Stocks drop Thursday
NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Stocks slipped Thursday in New York despite a drop in first-time unemployment benefit claims.
First-time claims dropped by 29,000 to 343,000, the lowest level since early October and close to a multiyear low.
Unemployment is currently at 7.7 percent.
Stocks turned lower, anyway. Among blue-chip stock, Merck & Co. shares fell 2.34 percent, while Boeing shares dropped 1.1 percent. Microsoft Corp. gave up 0.79 percent, while Intel slipped 0.65 percent.
In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 74.04 points or 0.56 percent to 13,171.41.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index shed 25.46 points or 0.84 percent to 2,988.35. The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 10.59 points or 0.74 percent to 1,418.13.
The 10-year treasury note fell 5/32 to yield 1.72 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3074 from Wednesday's $1.3074. The dollar rose to 83.52 yen from 83.27 yen.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.68 percent, 161.27 points, to 9,742.73.
Britain's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.27 percent, 16.24 points, to 5,929.61.
Eurozone leaders pleased with deal
BRUSSELS, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- French, Greek and German leaders praised the new bank supervision agreement for the eurozone reached in Brussels.
The agreement, which requires approval by the European Parliament and by national parliaments would be implemented in 2014 and sets up the European Central Bank as the regulator of up to 200 of the eurozone's largest banks.
Individual countries would regulate the smaller banks, The New York Times reported Thursday.
"Europe and the euro area are providing proof that they are able to meet the challenges they face," said French President Francois Hollande in a statement.
"Today is not only a new day for Greece, it is indeed a new day for Europe," said Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who had another reason to be pleased, as approval was granted for $65 billion in bailout relief for Athens.
"The sacrifices of the Greek people have not been in vain," Samaras said.
The regulatory accord "marks an important step towards a stable economic and monetary union, and toward further European integration," said ECB President Mario Draghi.
Leaders said the agreement would allow the ECB to stretch beyond the 100-200 bank target and claim jurisdiction over any bank in the eurozone, the Times said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the critical issue was separation of regulatory responsibilities and setting monetary policy. "We succeeded in securing Germany's key demands," Merkel said in Berlin.
The distinction between oversight and monetary policy included a "clear separation," she said.
Foreclosure activity dropped in November
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. foreclosure data from November suggests the housing market has come through the worst of the foreclosure crisis, a RealtyTrac executive said.
The data is uneven, but the 180,817 properties involved in foreclosures in November was a decrease of 3 percent from the previous month and 19 percent from November 2011, making it the 26th consecutive month with an annual decline in foreclosure activity, RealtyTrac said in a statement.
Moreover, November included a 71-month low in foreclosure starts, the firm said.
That presents "more evidence that we are past the worst of the foreclosure problem brought about by the housing bubble bursting six years ago," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
While some signs are encouraging, "foreclosures are continuing to hobble the U.S. housing market as lenders finally seize properties that started the process a year or two ago -- and much longer in some cases," he said.
Foreclosure starts were down 13 percent from October and 28 percent from November 2011, but foreclosure activity increased in 23 states and the District of Colombia. Nine states hit 12-month highs in foreclosure activity in the month, RealtyTrac said.
The highest foreclosure rate in the country was in Florida followed by Nevada, Illinois, California and South Carolina.
In Florida one in every 304 homes was involved in foreclosure in the month.
Data also shows that the foreclosure cycle is still caught up in the robo-signing scandal that derailed foreclosures in states that require foreclosures undergo a judicial review.
Several major banks halted foreclosure activities in judicial review states until the Department of Justice and five banks, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Ally/GMAC, agreed to a $26 billion settlement to close an investigation of banks rushing the process through so-called "foreclosure mills," that cheated homeowners of due process.
In states that require courts to sign off on foreclosures, the backlog is still working its way through the system. As such, among the five banks involved in the deal foreclosure activity in non-judicial states decreased 41 percent in November compared to November 2011.
In states that do require judicial reviews, foreclosure activity for the five banks rose 26 percent from November 2011, RealtyTrac said.
Survey: Bad hires are costly
CHICAGO, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Nearly a quarter of U.S. employers in a survey indicated a bad hiring decision had cost the company more than $50,000, CareerBuilder said Thursday.
Forty-one percent indicated a bad hiring decision had costs more than $25,000 and 69 percent of employers indicated a bad hire had a negative impact on the company in 2012.
The costs of a bad hire include a drop in productivity, time and money lost recruiting and training a replacement, problems with morale and a negative impact on clients, CareerBuilder said.
Bad hires reveal themselves through poor quality work, incompatibility with co-workers, negative attitudes and attendance problems that reveal themselves soon after hiring, CareerBuilder said.
The survey involved 2,494 survey responses from Aug. 13 through Sept. 6. The results of the survey have a margin of error of plus and minus 1.96 percentage point one can say with 94 percent probability, said Harris Interactive, which conducted the survey on behalf of CareerBuilder.
