Total Reclaim to open Spokane location

Total Reclaim, Inc., a provider of recycling services, announced this week that it will open a location in Spokane on Sept. 7.

Based in Kent, Washington, Total Reclaim provides recycling solutions for household and commercial appliances, IT assets, consumer electronics, fluorescent lamps and batteries.

The new Spokane location will make the company’s third location in Washington and fifth overall. Total Reclaim was founded in Seattle in 1991.

“The company has a history of servicing customers in the Spokane area remotely via our facilities in Seattle,” CEO Bobby Farris said in a news release, “so adding a dedicated operation in Spokane will decrease our logistics costs and increase our service offerings to the area.”

U.S. trade deficit narrows to $70.1 billion in July

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly to $70.1 billion in July as economic recovery overseas helped boost American exports while imports declined.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday the trade deficit fell 4.3% in July after surging to a record $73.2 billion in June.

The trade deficit represents the gap between what the country exports to the rest of the world and the imports it purchases from other countries.

In July, exports jumped 1.3% to $212.6 billion, reflecting revived overseas demand, while imports edged down a slight 0.2% to $282.9 billion.

The politically sensitive goods deficit with China rose 2.9% in July from June to $28.6 billion and totals $187.2 billion through the first seven months of this year, up 15% from the same period a year ago.

As usual, the trade deficit with China was the largest U.S. deficit with any country.

Donald Trump targeted what he saw as China’s unfair trade practices during his presidency, triggering a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, with China retaliating to America’s punitive tariffs by raising its own tariffs on American products, most notably on soybeans.

President Joe Biden has so far not indicated how he plans to deal with the economic tensions between the two nations.

So far this year, the U.S. trade deficit totals $141.7 billion, 6% below the total for the same period last year.

The deficit for all of 2020 was $676.7 billion, 17.4% higher than in 2019.

Wall Street recovers late, posts new highs for indexes

The stock market recovered from an afternoon stumble Thursday and ended with some modest gains, enough to mark more record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite.

Investors had a fresh batch of economic data to weigh as they gauge the economic recovery, but much of the focus will be on a key employment report from the Labor Department on Friday.

Trading remains quiet as the summer holiday season comes to a close and Wall Street heads into a three-day holiday weekend.

Activity is expected to pick up next week once traders are back from vacation.

Typically September is one of the market’s more volatile months.

The S&P 500 rose 12.86 points, or 0.3%, to 4,536.95, topping a record set on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.29 points, or 0.4%, to 35,443.82.

The Nasdaq rose 21.80, or 0.1%, to 15,331.18, also setting a record.

Small-company stocks fared better than the rest of the market in a sign that investors are feeling encouraged about the prospects for the economy.

The Russell 2000 index rose 16.96 points, or 0.7%, to 2,304.02.

From staff and wire reports