Business News at a Glance

Basking in a Sweet Spot, Markets Disregard Turmoil

For much of the year, the stock market has been on the ropes. Investors quailed at times, sending stocks down by as much as 10 percent. But the nine-year-old bull market never completely crumbled. By April, stocks had started a fresh climb. And after a 0.6 percent rise on Friday, the S&P 500 index closed at a record high of 2,874.69, reflecting investor faith in a single fundamental fact: Big U.S. companies are making lots of money. Corporate profits are a key ingredient of stock market rallies, and profits for companies in the S&P 500 were up roughly 25 percent in the second quarter.

‘Economy Is Strong,’ Fed Chief Says, Urging a Policy of Risk Management

The economy is right about where the Federal Reserve wants it, running neither too hot nor too cold, Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chairman, said in a speech Friday as he argued for caution and risk management. Powell’s comments, at an annual gathering of leading economists and central bankers in Wyoming, indicate that the Fed’s strategy of moving slowly in raising interest rates is likely to stay in place. “The economy is strong,” Powell said, according to prepared text of his remarks. “Inflation is near our 2 percent objective, and most people who want a job are finding one.”

Alphabet Widens Scope of Comeback in China

Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet, has faced criticism from its own employees for its efforts to rebuild an internet search presence in China after quitting the country eight years ago over censorship issues. But the full scope of the company’s interest in China now appears to be broader than just internet search. The latest hint came from Waymo, the driverless-car company that was spun out of Google in 2016. Chinese media noticed this week that the business had quietly registered a Shanghai subsidiary in May. Other recent steps that Google has taken in China include opening a research center and promoting its software tools to developers.

Chipmaker, Once Lagging, Outpaces Its Competitors

A turnaround that started in 2014 is beginning to pay off for Advanced Micro Devices’ shareholders. The chipmaker’s stock hit an 11-year high of $22.29 on Thursday and is up 103 percent for the year. Its second-quarter results for 2018 showed sales up 53 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, buoyed by the success of computing, graphics and enterprise hardware. By contrast, its longtime rival Intel is up just 1.8 percent this year, and it reported a 15 percent increase in sales in the second quarter. AMD’s shares are easily the best performing among the chipmakers in the S&P 500.

How the SEC May Pursue a Case Against Musk and Tesla

“Funding secured” does not sound particularly ominous. But when Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, tweeted those words Aug. 7, he set off a firestorm. The Securities and Exchange Commission is ramping up an investigation about whether he misled investors and violated federal securities laws. It served a subpoena on Tesla to determine if there was funding to take the company private at $420 a share, as Musk seemed to claim in his tweet. Tesla was already under investigation about its disclosure of production issues with its Model 3 vehicle. That most likely means the investigation of Musk’s tweet was folded into the earlier inquiry.