>>Stocks Close Mixed To End Short Week
(New York, NY) -- Stocks closed mixed on the final trading day of the week. The Dow suffered sharp losses driven by UnitedHealth shares falling more than 22 percent. Nvidia [[ in-VID-ee-uh ]] stock also tumbled which weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Wall Street will be dark for Good Friday. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 527 points to 39-142. The S&P 500 gained seven points to 52-82. The Nasdaq shed 20 points to 16-286.
>>Judge Rules Google Holds Illegal Online Ad Tech Monopolies
(Alexandria, VA) -- A judge is ruling Google illegally dominated two different markets for online advertising technology. A U.S. District judge in Virginia made the ruling on Thursday and it could allow prosecutors to push towards a breakup of the company's advertising products. The Department of Justice said Google should be forced to sell-off at the very least its Google Ad Manager that includes its ad exchange and ad server. Elsewhere, a judge is holding a trial next week on the DOJ's request for Google to sell its Chrome browser. Reuters reported in September that the company had mulled selling of its ad exchange to appease antitrust regulators in Europe.
>>Trump Floats Terminating Fed Chair Powell
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump is hinting he may fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Thursday, Trump said he could remove Powell if he wanted to, adding he's "not happy with him." Trump added he doesn't think Powell is doing a good job, calling him "too late" and "a little slow." Powell, a fellow Republican whose term ends in 2026, has previously said he would not step down if Trump asked him to, and that it's "not permitted under the law" for a president to fire or demote him.
>>Trump Speaks With Italian Prime Minister
(Washington, DC) -- President Trump believes progress will be made on trade deals. Speaking during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump said he has immense respect for Meloni and the U.S is going to have little problems making deals with Europe. Meloni told reporters she believes Italy and the U.S should be able to come to terms. Trump said the previous administration allowed other countries to "rip off" the U.S. and he's here to stop that. The President added that no country can compete with the U.S.
>>CFPB Lays Off Most Of Its Employees
(Washington, DC) -- A federal agency that protects U.S. consumers from financial fraud and abuse is losing about 90 percent of its employees. Multiple news outlets say the Trump administration is laying off around 15-hundred workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, leaving only 200 still employed. In the layoff notices that went out Thursday, CFPB director Russ Vought said the cuts were necessary "to restructure the bureau's operations to better reflect the agency's priorities and mission." The watchdog agency was created in 2008 in response to the financial collapse of the Great Recession.
>>Weekly Jobless Claims Fall
(Washington, DC) -- Far fewer Americans than expected filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week. The Labor Department reports receiving 215-thousand initial requests in the week ending April 12th. That's a decrease of about nine-thousand from the prior week's revised total. Most analysts had been expecting today's number to come in right around 225-thousand.
