Stocks dip but bond prices surge and yields plummet

Stocks edged lower for the first time in five days Wednesday, but the real action was in the bond market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to its lowest in 11 months as investors continued to put money into the bond market, extending a rally that has taken many investors and analysts by surprise. Most had expected yields to climb this year, and bond prices to fall, as the Federal Reserve reduced its purchases of bonds and the economy improved.

Instead, the opposite has happened. While stocks have ground out modest gains this year, pushing major indexes to record levels, bond prices have surged. Even evidence that the economy is strengthening after a winter lull has failed to slow the rally.

Most Google employees are white males, statistics show

Google’s workforce is mostly made up of white men, a situation the tech giant says it’s trying to change.

On Wednesday Google released statistics documenting the diversity of its workforce for the first time, responding to escalating pressure on the technology industry to hire more minorities and women.

The numbers show 70 percent of the people working at the search giant are men, and 61 percent of the workers are white.

Google’s senior vice president Laszlo Bock said that the company is not where it wants to be when it comes to diversity.

Timberwolves owner signs deal to acquire Star Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves owner and printing company billionaire Glen Taylor has signed a purchase agreement to buy the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Star Tribune said publisher Mike Klingensmith wrote in an internal company memo that Taylor and the newspaper’s owners signed the deal Wednesday.

Klingensmith said he expects the sale to close near June 30.

Taylor said in April that he had made a cash offer to acquire the Star Tribune, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

— From news service reports

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