President Donald Trump will sign a series of executive orders aimed at protecting people with preexisting conditions and look for a way to prevent surprise medical bills, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Trump discussed the executive orders, which are part of his “America First” health-care plan, during his visit to Charlotte, North Carolina later in the day.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters on a conference call that one of the orders would declare it the policy of the United States to “provide p...

Stocks rose slightly on Thursday as tech shares recovered some of their recent losses while traders weighed the latest batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 52.31 points higher, or 0.2%, at 26,815.44. At its session low, the Dow was down 226 points. The 30-stock Dow was also up more than 300 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 3,246.59 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4% to 10,672.27.

Apple and Microsoft shares rose 1% and 1.3%, respectively, to lead tech higher. Alphabet shares gained nearly 1% and Amazon advanced 0.7%. Netflix was up 0.5% and Facebook advanced 0.2%. 

Market sentiment was kept in check, however, as first-time claims for state unemployment benefits totaled 870,000 for the week ended Sept. 19...

House Democrats are preparing a new, smaller coronavirus relief package expected to cost about $2.4 trillion as they try to forge ahead with talks with the Trump administration, a source familiar with the plans said Thursday.

The bill would include enhanced unemployment insurance, direct payments to Americans, Paycheck Protection Program small-business loan funding and aid to airlines, among other provisions, the person said. To reach the price tag, Democrats would chop roughly $1 trillion from their previous proposal for a fifth pandemic aid plan.

The party aims to restart stimulus negotiations with the White House after...

Amazon announced two new Fire TV products during its big online hardware event on Thursday. Amazon’s Fire TV gadgets compete directly with Roku and Apple TV, offering people access to popular apps like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu and more. 

Amazon says people are spending more time in front of TVs than ever before due to the spread of coronavirus. It sees the TV as a the center of the household and wants to get even more features in front of users to keep them coming back. The new features may help it compete more aggressively against Roku, which still has a 50% market share of global connected TV streaming hours with strong growth opportunities, according to an analyst note from Deutsche Bank in August.

The new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite will be the first of Amazon’s streaming g...

Exceptional demand for new and existing homes, brought on by the stay-at-home culture of the coronavirus pandemic, has the housing market severely depleted.

Sales of newly built homes jumped to the highest level in 14 years in August, but builders’ supply dropped to just 3.3 months’ worth at the current sales pace. A six-month supply is considered a balanced market. Supply was at 5.5 months in August 2019, according to the U.S. Census.

The situation is even worse in the market for existing homes. It’s down nearly 19% annually to a three-month supply, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“Housing deman...

Joe Biden’s anti-poverty plan to expand the child tax credit suggests that his potential presidency would likely mean a White House more focused on progressive economic policies than those seen during the Obama and Clinton years.

Aimed at reducing childhood poverty rates, Biden’s proposed expansion would be dramatic and open the allowance to families who would otherwise fail to qualify. It would increase a family’s annual, per-child credit to $3,000 from $2,000 and would be awarded in installments each month instead of the current springtime lump sum...

The number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits were slightly higher than expected last week as the labor market continues its sluggish recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 19 came in at 870,000, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims at 850,000, down slightly from the previous week’s 860,000.

Without the adjustment, about 825,000 people filed last week, up from the previous week’s 796,000. More than 6 million people a week filed during the peak of the layoffs in the spring, when Congress approved $600 a week in supplemental benefits. The supplemental benefits expired this summer.

“Bottom line, we have a mix of people going b...

Stocks rose slightly on Thursday as tech tried to recover some of its steep losses of the month. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 104 points higher, or 0.4%, and erased a 226-point drop. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.

Shares of Apple gained 1.7%; Microsoft and Alphabet each advanced more than 1% as well. Facebook climbed 0.9% and Amazon traded 2.2% higher. 

Stocks also got a boost after the release of strong new home sales data. The major averages were under pressure earlier in the session after disappointing unemployment data raised concern about the state of the economy. 

First-time claims for state unemployment benefits totaled 870,000 for the week ending Sept. 19, higher than a Dow Jones estimate of 850,000...

Stock futures were lower on Thursday after weak economic data, set to add losses to what has been tough month on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 200 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures slid 0.9% and Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 1.4%.

Futures extended declines after U.S. weekly jobless claims came in worse than expected. First-time claims for state unemployment benefits totaled 870,000 for the week ending Sept. 19, higher than a Dow Jones estimate of 850,000.

Facebook shares traded 1% lower and Amazon fell 0.9%. Apple dipped 1.4% and Netflix pulled back by 0.5%. Alphabet declined 0.7% and Microsoft lost 0.6%.

“Claims, arguable the most important high frequency data point currently, missed expectations and mov...

Fierce competition for a limited supply of homes for sale has caused a surge in prices. Now, potential buyers, some fleeing urban areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, are facing a national affordability crisis.

The median prices of single-family homes and condos in the third quarter are less affordable than historical averages in 63% of U.S. counties, up from 54% a year ago, according to Attom Data Solutions, a property data-base.

It calculates affordability for average wage earners on the income needed to make monthly mortgage...