Yields

NEW YORK -- Stocks surged to new highs yesterday as investors large and small braved the market's risks in search of returns no longer available from bank accounts and bonds.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.84 points, or 1.9 percent, to a new high of 3,469.42, more than 28 points above its previous record close.It was the largest daily gain since September for the Dow, and several other indexes also set new highs. The Standard & Poor's index scored its best daily gain since the end of 1991.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks posted their biggest drop in almost three weeks yesterday as rising bond yields made it less likely that earnings will beat forecasts this year.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 43.72 to 5,626.88, its steepest decline since a 171-point slide on March 8. When the 30-stock average fell more than 50 points at 3: 01 p.m., the New York Stock Exchange's "uptick" rule was triggered to stabilize the market. It was the 17th time this year that the curb took effect.The Dow's retreat was led by shares of United Technologies Corp.

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks were mixed in heavy trading yesterday as rising bond yields dimmed the outlook for higher corporate profits this year. Semiconductor and computer stocks gained.Borrowing costs for companies and consumers rose after a report from the Federal Reserve showed booming activity at factories and utilities last month. If interest rates rise further and slow the economy's expansion, spending on goods and services will dry up and earnings could drop, investors said.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.09 to 5,584.

After a year of further excavations at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, Egyptian archaeologists have opened seven more tombs and found 102 more mummies, including members of elite and middle-class families and a woman with a wooden tablet at her feet that depicts the scene of what appears to be her resurrection. They also found the tomb of a powerful adviser to one of the late dynasties of pharaohs. The first discoveries in the ancient cemetery at Bahariya Oasis, 230 miles southwest of Cairo, were announced in the summer last year and hailed as one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in Egypt in several decades.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks retreated yesterday for the first time since Aug. 13, hurt by rising Treasury bond yields and a slump in Philip Morris Cos. and other tobacco shares.The Dow Jones industrial average sank 31.44 to 5,689.82, sacrificing the past two days' 31.81-point advance.Philip Morris, the biggest cigarette company in the United States and maker of Marlboros, fell $3.875 to $87.625 on the New York Stock Exchange, chopping almost 12 points from the Dow industrials.RJR Nabisco Holding Corp.

CORDOVA -- Space-age military technology that helped guide tank and troop movements in the Persian Gulf war is now being used by a handful of Maryland farmers with hopes of boosting the size of their corn, soybean and wheat harvests.One of the pioneers in this area of agriculture's adaptation of the military system is Robert Hutchison, who with three brothers farms 3,700 acres around this rural Eastern Shore town.Hutchison points to a shiny metal canister mounted on the roof of his giant John Deere combine and says it is part of a system that he thinks "could revolutionize farming."

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks scored their third record of the year yesterday as investors speculated that rising energy prices will trigger a profit boom in oil companies such as Texaco Inc. and Exxon Corp.A drop in bond yields from 11-week highs supported the rally.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 76.19 to a peak close of 6,625.67, as Exxon climbed $3.375 to a record $102.875.The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 6.44 to 754.85, with oil drilling, exploration and equipment shares rising most.

NEW YORK -- Stocks closed mixed yesterday amid a rise in government bond yields and concern that rallies in overseas markets are siphoning away cash.The market failed to get a boost from a European-wide decline in interest rates as Germany's central bank lowered its key lending rates yesterday. Slower profit growth at Microsoft Corp., a bellwether technology stock, also raised concern that third-quarter corporate profits would not meet expectations.Some investors might be "pulling money out of here to put" in Europe, said Bill Beise, a partner at Wessels, Arnold & Henderson in Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS -- As U.S. Navy divers combed the gnarled wreckage of the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge yesterday, federal agents used a robot submarine, a helicopter equipped with cameras, and detailed images being captured from scanners onshore to search for the missing. But by rush hour - five days after the late-afternoon collapse - the exhaustive and minute search still yielded no word on the fate of the eight people believed to have perished. Seven previously hidden vehicles were found in the Mississippi River and amid the rubble yesterday, authorities said.

Farm yields crop of historic finds The word went out: Montjoy, once a farm and soon to be a subdivision, had dozens of old ledgers sitting around in a barn. For history-minded folks, that's like hitting a minor jackpot. But what they found was even better. Eager to preserve records offering insight into the way we used to live, Howard County Historical Society volunteers showed up yesterday in the pouring rain to see what could be carted away - and discovered not just a barn but a large house full of documents, enough to keep them busy for days.