briefs

Major stock indexes rise across the board on Wall Street, adding to gains

Technology companies powered a broad rally for stocks on Wall Street Thursday, lifting the S&P 500 to its biggest gain since March.

The benchmark index rose 1.7% a day after breaking a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.7%.

More than 90% of stocks within the S&P 500 gained ground. Apple and Microsoft were among the big gainers in the technology sector, each rising more than 2%.

Financial and health care stocks also did well. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.5%. UnitedHealth Group rose 4.2% after the health insurer raised its profit forecast for the year following a strong third quarter.

The market’s gains came as investors welcomed another batch of encouraging quarterly report cards from several companies. Every S&P 500 company that reported earnings so far this week has exceeded Wall Street’s forecasts.

“It’s not surprising that the market has reacted pretty well to that,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab.

The S&P 500 rose 74.46 points to 4,438.26. It’s now on pace for a weekly gain. The Dow climbed 534.75 points to 34,912.56. The Nasdaq added 251.79 points to 14,823.43.

Deere workers go on strike as UAW, company fail to reach deal on contract

Thousands of workers at Deere & Co., the world’s biggest farm machinery maker, began picketing Thursday for the first time in more than three decades to demand better pay as the company heads for its most profitable year ever.

Representatives from the company and the United Auto Workers union failed to reach an agreement over a new labor contract, which ignited the strike around midnight Chicago time.

The move comes amid a labor shortage in the U.S., and as pandemic-induced chaos in global supply chains upends business as usual for manufacturers. But Deere stands out because it’s enjoying boom times despite the challenges. Its shares have risen 38% in the past year amid a rally in crop prices that buoyed farmer earnings and demand for tractors. The company is set to enjoy its most successful year ever, with Wall Street analysts predicting record earnings minus items.

During leaner times, employees made concessions to the company, the union said. Now it’s time for the company to pay them back.

The 10,000 Deere employees, or about 14% of the workforce, are on strike “for the ability to earn a decent living, retire with dignity and establish fair work rules,” Chuck Browning, a vice president at the union said in a Facebook post.

L.A., San Diego school districts sued over student vaccination mandate

LOS ANGELES – California’s two largest school districts – Los Angeles and San Diego – are targeted in lawsuits challenging their student COVID-19 vaccination mandates, alleging the vaccines are too new and that unvaccinated children face discrimination and the denial of their equal right to a public education.

Both school systems were ahead of the state in requiring student vaccines as a measure to make campuses safer and to limit spread of the coronavirus in the community – and their mandates are more comprehensive than the state requirement, which has yet to be codified into law.

In Los Angeles, a parent who is not named filed suit Friday. In San Diego, the parent group Let Them Breathe filed suit Monday. That group had previously filed litigation against the state’s student mask mandate.

The litigation against each district was prepared by Aanestad, Andelin & Corn, a law firm based in San Diego County. The two lawsuits use nearly identical language in challenging the legal basis for the mandates.