The daily business briefing: June 9, 2016

(Image credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Dow hits 18,000 as oil prices rise
2. Google working on super-high-speed wireless internet service
3. Obama vetoes attempt to roll back retirement savings rule
4. Russia shows off new mid-range airliner
5. Medical examiner rules McClendon's death was an accident, not suicide

published 9 June 2016

1. Dow hits 18,000 as oil prices rise

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 18,000 on Wednesday, as rising oil prices hit their highest point in nearly a year and helped push all three major stock indexes to their highest levels in months. Mining and machinery companies led the way on the third straight day of gains. Global stocks sank on Thursday, however, as investors sought safer investments and pushed European government bond yields to record lows. Stock futures pointed to a lower open in the U.S.

Google parent Alphabet is working on wirelessly connecting homes to high-speed internet, Chairman Eric Schmidt said at the company's annual shareholder meeting Wednesday. Schmidt said that improvements to computer chips and wireless-signal targeting have made "point-to-point" wireless connections "cheaper than digging up your garden." He said the technology should be capable of 1-gigabit-per-second connections, as fast as Google Fiber service in five U.S. cities.

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President Obama on Wednesday vetoed an effort to undo rules protecting retirement savings with requirements on investment advisers. Obama said the veto, his third this year, will preserve rules ensuring that workers and retirees "receive retirement advice that is in their best interest, better enabling them to protect and grow their savings." Republicans have argued that the rules would make it harder for low- and middle-income Americans to find affordable investment advice.

Russia on Wednesday unveiled a new medium-range passenger plane, the MC-21, it says offers advantages over Western-made counterparts. The twin-engine aircraft, made by Irkut Corporation, will come in two versions offering from 130 to 211 seats. "It is not made of metal, it is made of composite materials," said Vladimir Volkov, vice president of Irkut Corporation. "That allows us to give it a special shape. It is much lighter and stronger." The plane is still undergoing testing. Production is scheduled to start next year.

The Oklahoma medical examiner ruled Wednesday that the high-speed March crash that killed oil executive Aubrey McClendon was an accident. McClendon was killed when he slammed his Chevy Tahoe into an underpass embankment at more than 80 miles per hour a day after his indictment on oil land rig-leasing charges. He had no alcohol in his system, just traces of a common sleep aid. Police said this week their investigation turned up no evidence that McClendon intended to kill himself.

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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.