Weekly Jobs Numbers Surprise Experts; Google Needs Help in Hardware -ICYMI
After the newsroom was done collectively mourning the gentrification-led razing of the Winslows' memorable pad (see below for more details), we got back to the markets, which, for a change, ticked into the red on Thursday.
A sharp selloff in tech stocks and a hawkish Federal Reserve teamed up to drag markets down from recent record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a seven-day record-breaking streak, while the S&P 500 failed to end at all-time highs for the first day in four.
But it wasn't all gloom and doom in the markets on Thursday. Weekly jobless claims in the U.S. saw a sharp decline in the past week, as the increase from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma on claims appeared lower than expected. The number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 23,000, to 259,000, below an expected increase to 300,000.
And then, there was this seemingly mundane decision by Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) - Get Report to invest more than $1 billion in the smartphone division of Taiwan's HTC Corp. While on the surface the deal seems to be a play for Google to gain access to IP and hardware-manufacturing capabilities, TheStreet's Chris Nolter explains that the acquisition is really a play to bring some HTC employees in-house at Google.
For those who aren't familiar with the ways of Silicon Valley, Google's HTC deal is what some in the industry might call an acqui-hire.
The deal also highlights the struggles that Google has had with hardware (see Motorola Mobility acquisition) and may be a sign that the company is admitting it needs some help in its quest to dethrone Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Report and Samsung at the top of the smartphone market.
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Photo of the Day: Days Go By
Remember Urkel? Well, the show was actually called "Family Matters" and it featured the Winslow family and their lovable geeky neighbor Steve Urkel. Though much of the filming was done in Los Angeles, the show was based in Chicago, and featured the Winslow family, which resided in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Bad news: a demolition permit was issued this week for the two-story house at 1516 W. Wrightwood Ave., where so many great memories were had by the Winslows and audiences across the country. "Family Matters" initially aired on ABC (1989 - 1997) and then was acquired by CBS Corp., which squeaked out one more season of the hit show. Today, ABC is currently going through contract negotiations with cable provider Cablevision, and it's possible that many in the tri-state area will be without ABC programming if the two can't come to an agreement by Sept. 30. Read More about the latest troubles at ABC
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