Dow remains in a slide tied to superstorm, ‘fiscal cliff’

SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. stocks continued their recent losing streak Thursday, falling further from multi-month lows as investors gauged the economic impact of Superstorm Sandy and the risk of going over the fiscal cliff.

“To the extent we are continuing to see weakness in this marketplace, we’re clearly focused on the storm damage to economic data and businesses, and the more difficult path to come to a (tax and spending) bargain by the end of the year,” said Art Hogan, a market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets LLC.

A day after closing at its lowest level since June, the Dow Jones industrial average fell for the fourth straight day, shedding 28.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 12,542.38.

The S&P 500 index finished down for its third day in a row, declining 2.16 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 1,353.33.

The Nasdaq composite closed in negative territory for the fourth day in a row, falling 9.87 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,836.94.

Annual loss for postal service reaches a record $15.9 billion

WASHINGTON – The struggling U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported an annual loss of a record $15.9 billion and forecast more red ink in 2013, capping a tumultuous year in which it was forced to default on billions in payments to avert bankruptcy.

The financial losses for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 were more than triple the $5.1 billion loss in the previous year. Having reached its borrowing limit, the mail agency is operating with little cash on hand, putting it at risk in the event of an unexpectedly large downturn in the economy.

Much of the red ink in 2012 was due to mounting mandatory costs for future retiree health benefits, which made up $11.1 billion of the losses. Without that and other related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion, lower than the previous year.

Donahoe said the post office has been able to reduce costs significantly by boosting worker productivity. But he said the mail agency has been hampered by congressional inaction on a postal overhaul bill that would allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and reduce its $5 billion annual payment for future health benefits.

United Airlines glitch delays travelers around the globe

NEW YORK – A computer outage at United Airlines delayed thousands of travelers Thursday and embarrassed the airline at a time when it’s trying to recover from glitches earlier this year.

The two-hour outage held up morning flights around the globe. From Los Angeles to London, Boston to San Francisco, frustrated fliers tweeted snarky remarks about the glitch. It was United’s third major computer mishap this year.

United said the technology problem was fixed by 10:30 a.m. EST. But early morning delays can easily ripple throughout an airline’s network for the rest of the day even after the underlying cause is fixed. That’s because once a plane is late for one flight it can be hard to make up for lost time.

— From news service reports