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Tokyo market plunges amid word of 2nd probe
Jan 17 2006 11:35PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's stock market plunged for a second day Wednesday amid reports that prosecutors had opened another investigation into allegations Internet company Livedoor Co. concealed massive losses.
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Chinese co. in dispute with Starbucks
Jan 17 2006 11:34PM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - A Chinese company locked in a trademark dispute with Starbucks has appealed a court order to change its name for sounding too similar to that of the American coffee giant, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
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Judge: Boeing policies not unfair to blacks
Jan 17 2006 11:29PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - Weeks after a federal jury ruled that Boeing Co. did not discriminate against thousands of black employees in promotions, the judge in the case handed the airplane maker a victory Tuesday in a separate but related decision.
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Cargill 2Q earnings rise 19 percent
Jan 17 2006 11:23PM (CT)
MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) - Cargill Inc. on Tuesday reported earnings of $495 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2006, up 19 percent from $415 million a year earlier.
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IBM earns $3.19B in 4Q to beat estimates
Jan 17 2006 10:42PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - A new line of mainframe computers and positive trends in the chip business boosted fourth-quarter results at International Business Machines Corp., where net profits rose 13 percent and beat Wall Street expectations Tuesday.
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Japanese stocks plunge amid probe
Jan 17 2006 10:15PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's stock market plunged Wednesday morning, bringing its two-day losses to 5.4 percent amid an expanding probe of suspected accounting lapses at Internet company Livedoor Co.
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Sovereign Bancorp 4th-quarter earnings up
Jan 17 2006 9:44PM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Sovereign Bancorp Inc., which is involved in an acrimonious scrap with major shareholders over two pending acquisitions, reported a 20 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits, buoyed by higher banking fees and strength in lending.
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Intel misses 4th-quarter profit forecast
Jan 17 2006 9:35PM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Intel Corp.'s fourth-quarter profit and sales rose but missed Wall Street expectations Tuesday as the world's largest chip maker faced difficulties in meeting demand for some products and lower-than-expected average selling prices.
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Chinese overseas investment exceeds $50B
Jan 17 2006 9:12PM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Total overseas investment by Chinese companies exceeded $50 billion by the end of 2005, as the pace of mergers, acquisitions and other deals picked up, the government reported.
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Berkshire Hathaway discloses holdings
Jan 17 2006 8:48PM (CT)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. lost another bid to keep its stock trades private this month, so the investment company on Tuesday revealed its holdings in H&R Block Inc. and Torchmark Corp.
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Yahoo 4Q profit misses views; shares fall
Jan 17 2006 8:35PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Yahoo Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled as advertisers continued to shift their spending to the Internet, but it wasn't enough to live up to the lofty expectations for the Web's most heavily trafficked destination.
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Former Westar CEO sent to prison
Jan 17 2006 8:28PM (CT)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The former Westar Energy Inc. chief executive, David Wittig, was sent to federal prison Tuesday after a judge ruled he had violated terms of his release while he appealed convictions for bank fraud and looting Kansas' largest electric utility.
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AT&T agrees to $25M tank settlement
Jan 17 2006 8:19PM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - AT&T Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay as much as $25 million to settle charges the company failed to properly maintain a network of underground storage tanks throughout California.
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Airbus jet orders for 2005 hit record
Jan 17 2006 7:56PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - Airbus announced a record number of jet orders for 2005 on Tuesday, unexpectedly beating Boeing's tally for a fifth straight year, but the European plane maker fell behind its rival on order value as sales of its larger planes failed to keep pace. Airbus announced a review of its long-range A340 airliner in the wake of disappointing orders.
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Shoppers to challenge retailers in 2006
Jan 17 2006 7:01PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Shoppers who frustrated the nation's retailers by being choosy and waiting until the last minute for bargains during the winter holidays are expected to continue challenging merchants in 2006, particularly discounters and mid-level department stores.
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Guidant favors bid from Boston Scientific
Jan 17 2006 6:58PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Medical device maker Guidant Corp. abandoned its support for a $24.2 billion acquisition bid from Johnson & Johnson in favor of Tuesday's far richer $27.2 billion offer from Boston Scientific Corp.
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Parties set for United Airlines hearing
Jan 17 2006 6:51PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - United Airlines' creditors and unions will have a final chance to object to the company's bankruptcy exit plan at a confirmation hearing scheduled to begin Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court.
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Grupo Elektra, Western Union renew pact
Jan 17 2006 6:48PM (CT)
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican retailer and consumer banking company Grupo Elektra said Tuesday it renewed its money-transfer pact with Western Union, a unit of First Data Corp.
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SEC seeks more disclosure on execs' pay
Jan 17 2006 6:43PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators moved Tuesday to require companies to provide far greater detail about executives' pay and perks in an effort to bring more openness to an area that has provoked investor anger.
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Ex-Corning worker pleads guilty to theft
Jan 17 2006 6:37PM (CT)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - A fired Corning Inc. employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing trade secrets for making ultrathin glass used in flat-panel televisions and computers and selling them to a rival business in Taiwan.
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Berkshire Hathaway to buy Business Wire
Jan 17 2006 6:17PM (CT)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc., billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company, on Tuesday said it was buying Business Wire, a privately held distributor of press releases, for an undisclosed amount.
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Northwest, union reach tentative deal
Jan 17 2006 6:15PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Northwest Airlines Corp. told a New York bankruptcy court on Tuesday it has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing ground workers, but talks with pilot and flight attendants unions appeared to be deadlocked.
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Koh to head U.S. division of Hyundai
Jan 17 2006 5:53PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. on Tuesday named O.S. Koh as president and chief executive of the company's U.S. division.
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Navistar misses deadline to file report
Jan 17 2006 5:47PM (CT)
WARRENVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Navistar International Corp., a maker of trucks, school buses and diesel engines, missed Tuesday's deadline for filing its annual report, citing accounting issues under review by its auditor.
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U.S. Treasury prices close mostly higher
Jan 17 2006 5:45PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Treasury prices ended mostly higher on technical factors Tuesday, as the yield on the 10-year note at times slipped under that of the 2-year note _ an unusual occurrence called inversion.
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Safety concerns halt peanut-allergy drug
Jan 17 2006 5:40PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. has stopped development of a promising peanut-allergy treatment because of safety concerns raised during human experiments, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
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Oil prices advance to 3 1/2-month high
Jan 17 2006 5:39PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Crude-oil prices charged to a three-and-a-half month high above $66 a barrel Tuesday amid growing unease about the possibility of sanctions against Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, because of its nuclear ambitions.
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Dana reports 3Q loss of nearly $1.3B
Jan 17 2006 5:21PM (CT)
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Auto parts maker Dana Corp. on Tuesday reported a third-quarter loss of nearly $1.3 billion as a slumping automobile industry forced it to realign its business, triggering massive charges during the period. Its shares tumbled more than 20 percent.
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McDonald's sales rise 5 percent in Dec.
Jan 17 2006 5:20PM (CT)
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) - McDonald's Corp. on Tuesday said same-store sales, or sales at restaurants open at least one year, rose 5 percent in December on stronger sales of breakfast items in the United States and increasing sales abroad. The world's largest fast-food chain also said it would beat Wall Street's estimate for fourth-quarter earnings.
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Forest Labs 3Q profit tumbles 25 percent
Jan 17 2006 5:17PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Forest Laboratories Inc. said Tuesday its profit plunged 25 percent in the third quarter as it made an unexpected payment to a research partner and sales of one of its antidepressant drugs sank.
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Tuesday's commodities roundup
Jan 17 2006 5:16PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Gold lost ground by late Tuesday, after rising to a fresh 25-year high earlier due to higher oil prices amid a threat from Iran that it would not suspend its nuclear program.
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Continental Airlines narrows 4Q loss
Jan 17 2006 5:12PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Continental Airlines Inc. posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss Tuesday as higher revenue and cost-cutting efforts offset sharply higher fuel costs, but executives at the nation's fifth-largest carrier told analysts they expect a "significant loss" in the first quarter of 2006. The company's stock plunged after the news.
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Coca-Cola appoints Kent to new position
Jan 17 2006 5:09PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - The Coca-Cola Co. on Tuesday named company veteran Muhtar Kent to a newly created position of president of international operations as the world's largest beverage maker continued its strategy to centralize its leadership structure.
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Sara Lee agrees to buy Butter-Krust Baking
Jan 17 2006 5:01PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Sara Lee Corp., the food and apparel manufacturer, said Tuesday it has agreed to buy the privately held Butter-Krust Baking for $72 million.
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Consumer bankruptcies hurt banks' profit
Jan 17 2006 4:57PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A surge in consumer bankruptcies and a flattening yield curve took a bite out of fourth quarter earnings at some of the nation's largest banks, and some stepped up provisions for future loan losses. Several banks _ including Wells Fargo & Co. and National City Corp. _ missed analysts' profit expectations.
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Rates rise at weekly Treasury auction
Jan 17 2006 4:39PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Tuesday's auction to the highest levels in nearly five years.
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Winchester rifle plant prepares to close
Jan 17 2006 4:37PM (CT)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday it will close its Winchester firearm factory, threatening the future of a rifle that was once called "The Gun that Won the West."
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E-Trade offers customers fraud coverage
Jan 17 2006 4:19PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Customers of E-Trade Financial Corp. will be reimbursed if they fall victim to fraud or theft, whether their debit card is stolen right from their pocket or their online account is hacked into from another continent.
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Italy cuts gas supplies to some clients
Jan 17 2006 3:10PM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Italy's Industry Ministry said Tuesday it has cut gas supplies to some industrial clients to ensure the country has enough reserves to face the unusually stiff winter.
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Bernanke to report on economy in Feb.
Jan 17 2006 2:48PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ben Bernanke, the incoming chairman of the Federal Reserve, will report to Congress on the nation's economic outlook in the middle of February.
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Singapore plans to lift U.S. beef ban
Jan 17 2006 1:49PM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore said Tuesday it is taking steps to end a ban on beef imports from the United States, two years after it suspended imports following detection of a case of mad cow disease in the state of Washington.
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Financial Times settles libel case
Jan 17 2006 1:48PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Brokerage firm Collins Stewart and the Financial Times settled a libel case out of court on Tuesday, after the newspaper agreed to pay 300,000 pounds ($531,000) in damages and issue an apology.
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London stocks close lower
Jan 17 2006 12:54PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Share prices closed lower Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange.
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VNU taking majority stake in BuzzMetrics
Jan 17 2006 12:32PM (CT)
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch publisher VNU NV said Tuesday it will take a majority stake in Internet research firm BuzzMetrics Inc., just a day after VNU itself received a takeover bid worth up to 7.3 billion euros ($8.87 billion) from a group of private equity firms.
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Houston Exploration names new CFO
Jan 17 2006 12:02PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Houston Exploration Co. named Robert T. Ray as its new senior vice president and chief financial officer, replacing John Karnes, who resigned last month.
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Tredegar names Gottwald to as new CEO
Jan 17 2006 12:02PM (CT)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Tredegar Corp., which makes plastic films and aluminum extrusions, said President and Chief Executive Norman A. Scher will retire, and the board named John D. Gottwald, who previously held the positions, as his successor, effective March 1.
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Nike unit is placed under investigation
Jan 17 2006 11:59AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - Nike Inc.'s French unit has been placed under judicial investigation as part of a fraud probe linked to its sponsorship of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club, a judicial official said Tuesday.
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Cartel office bans some E.On's gas pacts
Jan 17 2006 11:55AM (CT)
BERLIN (AP) - Regulators moved Tuesday to open up German energy markets, banning E.On AG from sealing long-term natural gas supply deals with distributors that they said were keeping prices high.
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Alitalia to cancel 74 flights due to strike
Jan 17 2006 11:22AM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Italy's flag carrier Alitalia said Tuesday it will cancel 74 flights on Thursday because flight attendants are planning a daylong strike.
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Wells Fargo profit up on change in law
Jan 17 2006 11:04AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Wells Fargo & Co.'s fourth-quarter profit rose 8 percent as the nation's fifth largest bank adjusted to slacker demand for home mortgages and a recent change in federal bankruptcy law that drove up its consumer loan losses.
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Targacept files for initial public offering
Jan 17 2006 10:51AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Targacept Inc. registered Tuesday for an initial public offering of up to $59.8 million in common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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U.S. Bancorp profit up on solid fee income
Jan 17 2006 10:23AM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - U.S. Bancorp, the nation's sixth-largest bank by assets, said Tuesday that growth in fee-based businesses helped push fourth-quarter profit up 8.2 percent.
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Gap, IBM in $1.1 billion services deal
Jan 17 2006 9:26AM (CT)
ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) - International Business Machines Corp. will get about $1.1 billion from Gap Inc. over the next 10 years to take over parts of the clothing retailer's technology operations, Gap said in a notice to regulators Tuesday.
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Brazilian oil production surges in 2005
Jan 17 2006 9:11AM (CT)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's domestic oil output surged to an average of 1.684 million barrels a day last year, up 13 percent from 2004, the government-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said.
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Gazprom to take control of stake in trader
Jan 17 2006 8:35AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - OAO Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, will take direct control of a 50 percent stake in a gas trader that emerged as the sole supplier to Ukraine after a bitter price fight, company officials said.
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Britain's inflation rate falls in December
Jan 17 2006 8:03AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Consumer price inflation in Britain fell to 2 percent in December from 2.1 percent the month before, the government said Tuesday.
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Saudi king to visit China to discuss oil
Jan 17 2006 7:59AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - Saudi King Abdullah will visit China and is expected to discuss possible cooperation in oil and energy security, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
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French finance minister wants steady rates
Jan 17 2006 7:48AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - French economic growth is "solid," Finance Minister Thierry Breton said Tuesday, stressing that he expected the European Central Bank to keep current interest rates steady, but wanted more ECB transparency.
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Alcoa to cut pensions for new U.S. hires
Jan 17 2006 6:11AM (CT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Alcoa announced Monday that it will no longer offer pension benefits to most U.S. salaried employees it hires beginning March 1, joining a list of companies looking to curb retiree benefit costs.
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Huawei: 2005 global sales soared
Jan 17 2006 5:40AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China's biggest telecommunications equipment maker, Huawei Technologies Co., saw its global contract sales jump 40 percent last year to $8.2 billion, the company reported.
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China urged to keep major stake in banks
Jan 17 2006 5:38AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The government must keep its status as the majority shareholder of state banks to ensure China's economic and financial security, a senior official said in remarks published Tuesday.
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Cattle producers mix tradition, high-tech
Jan 17 2006 5:13AM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - The cattle in the maze of pens at the National Western Stock Show are all gussied up: clipped, washed, blow-dried, ready to wow 'em in the auction barn.
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Toyota labor talks in India fail
Jan 17 2006 1:14AM (CT)
BANGALORE, India (AP) - Talks between the striking employees and the management of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Indian subsidiary have failed, both sides said Tuesday.
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China personal savings hit record $1.7T
Jan 17 2006 1:08AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The frugal Chinese had a record 14 trillion yuan, or $1.7 trillion, in personal savings by the end of 2005, as families socked money away to pay for schooling, health care and housing, the government said.
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