Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/80870
8A Daily News – Thursday, August 30, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) — Slightly better economic growth and stronger housing sales nudged the stock market higher Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average managed a four-point gain. expanded at a 1.7 percent annual rate from April through June thanks to rising consumer spending and exports. That's an improvement from the initial estimate of 1.5 per- cent, but not enough to put a dent in the unem- ployment rate. The U.S. economy The National Associa- tion of Realtors said its index of sales for previ- ously owned homes 13,107.48. Stocks edge up after US growth revised higher Wall Street increased 2.4 percent in July, reaching its highest level since April 2010, the last month buyers could qualify for a feder- al tax credit. ''It's a mixed message The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 1.19 points to 1,410.49, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 4.05 points to 3,081.19. overall,'' said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strate- gist at TD Ameritrade. ''We all know we need 2 percent (economic) growth. And you can't continue to improve on housing if the unemploy- ment picture doesn't improve. At some point, the numbers have to match.'' The Dow added 4.49 points to close at to finish at $95.49. Hurri- cane Isaac made landfall Tuesday night, but its heavy winds and rain aren't expected to cause extensive damage to oil production and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Markets have slipped into a late-summer lull. Indexes have Crude oil lost 84 cents budged amid some of thinnest trading days this year. After three days of minuscule moves, the barely S&P 500 index is down less than one point for the week. Just over 10 billion shares have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange over the past four sessions, the slowest stretch since the last four days of 2011. One mea- sure of stock-market volatility, the Vix, recent- ly sank to a five-year low. Kinahan said the mar- tion,'' he said. ''Many people I know plan on taking a three-day week- end or are just coming in for the speech to see if (Bernanke) says anything interesting or market- moving. If not, they're outta there.'' Among companies making news: — WellPoint, the sec- ket's apparent lack of direction makes sense, especially ahead of the Labor Day weekend and a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday. ''There's no incentive to take a big trading posi- ond-largest health insur- ance company in the United States, jumped $4.41, or 8 percent, to $61.80 after its CEO resigned. Investors had been frustrated with Angela Braly because of disappointing results. — H.J. Heinz posted a 14 percent jump in quar- terly net income, driven by higher prices and emerging-market sales, but revenue fell and missed Wall Street expec- tations. Heinz stock dropped $1.29, or 2 per- cent, to $56.12. — The clothing store chain Jos. A. Bank posted stronger sales and rev- enue than Wall Street expected, and its stock soared $5.81, or 14 per- cent, to $47.44. — Sealed Air Corp., a food packaging company, jumped 12 percent, the S&P 500's biggest gain. A former Dow Chemical executive will take over when its current CEO retires. The company's stock gained $1.58 to $14.58. Yosemite officials say 1,700 visitors risk disease FRESNO (AP) — The rustic tent cabins of Yosemite National Park — a favorite among families looking to rough it in one of the nation's most majestic settings — have become the scene of a public health cri- sis after two visitors died from a rodent-borne disease following overnight stays. On Tuesday, park offi- cials sent letters and emails to 1,700 visitors who stayed in some of the dwellings in June, July and August, warning them that they may have been exposed to the disease that also caused two other people to fall ill. Those four people con- tracted hantavirus pul- monary syndrome after spending time in one of the 91 ''Signature Tent Cabins'' at Curry Village around the same time in June. The ill- ness is spread by contact with rodent feces, urine and saliva, or by inhaling exposed airborne particles. After the first death, the park sanitized the cabins and alerted the public through the media that the cause might have been dis- eased mice in the park. However, officials did not know for sure the death was linked to Yosemite or the campsite until the Cen- ters for Disease Control determined over the week- end that a second visitor, a resident of Pennsylvania, also had died. After every park tragedy, officials stress that Yosemite is a wilderness area and with it come some dangers. ''We're very concerned about visitors and employ- ees,'' park spokesman Scott Gediman said. ''But we feel we are taking proactive steps in both cleaning the affected areas and in public education. But it's absolute- ly impossible to eliminate all risk.'' officials with the National Park Service sent out an alert asking public health authorities to be on the On Sunday night, health watch for more potential rodent-related cases of acute respiratory failure. Yosemite receives 4 mil- lion tourists a year from around the world, and national park officials were trying to determine if the warning should be expand- ed to include foreign coun- tries. ''We're discussing whether to do that and how to do that,'' said Dr. David Wong, chief of the epidemi- ology branch of the Nation- al Park Service Office of Public Health. ple have cancelled reserva- tions at Curry Village after hearing about the outbreak, Gediman said. The camp sits at the base of the 3,000-foot Glacier Point. The disease can incubate for up to six weeks before flu-like symptoms develop. It's fatal in 30 percent of all cases, and there is no specif- ic treatment. It is not spread human-to-human. Wong said the Yosemite cases are unusual because hantavirus illnesses are most often isolated events. ''We are seeing more than one person who got it in a narrow space and time,'' he said. ''It makes us wonder why, and those are questions we don't have the answers to.'' All the victims stayed in the cabins between June 10 and June 20, and all four known cases were contract- ed by people who stayed within 100 feet of each other but not necessarily in the same cabins. The National Park Ser- vice currently has assigned two epidemiologists to work in the park trapping rodents for testing. Addi- tional studies are being done to determine if the Yosemite rodent population is higher than normal after a record snowpack in 2011 provided ample water for the grass seeds mice favor. ''Rodents and mice are Delaware North Co., which oversees the cabins, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Rangers are handing out information brochures at the park entrance warning peo- ple to avoid mice in general and mouse droppings in particular. down in 2008, the park per- manently closed some cab- ins. The newer, insulated Signature Cabins were built in 2009 to replace them. Investigators are trying to determine why those cabins were involved in the out- break. Park concessionaire After boulders rained native to the park, but we are looking at the popula- tions and working with our wildlife biologists to deter- mine if the population is too high,'' Gediman said. ''There are rodents here, and we could never trap them all so that's not going to mitigate it.'' As the Labor Day week- end approaches, some peo- in the affected cabins are not being notified before arrival, but they are being warned during check-in to report any sightings of mouse feces. 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