The daily business briefing: April 19, 2016
Dow hits 18,000 for the first time since July, Netflix stock plunges over disappointing earnings, and more


1. Dow closes above 18,000 for the first time in 9 months
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday jumped by more than 100 points to close above 18,000 for the first time since July. Stocks shook off an early decline blamed on a drop in oil prices following the failure of major oil producers to agree to a production freeze on Sunday at a meeting in Qatar. Health care and consumer discretionary stocks were among the big gainers. Global stocks rose early Tuesday as oil stocks shrugged off the bad news from Qatar.
2. Netflix stock tumbles as subscriber growth forecast dims
Netflix shares dropped by more than 12 percent in after-hours trading after the video-streaming service lowered its forecast for international subscriber growth in coming months as it reported quarterly earnings slightly under analysts' forecasts. Revenue was $1.96 billion; analysts had expected $1.97 billion. Netflix stock had already lost 3 percent on Monday after online retail giant Amazon unveiled new monthly Prime and video-only subscriptions, seen as a direct new challenge to Netflix.
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3. UnitedHealth ups its 2016 outlook
UnitedHealth raised its 2016 forecast after an unexpectedly strong first quarter. The biggest U.S. health insurer said it now expects annual adjusted earnings between $7.75 and $7.95 per share — 15 cents more than it predicted in its last outlook, in January. In the first quarter, UnitedHealth posted adjusted earnings of $1.81 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $1.72 a share. UnitedHealth is the first insurer to release earnings, and is considered a bellwether for the sector.
The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal
4. Google wins court fight over book-scanning project
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to Google's effort to scan millions of books into a digital library. The decision effectively ended a decade-long legal fight between Google and authors who called the project a "brazen violation of copyright law." Now that the high court won't weigh in, an October federal appeals court ruling, which favored Google and found that its scanning effort qualified as fair use, will stand.
5. Ben & Jerry's co-founders among 300 arrested in Capitol protest
Ben & Jerry's co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arrested Monday outside the U.S. Capitol during the ongoing Democracy Awakens protests against big money in politics. The ice cream company urged people to join the protests and "come together to fight back against a system that is broken. Because democracy only works when it works for everyone." Capitol police arrested about 300 people for unlawful demonstration. They were processed and released.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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