Closing Bell
Markets closed the week on a down note Friday, closing the day in the red across the board after starting the week on a three-day winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.82%, or 202 points to 24,463, while the Nasdaq dropped 1.27%, or 92 points to 7,146, and the S&P 500 declined 0.85%, or 23 points to 2,670.
Apollo Is Planning to Take Diamond Resorts Public, Report Says
Apollo Global Management is planning to take Diamond Resorts public in the coming months, sources told the Wall Street Journal Friday.
The timeshare resort company has reportedly filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could have its initial public offering as soon as June or July.
Apollo could seek a valuation for the company of around $4 billion and aims to raise more than $500 million in capital during the offering.
Apollo purchased Diamond Resorts for $2.2 billion in 2016.
Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $1 Billion Fine for Risk Management Fraud
Beleaguered bank Wells Fargo (WFC) agreed to pay a $1 billion fine to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency because it failed to prevent fraud and improper charges to consumers in its mortgage and auto-lending business.
The OCC took these actions given the severity of the deficiencies and violations of law, the financial harm to consumers, and the bank's failure to correct the deficiencies and violations in a timely manner," the OCC said in a statement.
The bank charged improper fees for rate-lock extensions in mortgage lending and selling unwanted insurance products to auto-loan customers.
Wells Fargo shares were rising more than 2% Friday morning.
Former SunTrust Employee Attempted to Leak Info of 1.5 Million Clients
SunTrust (STI) says that a former employee may have attempted to download and share the information of 1.5 million clients with a criminal third party.
The information included names and account balances, but not personally identifiable information like social security numbers, account numbers, pins, user IDs, passwords or driver's license numbers.
The bank says that it discovered the attempted download was made six to eight weeks ago. CEO William Rogers said that no significant fraudulent activity has been identified.
SunTrust shares were flat Friday.
GE Jumps on Earnings Beat
General Electric (GE) was having one of its best days before the markets even opened Friday following its quarterly earnings release before the opening bell.
The industrial company reported a net loss of 14 cents per share, wider than last year's loss by a penny. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings of 16 cents per share, topping analyst estimates by four cents.
Revenue for the period rose 7% to $28.66 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $27.6 billion.
TheStreet has further coverage here.
ZTE Protests Penalty Denying U.S. Business
Chinese smartphone handset maker ZTE is protesting a ban on U.S. technology that it says threatens its survival.
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued penalties against the company for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea by exporting telecoms equipment to the two countries.
ZTE is the fourth largest smartphone make among U.S. customers. Last year alone the company doubled its market share to 11.2%, selling 19 million handsets, making the U.S. its largest market, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Premarket
U.S. futures were mixed ahead of the opening bell, indicating a rocky open for markets to end the week.
Dow futures were falling 0.05%, indicating an open 12 points lower, while Nasdaq futures also declined 0.05%, indicating an open 3 points lower. S&P futures were rising 0.06%, indicating an open 2 points higher.
Asian markets had a worrisome session with the Shanghai Composite closing the day down 1.47%, the Hang Seng dropping 0.94% and the Nikkei falling 0.13%.
European markets were mixed with the DAX falling 0.15% and the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 rising 0.43% and 0.42% respectively with about four hours left in trading.
