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Chicken entrepreneur Frank Perdue dies
Apr 1 2005 10:53PM (CT)
BALTIMORE (AP) - Frank Perdue, who built one of the world's biggest chicken companies by appearing in TV commercials that seemed to play off his remarkable resemblance to the product he sold, has died at 84.
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Exxon Mobil to appeal ruling
Apr 1 2005 7:45PM (CT)
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Exxon Mobil Corp. said Friday it plans to appeal a ruling from a Louisiana court which it says did not go far enough in reducing a $1 billion judgment against the oil company in an environmental-damages case.
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GM, Ford report lower March U.S. sales
Apr 1 2005 6:35PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said Friday that new vehicle sales in March failed to match year-ago levels, despite hopes for a recovery after a tough winter. Meanwhile, in an oft-repeated pattern, some Asian brands reported record demand.
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Bonds rise on disappointing job report
Apr 1 2005 6:11PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Bond prices rose again Friday, as strong growth in the service sector and record high oil prices sent stocks sharply lower on renewed inflation fears.
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Thursday's Commodities Roundup
Apr 1 2005 6:02PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Gasoline futures rose to a record high on the New York Mercantile Exchange, supported by a report that forecast higher summer demand amid declining inventories.
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Iowa shipping CEO gets prison for dumping
Apr 1 2005 5:42PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - A federal judge Friday sentenced the chief executive officer of an Iowa shipping company to 33 months in prison for directing the illegal dumping of 442 tons of fuel-contaminated wheat from a freighter into the South China Sea.
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Lawsuit: Sony BMG blacklisted agent
Apr 1 2005 5:37PM (CT)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Record executives at Sony BMG Music Entertainment allegedly tricked some of gospel music's biggest stars into firing their agent in an effort to keep company costs down and retain control over one of the industry's fastest growing markets, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Friday.
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Aluminum maker exits Chapter 11
Apr 1 2005 5:35PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Aluminum maker Ormet Corp. announced Friday it emerged from bankruptcy, giving the company approval to sharply increase retirees' health insurance costs to save money the company says it needs to survive.
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Prosecutors: Don't change Stewart sentence
Apr 1 2005 5:21PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Mocking Martha Stewart's claim that home confinement is damaging to her business, federal prosecutors urged a judge Friday to make no changes to her sentence for lying about a stock sale.
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Airlines raising fares $10 per round trip
Apr 1 2005 5:07PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - The airlines are at it again. The major U.S. carriers are trying to raise fares for the fourth time in a month, by $10 per round trip on many domestic routes, including Alaska and Hawaii flights. The airlines blame the rising cost of jet fuel.
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MCI to reopen talks with Qwest
Apr 1 2005 5:04PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - MCI Inc. invited Qwest to reopen merger talks Friday, just three days after the long-distance phone company agreed to a sweetened $7.5 billion buyout from Verizon and a day after Qwest raised its bid to nearly $9 billion.
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Service Corp sees earnings fall
Apr 1 2005 4:56PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Service Corp. International, the world's largest funeral and cemetery company, said earnings fell in the latest quarter even though North American results improved.
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FBI joins Delphi accounting investigation
Apr 1 2005 4:37PM (CT)
TROY, Mich. (AP) - The FBI has joined the government investigation of accounting errors totaling hundreds of millions of dollars at Delphi Corp., the world's largest auto supplier. Delphi shares slipped in early trading.
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Blockbuster CEO gets hefty compensation
Apr 1 2005 4:36PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Movie-rental giant Blockbuster Inc., which lost $1.25 billion last year, boosted chief executive John F. Antioco's pay to $7 million in salary and bonus, restricted stock eventually worth $26.8 million, and options for 5 million more shares.
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Best Buy to end rebates, reports earnings
Apr 1 2005 4:35PM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Best Buy Co., the nation's biggest consumer electronics chain, said Friday its fourth quarter earnings rose, buoyed by a February sales surge, but offered a disappointing forecast for this quarter. It also said it will phase out mail-in rebates over the next two years, bowing to customer complaints. Its shares fell more than 6 percent.
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Pfizer to announce new strategic plan
Apr 1 2005 4:21PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Pfizer Inc.'s stock price has tumbled by roughly a third this year amid worries about expiring patents, safety concerns about its pain reliever Celebrex and its sub-par outlook. Still, Wall Street expects few dramatic changes when the world's largest drugmaker holds a meeting for analysts and investors on Tuesday.
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Celestica laying off 800 workers
Apr 1 2005 4:21PM (CT)
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - Electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. said it will close its Fort Collins plant within a year, putting some 800 employees out of work in a region still recovering from the high-tech bust.
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Biogen withdraws earnings guidance
Apr 1 2005 4:08PM (CT)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Biopharmaceutical firm Biogen Idec Inc. has withdrawn its previous earnings guidance as a result of the events surrounding the suspended multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri, the company said in a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Taser: 1Q sales short of expectations
Apr 1 2005 3:59PM (CT)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Taser International Inc. on Friday estimated its first-quarter revenue short of Wall Street expectations, saying the controversy over the safety of its stun guns may have cut into sales for the period.
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TXU CEO got $55 million in compensation
Apr 1 2005 3:43PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - The new chief executive of electric utility TXU Corp. got $55 million in compensation last year, mostly stock-related bonuses that kicked in as the company's shares soared.
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GM rolls out world's first fuel-cell truck
Apr 1 2005 3:37PM (CT)
HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - General Motors Corp. rolled out the world's first drivable fuel cell truck Friday and handed over the keys to an exacting patron: the Army.
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UPS gets OK for increased China flights
Apr 1 2005 3:07PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Friday it has won final government approval to expand its air operations to and from China.
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First-quarter mutual fund returns suffer
Apr 1 2005 2:57PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The first-quarter drop in stock prices, capped off by March's intense selloff, led most mutual funds to negative returns for investors so far in 2005, according to a mutual fund performance report released Friday by mutual fund watcher Lipper Inc.
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Airbus parent might accept tax breaks
Apr 1 2005 2:45PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - The parent of European plane maker Airbus might accept tax breaks and other government incentives in the United States that are similar to those it criticized rival Boeing Co. for receiving.
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Private equity firms in limelight
Apr 1 2005 2:25PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The buyout business, which went into a dormancy of sorts during the dot-com boom, is having a reawakening as private equity firms band together and pick up well-known companies like Toys R Us Inc.
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Initial public offerings debuts
Apr 1 2005 2:02PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week, as provided by MCM EquityWatch.
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Manufacturing activity grows in March
Apr 1 2005 1:05PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Business activity in service industries such as financing and insurance soared in March, worrying Wall Street investors that the U.S. economy may be overheating.
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Colombia pays IDB loan ahead of schedule
Apr 1 2005 12:29PM (CT)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The Colombian government, taking advantage of a strengthening of the peso against the dollar, is paying off a $1.25 billion loan to the Inter-American Development Bank ahead of schedule, President Alvaro Uribe said.
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Prosecutors drop Volkswagen investigation
Apr 1 2005 12:23PM (CT)
BERLIN (AP) - Prosecutors said Friday they have dropped an investigation into management at Volkswagen AG over continued payments to former employees elected to public office, because the company broke no laws with the practice.
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London shares rise
Apr 1 2005 11:39AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Share prices on the London Stock Exchange rose 0.4 percent Friday.
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Nestle to close plants in St. Louis area
Apr 1 2005 10:53AM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nestle USA plans to close its three candy plants in the St. Louis area by the middle of next year, affecting more than 380 workers, the company said.
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NYSE leaves 'circuit-breakers' unchanged
Apr 1 2005 10:24AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Stock Exchange will make no changes for the second quarter in its mechanism which shuts down trading when the market falls too far in one session.
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Sears files 'mass layoff' announcement
Apr 1 2005 10:16AM (CT)
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) - Sears Holding Corp. plans a "mass layoff" of 250 workers at its headquarters in this Chicago suburb, according to a report filed with the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
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Alcan sells aluminum tubes unit
Apr 1 2005 10:14AM (CT)
MONTREAL (AP) - Alcan Inc. is selling its aluminum tubes business to a group that includes the current management team and 21 Centrale Partners, an investment fund specializing in high-potential, mid-size industrial companies.
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Citigroup may up stake in Shanghai bank
Apr 1 2005 10:02AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Citigroup Inc. is considering increasing its stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank from the current 4.62 percent, a Citigroup official said Friday.
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U.S. negotiator to discuss Airbus in talks
Apr 1 2005 9:41AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick will discuss a deadlocked dispute with the European Union over subsidies to aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing Co. during talks at EU headquarters, officials said.
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U.S. dollar falls against yen, euro
Apr 1 2005 9:05AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The U.S. dollar dropped Friday against the euro, which rose above $1.30 after the U.S. Labor Department reported sluggish payroll growth in March.
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DaimlerChrysler to restructure Smart
Apr 1 2005 9:02AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - DaimlerChrysler AG announced plans Friday to restructure its money-losing Smart car maker, spending up to 1.2 billion euros ($1.56 billion) this year, cutting 700 jobs and scrapping some models.
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EU deplores unauthorized imports of maize
Apr 1 2005 8:08AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union said Friday that it deplored unauthorized imports of BT10, a form of genetically modified maize made by Switzerland's Syngenta AG.
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Report: Greenberg resigned amid AG threat
Apr 1 2005 7:43AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Maurice Greenberg abruptly resigned as longtime chairman of American International Group Inc. amid a threat that the New York attorney general would indict AIG if he was still at the embattled company's helm as it faced growing government probes, The Wall Street Journal reported in Friday's editions.
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Isuzu admits illegally testing vehicles
Apr 1 2005 6:48AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Isuzu Motors Ltd., a truckmaker allied with General Motors Corp., said Friday it had illegally tested its vehicles on public roads for years, and said vehicles being tested were involved in accidents that caused one death and 27 injuries.
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Tokyo stocks up despite weak economic data
Apr 1 2005 6:19AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo's benchmark stock index rose Friday on bargain hunting despite weaker-than-expected economic data on corporate sentiment, sending the dollar to a new five-month high against the yen.
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Qwest raises bid for MCI to $8.94 billion
Apr 1 2005 5:36AM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - Qwest Communications International Inc. boosted its bid for MCI Inc. again on Thursday, offering $8.94 billion just two days after the long-distance phone company accepted a sweetened $7.51 billion proposal from Verizon Communications Inc.
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Japan, Mexico launch free-trade pact
Apr 1 2005 3:29AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan and Mexico launched a free trade agreement Friday after nearly three years of discussions and delays, with Tokyo hoping to boost exports of autos and electronics to North America and Mexico betting it can lure investment and export more farm products.
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Survey: Japan corporate mood deteriorates
Apr 1 2005 3:25AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Large Japanese manufacturers are becoming less optimistic about their business outlook, a quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan said Friday, underlying growing worries about the fragility of the nation's recovery.
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Company sees fuel in citrus peel
Apr 1 2005 3:23AM (CT)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Florida, the nation's largest citrus producer, each year creates about 8 million tons of orange peel waste that mostly goes to cattle feed. But researchers at a Fort Lauderdale-based company want to convert some of the peels into methanol, which can be used as an energy source.
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World Bank OKs Wolfowitz as new president
Apr 1 2005 2:09AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Paul Wolfowitz, the Bush loyalist and deputy defense secretary who helped plan the Iraq war, won the unanimous approval of the World Bank's board to become the next president of the development bank.
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