>>Stocks Close Lower
(New York, NY) -- Wall Street closed Wednesday with stocks lower. This comes as new numbers showed the economy grew slower than expected over the last quarter. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 91 points to 42-141. The S&P 500 dropped by 19 points to 58-13. The Nasdaq lost 104 points to 18-607.
>>U.S. Economy Grows 2.8%
(Washington, DC) -- The U.S. economy grew at a rate of two-point-eight percent in this year's third quarter. That's a bit lower than the three-percent growth in the previous quarter and the three-percent analysts were predicting. The Gross Domestic Product numbers out yesterday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that most of the growth was driven by consumer and government spending.
>>Starbucks Gives Ultimatum To Employees In Return To Office Push
(Seattle, WA) -- Starbucks is threatening to fire its corporate employees who don't come to the office. Toni Waterman has more from the coffee giant's internal memo seen by the Wall Street Journal. It's been nearly two years since the company mandated corporate employees spend at least three days a week in the office. Starbucks' new CEO Brian Niccol was recently allowed to work from his home in Southern California. The move stirred some backlash after he told workers last month that there is power in having everybody together. Niccol commutes around a thousand miles with a corporate jet.
>>Report: Spirit Airlines To Furlough 330 Pilots
(Chicago, IL) -- Spirit Airlines is getting ready to sideline hundreds of pilots. A company spokesperson tells Reuters the discount airline will furlough 330 pilots on January 31st as part of a cost-cutting move. This comes after 186 pilots were furloughed last month. Spirit Airlines has failed to report a profit in five of its last six quarters. A company spokesperson says the furloughs are part of the airline's comprehensive plan to return to profitability.
>>Russian Court Fines Google For An "Undecillion" Rubles
(Moscow) -- Russia is fining Google for more money than the world's entire gross domestic product. Sky News says a Russian judge made that decision this week after Google removed state-run and pro-government accounts from YouTube. Google was fined an "undecillion" rubles, which is a one followed by 36 zeros, or a trillion times a trillion times a trillion. The court said Google cannot return to the Russian market until after the fine is paid. Google has a current stock market value of about two-point-one trillion dollars.
>>Esprit Files For Bankruptcy
(Hong Kong) -- Iconic fashion brand Esprit is filing for bankruptcy in the U.S. and liquidating their holding here. The brand, which saw its popularity peak in the 80s and 90s, has been facing trouble for awhile, declaring bankruptcy in Germany back in May. The company had previously left the U.S. in 2012 but had been trying to make a comeback over the past couple of years. In the U.S. filing, the company cited weak business and financial conditions making it unlikely they could meet debt obligations.
>>Americans Projected To Spend 11.6 Billion Dollars On Halloween This Month
(Austin, TX) -- Americans are expected to have spent 11-point-six billion dollars on Halloween this October. That's according to a National Retail Federation survey. That includes mostly costumes, decorations and candy, with a sprinkle of money spent on greeting cards as well. That's a slight decline from last year's record 12-point-two billion. Nearly half of Americans surveyed said they started buying Halloween goods before October. That's up from 32-percent in 2014.
