People are reflected on the electronic board of a securities firm in Tokyo, on Sept. 28.

Asian and European stocks raced higher Friday.

The reason: The European Central Bank signaled it's considering more stimulus to revive the Europe’s ailing economy.

Flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Holdings pleaded guilty Thursday and agreed to pay $13.2 million in fines and penalties for the illegal importation of hardwood flooring.

The Department of Justice called the incident the largest U.S. financial penalty ever under the Lacey Act, passed in 1900 and updated in 2008, for timber trafficking.

Most of the illegally imported floorings were manufactured in China from timber that had been illegally logged in eastern Russia. The illegal cutting of Mongolian Oak threatens the habitat of the last 450 wild Siberian tigers.

Attorney General John Cruden said the company's “race to profit resulted in the plundering of forests and wildlife habitat that, if continued, could spell the end of the Siberian tiger.”

Shares of Lumber Liquidators (LL) rose 0.39% to $15.60 as of Thursday afternoon.

Federal agencies have been investigating the Toano, Virginia-based company for two years. The Department of Justice said the company “repeatedly failed to follow its own internal procedures and failed to take action on self-identified ‘red flags,’ including suppliers who couldn’t provide legal documentation,” the department said.

From 2010 to 2013, Lumber Liquidators illegally imported suspect timber, regulators found. Among the agreed-upon facts in the case: the firm in 2013 imported Mongolian oak from Far East Russia, which it declared to be Welsh oak.

Falling corporate earnings often go with recessions, but not always. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Although third-quarter earnings are beating estimates, Wall Street is officially in a "profit recession," or at least two straight quarters of declining profits compared to the year-ago period.

Does that mean an economic recession is close behind?

Probably not, but some analysts are at least nervously asking the question.

Operating earnings per share for the Standard & Poor's 500 companies are projected to be $28.77 in the third quarter, up 10.1% from the second quarter but down 2.8% from a year ago, according to High Frequency Economics. That solidifies the ongoing profit recession since that measure was also down in the first and second quarters.

Usually, falling profits are accompanied by economic recessions as a decline in gross domestic product — the goods and services produced by the economy — typically clobbers company revenue as well.

A notable exception was 1998 when weak global growth, a strong dollar and low oil prices hurt U.S. exports and corporate profits, Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist for Blackrock, wrote in a blog. Yet domestic demand remained strong.

A similar dynamic is playing out today, says Jim O'Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, who is not forecasting a recession. The dollar has rallied amid overseas economic troubles, including a slowdown in China, and oil prices are about half their summer 2014 levels.

Koesterich expects the greenback to appreciate more slowly in coming months and he believes oil prices have bottomed.

This Jan. 21, 2015 file photo shows a sign for American Express outside a New York business.

Shares of American Express (AXP) fell 6% Thursday after the company announced disappointing quarterly profit.

The financial firm known for its credit cards reported an adjusted quarterly profit of $1.24 a share, missing expectations by 5%, says S&P Capital IQ. The company’s profit is 11% lower than it was in the same quarter a year ago. The company also warned its profit could be down close to 7% this year. The company continues to struggle to make up for lost business with its giant partner, Costco.

American Express dropped $4.61, or 6%, to $71.90.

Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz

Shares of Multi Packaging Solutions International, a paper and packaging supplies manufacturer, began trading Thursday after pricing its initial public offering of 16.5 million shares at $13 per share.

The price is lower than the range of $15 to $17 it had expected earlier. Traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MPSX,” shares of the New York-based company rose $1.63 to $14.63 as of Thursday morning.

The IPO proceeds, estimated to be about $201 million, will be used to repay a portion of its loans and unpaid interest, the company said.

MPS sold 15.5 million shares. Other shareholders, including employees and former employees, sold about 1 million shares.

Its primary shareholders, The Carlyle Group and of Madison Dearborn Partners, have also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.48 million shares, it said.

Multi Packaging was founded in 2005 when Carlyle Group and Madison Dearborn Partners merge their packaging-related companies. Multi Packaging now owns 59 manufacturing locations in North America, Europe and Asia and has more than 9,000 employees.

Getty

It appears Wall Street is buying into the new eBay.

Shares of the online commerce company jumped 7% in pre-market trading after topping estimates for earnings during the third quarter.

The company reported earnings per share of 45 cents, topping the 40-cent estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Revenue for the quarter reached $2.1 billion.

EBay completed its split from payments service PayPal on July 15, a plan to give both companies more flexibility as they enter increasingly competitive markets. For PayPal, it’s the red-hot online payments space featuring big names such as Apple and Samsung. As for eBay, the online commerce giant finds itself competing against tech giant Amazon and craft seller Etsy.

EBay also reported it bought back $599 million in its common stock during the third quarter.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.