yesterday left its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1 percent and signaled that officials will wait for more signs of recovery before withdrawing emergency measures further, with Trichet citing “a great level of uncertainty” surrounding the economic outlook short term personal loans. The central bank forecasts growth of about 0.8 percent this year and around 1.2 percent in 2011.
European Aeronautic, Defence & Space & Co., the parent of Airbus SAS, on Jan. 12 reported its steepest annual revenue drop since the company went public a decade ago, partly because of a weaker dollar. Eckhard Cordes, chief executive officer of Metro AG, Germany’s biggest retailer, said on Jan. 12 that he anticipates economic conditions will remain “challenging” in 2010 after currency swings eroded fourth-quarter revenue.
Biggest Economy
Economies around the globe are emerging from the worst recession in six decades, led by China, where exports gained for the first time in 14 months in December. The Asian nation overtook Germany as the largest exporter of goods in 2009. Industrial output in the U.S., the world’s biggest economy, rose in December for a sixth month, data showed today.
Euro-area exports to the U.S., the region’s second-biggest trading partner, dropped 20 percent in the first 10 months of 2009 from a year earlier, today’s report showed. Shipments to the U.K., the largest market for euro-area goods, declined 24 percent, while exports to China rose 1 percent. The detailed country data are published with a one-month lag.
To help shore up earnings, companies have been cutting costs and paring wages. European unemployment rose to 10 percent in November. That’s the highest in more than 11 years. Koenig & Bauer AG, the world’s third-biggest printing-press maker, said last month that it plans to eliminate more jobs.
“China and other emerging countries bring in volume but not necessarily profit,” Koenig & Bauer CEO Helge Hansen said on Dec. 4 in Wuerzburg, Germany. “They help retain jobs, but they don’t help in terms of a positive balance.”
OTTAWA–Canadians are becoming more pessimistic over the strength of the economic recovery and what it will mean for their finances and job security, a new consumer confidence survey shows.
The monthly Conference Board of Canada survey shows even as economists say they think the recession has ended, many Canadians are not so sure.
Consumer confidence normally bubbles during good times, but the November survey of 2,000 people finds that confidence dropped 5.7 points to 79, well below the readings of about 100 observed before the recession struck a year ago.
The biggest worry is over job security, not a surprising finding given that more than 400,000 workers have lost jobs in the past year, including 43,000 in October, the last month for which data is available.
The November survey found only 19.7 per cent of the respondents expected to find more jobs available over the next six months, down 3.2 points from October. As well, 25 per cent said they believe fewer jobs will be on offer, up 1.2 points.
"The outlook for future job creation remains a significant detractor to consumer confidence," the Ottawa-based think-tank said.
"This month’s results highlight just how fragile the perception of an economic recovery is at this time."
Economists are divided on the importance of consumer confidence surveys as an accurate predictor of future economic performance, with some saying the results merely serve to reflect current sentiments. But the board and some economists argue deteriorating confidence can cause individuals to hold off purchases, thereby depressing overall economic activity easy payday loans.
The latest survey does suggest that the euphoria over the end of the recession observed during the spring and summer months is giving way to a belief that true recovery, as many analysts have warned, may take years rather than months.
Gloom was spread throughout the country, with Ontario, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada registering declines in consumer confidence. B.C.’s decline was 13 points.
There were no corresponding bright spots. The other two regions – Quebec and the Prairies – registered no relevant change from the rather weak optimism of the previous month.
The survey also found more pessimism about personal finances.
Just 13.9 per cent of respondents answered positively about their current finances, down one point from October.
Asked if they thought their family’s finances would improve in the coming six months, only 27.1 per cent agreed, down 0.6 of a point.
And 25.6 per cent described their finances as worse than six months ago. Not surprisingly, their views on whether this was a good time for a major purchase fell – not a good sign for retailers during the year’s busiest shopping season.
The Canadian Press
The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower Friday, pressured by falling energy stocks as demand concerns and a rising U.S. dollar pushed crude prices down.
The S&P/TSX composite index shed 20.97 points to 11,579.33, down for a second day on another rising tide of concern about whether the market has advanced too quickly relative to the strength of the economic rebound.
"Investors seem to need a constant reassurance with where we are in the economic recovery," said Brett D'Arcy, chief investment officer at CBIZ Wealth Management Group in San Diego.
"We just haven't gotten it in the past few days."
But the market advanced 171.65 points or 1.5 per cent this week on the way to a solid gain for November after a short-lived spell of pessimism sent the TSX down about four per cent for October.
"We're going to get periods of consolidation and the markets aren't going to go straight up," said Colin Cieszynski, market analyst at CMC Markets Canada.
"To have consolidations from time to time are not unheard of and, to be honest, they're healthy for the markets. You don't want to see the markets going straight up all the time."
The Canadian dollar was down 0.56 of a cent to 93.47 cents US as Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the Conservative government doesn't plan to undertake major new spending initiatives in next year's budget. Rather, it will continue with the $61 billion in stimulus spending announced in January.
There was also disappointment surrounding the latest earnings report from computer maker Dell Inc. The company said Thursday that its net income dropped 54 per cent to US$337 million in the latest quarter amid signs the company isn't fully benefiting from the computer industry's fledgling recovery.
Dell's numbers missed Wall Street's forecasts. However, it said it is seeing improvement in some areas even as it repeated an earlier prediction that a meaningful rebound in technology spending by businesses won't come until next year. Its stock was down $1.58 or 9.96 per cent to US$14.29.
The Toronto energy sector was down 0.67 per cent as oil moved lower for a second day. The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 74 cents to US$76.72 a barrel. Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX: COS.UN) declined 64 cents to $29.55.
The gold sector was off 0.54 per cent even as the December contract on the Nymex closed up $4.90 to a record US$1,146.80 an ounce. Kinross Gold (TSX: K) faded 32 cents to $20.39.
The base metals sector was down 0.37 per cent as the December copper contract rose 2.7 cents to US$3.108 a pound. HudBay Minerals (TSX: HBM) lost 46 cents to C$15.23.
The TSX tech sector was the biggest gainer, up 0.72 per cent with Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX: RIM) advancing 95 cents to $63.66.
The TSX Venture Exchange added 7.12 points to 1,408.06.
New York markers were also weak as demand for safe havens rose following Dell's report and as European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB plans to start reining in some of its stimulus programs. Hiking borrowing rates could help keep inflation in check but could also slow improvement in the economy.
Investors seeking safety pushed into the U.S. dollar. A strengthening dollar curtails foreign demand for commodities, which are traded in dollars. It also can depress U.S. exports, which become more expensive as the dollar rises.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 14.28 points to 10,318.16 but gained a slight 47.69 points for the week.
The Nasdaq composite index lost 10.78 points to 2,146.04 and the S&P 500 was off 3.52 points to 1,091.38.
American homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. also was a letdown as it reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed as it took smaller writedowns on its inventory. Even as its losses shrank, revenue fell 42 per cent as the housing market remained unsteady and its shares dropped $1.88 or 15.35 per cent to US$10.37.
In other corporate news, Agrium Inc.'s (TSX: AGU) reluctant U.S. takeover target, CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF), made headway in a hostile bid of its own Friday, installing its nominees on the board of Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA). CF's efforts to buy out its U.S. rival for US$4.1-billion have been met with resistance from Terra's board and management since January.
Agrium, the Calgary-based fertilizer giant, has been doggedly trying to buy CF since February, making its nearly US$5-billion offer conditional on CF dropping its pursuit of Terra. Agrium shares were up 37 cents at $61.13.
Stocks recovered from early losses Tuesday, closing at 13-month highs for the second day in a row, as strength in commodity-linked shares offset weakness in the retail sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose about 30 points, or 0.3%, to close at 10,437.42. The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 1 point to close above the key 1,100 level. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) advanced 0.3% to end at 2,203.78.
All three indexes are at their highest levels since October 2008.
Stocks opened lower and struggled for most of the day as the dollar regained ground against rival currencies, reflecting a decreased appetite for risky assets.
The tone improved in the last few hours of trading as oil and gold prices reversed direction. Oil closed above $79 a barrel, while gold edged up to settle at a fresh all-time high.
The rebound in commodity prices boosted shares of energy and materials companies. But gains were limited by weakness in the retail sector after Home Depot and Target offered cautious earnings outlooks.
Tuesday’s economic news was mixed. Government data showed inflation at the wholesale level remains subdued, while industrial production was weaker than expected in October.
Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyager Asset Management, said the stock market continues to look to the dollar for direction.
"The main story has been the dollar trade," he said. "When the dollar is weak, investors take on more risk. If it’s strong, they take the risk off."
The dollar has wallowed near a 15-month low against rival currencies in recent weeks as investors take advantage of U.S. interest rates near zero percent to fund bets in more risky stock and commodities markets.
However, after pushing the major indexes up some 30% from the lows of early March, investors have become wary of placing big bets as the economic outlook remains cloudy.
"The economy is growing, but shows a loss of momentum given the recent round of economic and corporate data," said Nick Kalivas, vice president of financial research at MF Global.
Investors will digest reports on consumer prices and initial construction of new homes Wednesday morning. Later in the week, the government will report on the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits.
Stocks rallied Monday as investors bet on the weak dollar and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said interest rates will remain low amid a slow recovery.
Economy: The government reported that the Producer Price Index, the key measure of inflation for manufacturers, edged up 0 cash till payday.3% in October. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.6%.
The PPI was expected to have risen 0.5% for the month, according to a consensus of economist opinion from Briefing.com. The core was expected to have edged up 0.1% in October.
Before the start of market trading, the government also reported that industrial production rose 0.1% last month versus a forecasted 0.4% increase. In September, production rose 0.7%. Capacity utilization rose by 0.2 percentage point to 70.7%, a rate slightly below economists’ expectations for 70.8%.
Companies: Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) reported a decline in third-quarter earnings to 41 cents per share from 45 cents in the year-ago quarter. While the results were better than 36 cent per share profit that analysts had expected, the company said it expects earnings for the full year to be down 13%.
Discount retailer Target (TGT, Fortune 500) reported an 18% increase in third-quarter profit, helped by gains in the company’s credit card portfolio. But Target, which had suffered declining profits for the last eight quarters, remained cautious about the outlook for holiday spending.
TJX (TJX, Fortune 500), which owns the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, reported a larger-than-expected quarterly profit on increased consumer demand for discount products. The company said it expects profit from continuing operations of 65 cents to 71 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are forecasting a profit of 71 cents per share in the fourth-quarter.
On the higher end, Saks (SKS) reported a quarterly profit, surprising analysts who were expecting the company to report a loss. However, the results were driven mostly by cost-cutting, and the company offered a cautious outlook.
International markets: The Nikkei and the Hang Seng each closed lower by a fraction of a percent. European markets ended with losses of less than 1%.
Other markets: Treasury prices rose, with the yield on the 10-year note falling to 3.33%.
The weak dollar recovered a little Tuesday. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, was up 0.7% to 75.38 from 74.92.
Oil prices rose 24 cents to settle at $79.14 barrel in New York.
The price of gold closed at an all-time high of $1,139.40 an ounce, up 20 cents from Monday’s record close of $1,139.80.
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