Earns-Discover Financial
In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, file photo, a Discover logo is adhered to a window at the entrance of a shop in Cambridge, Mass. Discover topped peers in a J.D. Power credit-card customer satisfaction ranking, ousting American Express from the No. 1 spot for the first time in the survey's nine years.
(Steven Senne, Associated Press)
Stock market news:
Stock futures are falling and global markets are awash with red. Dow Jones futures are behind 116 points, Nasdaq futures are down 29.25 points and S&P 500 futures are declining 12.75 points. (CNN Money)
Asian shares slumped today, led lower by Shanghai as concerns about the health of China's economy battered confidence and after unexpectedly bearish minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve. (AFP News)
U.S. crude oil prices fell to almost $40 a barrel today, their lowest since the global financial crisis of 2009, as supplies rose in North America and the Middle East, filling stockpiles to record levels. (Reuters)
U.S. business news:
Discover topped peers in a J.D. Power credit-card customer satisfaction ranking, ousting American Express from the No. 1 spot for the first time in the survey's nine years. (Bloomberg News)
Sears Holdings' revenue slid 22 percent in its second quarter, though profitability improved at its domestic stores and Kmart division. (Dow Jones Business News)
The owners of the Weather Channel have hired the banks Morgan Stanley and PJT Partners to explore a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg News)
Three California law firms are seeking an injunction to stop retail chain Costco selling prawns unless they are labeled as the produce of slavery. (The Guardian)
The smallest oil lease sale ever in the western Gulf of Mexico and one of the smallest in the entire Gulf brought only five bidders Wednesday, with low oil prices limiting interest in the prospects. (Associated Press)
Technology news:
Google says data has been wiped from discs at one of its data centers in Belgium - after the local power grid was struck by lightning four times. (BBC News)
In just over a year, ad blocking has grown 41 percent, and so far this year ad blocking has cost the ad industry $21.8 billion. (Adweek)
Sony has revealed the SmartBand 2, a new version of its original fitness tracker that brings a much-needed heart rate monitor. (Engadget)
China's Youku Tudou, which runs an online video site similar to YouTube, has never turned a profit since listing on the Nasdaq in 2011, and sank even deeper into the red in the second quarter, during which net losses widened 106 percent. (Barron's)
World business news:
Greece made a crucial 3.2 billion euro debt repayment today using newly released bailout funds, a government source said, as a senior minister argued for rapid elections following a rebellion in the ruling party. (Reuters)
Kazakhstan's under-pressure tenge lost more than a quarter of its value today after the oil-producing central Asian nation, hit by a sharp fall in world crude prices, introduced a freely floating exchange rate for the currency. (Reuters)
The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it had extended by nine months the scheduled revision of its elite currencies basket, giving more time for adjustment to the potential inclusion of China's yuan. (AFP News)
Canadian Solar, caught in the downdraft that has hit solar industry stocks, is reconsidering its move to spin off a publicly traded "yieldco" that would hold a portfolio of its solar farm assets. (The Globe and Mail)