Stocks Opened Lower amid Fed Tapering Talk

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday on concerns the Federal Reserve might begin to reduce its
stimulus earlier than some had anticipated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately was down 52.18
points, or 0.33%, to 15,956.59. The S&P 500 lost 3.56 points, or 0.20%, to 1,797.34. The Nasdaq
Composite fell 3.61 points, or 0.09%, to 4,041.65.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the volume of financing to
small companies, rose to 120.4 in October, PayNet said on Tuesday. Historically, PayNet’s lending
index has correlated to overall economic growth one or two quarters in the future.

Chrysler Group LLC on Tuesday said its November U.S. sales rose 16% to 142,275 units, the best
November result since 2007. Chrysler’s total car sales fell 7% to 33,967 units while total truck
sales jumped 26% to 108,308 units. Sales of Chrysler’s Jeep brand rose 30% in November to 45,415
units, its strongest November result ever, the company said.

Tesla Motors Inc. regained some of its mojo Tuesday after a German investigation into fires in the
auto manufacturer’s electric cars cleared the company of fault.