Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 19 OcTOber 2017
A25
Site of Amazon’s ‘HQ2’ has Dow passes 23,000; US stock indexes soar

much to learn from Seattle By ALEX VEIGA set records on Monday man Sachs accounted for
AP Business Writer and Tuesday. another 40 points of the
By GENE JOHNSON under-construction Rainier A day of modest gains on The Dow closed above 30-company average’s
Associated Press Square tower, which will Wall Street resulted in more 22,000 for the first time on climb.
SEATTLE (AP) — Memo to have room for 3,500 work- milestones for U.S. stocks Aug 2, and since then the Financial stocks led the
the many places vying for ers.
Amazon’s second head- The city has been trans-
quarters: It ain’t all food formed, with new towers
trucks and free bananas. seeming to sprout weekly
For years, much of down- and Amazon’s striking new
town Seattle has been a biospheres due to open
maze of broken streets and next year. Amazon esti-
caution-taped sidewalks. mates its direct spending
Dozens of enormous cranes boosted Seattle’s econo-
tower overhead as double- my by $38 billion from 2010
length dump trucks hauling to 2016. Hotels are thriving
excavated dirt rumble past thanks to visits by friends
pedestrians and bicyclists. and family of Amazon
The crashing and clanging workers, as well as by Ama-
of construction is the city’s zon employees from else-
soundtrack on a perpetual where. The Downtown Se-
loop.Housing prices have attle Association estimates
soared faster than any- $5 billion in construction
where else in America, driv- activity was underway dur-
ing some low- and even ing the summer, with more
middle-income residents than 30,000 residential units
beyond city limits. Traffic is in the works.
frequently unmentionable. Cities across the U.S. and Qudian Inc. CEO Min Luo, left, and CFO Carl Yeung celebrate with a ceremonial bell ringing as
And while Amazon is far Canada are clamoring at their company’s IPO starts trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Oct.
from solely to blame - and the prospect of landing 18, 2017. A day of modest gains on Wall Street resulted in more milestones for U.S. stocks Wednes-
day as the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 23,000 points for the first time.
while lawmakers, econo- Amazon’s second head- (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
mists and many residents quarters - and with it, invest-
say the benefits clearly out- ments topping $5 billion. Wednesday as the Dow best-performing compo- gainers Wednesday. Gold-
weigh any drawbacks - life They have until Thursday to Jones industrial average nents have been Boe- man Sachs picked up
in its hometown is indeed submit their proposals. closed above 23,000 points ing, Caterpillar, Goldman, $5.94, or 2.5 percent, to
one more endeavor the In Seattle, there’s no ques- for the first time. Home Depot and 3M. The $242.03. Insurer Assurant
tech giant has disrupted. tion the company’s growth The Standard & Poor’s 500 Dow is up 3,395 points this climbed $5.94, or 6.2 per-
“Economic growth brings has improved life in many index and Nasdaq com- year, or 17.2 percent. cent, to $101.80.
opportunities, and it brings ways. Unemployment is ex- posite also finished at re- Despite the market’s re- Traders bid up shares in
headaches,” says Marga- tremely low. A large frac- cord highs. cent string of record highs companies that reported
ret O’Mara, a University tion of its workers walk to Technology stocks and fi- and the Dow’s latest mile- quarterly results that beat
of Washington professor the office or rely on pub- nancial companies led stone, stocks can still grind the Street.
who specializes in urban lic transit, and its buildings the gainers as investors higher as long as the econ- Northern Trust shares
history. “That was true in have green roofs, recycled weighed the latest batch of omy continues to expand picked up 3.8 percent af-
1840s Manchester, it was heat, reclaimed lumber company earnings. Strong and companies grow rev- ter the bank’s earnings and
true in 1890s Pittsburgh, and other sustainability quarterly results drove IBM enue, said Quincy Krosby, revenue beat analysts’ es-
and it’s true with Seattle in features. It opened plazas shares to their biggest one- chief market strategist at timates. The bank also said
the 20-teens. ... It’s on both where it hosts farmers mar- day gain since 2009. Those Prudential Financial. it plans to cut $250 million in
cities and the tech compa- kets, concerts and, yes, ba- gains accounted for much “Overall, the underpinning annual spending by 2020.
nies to figure out the way nana stands - Amazon has of the 30-company Dow’s for the market is solid,” The stock added $3.48 to
to handle these things.” given away 2.7 million ba- record high. Krosby said. “You have $94.58.
Amazon opened its head- nanas and counting. “For us it’s just another in- global growth picking up Investors also sized up cor-
quarters in a previously Terrific restaurants, cafes dication that it is a strong the way it has over the last porate deals and other
sleepy warehouse district and food trucks have pro- market here, year-to- quarter, it’s an indication developments making the
known as South Lake Union liferated, with lines of Ama- date,” said Paul Spring- that demand is picking up news Wednesday.
in 2010, foregoing what it zon workers - recognizable meyer, investment man- as well and it’s why you Anthem, the second-
says would have been the by their badges or by their aging director for US Bank have global markets doing largest U.S. health insurer,
cheaper option of build- dogs, welcome at work - Private Wealth Manage- well.” rose 2.4 percent after an-
ing in the suburbs, where its outside. ment. “To have the Dow Investors continued to size nouncing that it’s entered
workers might have been That said, not everyone up over 17 percent is a up the latest raft of com- a prescription benefits
less connected to the city. can afford to enjoy such very, very strong year.” pany earnings Wednes- management deal with
Since then, it has expanded amenities. Robby Stern, All told, the Dow picked up day. CVS. Anthem shares add-
from a workforce of about president of Puget Sound 160.16 points, or 0.7 per- IBM jumped 8.9 percent ed $4.53 to $191.79. CVS
5,000 to more than 40,000 Advocates for Retirement cent, to 23,157.60. after the technology and rose $1.47, or 2 percent, to
in 33 buildings here. It sur- Action, which advocates The S&P 500 index rose consulting company de- $74.10.
passed the university as the for seniors, said rising hous- 1.90 points, or 0.1 percent, livered strong quarterly re- The Nielsen company
city’s biggest employer, ing costs have forced two to 2,561.26. The Nasdaq sults. The gain was the big- climbed 4.2 percent after
and it’s still growing apace. of his organization’s board added 0.56 points, or 0.01 gest one-day jump for IBM the long-time tracker of TV
Even as it announced plans members from the city. The percent, to 6,624.22. The since January 2009. Even viewership said it now has
for a second headquarters Seattle Times reported in Russell 2000 index of small- so, the stock remains down a way to collect details
location, the company September that the me- er-company stocks gained 3.9 percent for the year. on the number of people
said it would lease the en- dian house price in the city 7.65 points, or 0.5 percent, IBM’s gain was responsible who watch programs on
tirety of Seattle’s second- was $730,000 - double what to 1,505.14. for 89 points of the Dow’s streaming video services
largest skyscraper, the still- it was five years ago.q The S&P 500 and Dow also increase. Gains by Gold- like Netflix and Amazon.q