Briefcase

Snacks take on hip look

Hungry for hip-hop? Head to the snack aisle, where an assortment of snacks feature rappers on their wrappers as a way to target urban youths immersed in hip-hop culture.

Sold in mom-and-pop corner stores, brands like Rap Snacks, Chumpies and Homegirls are the creations of corporate executives who have discovered one more way to translate street cool into profits.

“Potato chips aren’t exactly ethnic, but it’s the way you package them and present them and the flavors that makes them different,” said Glenn Weber, owner of King’s Potato Chips, which makes Chumpies and Homegirls for the Philadelphia-based company It’s a Winner.

Rap Snacks owner James Lindsay said along with the large profits from chip sales, his product offers Universal Records another advertising venue for their artists’ latest albums.

Economy

Jobless claims down; consumer spending up

The economy appears to be emerging from its late summer funk, easing concerns about a possible double-dip recession.

In a pre-Thanksgiving blizzard of reports, the government said Wednesday that new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 21-month low last week. Consumer spending in October shot up at the fastest clip in three months, and orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods increased for the first time in three months.

And the Federal Reserve found slightly stronger business activity in its latest nationwide survey, reporting scattered signs of improvement in late October and early November.

Wall street

Economic news drives Dow up 255 points

Wall Street barreled higher Wednesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrials more than 250 points, as investors celebrated a string of positive economic data. The rally brought the market’s major indexes back to levels not seen since the summer.

The Dow closed up 255.26, or 2.9 percent, at 8,931.68. The Dow more than recouped the 172.98 lost in the previous session and was on its way to an eighth straight winning week.

Trading was light in the pre-holiday session, but the gains were big with the Nasdaq composite index also rising sharply, picking up more than 40 points. The market is closed today. It will open for a half day on Friday.

Technology

Genuity files Chapter 11

Internet backbone company Genuity Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday as part of an agreement that will transfer its assets to Level 3 Communications Inc. for $242 million.

Genuity, which operates one of the key components of the infrastructure that supports the Internet, became the latest telecommunications firm to file for bankruptcy protection.