BUSINESS BRIEFS
Stocks continued to fall Monday as Turkey’s central bank was unable to stop another plunge in the nation’s currency.
Banks and energy companies fell the most. JPMorgan Chase gave up 1.6 percent and Exxon Mobil fell 1.1 percent. European and Asian markets also fell.
Stocks are coming off their worst losses in a month as investors worry the financial upheaval in Turkey might spread. Turkey has resisted raising interest rates, which many see as necessary for shoring up the lira.
The S&P 500 fell 11 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,821. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 125 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,187. The Nasdaq fell 19 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,819.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10year Treasury fell to 2.87 percent.
VF, following millions of consumers, will shed its denim
The clothing company that makes Wrangler and Lee jeans is breaking off its denim division to focus on its fastgrowing outdoor and activewear business. The major shift at VF Corp. is happening as Americans swap out jeans for yoga pants. That trend has fueled growth at Lululemon, Under Armour and Nike. Retailers like The Gap and Target have hopped aboard. Even traditional jeans makers have added stretch to their denim to catch up.
The change in what people wear is playing out every quarter at VF, which announced the split Monday. In the most recent quarter, revenue from activewear surged 25 percent and outdoor revenue rose 6 percent. Revenue from denim increased 3 percent.
The company said Monday that it expects the tax-free spin-off of its denim business to generate annual revenue of $2.5 billion.
Musk says he’s talking with Saudi fund to take Tesla private
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund would be the main source of money for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s grand plan to take the company private, but the deal isn’t done yet, Musk disclosed in a blog post Monday.
The fund approached Musk about going private multiple times during the past two years, and Musk says he left a July 31 meeting with no question that the deal could be closed. That’s why he tweeted on Aug. 7 that the funding had been secured, Musk wrote. The fund itself has not publicly commented on the possibility of a deal.
Under the proposal, only investors who don’t want to remain with a private company would be paid and funding for the deal would come from Tesla stock, not debt. Musk wrote that he expects about one-third of shareholders to take an offer of $420 per share, making the buyouts worth roughly $23.6 billion.
California fires may make homeowners insurance harder to get
California homeowners may have a harder time finding and holding on to insurance even if they weren’t hit by this year’s wildfires. The California Department of Insurance had already warned this year that the increasing number and severity of wildfires were making it harder to get and keep homeowners insurance.
Now it says this year’s brutal wildfires may make it worse.
California Insurance Commissioner David Jones said he expects more insurance companies not to renew policies or stop writing homeowner policies in high-risk areas. He also anticipates rate increases and for areas to be reclassified as high risk.
Jones said it’s not at a crisis point yet, but “you can see where the trends are going.”
Warren Buffett’s investing continues to evolve even at 87
Warren Buffett is still finding new places to invest decades after he started, even though his basic approach of finding businesses selling for less than they are worth hasn’t changed much.
Buffett resisted investing in tech companies for years because he didn’t think he could pick which ones would be enduring winners. Now, his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate is a major Apple shareholder because he views Apple as a consumer products company with loyal customers.
Berkshire could reveal some more surprises when the Omaha, Nebraskabased company details its stock holdings in a quarterly securities filing that is expected to be made on Tuesday.
— From wire reports