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[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -11.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -20.80. The S&P 500 futures continue to trade lower by 0.8%. The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 354,000, which was higher than the 340,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 336,000. As for continuing claims, they fell t...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that Japan is manipulating its currency to help its local exporters at the expense of U.S. auto maker profits. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, he said: "With the currency manipulation, we just have to get back to the place where the currencies are set by the markets and the free trade agreements really are free trade agreements." The yen has fallen against major currencies in recent months as its central bank undertakes an aggressive monetary easing policy. Mulally noted that Japan is largely closed off to U.S. auto makers, with 90% of car sales in the market coming from Japanese auto makers, according to Bloomberg. Ford has joined other U.S. auto makers in opposing Japan's entrance into a potential regional free-trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to Bloomberg.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week jumped by 18,000 to 354,000, putting initial claims back near the recent average and indicating little change in a modestly improving labor market. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims - a proxy for layoffs - to increase to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 in the week ended June 15. The average of new claims over the past month, a more reliable gauge than the volatile weekly number, rose by 2,500 to 348,250, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Also, the government said continuing claims fell by 40,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.95 million in the week ended June 8. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag and reflect the number of people already receiving benefits. Initial claims from two weeks ago, meanwhile, were revised up to 336,000 from an original reading of 334,000, based on more complete data collected at the state level.

In the world of charitable giving, your alma mater may be faring better than your maker. While Americans are becoming more giving, a new study finds that fewer and fewer of their donations are going to houses of worship.

Good beach reading doesn't have to be fiction. There are plenty of page-turners to be found in the finance aisle.

U.S. stock futures tumble on Thursday as global markets continue a selloff sparked by the Federal Reserve's signal that its bond-buying program may be scaled back later this year.

Gandolfini, who died unexpectedly while on holiday in Rome, played the violent yet vulnerable Mafia boss in therapy in HBO's landmark series.

Co announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire ALEKS Corporation, the privately held developer of the ALEKS adaptive learning technology for the K-12 and higher education markets. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur early in the third quarter of 2013.

Co announces it has completed the first stage of a strategic acquisition by signing agreements to acquire the businesses operated by its current service provider Supaswift (Pty) Ltd. in five countries in Southern Africa, including South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia, and is also in discussions to acquire Supaswift's businesses in Botswana and Namibia. Financial terms were not di...

In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: FNSR +9.5%, RHT +3.4%. A few FNSR peers are ticking higher: OCLR +3.3%, JDSU +2.6%, CIEN +0.9%. Other news: SLTM +12.1% (receives new FDA 510(k) clearance for treatment of skin pigmentation), DRRX +10.8% (thinly traded, announces FDA acceptance of NDA Submission for POSIDUR), CLSN +9.8% (ThermoDox HEAT Study Findings Reviewed; emerging post-hoc findings sug...