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FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks rise
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are heading for more record highs on Wall Street after U.S. officials said they were making progress in the latest push for a trade agreement with China.
Technology stocks have been the biggest winners Friday. Applied Materials surged 10% on solid earnings.
Health care and industrial companies were also making strong gains. Biogen rose 1.4% and Caterpillar rose 1.6%.
Restoration Hardware rose 6.3% and Occidental Petroleum rose 3.2% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it had picked up shares in both companies.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.83%.
RETAIL SALES
US retail sales rose a modest 0.3% in October
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans stepped up their shopping last month, spending more online and buying more cars, evidence that consumers can still drive the economy’s growth.
The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales rose 0.3% in October, rebounding from a 0.3% drop the previous month. Sales increased 3.1% compared with a year ago.
The figures suggest higher tariffs on many consumer products imported from China, imposed in early September, as well as broader trade uncertainty, did not hold Americans back from spending. Consumers remain mostly optimistic and willing to make large purchases, such as autos, even as businesses cut back on investment and exports stall.
Americans continue to migrate to e-commerce. Sales in a category that mostly includes online and catalog shopping jumped 0.9% in October and 14.3% from a year earlier.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION
GM strike pushes industrial production down 0.8% last month
WASHINGTON (AP) — A strike at General Motors pushed U.S. manufacturing production lower in October, adding to the troubles confronting American industry.
The Federal Reserve said Friday that manufacturing output tumbled 0.6% last month, largely because production of cars and auto parts plunged 7.1% amid the GM strike. The drop in factory production was the biggest since April.
Overall industrial production -- which includes factories, utilities and mines -- fell 0.8%, the biggest drop since May 2018. Industrial output is down 1.1% from October 2018.
American manufacturing is also contending with the fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade wars, which have raised costs for some factories and created uncertainty for business.
Excluding auto output, industrial production still fell 0.5% and manufacturing output slipped 0.1%.
Mining production slid 0.7%, and utility production fell 2.6%.
TRUMP-HEALTH CARE PRICES
White House seeks disclosure of actual health care prices
WASHINGTON (AP) — New rules from the Trump administration would require insurers and hospitals to disclose upfront the actual prices for common tests and procedures.
Officials say the rules are an effort to spotlight the confusing maze of health care costs. The belief is that informed patients will choose the best care at the lowest price. That could help get U.S. health care spending under better control.
But the disclosure requirements face pushback from the health care industry. Insurers and hospitals say the government would force them to publicly disclose rates they negotiate and are considered part of private contracts.
Some of the administration’s actions could lead to lawsuits and the rules could get bogged down in court.
NISSAN RECALL
Fire danger causes Nissan to recall over 394,000 vehicles
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan is recalling over 394,000 vehicles in the U.S. because a brake fluid leak could cause them to catch fire.
Because of the fire risk, the company is urging owners to park the vehicles outdoors and away from structures if the antilock brake light comes on for more than 10 seconds.
The recall, detailed in documents posted Friday by the U.S. government, covers the Nissan Murano SUV from 2015 through 2018, and Maxima sedans from 2016 through 2018. Also included are Infiniti QX60 and Nissan Pathfinder SUVs from 2017 through 2019.
Nissan says an antilock brake actuator pump can leak fluid onto a circuit board, causing electrical shorts and fires.
Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration didn’t say if there had been any fires or injuries. Messages were left Friday seeking details from the agency and from Nissan.
Some of the vehicles are being recalled for a second time. In a 2018 recall, Nissan dealers inspected the vehicles and did not replace the pumps if fluid wasn’t leaking. Dealers now will replace the pumps on all of the vehicles.
UNITED AIRLINES-BOEING PLANE
United delays planned return of grounded Boeing 737 Max
CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines is removing the grounded Boeing 737 Max from its schedule until March 4, two months longer than previously planned.
The change follows similar moves by American and Southwest, and reflects further delays in Boeing’s work to fix the plane after two deadly crashes.
United said Friday that without the planes, it will cancel 56 flights a day in January, February and early March, down from 93 a day this month.
United has 14 Max jets. All Max planes have been grounded since March, after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.
Boeing is fixing flight-control software and computers that played a role in the crashes. Boeing expects regulators to approve changes in pilot-training in January, clearing the way for U.S. airlines to resume Max flights with passengers.
CHINA-TECH PLAN
China issues plan to promote high-tech manufacturing
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has issued a plan to promote high-tech manufacturing after discarding a strategy that helped trigger a tariff war with Washington.
A statement Friday by the Cabinet’s planning agency calls for the government to help manufacturers in autos, electronics and other fields. It gives few details about how that will be carried out or whether it will involve potentially contentious market barriers or subsidies.
A previous development plan, “Made in China 2025,” called for government-led creation of Chinese global competitors in robotics, electric cars and other fields.
The United States and other trading partners complained that “Made in China 2025” and other plans based on subsidizing or shielding fledgling Chinese industries from competition would violate Beijing’s market-opening obligations.
CHINA-HUAWEI
Huawei sells folding smartphone with no Google after US ban
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei (WAH'-way) is selling a folding smartphone without Google apps or U.S.-made processor chips following sanctions imposed by Washington.
The Mate X went on sale Friday on Huawei’s online store in China priced at 16,999 yuan ($2,422) and competes with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold launched in September.
Huawei Technologies Ltd. is scrambling to preserve its business following U.S. controls imposed in May on sales of American components and technology to the company, which Washington says is a security risk.
The Mate X uses Huawei’s Kirin 980 and Balong 5000 chipset and Chinese alternatives to Google music, maps and other services.
Huawei has yet to announce plans for sales outside China.
IRAN-FUEL RATIONING
Fuel rations, price hike hit Iranians amid plunging economy
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Many Iranians are angry after authorities abruptly raised fuel prices by up to 50% and imposed rationing without any prior warnings to the public.
Across the capital, Tehran, long lines of cars waited for hours at pumping stations following the overnight changes in energy policy.
In several locations, Iranian police were seen deployed near gas stations.
Iranian officials say the proceeds from the price hikes are earmarked to fund subsidies for low-income families.
The decision came following months of speculations about possible rationing. The U.S. withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers last year, and re-imposed crippling trade sanctions that sent the Iranian economy into free-fall.
According to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, the country is facing its “most difficult” time in decades.
LOBSTER EXPORTS-EUROPE
EU rebuffs American pitch of quick deal for more lobsters
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The United States trade representative is hoping to broker a deal with the European Union to send more lobsters to Europe, but has received a chilly reception so far.
The American lobster industry is in the midst of a challenging time in part because of tariffs with China and the EU. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer has asked EU officials to consider reducing tariffs on lobster, which is a popular seafood item in many European nations, especially around Christmas.
A letter from EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström dated Nov. 6 says the European Union could potentially be interested in a broader trade package. However, Malmström balked at the idea of quickly approving a limited package of tariff cuts.
Lighthizer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
USDA FRAUD CASE
Federal authorities charge 29 in Florida corruption case
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Justice Department officials have charged 29 people in the Florida Panhandle in an investigation of allegations of “widespread public corruption” over misused federal farm money.
The News Herald of Panama City reports that among those being charged are a former Holmes County Clerk of Court, a former law enforcement officer and the former head of the Holmes County Farm Bureau.
U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe for the Northern District of Florida announced the charges Friday during a news conference in Panama City, Florida.
WJHG reports that the federal investigation uncovered about $373,000 in taxpayer money misused as part of the scheme. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funding was intended for a livestock program to aid drought-stricken farmers.
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