U.S. retail sales rise ahead of holidays

WASHINGTON – U.S. retail sales rose modestly in October, evidence that recent job gains and lower gas prices are lifting consumer spending as the holiday shopping season begins.

The Commerce Department said Friday that retail sales rose 0.3 percent last month after falling by the same amount in September. Excluding gas stations, sales rose a solid 0.5 percent.

Employers have stepped up hiring, giving more Americans paychecks to spend and boosting consumer confidence. Stock prices have reached new highs, possibly encouraging more spending by wealthy households. Greater spending could spur more growth because consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of economic activity.

Hachette books still delayed on Amazon

NEW YORK – The Amazon.com-Hachette Book Group conflict is over, but the restoration of normal service will take at least a few days.

As of Friday afternoon, shipping times of up to three weeks or longer were still listed for numerous Hachette books. They include James Patterson’s “Cross My Heart,” J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” and J.D. Salinger’s “Franny and Zooey.”

The online retailer and publisher announced a multiyear agreement Thursday. In a joint statement on the deal, the companies said that “normal trading would resume immediately.”

Hachette spokeswoman Sophie Cottrell said Friday she didn’t expect books to be fully stocked and available promptly until the middle of next week.

During the dispute, Amazon had removed pre-order buttons and cut back on orders and discounts for Hachette releases.

Stock markets continue monthlong climb

NEW YORK – Stocks ended mostly higher on Friday as major indexes extended gains for a fourth week in a row, a rare stretch for this year.

After flitting between tiny gains and losses for most of the day, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index rose just two-hundredths of one percent to close at a record high. The Dow Jones industrial average ended slightly lower, but the losses were limited by a gain in energy shares, which have been falling sharply in recent months as oil prices drop.

As of Friday, the S&P 500 is up 10 percent so far this year.

“The market has continued to surprise me with its strength,” said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, an investment fund in New York. “It’s been almost a six-year party … and it takes a lot to upset that momentum.”

Stocks have been mostly rising since Oct. 15, when the S&P 500 nearly fell into a “correction,” a trading term for a drop of 10 percent or more from a recent peak. Generally strong corporate earnings results and solid U.S. economic data have lifted shares sharply since then.

Investor challenges Stockton bankruptcy

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A major investment firm has challenged a court-approved bankruptcy plan for the city of Stockton, possibly jeopardizing resolution of one of the country’s biggest city bankruptcies stemming from the 2008 housing bust.

Franklin Templeton Investments, an asset management firm based in San Mateo, filed an appeal Wednesday against Stockton’s bankruptcy deal.

City officials had successfully negotiated with creditors to eliminate more than $2 billion in long-term debt without cutting the city’s pension obligations.

Franklin Templeton was the only major creditor not to sign off on the settlement.