• Alcoa, Bank of America and Hewlett-Packard are being removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after a combination of suffering stock performance and declining popularity with investors. The companies will be replaced by Goldman Sachs, Nike and Visa, according to The New York Times.
• In the coming holiday seasons, shoppers may see a steep increase in the price of chocolate. The increase is due to the rising price of cocoa butter, the ingredient that gives chocolate a smooth texture, according to CNBC.
• Brazilian energy corporation, Petrobras, is selling oil blocks and pipelines in Columbia to Perenco UK Ltd. for $380 million. Petrobras plans to use the cash to further develop its pre-salt oil reserves below the Brazilian seabed, according to Bloomberg News.
• Businesses, as well as a newly built boardwalk in Seaside Heights, were destroyed in a fire that burned out of control for several hours on Thursday, Sept. 12. The shore area had just begun to rebuild after severe damages by Superstorm Sandy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• After a slow summer and a disappointing back-to-school season, retail stores are already beginning to roll out their Christmas plans and promotions. Shoppers can expect to see Christmas ads even before Thanksgiving and layaway programs are already beginning, according to CNBC.
• Both retail sales numbers and consumer confidence came in lower than expected for the month of August. The discouraging numbers are likely to be discussed among the Federal Reserve staff this coming week, according to Bloomberg News.
• Late last week, Twitter filed paperwork to apply for its long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO). The 7-year-old company is being cautious and extremely private about its IPO in an effort to avoid the mistakes made by Facebook, according to the Wall Street Journal.
