Dow Drops To 11,188
Forget about the Jimmy Choo boots or 50-yard-line seats for fall. Investors retreated on a round of glum economic news. Among the problems: weak retail sales in August, more Americans filing for unemployment. There’s concern in the markets about a global slowdown. The Dow sinks 344.65 points, or about 3%, to 11,188.23, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index bumps down 3 percent. That’s the biggest one-day drop in three months. (For more on this news, click here.)
Jack in the Box
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who got rich swindling Indian tribes, is sentenced to four years in prison. Although Abramoff asks for mercy—“I have fallen into an abyss,” he says. “My name is the butt of a joke”—the judge tacks on nine months to the 39-month sentence sought by prosecutors. She says Abramoff had engaged in “a consistent course of corrupt conduct.” (For more on this news, click here.)
Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleads guilty to obstruction of justice on two felony charges related to the city’s $8.4-million settlement of a lawsuit brought by fired policemen. “I lied under oath,” Kilpatrick said. As part of the deal, Kilpatrick is to resign as mayor, spend four months in jail, pay the city of Detroit $1 million and go on probation for five years. Prosecutors had charged that Kilpatrick had lied during the legal proceedings with the police officers to hide text messages that revealed an affair with his former chief of staff. (For more on this news, click here.)
Surprise Jump in Jobless Claims
After three weeks of decline, the number of new jobless claims rose unexpectedly, according to a Labor Department report. New applications for unemployment insurance last week came in at a seasonally adjusted 444,000, up 15,000 from the previous week. The number had been expected to come in around 420,000. A year earlier, that number was 320,000. Jobless claims hit their six-year high of 457,000 in late July. (For more on this news, click here.)
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