News Summary

The Progressive Corp

has announced its plans to pay a special cash dividend of $1 per share on December 29 to the shareholders, as of record on December 20. Progressive said, "We are pleased to return approximately $660 million to our shareholders through this special dividend." PGR shares are up about 1%. Shares of Exelon Corp

moved down after the company posted year-over-year rise in its Q3 earnings. The company's revenue came in at $5.3 billion, up from $4.3 billion, in the year-ago period. Exelon has lifted the lower end of its adjusted earnings guidance for 2010 from $3.80 per share to $3.95 per share. Crude-oil futures moved up, with crude for December delivery rising 1.30% to $81.61. However, gold futures rose slightly, with gold for December delivery up 0.15% to $1,328 an ounce. Read more