The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 08, 2018, Image 8
E3 BUSINESS Jeff Gill | Business reporter 770-718-3408 | jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Saturday, December 8, 2018 Hiring pullback could signal slow growth Potential economy drop contributes to sharp dip in stocks; Dow down 560 points BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press WASHINGTON — U S. job growth declined modestly in November, a move that could sig nal a slower but still steady pace of hiring and growth next year. The potential for a more anemic economy contributed to a sharp drop in the stock market Friday, sending the Dow Jones average down 560 points, or 2.2 percent, by market close. Yet most economists said last month’s job gain of 155,000 is more sustainable than some of the larger increases posted earlier this year. And hiring at last month’s pace would make it easier for the Fed eral Reserve to slow its interest rate increases, which investors worry are weighing on the economy. “This is the new Goldilocks,” said Josh Wright, chief economist at iCIMS, a recruiting software company. “Still strong-enough job growth, but a more cautious Fed.” The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 percent, a nearly five-decade low, for the third straight month, the Labor Department said Friday in its monthly jobs report. Still, the panicky financial mar kets illustrate how the views of Wall Street and most of the rest of the U.S. can differ. For most Americans, jobs and incomes are the most important economic measures. Average hourly earnings increased 3.1% in November from a year earlier, Friday’s report said, only the sec ond time they have climbed that much since the recession ended nine years ago. That’s boosting consumer confi dence to nearly 18-year highs, spur ring more spending, and bolstering winter holiday shopping. Ameri cans lifted their spending in Octo ber by the most in seven months. “We’re still a little surprised to see such a growing panic in mar kets develop quite so soon given the relatively benign economic backdrop,” Paul Ashworh, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note. Yet for Wall Street, higher pay can crimp corporate profit mar gins. Many large, publicly-traded companies are hit by slower growth in places such as Europe and Japan. They are also more directly affected by tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed on a range of imports. “There is a disconnect between the gloom and doom environ ment in financial markets and real economic conditions,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Conference Board, a research group. Lawyer: Trump resort hired some undocumented workers JULIO CORTEZ I Associated Press Two women who cleaned rooms at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., allegedly used false papers to get hired, and their supervisors knew about it. Women considering lawsuit claiming workplace abuse, discrimination BY BERNARD CONDON Associated Press NEW YORK — Two women who cleaned rooms set aside for President Donald Trump at one of his golf resorts in New Jersey say they used false papers to get hired, their supervisors knew it and that many employees there also lack legal documents. Anibal Romero, a lawyer represent ing Victorina Morales and Sandra Diaz, said Thursday the two used false Social Security and permanent residency docu ments to get jobs at Trump’s golf resort Bedminster, New Jersey. He also said a supervisor hurled racial epithets at the women and threatened them with depor tation to get more work out of them. The two are now considering a law suit against the Trump Organization for workplace abuse and discrimination. One of them, Morales, who says she cleaned Trump’s clothes and toilet and made his bed, is also seeking asylum. “This isn’t a hotel with 300 employees — they were both in charge of cleaning the president’s house,” said Romero, referring to a guest house on the prop erty set aside for Trump. He added that Morales, 47, was repeatedly called a “donkey” and “dog” by a supervisor. The Trump Organization did not answer questions emailed by The Asso ciated Press about the allegations, but said in a statement that it has the high est standards for job applicants. “We have tens of thousands of employees across our properties and have very strict hiring practices,” the company said in an email. “If any employee submitted false documenta tion in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately.” The New York Times first wrote about the two women, noting there is no evidence the Trump Organization knew they did not have legal documents. Both women were described by the Times as finding Trump demanding as an employer, but kind. Morales, who left Guatemala in 1999, says Trump would sometimes give her a $50 or $100 tip. Both said at least two supervisors were aware of their status and helped them evade detection. Their lawyer, Romero, said Morales was hurt by Trump’s comments dis paraging immigrants here illegally as violent criminals. He says that she believes that Trump’s comments may have emboldened a supervisor at the resort to verbally abusing workers, call ing them “stupid illegal immigrants.” Romero said that Morales believes at least a dozen workers at the resort do not have legal documentation to work. Morales, who spoke to the Times directly, told the newspaper that she understood that she could be fired and deported but felt she had to speak out. Romero said that the other worker, Diaz, 46, has legal permanent resi dency. He said she left the Trump club in 2013 shortly after Morales was hired. Romero has called for federal and state investigations into the matter. “This toxic environment was designed to intimidate these women, leaving them fearful for their safety and the safety of their families,” he said. Anti-encryption law rushed to pass by Australia parliament BY ROD MCGUIRK AND FRANK BAJAK Associated Press MELBOURNE — A newly enacted law rushed through Australia’s parliament will compel technology companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google to disable encryption protections so police can better pursue terror ists and other criminals. Cybersecurity experts say the law, the first of its kind globally, will instead be a boon to the criminal underworld by undermining the tech nical integrity of the internet, hurting digital security and user privacy. “I think it’s detrimental to Australian and world security,” said Bruce Schneier, a tech security expert affiliated with Harvard Univer sity and IBM. The law is also technically vague and seems contradictory because it doesn’t require sys tematic weaknesses — so-called “backdoors” — to be built in by tech providers. Such back doors are unlikely to remain secret, meaning that hackers and criminals could easily exploit them. Backdoors were central to a 1990s U.S. effort to require manufacturers to install a so-called “Clipper chip “ into communications equip ment so the government could listen in on voice and data transmissions. U.S. law enforcement officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, are again pushing for legisla tion that would somehow give authorities access to secure communications. The Australian bill is seen by many as a beachhead for those efforts because the nation belongs to the “Five Eyes” security alliance with the U.S., Britain, Canada and New Zealand. “There is a lot here that doesn’t make any sense,” Schneier said of the Australian bill. “This is a technological law written by non-tech nologists and it’s not just bad policy. In many ways, I think it’s unworkable.” A leading figure in cryptography, Martin Heilman of Stanford University, said it appears the bill would “facilitate crime by weakening the security of the affected devices.” The law won final legislative approval late Thursday, parliament’s final session of the year. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was urgently needed. “This was very important legislation to give police and security agencies the ability to get into encrypted communications,” he told Nine Network television. “Things like WhatsApp, things like that which are used by terrorists and organized criminals and indeed pedophile rings to do their evil work.” He noted that the opposition Labor Party “had to be dragged to the table” and backed the legislation as an emergency measure out of concern extremists could target Christmas-New Year crowds. Stock Exchange Highlights ■ NYSE 11,941.94 -202.48 V Nasdaq W 6,969.25 -219.01 Gainers ($2 or more) Gainers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Name Last Chg %Chg GlbShip pfB21.74 AuroraC n 5.75 Diebold 3.10 Navios pfG 4.28 NavMHpfH 4.28 SciApplic 69.40 AlamosGId 3.60 EquusTR 2.17 EvoquaWt n 9.96 OsiskoGI n 7.92 +4.05 +22.9 +.47 +8.9 +.24 +.28 +.28 +4.46 +.23 +.13 +.59 +.47 +8.4 +7.0 +7.0 +6.9 +6.8 +6.4 +6.3 +6.3 Losers (S2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Jupai n 6.01 BigLots 31.00 Maiden prA 8.25 EKodak 3.01 VaiIRsrt 223.25 AtHomGr n 20.41 Movado 33.20 VinceHIg rs 9.50 CooperCo 243.01 Maiden pfC 6.90 -3.05 -33.7 -9.30 -23.1 -2.22 -21.2 -.68 -18.4 -48.52 -17.9 -3.34 -14.1 -5.37 -13.9 -1.41 -12.9 -34.02 -12.3 -.95 -12.1 Most Active ($1 on more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg GenElec 1143564 7.01 -.34 BkofAm 1073911 25.43 -.85 Nabors 846707 3.10 +.04 FordM 421185 8.82 -.20 ChesEng 375867 2.72 AT&T Inc 344455 30.14 -.39 EnCana g 307127 6.43 -.04 Aphria n 298620 5.23 -.31 Twitter 294474 32.83 -.13 WellsFargo 285007 50.26 -.83 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 840 1,960 84 2,884 33 249 4,166,109,163 Domo B n 20.40 Uxin Ltd n 4.68 Qualstar rs 5.81 CronosGp n 12.72 ProDvrs h rs 2.00 Momenta 14.25 Vivus rs 2.99 SearsH&O 2.34 Si-Bone n 20.29 AmOutBr 14.09 +4.77 +30.5 +.92 +24.5 +1.10 +23.4 +2.27 +21.7 +.34 +20.5 +2.17 +18.0 +.45 +17.7 +.34 +17.0 +2.85 +16.3 +1.88 +15.4 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg 14.88 4.26 2.38 48.73 24.34 UtdNtrIF Akorn Inc AdialPh n Quidel DuluthH n YangRvPt n 8.28 electCore n 5.30 LandsEnd 15.08 EveloBio n 9.14 ApollEnd rs 4.01 -4.85 -1.33 -.62 12.59 -6.03 -1.71 -1.05 -2.85 -1.67 -.70 -24.6 -23.8 -20.7 -20.5 -19.9 -17.1 -16.5 -15.9 -15.4 -14.9 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AMD 1055114 CronosGp n554061 Microsoft 443902 Apple Inc 416725 Cisco 379813 Intel 330548 SiriusXM 307848 MicronT 305999 Akorn Inc 265438 Facebook 205630 19.46 -1.84 12.72 +2.27 104.82 -4.37 168.49 -6.23 46.44 -1.95 46.24 -2.13 6.22 -.13 35.31 -2.36 4.26 -1.33 137.42 -2.21 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 795 2,131 142 3,068 17 257 2,424,056,188 Stocks of Local Interest YTD Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg AFLAC S 1.04 2.4 13 43.25 o o o CO Hershey 2.89 2.7 23 107.14 -1.00 -5.6 AT&T Inc 2.00 6.6 6 30.14 -.39 -22.5 HomeDp 4.12 2.4 19 172.79 -3.17 -8.8 AbbottLab 1.12 1.6 30 69.95 -1.59 +22.6 Intel 1.20 2.6 17 46.24 -2.13 +.2 AMD 19.46 -1.84 +89.3 IBM 6.28 5.3 9 119.34 -4.57 -22.2 Akorn Inc 4.26 -1.33 -86.8 JohnJn 3.60 2.5 20 145.43 -.48 +4.1 Altria 3.20 5.9 17 54.18 -.22 -24.1 Kinross g 22 2.85 +.03 -34.0 Aphria n 5.23 -.31 -57.3 Lowes 1.92 2.1 20 89.40 -1.55 -3.8 Apple Inc 2.92 1.7 17 168.49 -6.23 -.4 MarathnO .20 1.2 16.05 -.17 -5.2 ATMOS 1.94 2.0 18 98.79 +.24 +15.0 McDnlds 4.64 2.5 28 182.96 -2.49 +6.3 AuroraC n 5.75 +.47 -23.2 Merck 2.20 2.9 29 76.72 -1.65 +36.3 AutoZone 17 870.16 +1.48 +22.3 MicronT 3 35.31 -2.36 -14.1 AveryD 2.26 2.5 26 91.97 -1.88 -19.9 Microsoft 1.84 1.8 43 104.82 -4.37 +22.5 BB&T Cp 1.62 3.4 14 47.66 -.48 -4.1 Nabors .24 7.7 3.10 +.04 -54.6 BP PLC 2.38 6.0 12 39.51 -.08 -6.0 NorflkSo 3.20 2.0 24 156.99 -5.20 +8.3 BkofAm .60 2.4 12 25.43 -.85 -13.9 OfficeDpt .10 3.4 8 2.94 -.18 -16.9 BarnesNob .60 8.8 6.80 -.02 +1.5 Oracle .76 1.7 49 46.00 -.68 -2.7 Boeing 6.84 2.1 30 323.22 -8.68 +9.6 Penney 1.39 ... -56.0 BrMySq 1.64 3.1 53 53.08 -.17 -13.4 PepsiCo 3.71 3.2 33 115.82 -1.02 -3.4 CSX .88 1.3 10 68.03 -1.79 +23.7 Pfizer 1.36 3.1 18 43.92 -1.06 +21.3 CampSp 1.40 3.7 14 37.77 -.45 -21.5 PhilipMor 4.56 5.4 21 84.56 -.73 -20.0 Caterpillar 3.44 2.8 12 123.55 -4.82 -21.6 Primerica 1.00 1.0 13 105.26 -3.69 +3.7 ChesEng 4 2.72 ... -31.3 ProctGam 2.87 3.1 23 92.45 -1.10 +.6 Chevron 4.48 3.9 24 115.49 -.42 -7.7 RegionsFn .56 3.8 13 14.90 -.40 -13.8 Cisco 1.32 2.8 23 46.44 -1.95 +21.3 SiriusXM .05 .8 35 6.22 -.13 +16.0 Citigroup 1.80 3.1 10 58.35 -1.71 -21.6 SouthnCo 2.40 5.1 22 46.98 +.46 -2.3 CocaCola 1.56 3.2 93 49.09 -.29 +7.0 SunTrst 2.00 3.5 10 56.94 -1.50 -11.8 ConAgra .85 2.8 15 30.84 -.78 -18.1 SynovusFn 1.00 2.9 12 34.90 +.12 -27.2 CronosGp n ... 12.72 +2.27 +66.9 3M Co 5.44 2.7 27 198.24 -4.44 -15.8 Cummins 4.56 3.3 39 138.60 -3.69 -21.5 Torchmark .64 .8 6 80.25 -.75 -11.5 Disney 1.76 1.6 15 111.98 -1.47 +4.2 Transocn 8.30 -.44 -22.3 DowDuPnt 1.52 2.8 17 53.75 -2.17 -24.5 Twitter 32.83 -.13 +36.7 EnCanag .06 .9 11 6.43 -.04 -51.8 Tyson 1.20 2.1 10 56.21 -1.69 -30.7 ENSCO .04 .8 5.11 -.04 -13.5 UtdCmBks .64 2.7 14 23.84 -.07 -15.3 Equifax 1.56 1.6 17 99.36 -.96 -15.7 UPS B 3.64 3.5 18 105.32 -2.72 -11.6 ExxonMbl 3.28 4.2 14 77.64 -.75 -7.2 VerizonCm 2.41 4.2 7 57.68 -.40 +9.0 FordM .60 6.8 5 8.82 -.20 -29.4 Vodafone 1.74 8.5 20.48 -.27 -35.8 GenElec .48 6.8 7.01 -.34 -59.9 WalMart 2.08 2.2 54 93.19 -1.58 -5.6 GenuPrt 2.88 2.9 21 99.54 -1.51 +4.8 Weathflntl .52 -.01 -87.6 HP Inc .64 2.8 7 22.93 -1.09 +9.1 WeisMk 1.24 2.7 11 45.90 +.27 +10.9 Haverty .72 3.6 20 19.82 -.25 -12.5 WellsFargo 1.72 3.4 12 50.26 -.83 -17.2 HeliosM rs .02 ...-100.0 YumBrnds 1.44 1.6 32 90.43 -1.07 +10.8 YTD Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 24,388.95 Change: -558.72 (-2.2%) 27,200 26,400 25,600 24,800 26,000 25,120 24,240 *10 DAYS J J A S 0 N D 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 26,951.81 23,344.52 Dow Industrials 24,388.95 -558.72 -2.24 -1.34 +.25 11,623.58 9,757.50 Dow Transportation 9,951.16 -407.54 -3.93 -6.23 -4.34 770.08 647.81 Dow Utilities 753.51 +4.17 +.56 +4.17 -.55 13,637.02 11,820.33 NYSE Composite 11,941.94 -202.48 -1.67 -6.77 -5.55 8,133.30 6,630.67 Nasdaq Composite 6,969.25 -219.01 -3.05 +.95 +1.89 1,309.73 1,118.69 S&P 100 1,167.57 -28.63 -2.39 -1.32 -.28 2,940.91 2,532.69 S&P 500 2,633.08 -62.87 -2.33 -1.52 -.69 2,053.00 1,769.25 S&P MidCap 1,780.94 -36.54 -2.01 -6.29 -5.81 30,560.54 26,293.62 Wilshire 5000 27,143.86 -631.93 -2.28 -2.34 -1.35 1,742.09 1,436.43 Russell 2000 1,448.09 -29.32 -1.98 -5.69 -4.84 Mutual Funds Name Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Pet Load Min Init Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl LB 253,238 244.13 -6.2 +1.8/B +10.0/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 203,888 65.69 -6.2 +1.2/B +9.6/A NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 164,099 92.39 -6.2 +1.8/B +10.1/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxInv LB 129,896 65.66 -6.3 +1.1/B +9.5/B NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxinv FB 128,269 15.62 -5.1 -9.9/B +1.8/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxIns LB 123,279 65.70 -6.2 +1.2/B +9.6/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,738 240.86 -6.2 +1.8/B +10.1/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard InsIdxInsPlus LB 104,731 240.88 -6.2 +1.8/B +10.1/A NL100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxinsPlus FB 95,758 104.52 -5.1 -9.8/B +1.9/B NL100,000,000 Fidelity Contrafund x LG 91,616 11.41 -7.3 +2.3/C +10.7/B NL 0 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 86,606 10.36 +1.5 -1.1/C +2.2/C NL 3,000 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 86,207 70.43 -2.7 +0.4/A +7.2/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.