Stocks sink after retail sales slip, China slows

NEW YORK — Signs of weakness in China's economy and a weak start to the holiday shopping season knocked the stock market lower on Monday.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,055 as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 81 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,745, while the Nasdaq composite fell 40 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,751.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING: Earlier sales, more online shopping and a mixed economy meant fewer Americans showed up to shop over Thanksgiving weekend, the National Retail Federation said Sunday. The trade group estimated that total spending for the weekend was $50.9 billion, down 11 percent from last year.

REACTION: Major retail stocks slumped. Macy's lost $1.66, or 3 percent, to $63.25, and Target fell $1.69, or 2 percent, to $72.29. Best Buy lost $1.75, or 4 percent, to $37.65.

PAST PRECEDENT: December has proven to be the stock market's best month, on average. The S&P 500 has typically ended the month with a gain of 1.7 percent since 1950, according to the "Stock Trader's Almanac." The market does look relatively expensive, however. The S&P 500 index is trading at 17.6 times its profits over the past year, well above the long-term average.

OIL: U.S. benchmark crude edged up $1.22 to $67.38 a barrel after hitting a five-year low earlier Monday. It sank more than 10 percent Friday. The recent slide helped push Russia's currency, the ruble, down nearly 5 percent against the dollar. Russia's economy depends on oil revenue.

EUROPE: Germany's DAX shed 0.1 percent and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.8 percent. Russia's RTS index fell 2.5 percent.

CHINA FACTORIES: A survey by HSBC showed Chinese manufacturing activity weakened in November, adding to signs an economic slowdown is deepening. HSBC said its purchasing managers' index declined to 50 from the previous month's 50.4. On the index's 100-point scale, numbers below 50 show indicate contraction. The bank said domestic demand was sluggish and new orders were weak. China's economic growth slowed to a five-year low of 7.3 percent in the latest quarter.

QUOTE: "The November PMIs confirm that growth in China's industry remains under downward pressure," Louis Kuijs of Royal Bank of Scotland wrote in a report to investors. "The surprisingly meager development of the new export order component in today's PMI indices suggests that global demand growth also remains subdued."

ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 2.6 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1 percent while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 0.8 percent. In South Korea, Seoul's Kospi declined 0.8 percent.

SAFE SPOTS: Prices for U.S. government bonds held steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hovered near its low for the year at 2.16 percent, unchanged from late Friday. High demand for bonds pushes yields down. The dollar fell to 118.51 yen from Friday's 118.61 yen. The euro rose to $1.2460 from $1.2448.

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McDonald reported from Beijing.

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Worcester hopes to boost fines for bridge strikes

BOSTON — Officials in Worcester are hoping to be able to increase fines to $5,000 or more for truckers who hit low bridges.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus is expected to ask the City Council on Tuesday for permission to petition state lawmakers to approve a bill allowing the city to penalize those who hit a bridge whose height is clearly marked with a $5,000 fine plus the cost of the city's emergency response.

One bridge — the Cambridge Street bridge — had been hit at least 20 times this year. There were eight other bridge strikes in Worcester according to police who began electronically tracking bridge crashes for the first time at the beginning of 2014.

Currently, drivers receive $40 tickets for hitting a bridge.

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Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com

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Move over unions _ French bosses protesting, too

PARIS — In France, workers aren't the only ones who take to the streets to protest — their bosses do, too.

Several thousand French business owners, particularly from small companies, demonstrated Monday in Paris to plead with the government to simplify regulations and make it easier and cheaper to hire.

Protester Jean-Pierre Hutin, a hotel owner, urged more flexibility for part-time work, while others complained that layers of taxes and labor rules have made it impossible for France to compete globally.

They argued that the government needs business owners to hire. Socialist President Francois Hollande has sought to loosen labor laws but critics say it doesn't go nearly far enough.

French unemployment is around 10 percent and economic growth has stagnated, threatening to push the whole eurozone back into recession.

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Cyber Monday gears up to get online shoppers hyped

NEW YORK — After a busy holiday weekend in shopping malls, millions of Americans are expected to log on and keep shopping on the day dubbed Cyber Monday.

That day, the Monday after Thanksgiving, has been the biggest online shopping day of the year since 2010. That's expected to continue, even though fewer people overall are expected to shop on Cyber Monday due to earlier promotions online.

The day could take on added importance after a Thanksgiving weekend that saw fewer shoppers and lower spending than last year, according to some estimates. In addition, more retailers are pushing deals in later hours since people are increasingly shopping after work.

Karen Manley, 44, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, started shopping cyberdeals early last week, including puffer vests from Aeropostale that she bought before Thanksgiving that were $46 marked down to $14, plus free shipping. She planned to hit Dillard's and Forever 21 sites after work to look for Uggs shoes and sweaters for her three children age 13, 15 and 18, as well as free shipping offers.

"It's easier and more convenient to shop online," she said.

Retailers have been pushing "cyber" deals all month and will continue to do so this week, dubbed "Cyber Week," hoping to spur customers to spend. And it seems to be working: Research firm comScore said late Sunday that e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November and December shopping season totaled $22.7 billion, up 15 percent from last year. Sales jumped 32 percent to $1 billion on Thanksgiving Day and 26 percent on Black Friday to $1.51 billion.

The firm expects people to spend about $2.5 billion on Cyber Monday alone. The NRF predicts 126.9 million people will shop online this year, down 4 percent from last year.

ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said the strong spending online so far stems from the "overall health in consumer spending, responsiveness to the strong deals being offered online, and perhaps some shoppers opting to stay home on Thanksgiving rather than head out to the stores that opened their doors early."

More people shopping on a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet is spurring growth, too. The NRF expects one in five people will use a mobile device to shop on Cyber Monday. IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark said this year marked the first weekend after Thanksgiving where mobile traffic accounted for more than half of all online traffic on Saturday and Sunday.

Overall, online sales were up 17 percent compared to the same weekend in 2013, according to IBM.

On Monday, online retailers promoted deals throughout the day. Gap and Banana Republic offered a blanket 40 percent off all purchases.

Amazon, which offers new deals every 10 minutes, offered up to 45 percent off some Samsung TVs and 60 percent off a Canon wireless printer selling for $39.99. Amazon is rolling out deals throughout the day including its Amazon Fire TV video streaming box marked down to $69 from $99, beginning in the afternoon.

Wal-Mart said it has doubled its Cyber Week deals to 500 compared with last year, including up to half off some TVs, tablets and toys with free-shipping offers. Wal-Mart is also rolling out new deals later in the day in its so-called "Evening Edition" round of deals, including a Straight Talk Moto E Android Phone for $9.99, 90 percent off its regular price.

Toys R Us is offering online deals for 11 days that began the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and also has free-shipping offers. Cyber deals include $15 off Disney "Frozen" Princess dolls that are regularly $50 and $20 off a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battroborg Electronic Battle Game that is usually $80.

The name "Cyber Monday" was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation's online arm, Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online. After retailers revved up deals for the day, it became the busiest online shopping day in 2010. The name was also a nod to online shopping being done at work, where faster connections made it easier to browse, less of a factor now.

Cyber Monday comes after a weekend that saw 5.3 percent fewer shoppers and 11 percent less spending, according to estimates by the National Retail Federation.

"Online is nowhere near its maturity, so Cyber Monday should be big, with a lot of strength in the days leading up to it," Forester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said. "More consumers are spending more shopping dollars online."

She expects two spikes in online shopping: one during the long Thanksgiving weekend, including Cyber Monday, and one later in December when shipping deadlines to get items by Christmas start to hit.

The National Retail Federation has forecast overall holiday sales will increase 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion in 2014.

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US factory growth slips in Nov. but still healthy

WASHINGTON — U.S. factories were slightly less busy in November, as production and hiring slowed, though the level of activity remained strong.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, says its manufacturing index slipped to 58.7 last month from 59 in October. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. October's figure matched a three-year high reached in August.

Manufacturing has been a key driver of growth this year, as Americans have ramped up their purchases of autos and electronics.

A measure of new orders rose, a sign that output will likely continue to rise. A gauge of hiring dipped, but still pointed to solid job gains among manufacturing firms.

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Justices weigh limits of free speech over Internet

WASHINGTON — Anthony Elonis claimed he was just kidding when he posted a series of graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an FBI agent.

But his wife didn't see it that way. Neither did a federal jury.

Elonis, who's from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was convicted of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person.

In a far-reaching case that probes the limits of free speech over the Internet, the Supreme Court on Monday was to consider whether Elonis' Facebook posts, and others like it, deserve protection under the First Amendment.

Elonis argues that his lyrics were simply a crude and spontaneous form of expression that should not be considered threatening if he did not really mean it. The government says it does not matter what Elonis intended, and that the true test of a threat is whether his words make a reasonable person feel threatened.

One post about his wife said, "There's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I'm not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts."

The case has drawn widespread attention from free-speech advocates who say comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social media can be hasty, impulsive and easily misinterpreted. They point out that a message on Facebook intended for a small group could be taken out of context when viewed by a wider audience.

"A statute that proscribes speech without regard to the speaker's intended meaning runs the risk of punishing protected First Amendment expression simply because it is crudely or zealously expressed," said a brief from the American Liberties Union and other groups.

But so far, most lower courts have rejected that view, ruling that a "true threat" depends on how an objective person perceives the message.

For more than four decades, the Supreme Court has said that "true threats" to harm another person are not protected speech under the First Amendment. But the court has been careful to distinguish threats from protected speech such as "political hyperbole" or "unpleasantly sharp attacks."

Elonis claims he was depressed and that his online posts under the pseudonym "Tone Dougie" were a way to vent his frustration after his wife left him and he lost his job working at an amusement park. His lawyers say the posts were heavily influenced by rap star Eminem, who has also fantasized in songs about killing his ex-wife.

But Elonis' wife testified that the comments made her fear for her life.

After she obtained a protective order against him, Elonis wrote a lengthy post mocking court proceedings: "Did you know that it's illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife?"

A female FBI agent later visited Elonis at home to ask him about the postings. Elonis took to Facebook again: "Little agent lady stood so close, took all the strength I had not to turn the bitch ghost. Pull my knife, flick my wrist and slit her throat."

Elonis was convicted of making threats of violence and sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison. A federal appeals court rejected his claim that his comments were protected by the First Amendment.

The Obama administration says requiring proof that a speaker intended to be threatening would undermine the law's protective purpose. In its brief to the court, the Justice Department argued that no matter what someone believes about his comments, it does not lessen the fear and anxiety they might cause for other people.

"The First Amendment does not require that a person be permitted to inflict those harms based on an unreasonable subjective belief that his words do not mean what they say," government lawyers said.

The National Center for Victims of Crime, which submitted a brief supporting the government, said judging threats based on the speaker's intent would make stalking crimes even more difficult to prosecute.

"Victims of stalking are financially, emotionally and socially burdened by the crime regardless of the subjective intent of the speaker," the organization said.

The case is Elonis v. United States, 13-983.

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Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

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Swiss reject plan to hoard gold, limit immigration

BERN, Switzerland — Voters in Switzerland on Sunday rejected plans to protect the country's wealth by investing in gold and drastically limit immigration, according to polling firm gfs.bern.

A proposal to require the Swiss central bank to hold a fifth of its reserves in gold was opposed by 78 percent of voters and supported by 22 percent, projections based on tallies provided by selected voting districts indicated.

The plan would have forced the Swiss National Bank to buy massive amounts of gold within five years and likely causing the global price for the valuable metal to jump.

The proposal to limit immigration to 0.2 percent of Switzerland's population — about 16,000 immigrants a year for a country of 8 million — received the backing of 26 percent of voters, while 74 percent opposed it. Currently, immigration is estimated at around 80,000 a year.

The "Ecopop" initiative would also have forced Switzerland to devote a large chunk of its foreign aid to programs aimed at reducing population growth in poor countries.

Earlier this year, Swiss voters narrowly backed a proposal by the nationalist People's Party to reintroduce quotas for immigrants. The outcome has proved to be a political headache for the Swiss government as it now needs to renegotiate bilateral treaties with the European Union, of which it isn't a member.

A third national referendum, which would have abolished special tax discounts for rich foreigners living in Switzerland, was also defeated, according to gfs.bern. The pollsters predicted 60 percent voted against the measure, while 40 percent were in favor of it.

Official results are expected to be published later Sunday.

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Home equity lines of credit come back in vogue

WASHINGTON — If you're thinking about taking out a new home equity line, you're hardly alone. Credit lines tied to home equity — known as HELOCs — are one of the fastest-growing segments in the mortgage market. Volume during the first half of 2014 is up by an extraordinary 21 percent compared with the same period last year, according to data collected by credit bureau Equifax.

The main reasons: Owners' equity holdings nationwide are up sharply — the Federal Reserve estimates gains at nearly $4.5 trillion since 2011 — and interest rates are near historical lows. Owners borrowed $66 billion against those fattened equity stakes during the first half of this year, a six-year high. Banks and other lenders extended 670,000 new HELOCs during the same period, also a six-year high, according to Equifax.

What are these people doing with their sudden access to ready cash and how much are they pulling out? A new national survey, based on a representative sample of 1,364 homeowners with HELOCs, offers some important answers. The study was conducted last month by research firm Vision Critical for TD Bank.

The No. 1 finding: Most people aren't spending their home equity line money on dumb stuff. There's no evidence of a repeat of the wacky days of the last decade when houses morphed into ATMs and credit lines paid for groceries and nights out on the town. By contrast, 52 percent of current borrowers say they are using or have used their drawdowns for projects that are likely to increase the market value of their properties — updating kitchens, adding bathrooms, putting on a new roof and similar remodelings. Another 29 percent have used their HELOC money to take advantage of today's wide gaps in interest rates among different financial products. They are consolidating debts — paying off credit card balances with interest rates in the double-digits using equity line funds borrowed at rates in the low single digits.

Nearly a quarter of borrowers say they've used some of the equity line dollars as form of insurance against unforeseen "emergency" expenses — paying off bills for events that popped up without warning and might have been otherwise unaffordable. Other major uses, according to the survey: Buying new autos (27 percent of borrowers); paying medical bills (18 percent); spending on kids' and adults' education costs (15 percent): travel (15 percent); and small-business investments (13 percent). Relatively few owners (13 percent) say they use their equity line dollars for day-to-day expenses.

Michael Kinane, TD Bank's head of consumer and mortgage lending, said he interprets the strong recent surges in home equity borrowing as a delayed reaction by owners who have put off home improvements and other expenditures for years because they were unsure about the economy, their jobs, and where real estate values were headed.

"Now they're stepping back in," he said, "they've got more confidence" in the economy and they've seen their property values increase to the point where they can responsibly pull out some cash secured by their equity.

Home equity lines as a financial product "are much safer" in 2014 — for borrowers and lenders alike — than they were a decade ago, Kinane believes. Most banks now limit the combined loan-to-value ratio — the total of the primary mortgage balance plus the maximum draw amount on the new credit line compared with the home value — to 80 percent. And full documentation of income, employment, credit and property values is the rule, not the exception.

In 2005 and 2006, by contrast, 100 percent ratios were readily available with minimal underwriting and documentation. Some lenders, including TD Bank, now allow select customers to borrow more (TD's ceiling is 
89 percent), but only those applicants with pristine credit reports, high FICO scores, lots of income and plentiful financial reserves.

Today's rates and fees on HELOCs generally are as good as or better than they were at the height of the boom. A quick search of deals offered on Bankrate.com last week turned up rates anywhere from the low 3 percent range to 4 percent and up, depending on the dollar limit on the line and applicants' credit scores. Some credit unions and banks offer special rates — below 3 percent — for existing customers or members with solid credit.

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Sony's new movies leak online following hack attack

At least five new movies from Sony Pictures are being devoured on copyright-infringing file-sharing hubs online in the wake of the hack attack that hobbled the studio earlier in the week.

Copies of DVD screeners of four unreleased Sony movies including the upcoming "Annie" are getting some unwelcome early exposure, but nothing compared to the frenzy enveloping "Fury," the war pic still in theaters since bowing last month.

"Fury" has been downloaded by over 888,000 unique IP addresses since showing up on peer-to-peer networks on Nov. 27, according to piracy tracking firm Excipio. That's high enough to be the second most downloaded movie currently being pirated, and it's not out of movie theaters yet.

Another big Sony movie, "Annie," is also being pirated, this one three weeks ahead of its own wide release. Other Sony movies being downloaded include "Mr. Turner," "Still Alice" and "To Write Love on Her Arms."

Sony declined comment, but a source with knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the hacking earlier this week divulged that the multi-title leak is likely related to the hacking. Many of the leaked copies are watermarked.

In the attack on the studio's corporate systems Nov. 24, an image of a skeleton appeared on company computers with a message that said, "Hacked by #GOP," with the group behind it calling itself "Guardians of Peace." The message threatened to release "secrets and top secrets" of the company. Currently being investigated is a connection between upcoming Sony movie "The Interview," and North Korea.

Sony's outbreak marks the biggest piracy incident since July, when Lionsgate saw "Expendables 3" pop up online three weeks before its theatrical release. Police arrested two men in London earlier this week in connection with the movie.

While "Fury" has emerged as a hot ticket in file-sharing circles, the other Sony titles aren't seeing as much sampling. "Annie" has been downloaded by over 184,000 unique IP addresses. Studio is hopeful "Annie" won't be pirated as much because family films aren't subject to as much illegal downloading as titles that skew more toward young males.

"Still Alice," "Mr. Turner" and "To Write Love on Her Arms" are seeing only modest piracy activity, all below 100,000 unique IP addresses since Nov. 27.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Thousands rally in Moscow against health care cuts

MOSCOW — At least 5,000 Russians marched through Moscow on Sunday to protest against plans to lay off thousands of doctors and close hospitals in the capital amid a flagging economy.

Doctors, patients and other protesters braved the freezing cold to voice their opposition to an ongoing Moscow health care reform that could remove up to 10,000 doctors from their jobs and close 28 hospital and clinics by early next year.

The demonstration followed a previous doctors' rally early this month, which was the first social protest in Russia in a decade. The pressure on the country's budget has intensified as the economy is taking a hit from low oil prices, a drop in the value of the national currency and from Western sanctions over its role in the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Many of the protesters were dressed in white coats over their winter jackets. Some carried banners with the names of the hospitals that are being closed.

"Save money on war, but not on doctors," one banner read.

Authorities defend the reform as a much-needed step to modernize a decrepit Soviet-era health care system and close down hospitals that are deemed inefficient. They also say it as a step toward implementing President Vladimir Putin's election pledge to increase doctors' salaries to twice that of the average employee by 2018.

Protesters lamented not only the cuts but also the secrecy that has surrounded the reform, the details of which only became public following a leak to the press in October.

"We're here to show our solidary," said Tatyana Korshunova, 69, who works at a research center. "Nobody explained anything to us, there was no discussion (of the reform)."

Moscow psychiatrist Dmitry Albertovich, who would not give his last name for fear of reprisal, said pretty much everyone in the medical community agrees that a reform is needed, "but it's not the issue of what we need the reform for, but it's about how it is being done — this is a disgrace."

The 48-year-old's job is safe for now but he says four units in his hospital with dozens of staff have been cut.

Moscow authorities said they would offer training programs for those who are being laid off, but doctors have criticized the effort saying it means they are being offered jobs that they are not qualified for.

"You cannot turn a surgeon into a psychiatrist just like that," Dmitry Albertovich said. "They will never be good at it."

The Moscow health department this week held round table discussions with medical professionals, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin offered the doctors a one-off severance payment of up to 500,000 rubles ($10,700) each.

The move came just days before the Sunday rally and was considered by some as an attempt to muffle the protest.

Valentin Abdulkhayev, a 37-year-old doctor at a tuberculosis clinic, said the offer of the severance pay is "merely about obeying the law. It's what they were supposed to do."

A petition adopted at the end of Sunday's rally called for the resignation of Mayor Sobyanin and top Moscow health officials.

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