Bank of America cuts 1,200 mortgage jobs
Bank of America Corp. has slashed 1,200 jobs in its mortgage division as the company's refinancing business slows amid rising interest rates. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank made the cuts this week, a bank representative said. The jobs are scattered around the country, including some in California, but the bank declined to elaborate. The nation's banks have experienced a sharp slowdown in once-booming profits from refinancing as mortgage rates have climbed from their historic lows while the housing market has healed.
Icahn wants bigger stock buyback from Apple
Carl Icahn, the billionaire activist investor who has made a career of pushing companies to make changes to boost shares, published a letter to Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook urging the company's board to increase the size of a stock repurchase. Icahn promised not to tender his shares if Apple agrees to his proposal to implement a $150 billion repurchase, he said in the open letter that he posted on his website. The investor said he has increased his holdings in the company to 4.7 million shares worth $2.5 billion from 3.4 million shares in August, and added that he intends to buy more of the stock that he said is undervalued. "Our criticism relates to one thing only: the size and time frame of Apple's buyback program," Icahn said in the letter. "It is obvious to us that it should be much bigger and immediate." Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple, declined to comment.
Jobless claims decline less than expected
More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as California continued to work through a backlog. Jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 350,000 in the week ended Saturday from a revised 362,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 340,000. Applications in California remained elevated and analysts weren't able to determine how many nonfederal workers filed due to the government shutdown, a Labor Department spokesman said. Firings may gradually diminish as the end to the shutdown prompts companies to call back staff.
Trade deficit held nearly steady in August
The trade deficit in the U.S. was little changed in August as imports and exports stalled, indicating a loss of momentum in global economic growth. The gap increased 0.4 percent to $38.8 billion from a revised $38.6 billion in July that was smaller than previously reported, the Commerce Department reported. The median forecast in a survey of 71 economists called for a $39.4 billion deficit. Overseas economies that are struggling to gain traction and fiscal gridlock in the U.S. are probably holding back consumer spending, slowing imports.
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