Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Traders pass in front of an American flag displayed outside of the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Strong second-quarter earnings, along with falling rates and a weak dollar, will continue to drive stocks higher, according to Jefferies, which raised its year-end …

Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks at his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 27, 2017. Top Republicans driving the GOP tax reform effort have given up on border adjustment. “While we have debated the pro-growth benefits of …

For nearly four decades, Michiko Kakutani has written about books for The New York Times. As chief book critic, she has anointed new talent, charted the peaks and valleys of literary careers and memorialized writers when they’re gone. She has stayed up all night reading embargoed memoirs by ex-presidents and …

Asa Mathat | ReCode Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, at the 2017 Code Conference on May 31, 2017. Wehner warned analysts on a conference call late Wednesday that the company’s expenses would be higher later this year — even as he lowered the full-year expense forecast range to 40 to …

The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in 7-year notes at a high yield of 2.126 percent. The bid-to-cover ratio, an indicator of demand, was 2.54. Indirect bidders, which include major central banks, were awarded 67.7 percent. Direct bidders, which includes domestic money managers, bought 11.6 percent. On Wednesday, the Federal …

The French marble floors still gleamed under artificial light. It wasn’t quite a ruin, but it looked as if a viral outbreak had removed all life from the place. “They had loud pop music echoing through the mall, and I’m looking down this corridor, and there’s no people, no stores …

Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images David Taylor, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Procter & Gamble Company. Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor said billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has not offered a substantial plan to help the company. “I want to prevent anything from derailing the …

So over time, Vinson has moved toward making movies backed by intellectual property. He was the executive producer of the so-bad-it-was-good ‘‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’’ (2013), which barely broke even domestically but went on to record a worldwide gross of $226 million. He also produced the ‘‘Journey To’’ franchise …

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, looks like he has the next five years planned out, and as a result shares of the social network are cheap, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday. …

Slaven Vlasic | Getty Images John Colaneri, Anthony Carrino, Sunny Anderson, Kenneth W. Lowe, Katie Lee, Andrew Zimmern and guests of Scripps Networks Interactive ring the NASDAQ Opening Bell at NASDAQ on June 2, 2016 in New York City. Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks Interactive have agreed to combine in …