Daily Data Flow: Premature Release of Subpar Google Earnings Pushes Down Stocks; R.R. Donnelley Blamed by Google Management for Earnings Release Snafu; Coca-Cola Announces Buyback of 500 Million Shares

Wall Street ends down after Google’s Snafu (Reuters)
Stocks fell on Thursday, with technology stocks hit hard after Google disappointed investors with earnings results that were inadvertently released during the trading day. Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average, DJI, dipped 8.06 points, or 0.06%, to end unofficially at 13,548.94. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, SPX, slipped 3.57 points, or 0.24%, to finish unofficially at 1,457.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC declined 31.26 points, or 1.01%, to close unofficially at 3,072.87.

Google Blames R.R. Donnelley for Premature Earnings Release (Bloomberg)
Google Inc. (GOOG) blamed financial printing company R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) for the premature release of results that showed a profit shortfall, caused shares to plunge and made Chief Executive Officer Larry Page the brunt of jokes shared widely on Twitter Inc. The 9% drop in shares of Google, owner of the largest Web-search engine, wiped more than $22 billion from its market capitalization in just minutes.

Coca-Cola Announces New 500 Million-Share Buyback Program (Bloomberg)
Coca-Cola Co. authorized a new plan to buy back 500 million shares, which would be valued at about $18.9 billion at yesterday’s closing price, as it returns cash to investors. The new authorization does not affect the plan to buy back $2.5 billion to $3 billion in stock this year, the Atlanta-based company said today in a statement. Coca-Cola said its current repurchase program was authorized in 2006. Coca-Cola rose 0.5% to $37.94 at 3:09 p.m. in New York. The shares gained 7.9% this year through yesterday.

Jobless Claims Hint Labor Market Improving Slowly (Reuters)
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits spiked last week, reversing a sharp decline in the prior week but still pointing to a labor market that is slowly healing. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose a greater-than-expected 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the Labor Department announced. Stock prices were roughly flat following the jobless claims data, while yields on U.S. Treasury debt fell.