Brands Rise

Stocks posted slight gains today on Wall Street. Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and UnitedHealth led the Dow’s advance. Brands moved up amid continued “fiscal cliff” concerns and other economic news. Initial jobless claims decreased. The Labor Department said new claims fell by 23,000 to 393,000 last week. Down from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 416,000, economists had anticipated 390,000 new claims for last week. Meanwhile, real GDP growth hit 2.7% in the third quarter. Up from a 1.3% expansion in the second quarter, this second estimate was an upward revision to the initial measure of 2% growth reported last month. On another note, crude oil futures tacked on $1.58 today, to close at $88.07 a barrel.

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