Stocks Slip, Fed Remains in Focus

U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday, with traders looking ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve
meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 52.40 points, or 0.33%, to finish at 15,973.13. The S&P 500 fell 5.75 points, or 0.32%, to close at 1,802.62, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 8.26
points, or 0.20%, to 4,060.49.

Job openings in the U.S. climbed in October to the highest level in more than five years, showing
employers were looking beyond the budget impasse in Washington amid growing confidence in the
economic expansion. The number of positions waiting to be filled rose by 42,000 to 3.93 million,
the most since May 2008, the Labor Department reported today in Washington.

Five federal regulators moved Tuesday to approve a key component of the sweeping financial reform law aimed at preventing another financial crisis and rein in banks’ riskiest trading practices.

MasterCard Inc. (MA) late Tuesday said its board approved a 10-for-1 stock split via a stock
dividend and authorized a new stock buyback program of up to $3.5 billion of its Class A common
stock. The board also raised the quarterly dividend by 83% to $1.10 a share which is equivalent to
11 cents a share after the stock split.

Office Depot said Tuesday it has chosen Boca Raton, Fla. for its new headquarters over Naperville.
Office Depot completed its merger with Naperville-based OfficeMax last month, but the pair hadn’t
yet announced where the combined company would be based.