Stocks advanced Thursday as investors seemed to focus more on some big-name earnings beats and a rise in leading indicators instead of a disappointing jobless report. Travelers and MMM led the Dow.

Stocks advanced Thursday as investors seemed to focus more on some big-name earnings beats and a rise in leading indicators instead of a disappointing jobless report.

Stocks slipped Thursday as investors weighed a disappointing jobless-claims report and some encouraging earnings reports.

Earnings continue to come in largely above expectations, but other factors are waylaying the stock market's recent advances - ranging from Walmart's price cuts to analyst Richard Bove's downgrade of Wells Fargo to rising oil prices. 

With emissions rules looking inevitable, companies are taking steps to prepare for a number of different  government  scenarios.

Three new stories may offer hope for the class warfare that has run roughshod over our national psyche of late: a Cadbury descendant called Kraft that "American plastic cheese company", Michael Moore's "Capitalism" movie flopped, and the Louvre is opening a McDonald's.

Potato farmers, researchers and industry representatives are in the midst of finding a new spud for McDonald's french fries.

The drive for Dow 10,000 hit a bump in the road Monday as investors took a breather, sending stocks down more than half a percent at the open. Stocks remained lower after a report showed leading indicators rose for a fifth straight month.

Stocks closed higher after faltering for awhile on a Federal Reserve report that the economy will remain weak due largely to unemployment.

Futures indicated a lower open for Wall Street on Wednesday as investors paused ahead of key U.S. data, having pushed markets to 11-month highs the previous day,

McDonald's Corp. said Wednesday sales in established restaurants rose 2.2 percent globally in August, the smallest monthly gain in more than a year.

At this point, stock index futures are pointing to modest gains at the open on Friday, as most markets in both Asia and Europe rose, with investors awaiting more macroeconomic data for clearer near-term market direction.

McDonald's says its same-store sales climbed 4.3 percent in July, as the nation's biggest hamburger chain benefited from budget-conscious consumers during the recession.

The Dow topped 9,000 for the first time since January as investors shrugged off a rise in jobless claims and cheered earnings from Ford and 3M. A third straight rise in existing-home sales also buoyed the market.

The Dow topped 9,000 for the first time since January as investors shrugged off a rise in jobless claims and cheered earnings from Ford and 3M. A third straight rise in existing-home sales also buoyed the market.