Stocks finished narrowly mixed in the Friday session, but still posted solid gains for the week. The Dow Jones Industrials eased 25 points today, but the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 edged up 19 and 6, respectively, enough for both of those indexes to notch fresh closing highs.
Not great news here: a new report from the New Orleans-based nonprofit Agenda for Children has Louisiana ranked 49th in the nation for the overall well-being of its children, and 50th in terms of their economic well-being.
Oil futures rose for a fourth straight day. March crude gained 63 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $52.05 a barrel. While overall retail sales rose three-tenths percent in January, it was not a good month for clothing stores. A closer look at the Commerce Department’s report shows that receipts at apparel stores declined 3.1% in the month.
