U.S. markets end three-day rally
NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday as debt issues in Europe continue to cast a pall over markets.
Investors ignored a vote in Finland that approved changes to the region's bailout fund that is currently associated with troubles in Greece. Ten of 17 eurozone member states have approved the changes agreed to in Brussels in July. A final ratification vote on the proposals may be more than two weeks away, The New York Times reported.
The Commerce Department weighed on markets with a report that said durable goods orders fell slightly in August.
Orders fell just 0.1 percent, but the biggest decline came in primary metals, which indicates manufacturers believe future orders will also be slack.
After rising for three consecutive trading sessions, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 179.79 points, 1.07 percent, to 11,198.33 in mid-afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 24.32 points, 2.07 percent, to 1,151.06. The Nasdaq composite index gave up 55.25 points, 2.17 percent, to 2,491.58.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 506 stocks advanced and 2,555 declined on a volume of 4.1 billion shares traded.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 8/32 to yield 1.999 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3549 from Tuesday's $1.3589. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 76.54 yen from Tuesday's 76.81 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was flat, rising 0.07 percent, 5.70 points, to 8,615.65.
In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 1.44 percent, 76.42, to 5,217.63.
Finland lines up behind bailout
HELSINKI, Finland, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A tenth eurozone country, Finland, has said yes to the expanded bailout program that is most critically at present focused on keeping Greece from default.
Changes in the $600 billion European Financial Stability Facility that were agreed to in July have now been ratified in 10 of the 17 eurozone countries in a parliament-by-parliament procession that has dragged along for three months despite the volatile reaction among investors who seem to react headline by headline.
Finland's parliamentary ministers approved the changes in a 103-66 vote with 30 ministers absent, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Finland has been the country most vocal about demanding collateral from Greece, but Finnish leaders were able to persuade members of Parliament the issues were separate, the Times said. This paved the way for Wednesday's vote.
The German Parliament is expected to vote Thursday. Austria has scheduled its vote for Friday. After that, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia are to vote on the issue.
Slovakia is expected to vote after mid-October, the deadline set by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Slovakia is also said to present the stiffest opposition to the proposal that can be derailed by a rejection by just one country.
There is resentment in Slovakia at having to bail out Greece, which is wealthier than Slovakia, the Times said.
Barroso said in his annual State of the Union address at the European Parliament the financial crisis was "the greatest challenge our union has known in all its history."
"If we don't move forward with more integration, we will suffer more fragmentation. This will be a baptism of fire for a whole generation," he said.
Barroso also said the commission was accelerating a study on issuing region-wide bonds. In addition, a proposal for a financial transaction tax was in the works, he said, although support for that is split with Britain and Sweden opposed and France and Germany favoring the idea, the newspaper said.
Amazon unveils challenge to iPad 2
NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet giant Amazon.com Wednesday it was gearing up for a launch of a tablet computer that undercuts the price of Apple's iPad by a wide margin.
With the most popular tablet computer on the market miles ahead of the competition, Apple has been able to ward off other threats to its tablet market share before.
Amazon, however, is getting ready for a huge launch of the Kindle Fire, which is like a turbo-charged, 7-inch color screen Kindle e-reader, which was sold as a reading platform.
The Kindle Fire would also have access to Amazon's 18 million songs, books and movies, but it would be priced at $199, as opposed to the iPad, which starts at $499, The New York Times reported.
Amazon founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bezos said in at a press event in New York City that Amazon, which quickly ran out of the first Kindle readers when they were introduced, was "making many millions of these," referring to the Kindle Fire.
The device will be able to run Android applications, which makes it compatible with Google's operating system, which is used in a variety of mobile devices.
The Kindle Fire also has no end of marketing arrangements, given Amazon is a retailer, not primarily a manufacturer.
Bezos said, "We're building premium products at non-premium prices. We are determined to do that."
Amazon said it would accept pre-orders for the Kindle Fire immediately. They would be ready for shipping Nov. 15, the company said.
Lawsuit filed over obese worker's firing
HOUSTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A U.S. worker fired because of his obesity was terminated illegally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says in court papers.
BAE Systems, which manufactures vehicles for the military, fired material handler Ronald Kratz II in October 2009 after noting that he was having trouble walking from the parking lot to the plant, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
At the time, he weighed 600 pounds, the newspaper said.
Kratz had been working at the plant for 15 years before he was fired. In 2008 and 2009, his work performance was rated as "very good" in annual evaluations, court papers said.
The lawsuit also says Kratz was not offered "reasonable accommodation," which is a broad term that relates to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding reasonable changes in a job to allow a worker to maintain a position.
BAE said it would comment on the case "at the appropriate time and manner."
EEOC attorney Kathy Boutchee said the company noted that Kratz was having trouble bending and stooping, but his job did not require he do those activities, as he sorted parts at a raised platform.
Nevertheless, he was told that, "the company had reached the conclusion that he could no longer perform his job duties because of his weight and he was therefore terminated," the lawsuit said.
