Shorts (left)
Dow finishes above 11,000
A few little points was all it took.
The Dow Jones industrial average inched above 11,000 on Monday — and, for the first time since the dark days of 2008, actually managed to stay there.
It was hardly a heady rally. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.62 points Monday, a mere 0.08 percent, to close at 11,005.97. But that modest gain, driven largely by news Sunday of a long-awaited financial rescue for the debt-strapped Greek government, was enough to help the market tick off yet another milestone in its long recovery.
“Nobody ever thought we’d ever get near this level this fast,” said William J. Schultz, chief investment officer for McQueen, Ball & Associates. “We’ve come a long way.”
A long way indeed. Since March 2009, the Dow has soared 68 percent. Even so, it remains some 3,100 points below the highs reached in 2007, before the economy sank into recession.
Other Wall Street indexes followed the Dow’s lead. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index climbed 2.11 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,196.48. The Nasdaq composite index was up 3.82 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,457.87.
—Javier C. Hernandez, The New York Times
Vatican publishes its protocols for handling sex abuse cases
ROME — Fending off accusations that it covered up abuse and obstructed justice, the Vatican on Monday spelled out for the first time that it now strongly urges bishops to report abuse cases to civil authorities if required by local law.
Victims of abuse by priests have long argued that the Vatican’s rules requiring confidentiality and the avoidance of scandal were often tantamount to obstructing civil justice, an argument that has contributed to the Catholic Church paying more than $2 billion in abuse settlements in the United States alone in the past decade.
On Monday, the Vatican posted online for the first time a guide to the procedures it requires bishops to follow in abuse cases. It says that in the preliminary stages of any investigation into alleged abuse, “civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed.”
Conan O’Brien will move to late night TBS this November
EUGENE, Ore. — In a move that has shocked much of the television world, Conan O’Brien will make his comeback on a cable — not a network — channel.
The former “Tonight Show” host has agreed to start a late-night show on TBS, the comedy-oriented channel in the Turner network lineup. The four-night-a-week show — no title yet — will begin in November and fill the 11 p.m. slot, teamed with that network’s other late-night show, with the comedian George Lopez as its host. That show, now at 11, will slide to midnight.
The news, announced Monday, was a stunning development because O’Brien had been in talks with Fox, and most predictions had him moving to that network in September or January.
TBS was not previously mentioned as bidder for his services. But Steve Koonin, the president of Turner Entertainment Networks, put together a pitch and approached O’Brien’s representatives only earlier this month.
TBS has also promised O’Brien what Koonin called “the biggest marketing campaign the history of cable.” He said that promotional announcements would start appearing on TBS on Monday night.