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U.S. markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0781
    -0.0013 (-0.12%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2624
    +0.0002 (+0.02%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.3560
    -0.0160 (-0.01%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    69,979.73
    -416.88 (-0.59%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Markets close the week in the red

Markets ended the week down The Dow (^DJI) ended the day down at 16,026.75. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) closed lower at 3,999.73 And the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ended the day 17 points lower at 1,815.69.

Better employment figures and leaving a harsh winter behind boosted Consumer Confidence in April to its highest level since July. The index rose to 82.6 beating analysts’ estimates of 81. April’s number was up from last month’s four-month low of 80.

Despite the market woes, it was a great market debut for Zoe’s Kitchen (ZOES). The Mediterranean-themed restaurant priced its shares at $15, but the stock opened at $25.65 and shot up as high as $26.14 per share. Shares of the company closed at $24.72.

Women’s retailer Coldwater Creek (CWTR) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. The company, which hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2007 and had a loss of $81.8 million last year, said it was unable to find a potential buyer or a source to fund its turnaround. Coldwater Creek received $75 million debtor-in-possession financing from Wells Fargo (WFC). It plans going-out-of-business sales in May to liquidate inventory. Coldwater Creek closed down 31.58%.

Amazon (AMZN) is offering employees as much as $5,000.. to quit! In a letter to shareholders late Thursday, CEO Jeff Bezos announced the “Pay to Quit” program that seeks to make sure employees really want to be at the company. The point of the program, which Bezos says comes with the headline “Please Don’t Take This Offer,” is for employees to think about what they really want. “In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don't want to be isn't healthy for the employee or the company,” he wrote. The program starts with an initial offer of $2,000, and increases $1,000 every year until it reaches $5,000. “Pay to Quit” started at the shoe company Zappos that Amazon bought in 2009. Shares of Amazon were down about 2%.

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