Stocks slip on debt stall

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Stocks slip on debt stall

Stocks fell Monday after Republican and Democratic leaders offered competing proposals to avoid a catastrophic default on the U.S. government’s debt.
If an agreement is not reached by Aug. 2, stocks could fall the way they did during the 2008 financial crisis, analysts say.
Many investors are reluctant to buy stocks because of concerns over the budget impasse in Washington. Trading volume, or the number of shares bought and sold on a given day, has fallen 22 percent in July on the New York Stock Exchange compared with the same month a year ago, according to FactSet.
Wealth gaps at new high
The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data.
The median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks, according to the analysis released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. Those ratios far exceed the low mark of 7 to 1 for both groups reached in 1995.
Airlines grab tax cash
Most U.S. airlines have raised fares to grab the benefit of lower federal taxes on airline tickets.
Several federal taxes on airline tickets expired over the weekend after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running at full speed. Once the taxes expired, airlines began raising fares by an equal amount. On some tickets, the taxes can top 10 percent of the price.
The government estimates that the expiring taxes total $200 million a week.
BlackBerry maker cuts jobs
Faced with tough competition and falling profits, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is cutting 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of the company’s work force, as part of a cost-savings plan announced last month and is shuffling some senior executives.
While RIM’s sale are still growing thanks to BlackBerry adoption overseas, U.S. consumers have moved on to phones with big touchscreens like Apple Inc.’s iPhone and various models that run Google’s Android operating system.

Chinese officials have found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming, and ordered two of them to suspend business while they’re investigated, a local government website said Monday.
Officials couldn’t do anything about the other three stores — which prominently displayed Apple signs and logos — because they did not find any fake Apple products for sale.