August Jobs Report Misses, Amazon Inks Deal, Apple Eyes Fuel Cells

The August jobs report and what it could mean for short term interest rates as the Fed prepares to meet later this month take center stage Friday. U.S. employers added just 173,000 jobs in August. Expectations were for U.S. employers to have created 220,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate moved down to 5.1 percent, better than the 5.2 percent which had been expected. Amazon appears to be moving further into the online video space. The e-commerce giant said it has agreed to buy Elemental Technologies for $500 million. Elemental helps media companies convert video into formats that can be played online and on smartphones. The company will become part of Amazon's web services unit. And, Apple has reportedly applied for a fuel cell patent that could power a MacBook for 'days or even weeks.' The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application for a system that's designed to allow a MacBook to operate without external power. 9 to 5 mac said the patent was published shortly after a British company that was rumored to be working with Apple was able to fit a fuel cell battery into an iPhone 6 that powered the phone for a full week. TheStreet's Ruben Ramirez reports from the Nasdaq Marketsite.