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This is peak investing: Stocks, bonds and concerns are up
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are at peak levels. Bonds are making money despite a raft of predictions to the contrary at the start of the year. Even stock markets overseas, notoriously poor investments for much of the last decade, are perking higher. If it feels precarious to have so many investments doing so well, even when the economy itself is still growing only modestly, markets are giving few indications of worry. But contrarians are feeling more reasons to pause.
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Snacks with added fiber a part of Nutrition Facts delay
NEW YORK (AP) - Snack bars, cereals and brownies with added fiber may not appear as filling under a new labeling rule. A little-discussed aspect of the revamped Nutrition Facts panel, which was postponed this week, is that it could change what ingredients products like Fiber One bars can count as dietary fiber. The unsettled details are partly why the industry has called for delaying the deadline to use the new panel.
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Facebook deploys AI to fight terrorism on its network
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Facebook says it is using artificial intelligence to help it combat terrorists’ use of its platform. The company’s announcement comes as it is facing growing pressure from government leaders to identify and prevent the spread of content from terrorist groups on its massive social network.
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White House without a plan to address debt ceiling
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House budget director says the Trump administration lacks a unified plan to increase the government’s borrowing cap as a September deadline is drawing near. Mick Mulvaney suggested in an interview Thursday with reporters that neither the administration nor Capitol Hill lawmakers have set their terms for an agreement. A failure by Congress to raise the debt ceiling could possibly send dangerous shockwaves through the global economy.
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Rape victim sues Uber, says execs portrayed her as a liar
DETROIT (AP) - A woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India is suing the company for a second time, alleging that Uber executives got her private medical records and made false statements claiming she fabricated the attack. The lawsuit filed Thursday in a California federal court seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the woman. The allegations compound a long string of image problems for the ride-hailing company.
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Nike to slash 1,400 jobs, cut sneaker styles in shakeup
NEW YORK (AP) - Nike says it plans to slash about 1,400 jobs, reduce the number of sneaker and clothing styles it offers by a quarter and sell more shoes directly to customers online. The company says the changes to its business structure will help it offer more products to customers faster.
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FDA approves new, cheaper rival to EpiPen allergy shot
U.S. regulators have approved new competition for EpiPen, the emergency allergy medicine that made Mylan a poster child for pharmaceutical greed. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s product, which should go on sale later this year at a much lower price than EpiPen.
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Nevada forces drug makers to reveal insulin pricing, profits
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada now has the nation’s strictest rules requiring pharmaceutical companies to reveal how they set certain prescription drug prices. The bill Gov. Brian Sandoval signed on Thursday is sharply focused in insulin - one of many life-sustaining prescription treatments sold in America at prices that have skyrocketed in the last decade.
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Skidding tech and retail companies take US stocks lower
NEW YORK (AP) - US stocks take modest losses as technology companies, retailers and smaller companies lose ground. Big dividend payers like real estate and utility companies rise along with industrial companies.
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Agencies slow methane rules opposed by oil, gas industry
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration is delaying two Obama-era regulations aimed at restricting harmful methane emissions from oil and gas production. The Environmental Protection Agency says it is seeking a two-year delay for oil and gas companies to follow a new rule requiring them to monitor and reduce methane leaks from their facilities. Meanwhile, the Interior Department is indefinitely postponing a separate regulation intended to reduce methane released from oil and gas wells on federal lands.
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Researcher finds Georgia voter records exposed on internet
HOUSTON (AP) - A researcher found a gaping network security hole at the outfit that manages Georgia’s elections that may have been left unpatched for seven months. That has left the state’s 6.7 million voter records and other sensitive files exposed to hackers. Word of the extent of the vulnerability comes just days before a June 20 congressional runoff election. The state has been fiercely criticized by computer security experts for its complete reliance on voting machines that leave no paper trail.
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The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 5.46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,432.46. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 14.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,359.90. The Nasdaq composite dropped 29.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,165.50.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell another 27 cents to $44.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 8 cents to $46.92 a barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline remained at $1.44 a gallon. Heating oil stayed at $1.42 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 12 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $3.06 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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