Facebook fee
Facebook has begun testing a system for users to send messages to people outside their immediate circle of social contacts for a payment of $1, as the company continues to seek new ways to profit on its popularity.
Futures shock
Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures sank 1.4 percent to 1,421 after House Republican leaders canceled a vote on Speaker John Boehner’s plan to raise rates for taxpayers making more than $1 million.
The Rite track
Rite Aid, the third-largest US drugstore chain, rose 16 percent to $1.21 after forecasting better full-year results and a return to profit in the third quarter.
Discover miss
Discover Financial Services fell sharply to $38.41 after posting a fiscal fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates on higher expenses.
Jobless filings
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments rose for the first time in five weeks, by 17,000, to 361,000 in the week ending Dec. 15, the Labor Department said.