Closing Bell
The major indices had another mixed day of trading Thursday as the Nasdaq fell further below the 8,000 mark that was set for the first time last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%, or 21 points to 25,995, while the S7P 500 fell 0.36%, or 11 points to 2,878, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.91%, or 72 points to 7,923.
Wells Fargo Under Another Justice Department Investigation
The Justice Department is probing whether employees in Wells Fargo's (WFC) wholesale banking unit improperly altered customer information, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal has previously reported that the company's employees changed customer information on documents, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth.
Shares of Wells Fargo were down 1.7% Thursday.
CBS Jumps on Reports of Possible Les Moonves Exit
Les Moonves' time at the top of CBS Corp. (CBS) could be coming to a close.
The CBS chairman and CEO is engaged in talks with the media company about a potential exit, CNBC reported Thursday, Sept. 6, just weeks after a New Yorker article alleged Moonves engaged in improper sexual encounters with multiple women.
CBS has recruited two law firms to investigate the CEO in order to discover whether further action needs to be taken.
Moonves' current contract pays him as much as $180 million in severance as well as provides him a production deal. CNBC is reporting that the company's board is offering a $100 million exit package in negotiations.
The package, which would be made up mostly of CBS stock, would be paid out if the company decides that the revelations from its investigation warrant the dismissal of Moonves.
CBS shares are up 4.2% Thursday.
Starbucks Exec Howard Schultz Doesn't Rule Out Political Run
Starbucks (SBUX) Chairman Howard Schultz confirmed years of rumors in his final interview as the company's exec Thursday, saying that he is indeed considering running for public office.
Schultz has been linked to a presidential run for years.
"I'm thinking about a lot of things. I said publicly that perhaps one of them will be public office, but there's a lot of things I could do, perhaps to help the American people and help people who are not being served by this administration by not running for president. We'll have to see," Schultz told "CBS This Morning."
Papa John's Is Volatile Following Abrupt Departure of Exec
Shares of Papa John's (PZZA) are basically flat Thursday morning, shooting up shortly following the opening bell before falling back down to earth.
The volatile stock movement comes after company executive Timothy O'Hearn abruptly announced he was retiring effective immediately Wednesday night after more than 20 years at the company.
O'Hearn became a franchisee in 1993 and owns and operates nine in the U.S. O'Hearn will continue to hold on to those franchises.
"We thank Tim for his many contributions to the Company and are pleased that he will remain a franchisee and a member of the Papa John's family," the company said in a statement, adding that it expects a "smooth transition."
Ford Recalls 2 Million Vehicles Over Fire Hazard
Ford (F) has issued a recall for approximately 2 million 2015 - 2018 Ford F-150 Regular Cab and SUperCrew Cab trucks in North America due to a fire hazard that could be caused by front seat belt pretensioners.
Ford found that some of the pretensioners can generate excessive sparks when they deploy, if enough sparks are present, gas exhaust inside the device may ignite and catch fire.
1,995,776 of the vehicles in North America are affected with 1.6 million of those vehicles being in the United States.
Premarket
U.S. futures were showing mostly muted gains ahead of Thursday's opening bell as markets look to bounce back from a mixed day of trading Wednesday.
Dow futures were up 0.07%, indicating an open 19 points higher, while S&P and Nasdaq futures were both basically flat.
Asian markets were once again sharply lower, led by the Hang Seng, which dropped 0.99%, the Nikkei, which declined 0.41%, and the Shanghai Composite, which declined 0.47%.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 was the lone market trading in the red, down 0.19%, while the CAC 40 and DAX rose 0.27% and 0.15% respectively.
