Industrials

President Barack Obama is returning to Arizona to promote home ownership in a state that has served as a symbol of the nation's real estate crisis and recovery.

Fewer Americans bought new homes in July, evidence that the housing sector is struggling to gain traction more than five years into the economic recovery.

U.S. home construction rebounded in July, rising to the fastest pace in eight months and offering hope that housing has regained momentum after two months of declines.

___ US companies increasingly fish for growth overseas SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Major U.S. companies are starting to reap their most rapid growth in fertile lands of opportunity far from home.

Officials from countries around the world recently signed off on the most important climate agreement since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997. Wall Street is weighing in, with Goldman Sachs saying that it sees “the deal as a boost to the low carbon economy, now a fast-growing $600 billion-plus market.”

Investment giant KKR inked a deal to buy Singaporean packaging company Goodpack on Tuesday for $1.1 billion.

The specialty chemicals maker agreed to sell its water technologies business to private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on Tuesday in a deal valued at $1.8 billion.

Medical device maker Medtronic said Friday it expanded its stock repurchase authorization, raised its quarterly dividend, and completed two acquisitions for about $200 million total.

General Electric is selling most of GE Capital as it focuses increasingly its industrial business.

Defense contractor General Dynamics said Monday that its board has authorized the company to buy back as many as 10 million shares of its stock, valued at about $1.39 billion at the end of last week.

Investing in airlines has long been the butt of jokes, especially when many U.S. carriers traipsed through bankruptcy court in the past decade.

Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc said it plans to buy back shares worth up to $7.5 billion as part of a new repurchase program.

In a show of confidence about its business prospects, appliance maker Whirlpool announced plans to boost its quarterly dividend by 20% and buy back another $500 million of stock.

Dow Chemical revealed stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings amid broad sales growth and also announced shareholder-friendly moves.

Caterpillar's fourth-quarter profit jumped 44% to plow through Wall Street estimates, as cost-cutting moves countered a decline in revenue.

Shares of blue-chip conglomerate 3M rallied on an upbeat outlook for 2014 earnings and share repurchases.

Shares of blue-chip conglomerate 3M rallied on an upbeat outlook for 2014 earnings and share repurchases.

The moves by General Electric, AT&T and Honeywell highlight the continued push by major companies to return excess cash to shareholders. 

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Yelp Inc., down $8.45 to $25.06 The online business review service reported a second-quarter loss and issued a lackluster outlook.

Does anyone just watch TV anymore? The dramatic shift toward online and mobile viewing is driving television set makers to design as much for streaming video as for watching broadcast or cable channels.