Dow blasts past target not hit since early May

The Dow pulverized the 13,000 mark on Friday, soaring not only through it but finishing 75 points above it.

It was a target the Dow hadn’t hit since early May. It was also a reminder of earlier heydays, before the financial crisis shattered the stock market. It meant the Dow was just an 8 percent rally away from its all-time high reached in October 2007.

And to many professional market watchers, it was just a big yawn.

“We’ve gone up through it before and down through it before,” said an unimpressed Jim Millstein, CEO of the financial advisory firm Millstein & Co. in Washington, D.C. “It’s obviously not insulation against any future volatility.”

Apple buys fingerprint security firm AuthenTec

Seeking to improve its touch technology, security, its patents portfolio or perhaps all of the above, Apple has purchased AuthenTec Inc., a fingerprint-authentication products maker, for $356 million in cash, according to an SEC filing.

The acquisition is the second biggest purchase made by Apple and offers AuthenTec’s stockholders $8 a share, a 58 percent premium to their closing price on Thursday.

AuthenTec sells fingerprint sensors to companies for security purposes but its touch-sensing technology can also be integrated into computers, according to the New York Times. AuthenTec also makes security technology for mobile devices, which could come in handy for Apple. This month it saw malware sneak into its iOS App Store for the first time.

Chevron net income slips 7 percent in 2Q

NEW YORK – Soaring profit at Chevron’s refineries eased some of the pain of a weaker second quarter.

The oil giant said Friday that net income fell nearly 7 percent to $7.21 billion, or $3.66 per share. But the results beat expectations thanks to a strong performance from its refinery business.

Like its peers, the oil giant is struggling to find and replace its sources of petroleum. The world’s slowing economy has also pushed down prices for the crude it sells.

But the lower prices had benefits. Profits at Chevron’s refining and marketing business rose 80 percent. Its refineries paid less for oil while selling gasoline at higher prices on the U.S. West Coast. Pump prices there remained well above the national average last quarter because of supply problems in the region.

JPMorgan shakes up management amid strife

NEW YORK – JPMorgan Chase, which is reeling from the fallout of a big trading loss at one of its divisions, announced a broad reshuffling of its top management on Friday.

It was the second round of management reorganization at the nation’s largest bank since it revealed the loss that has ballooned to up to $5.8 billion from an initial estimate of $2 billion. The loss has prompted two congressional hearings and led to investigations from international regulators.

Delta shuts down Comair; jobs lost

CINCINNATI – Delta Air Lines is shutting down its shrunken, 35-year-old regional carrier Comair at the end of September as it switches to bigger jets.

It is sending termination notices to Comair’s 1,700 remaining employees.

Comair is down to 290 flights a day. More than 1,000 Comair employees are in the Cincinnati and northern Kentucky region, some 700 of those in Kentucky.

Comair has slashed its fleet, flights and workforce in the last seven years. Delta said the smaller regional planes are expensive to fly.