Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 9 November 2017
A25

AT&T ‘uncertain’ Stocks tick upward as video game makers jump
when Time Warner

deal will happen By MARLEY JAY tics,” said Jason Draho, the
By TALI ARBEL AP Markets Writer head of American tacti-
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock
cal asset allocation for UBS
Associated Press indexes finished with small Wealth Management.
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T gains Wednesday as video Trump and Congressional
now says it’s “uncertain” game makers gave tech- Republicans haven’t deliv-
when its $85 billion Time nology companies a boost ered the big infrastructure
Warner purchase will close, and household goods spending bill Trump pro-
making investors worry that companies also rose. How- posed while campaigning,
regulators may try to block ever a recent decline in and it’s not clear if they
it or require significant interest rates continued to will be able to pass a tax
changes to the deal for put pressure on banks. cut that makes a real dif-
approval. “Grand Theft Auto” and ference for the economy.
AT&T had previously main- “NBA2K” maker Take- But Draho said stocks keep
tained that the deal would Two Interactive Software rising because the global
be done by the end of the soared after it reported economy is doing so well.
year. better-than-expected Trader Frank O’Connell, center, works on the floor of the New The economies of the 35
Wall Street analysts had sales, while Activision Bliz- York Stock Exchange. .S. stock indexes finished with small advanced nations in the
widely expected the deal zard jumped after it said gains Wednesday as video game makers gave technology Organization for Economic
to go through. Obama- the newest “Call of Duty” companies a boost and household goods companies also rose. Cooperation and Develop-
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
era regulators in 2011 ap- game had a strong debut The Dow Jones industri- ter many recent presiden- ment are all expected to
proved a similar media over the weekend. Tech- al average gained 6.13 tial elections, although it grow this year, and most
merger, cable company nology companies rose points, or less than 0.1 per- trails the market move af- are gaining steam. Mean-
Comcast’s purchase of for the tenth day in a row. cent, to 23,563.36. The Nas- ter Barack Obama was re- while, Trump hasn’t had a
NBCUniversal, with a slew Companies that make and daq composite rose 21.34 elected in 2012. Investors major effect on internation-
of requirements for Com- sell household goods, like points, or 0.3 percent, to felt stocks would do well al trade agreements, as
cast’s business practices Colgate-Palmolive and 6,789.12. All three closed under a Trump administra- some investors feared.
attached. AT&T and Time Wal-Mart, gained ground at record highs. The Rus- tion, and so far they have, “In some ways it’s worked
Warner are still waiting for as well. Energy companies sell 2000 index of smaller- but there have been some out better than investors
a decision from the Justice declined and banks fell company stocks picked up major surprises. The big- have hoped,” Draho said.
Department, which can again as interest rates have 2.64 points, or 0.2 percent, gest is that stocks in other Technology companies
approve the deal, with or weakened since late Oc- to 1,481.73. regions, including Europe, have climbed almost
without conditions, or sue tober, which makes mort- It’s now been a year since Japan and less developed 40 percent in the last 12
to block it. gages and other loans less Donald Trump was elected countries, have done ever months including Wednes-
Time Warner shares profitable. president in an upset, and better. day’s gains. Take-Two
dropped 4.8 percent to The Standard & Poor’s 500 the S&P 500 has jumped “Investors were right to be jumped after its second-
$90.10 in afternoon trading index rose 3.74 points, or 21 percent. That’s more optimistic post-election, quarter revenue blew past
Wednesday. AT&T stock 0.1 percent, to 2,594.38. than stocks have risen af- but not because of poli- Wall Street’s estimates. q
rose less than 1 percent, to
$33.29.
“We are in active discus- Sears posts decline in 3Q revenue due to closures
sions with the DOJ. Those
are continuing on. I can’t NEW YORK (AP) — Sears obligations for two years, sales declined 17 percent stores after the holidays.
comment on those discus- says it has a deal with the with the exception of a $20 for the same period in 2016. Shares in Sears fell almost 5
sions,” AT&T Inc. CFO John federal pension insurance million payment in the sec- In addition to previously percent in afternoon trad-
Stephens said at a Wednes- agency to release 140 ond quarter of 2018. announced store closings, ing, to $4.76, an all-time
day investor conference. properties from certain The company known for Sears said earlier this month low, and have declined
“But with those discussions, restrictions in exchange DieHard batteries and Ken- it would close 63 addition- about 60 percent in the
I can now say that the tim- for $407 million in pension more appliances has been al namesake and Kmart past year. q
ing of the closing of the contributions, some relief selling assets, most recently
deal is now uncertain.” Per- for once-storied depart- its Craftsman tool brand.
haps complicating matters ment store chain. The Hoff- Sears has said it’s been
now is that the new anti- man Estates, Illinois retailer, hamstrung by the pension
trust head at the Justice which operates Sears and obligations, which prevent-
Department, Makan Del- Kmart stores, says it expects ed the company from sell-
rahim, has said he prefers net losses for the third quar- ing off even more assets to
“structural” changes to a ter to improve by $190 mil- fund operations.
deal, like selling off assets, lion and that it hit its $1.25 Sears said its revenues were
rather than making a com- billion target in cost sav- also dinged by reductions
pany promise it will abide ings for 2017. The company in the number of pharma-
by certain rules and having continues to close under- cies in its Kmart stores, as
the government monitor a performing stores and sell well as cuts to consumer
company’s behavior after assets in an attempt to re- electronics offerings in
a merger. main afloat. Sears expects Kmart and Sears stores.
But AT&T hopes to benefit about $3.7 billion in rev- Total sales in existing stores
from marrying all of Time enue for the third quarter, — a key metric of a re-
Warner’s assets to its own. down from $5 billion a year tailer’s health — declined
It would then supply its vid- ago, mostly due to store more than 15 percent for
eo — HBO, CNN, TBS and closures. It lost more than the quarter, with Kmart
a major American movie $2 billion in 2016. comparable-store sales
studio — while providing After the $407 million con- falling 13 percent from last
access to the internet for tribution is made, Sears said year’s quarter.
millions of Americans.q it will be freed from pension Sears comparable-store