Free Republic

U.S. stocks closed deep in the red on Friday as global growth concerns accelerated selling pressure to push the Dow into correction territory. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at session lows, off 531 points and in correction territory for the first time since 2011 as all blue chips declined. The last time the index closed more than 500 points lower was on Aug. 10, 2011. In the last five years, the index has only had four instances with closing losses of more than 400 points. "For investors the momentum and the drive of the market is now lower (than)...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Wal-Mart (WMT.N), the world's largest retailer, has apologized for selling duck meat past its expiry date in a store in southwest China's Chongqing region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. A store in the Jiulongpo district was caught by a local market regulator selling smoked tea ducks using the meat. The market regulator was tipped off by a consumer late in February, Xinhua said. Wal-Mart would pay the victims 10 times the price of the ducks as a penalty, the firm told the municipal consumers' association in a statement.