Stocks stay on upward path as Greece situation stabilizes

SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. stocks extended gains into a second session Thursday as a deadline for private bondholders to exchange Greece-issued debt passed with what looked to be adequate participation, removing an obstacle to Greece’s second bailout.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 70.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,907.94. It’s still modestly lower for the week.

The S&P 500 ended up 13.28 points, or 1 percent, to 1,365.91. The Nasdaq composite added 34.73 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,970.42.

Private-sector creditors representing more than 85 percent of outstanding Greek debt have agreed to exchange their holdings for new debt, Reuters reported, citing a Greek official.

“We got the hint yesterday, but today there’s been more and more confirmation that they’re likely to get enough participation to at least get the restructuring done, and a high likelihood Greece will get its next tranche of money,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia.

Cost of employer insurance avoids double-digit increase

The good news is that the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance is growing at a stable rate. The bad news is that the rate still exceeds inflation and worker wage increases, according to a survey from benefits consultant Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health.

The annual cost of health coverage will rise nearly 6 percent to an average of $11,664 per employee in 2012, said the survey, which was released Thursday. The employee portion of that bill — or what comes out of worker paychecks — will climb, on average, 9.3 percent to $2,764.

The actual change that an employee experiences will vary depending on the type of plan and how many people are covered under it.

Employees, on average, paid 23 percent of the total premium cost last year and are paying 23.7 percent this year.

Report: Teen TV time rising despite cellphones, Internet

LOS ANGELES – Fear not, television executives: Teenagers are not abandoning the tube for the Internet and cellphones.

In fact, teen television viewing is actually on the rise, according to a new report from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. senior analyst Todd Juenger. The report is optimistic about television at a time when many media watchers fear new platforms are going to severely cannibalize viewers and advertising dollars.

The typical teen watches almost four hours of television per day. That is two hours less than most adults, but it is up from about three hours in 2004 as teen viewing grows at a rate of about 2.5 percent per year.

Juenger said the perception is that young people are abandoning television, but “everybody over-reports usage of Internet and mobile video and under-reports usage of traditional television.”

Although advertisers spend about $60 billion on television a year, there is concern that as consumers migrate to new media, the commercial dollars will follow. But “so far teens are following historical patterns, and in fact their usage of traditional TV is increasing,” Juenger said.

— From news service reports