Briefcase

Market dips amid worries about deficit, Spain

NEW YORK – A spike in borrowing costs for the Spanish government renewed worries about Europe’s debt crisis and pushed stocks lower for the second day in a row.

A stalemate in Congress over cutting the budget deficit also pulled the market down Thursday. Technology stocks sank after NetApp and Applied Materials predicted weaker earnings.

In Spain, an auction of 10-year government bonds left the country paying interest rates of nearly 7 percent. That’s the highest rate since 1997 and a level that economists see as unsustainable. Greece and Ireland received rescue loans from the European Union after their bond yields jumped above the same level.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 134.86 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 11,770.73

Associated Press

Angie’s stock increases 25 percent on first day

NEW YORK – Consumer-reviews site Angie’s List Inc. saw it stock grow by 25 percent on its first day of trading Thursday, showing ongoing investor appetite for Internet companies.

The company’s public debut came the same day that another reviews site – San Francisco-based Yelp Inc. – filed for an initial public offering of stock.

On Wednesday, Angie’s List priced its offering of 8.8 million shares at $13 each – at the top of the range it had expected. It follows big IPOs by LinkedIn Corp. and Groupon Inc. this year. And it precedes the public debut of online game company Zynga Inc., which is expected before the end of the year.

Associated Press

Teamsters union vote leans in favor of Hoffa

WASHINGTON – Teamsters president James Hoffa is expected to win another five-year term heading one of the nation’s largest unions.

With most of the votes counted, election results show Hoffa garnering about 57 percent of the vote and challengers Fred Gegare and Sandy Pope splitting the rest.

The 1.3 million-member union represents mostly truck drivers and warehouse workers. Hoffa has held the office since 1999.

Associated Press

Airline passenger sues over drink coupons

CHICAGO – Southwest Airlines says it’s reviewing a lawsuit filed by an Illinois man who claims the discount carrier owes him 45 alcoholic drinks.

Adam J. Levitt filed a federal lawsuit this week against the Dallas-based discount carrier over a change in its drink coupon policy.

Levitt says for years he booked flights for the Business Select class, which gave travelers drink coupons worth $5 with no expiration date. But the lawsuit claims Southwest changed its policy last year saying Business Select travelers could only use coupons on the day of travel printed on them.

Associated Press