Markets

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday that its U.S. June sales rose by 6.8% to 140,604 vehicles from 131,654 in the year ago period. Passenger car sales were the weakest catagory with Toyota sales falling 2.2% to 73,811 vehicles, and Lexus sales declining 6.6% to 8,149 units. Total light truck sales increased [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Individual investors increased their holdings of stocks in June, though still keep a smaller percentage than average in equities, according to the American Association of Individual Investors. Investors held 52.9% of assets in stocks and stock funds, up 1.9 percentage points from May and compared to the historical average of 60%, [...]

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Shares of home health-care providers Almost Family Inc. and Amedisys Inc. fell sharply Thursday on news that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the companies. In separately released statements, both companies said the SEC had subpoenaed documents related to an on-going investigation by the Senate Finance Committee into their Medicare billing [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Open interest in gold futures hit a record high of 605,792 contracts on Wednesday, the CME Group reported. This volume tops 603,688 contracts set on June 25. Gold futures posted a record high of $1,258.30 an ounce on June 18, sparking heightened investor interest. Open interest on Thursday hovered around 360,000 [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Daimler AG said Thursday that June U.S. sales rose 20.3% to 19,574 vehicles from 16,271 in the year-ago period. Sales of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and light truck vehicles increased by 20.5% to 18,269 units; Smart car sales dropped 48.3% to 577 vehicles; and the newly released Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner Sprinter Vans [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that total U.S. sales in June rose 13.3% to 175,895 vehicles from 155,195 in the year-ago period. Sales of the Ford brand rose 16.2% to 155,332 vehicles; Lincoln sales fell 11.5% to 6,318 units, Mercury sales rose 26.2% to 9,250 units; and Volvo sales dropped 29.1% [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Morgan Stanley said Thursday that Francis Barron, is its new chief legal officer. Barron is a partner at law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, and will succeed Gary Lynch, who will remain a vice chairman for Morgan Stanley based in London. The bank also said that Eric Grossman, general counsel [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Boeing Co. said Thursday it has reached a “firm configuration” of its 787-9 Dreamliner, meaning the design of the plane is defined and not changing. The 787-9 is a slightly larger version of Boeing’s other Dreamliner design, the 787-8, and can seat 250 to 290 passengers. Read the full story on [...]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama called for comprehensive immigration reform on Thursday, urging Congress to fix “a broken immigration system.” Obama laid out a policy that includes a path to citizenship in a speech at American University in Washington and said “I believe we can put politics aside” to pass reform. Prospects for passage [...]