Dow, S&P approach records in quiet day on Wall Street

The Dow rose to its highest close of the year, putting it within 1 percent of its record. Stocks gained after impressive results from two big consumer brands.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 47.46 to 14,018.70 Tuesday. That is 146 points from its record close of 14,164.53 set in October 2007. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 2.42 points to 1,519.43, also close to its record.

In a quiet day of trade, stocks were driven higher by beauty products maker Avon and luxury clothing and accessories company Michael Kors, whose results impressed investors. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity in the U.S.

Bank of America and Masco Corp, also notched some of the day’s biggest gains.

The Dow has now advanced 7 percent this year, and the S&P 500 is up 6.6 percent.

J.C. Penney amends credit to support major overhaul

J.C. Penney says it has amended its bank credit facility to increase its borrowing capacity to $1.85 billion and to expand the accordion feature to $400 million.

The Plano, Texas, retailer said late Tuesday that the amendment enhances the company’s liquidity and provides additional financial flexibility to support its transformation initiatives.

The move comes as the struggling department store chain marks the one-year anniversary of a major overhaul of every aspect of its business from pricing to merchandise. The plan is being spearheaded by CEO Ron Johnson.

But the transformation has been more challenging than expected. Penney is expected to report its fourth consecutive quarter of big sales drops and net losses since it implemented a radical pricing plan that eliminates most sales.

WEX receives state contract for fleet’s fuel-card services

A Maine-based company has been awarded a three-year contract from the state to provide fleet fuel card services for most of the state’s fleet of vehicles.

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services said Tuesday that the contract is going to WEX Inc., the South Portland-based company formerly called Wright Express.

WEX will provide fuel cards to 46 state agencies, as well as several Maine towns and sheriff’s departments.

WEX is a publicly traded company whose main line of business is providing payment processing and information management services to commercial and government vehicle fleets.

The state previously used a Tennessee-based company to provide fuel management services.

Latest numbers suggest employers were cautious

Employers advertised fewer jobs in December and cut back on hiring.

The Labor Department said job openings dropped 4.6 percent in December from November to 3.62 million. November’s openings were revised higher.

Employers hired 4.2 million people, a 4.8 percent drop and the fewest in a year.

One positive sign: Employers cut just 1.57 million jobs, the fewest layoffs on records dating back to 2001.

Four Loko’s maker required to put alcohol facts on cans

The makers of a popular carbonated alcoholic drink guzzled on college campuses are going to be changing the look of its Four Loko cans to settle the government’s charges of deceptive marketing.

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that Chicago-based Phusion Projects will be required to put an “alcohol facts panel” on the back of flavored malt beverage cans containing more than two servings of alcohol. The panel would disclose the alcohol by volume and the number of servings in each can.

Phusion also will have to redesign cans of drinks containing more than 2.5 servings of alcohol so they can be resealed and the drink wouldn’t have to be consumed in one sitting.

The FTC had accused Phusion of implying in ads that its supersized 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko was equal to one or two regular 12-ounce beers. In fact, the agency says, the can — which contains up to 12 percent alcohol — is really more like four to five beers.

 

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