Latest Business News
Economic Figures
Dollar & Gold News
Board of Trade News
Personal Finance
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gas prices have mixed impact on automakers
May 2 2006 9:42PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Rising gas prices had a mixed impact on U.S. auto sales in April, with some automakers reporting plummeting sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles while others appeared unaffected.
|
|
|
Australian banks lifts interest rate
May 2 2006 8:58PM (CT)
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's central bank said Wednesday it has boosted its official interest rate by one quarter of a percentage point to 5.75 percent in the first rate shift in 14 months.
|
|
|
MasterCard 1Q earnings rise
May 2 2006 8:38PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - MasterCard Inc., the credit card group planning a public offering later this year, said Tuesday that first-quarter net income rose to $126.7 million, or $1.27 a share, from $93.3 million, or 93 cents a share, a year earlier.
|
|
|
Canadian dollar tops 90 cents for 1st time
May 2 2006 8:30PM (CT)
TORONTO (AP) - The Canadian dollar cracked 90 U.S. cents on Tuesday, setting a new 28-year high and helping Canadians to realize cheaper U.S. imports of everything from vegetables and clothing to computers.
|
|
|
Lay wraps up testimony at Enron trial
May 2 2006 8:26PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - After exchanging some parting shots with his prosecutor, Kenneth Lay finished six days of testimony at his federal fraud and conspiracy trial Tuesday by professing love for Enron Corp., the company he founded, and the people who worked there.
|
|
|
Cardinal Health to purchase drug co.
May 2 2006 7:59PM (CT)
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) - Medical supplier Cardinal Health Inc. said Tuesday it plans to buy drug wholesaler F. Dohmen's distribution business.
|
|
|
Japanese financial markets closed
May 2 2006 7:50PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stock, currency and other financial markets were closed Wednesday for Constitution Day, a national holiday.
|
|
|
Bush nominating Bair as new head of FDIC
May 2 2006 7:43PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said he will nominate Sheila Bair, a Treasury Department official in the early years of his administration, to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
|
|
|
Microsoft settles Calif. antitrust suit
May 2 2006 7:32PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft Corp. will pay $70 million to thousands of California government agencies in the latest legal settlement spurred by price-gouging allegations against the world's largest computer software maker.
|
|
|
NitroMed shares plunge on soft drug sales
May 2 2006 7:01PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Shares of NitroMed Inc. tumbled 31 percent Tuesday after the pharmaceutical maker said sales of its heart-failure drug, approved for use only by blacks, again fell short of expectations.
|
|
|
Jury chosen for Enron broadband retrial
May 2 2006 6:59PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - A jury was chosen Tuesday for the first of three retrials of five former Enron Corp. broadband executives, whose first trial ended with a hung jury.
|
|
|
SEC said to clear Lexar shareholder vote
May 2 2006 6:57PM (CT)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Micron Technology Inc., the computer chipmaker that plans to buy Lexar Media Inc., said Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the way for Lexar shareholders to vote on the proposed transaction next month.
|
|
|
Toyota exec sued for sexual harassment
May 2 2006 6:56PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing a high-ranking Toyota executive of sexually harassing her when she worked as his personal assistant.
|
|
|
Bristol-Myers shareholders back own idea
May 2 2006 6:55PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Shareholders at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s annual meeting on Tuesday rejected the company management's recommendation on how directors are elected and voted for a proposal of their own.
|
|
|
EDS profit, sales climb in first quarter
May 2 2006 6:39PM (CT)
PLANO, Texas (AP) - Electronic Data Systems Corp. said Tuesday that profit and sales rose in the first quarter, but the results still fell short of Wall Street's forecast.
|
|
|
DreamWorks Animation 1Q profit plummets
May 2 2006 5:39PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Without a successful theatrical release to boost earnings, profits at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. plunged 73 percent in the first quarter, although results were good enough to beat Wall Street forecasts.
|
|
|
Ameriquest parent to lay off 3,800 workers
May 2 2006 5:38PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The parent company of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and Town & Country Credit said Tuesday it will close 229 branch offices and lay off 3,800 employees nationwide as part of a plan to consolidate its retail mortgage lending operations.
|
|
|
Hovnanian outlook hurts homebuilder shares
May 2 2006 5:26PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Homebuilder shares slipped on Tuesday after Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., the eighth largest U.S. homebuilder, lowered its financial guidance, raising worries that rising interest rates and cooling demand would further deflate the housing bubble.
|
|
|
Brewers shun Anheuser-Busch ad campaign
May 2 2006 5:22PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - One might think that other big U.S. brewers would be happy with Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., which is spending millions on a national ad campaign to promote beer drinking over wine or cocktails.
|
|
|
Energy nationalization reshapes politics
May 2 2006 5:19PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - First Russia, then Venezuela, now Bolivia. Soaring energy prices are fueling a global wave of natural-resource nationalization that is souring the investment landscape for international oil companies and reshaping energy politics for years to come.
|
|
|
Verizon 1Q earnings decline 7.1 percent
May 2 2006 5:12PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Verizon Communications Inc., racing to connect homes with fiber-optic lines to offset a decline in its traditional phone business, Tuesday reported a 7.1 percent drop in first-quarter earnings due to special items.
|
|
|
4 UnitedHealth Group directors re-elected
May 2 2006 5:02PM (CT)
MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) - UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s recent moves to calm the investor storm over lavish pay for Chairman and Chief Executive William McGuire paid off on Tuesday, as shareholders voted to keep all four of the company's directors who were up for re-election.
|
|
|
J. Crew set to launch new casual chain
May 2 2006 5:00PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Millard Drexler, who was formerly CEO of Gap and is revitalizing J. Crew Group Inc. as its chairman and CEO, is developing a new chain of casual women's clothing stores called Madewell.
|
|
|
Levitra, Viagra launch new ad campaigns
May 2 2006 4:58PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Sex sells, yet the racy ads that introduced erectile dysfunction drugs were more successful at raising public outrage than sales.
|
|
|
Court orders US Airways lawsuit dismissed
May 2 2006 4:56PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered dismissal of a lawsuit that US Airways pilots filed against a federal agency in a fight over pension benefits, saying the claims must be pursued through administrative channels.
|
|
|
Autostrade board OKs merger with Abertis
May 2 2006 4:51PM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Italian highway company Autostrade SPA said its board on Tuesday night approved a merger with Spain's Abertis, which analysts have described as an acquisition by the Spanish infrastructure company but the Italians insist is a "merger among equals."
|
|
|
Bank of America buys stake in Brazil bank
May 2 2006 4:46PM (CT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to swap the branches it operates in Brazil for a 5.8 percent stake in Brazil's No. 2 private-sector bank. The deal is valued at about $2.2 billion.
|
|
|
Entergy 1Q earnings up almost 13 percent
May 2 2006 4:45PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Electricity provider Entergy Corp. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose nearly 13 percent as higher power prices offset disrupted sales following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
|
|
|
IAC/InterActiveCorp 1Q profit down 32 pct.
May 2 2006 4:44PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - E-commerce conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp said Tuesday its first-quarter net income fell 32 percent despite higher revenue, hurt by increased compensation costs and lower interest income.
|
|
|
Hilton Hotels 1Q profit rises 63 percent
May 2 2006 4:42PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hilton Hotels Corp. reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit climbed 63 percent, driven by strengthening demand from business travelers and various one-time items.
|
|
|
Commerzbank 1Q net profit up to $927.7M
May 2 2006 4:37PM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Commerzbank AG, Germany's third-largest bank, said Tuesday its first-quarter net profit nearly doubled from a year ago, an increase boosted by the sale of its stake in the Korea Exchange Bank.
|
|
|
Molson Coors narrows 1Q loss to $30.2M
May 2 2006 4:31PM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - Molson Coors Brewing Co. said Tuesday that it sold more barrels of beer, but expenses and costs for energy and commodities rose as it posted a trimmer first-quarter loss.
|
|
|
Volkswagen board extends CEO's contract
May 2 2006 4:28PM (CT)
BERLIN (AP) - The board of German carmaker Volkswagen AG voted Tuesday to extend Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder's contract through 2012.
|
|
|
Burger King parent raises hopes for IPO
May 2 2006 4:27PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - Burger King's parent company on Tuesday raised the amount it hopes to raise in its planned initial public offering, but nearly all of the proceeds will be going to pay off debt at the No. 2 hamburger chain.
|
|
|
St. Paul Travelers shares up on 1Q results
May 2 2006 4:24PM (CT)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Shares of St. Paul Traveler's Cos. jumped 5 percent Tuesday as the nation's second-largest business insurer reported net income rose fivefold in the first quarter and raised its 2006 earnings guidance.
|
|
|
Tuesday's commodities roundup
May 2 2006 3:51PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Gold prices hit a new quarter-century high Tuesday, with traders citing some of the same themes that have been supporting prices for a while now _ geopolitical worries, strong crude oil and a softer dollar.
|
|
|
Charter Communications widens 1Q loss
May 2 2006 3:48PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Charter Communications Inc. said Tuesday higher operating expenses and an increase in marketing spending caused the cable operator's first-quarter loss to widen.
|
|
|
Bob Evans hires Davis as its new CEO
May 2 2006 3:46PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Bob Evans Farms Inc. said Tuesday it has hired an executive from Yum Brands Inc. as its new CEO for the family style restaurant and sausage company.
|
|
|
Sirius reports 1Q loss of $458.5 million
May 2 2006 3:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reported Tuesday that its first-quarter loss more than doubled, due largely to expenses of $225 million in stock-based compensation to its star shock jock Howard Stern. Revenue nearly tripled as the company expanded its subscriber base.
|
|
|
Ex-Tyco Int'l attorney pays $100,000 fine
May 2 2006 3:34PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The former top attorney at Tyco International Ltd., the conglomerate embroiled in one of the most spectacular corporate scandals of recent years, is paying a $100,000 civil fine to settle regulators' charges involving $14 million in loans he got from the company.
|
|
|
Visteon posts first-quarter profit of $3M
May 2 2006 3:33PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Auto parts supplier Visteon Corp. surprised Wall Street Tuesday, swinging to a first-quarter profit and raising its full-year earnings outlook as its restructuring actions took hold and new business grew. Its shares rose nearly 19 percent.
|
|
|
Caremark Rx 1Q profit climbs 16 percent
May 2 2006 3:30PM (CT)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pharmacy benefits manager Caremark Rx Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit rose 16 percent on increased mail-order business during its first quarter with the Medicare prescription drug benefits plan. The company's shares soared nearly 5 percent.
|
|
|
Group: Mexico boycott has little effect
May 2 2006 3:03PM (CT)
MEXICO CITY (AP) - The boycott of U.S. businesses dubbed "A Day Without Gringos," and aimed at supporting migrants in the U.S., appears to have had little impact, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico said Tuesday.
|
|
|
Gates touts 'onscreen reader' software
May 2 2006 2:56PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - In an April 28 story about Bill Gates' address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, The Associated Press misstated New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s response to a question on the cost of a digital news service being developed by the newspaper and Microsoft Corp. Sulzberger said that the cost of a tablet PC device for viewing the service, not the service itself, would be more expensive than a year's subscription to the New York Times.
|
|
|
Oil prices climb above $74 a barrel
May 2 2006 2:39PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices rose above $74 a barrel Tuesday amid fear that international pressure on Iran to modify its nuclear program may lead to supply cuts from the key exporter.
|
|
|
Wal-Mart cleared in negligent hiring case
May 2 2006 2:34PM (CT)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A jury on Tuesday cleared Wal-Mart of negligence in hiring a convicted sex offender who fondled a 10-year-old girl while on the job.
|
|
|
Fiat's share of domestic market rises
May 2 2006 2:00PM (CT)
MILAN, Italy (AP) - Fiat SPA's share of the domestic new car market rose to 31 percent in April, Italy's Transport Ministry said Tuesday, as the company's new flagship model, the Grande Punto, extended its successful launch.
|
|
|
Duke Energy 1st-quarter earnings fall
May 2 2006 1:57PM (CT)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Duke Energy Corp. said Tuesday profit slid almost 60 percent in the first quarter, and it is considering selling off its natural gas holdings and other volatile units to focus on electric utilities and pipelines.
|
|
|
Military looks to develop hybrid trucks
May 2 2006 1:24PM (CT)
OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) - At the top of a 10-foot-high mound of dirt, Gary Schmiedel takes in the silence. The military truck he's driving barely hums just before it careens down a steep incline into a muddy pool.
|
|
|
Devon Energy to buy Chief Holdings
May 2 2006 1:01PM (CT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Devon Energy Corp. announced Tuesday it will buy natural gas properties in Texas for $2.2 billion in cash.
|
|
|
ECB rate increase unlikely this week
May 2 2006 12:44PM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The European economy is looking up, with business confidence at a 15-year high in Germany and rising in other countries. But fears of higher oil prices are eating into the nascent recovery and could push up inflation.
|
|
|
Austria, financial sector unveil bank plan
May 2 2006 12:19PM (CT)
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Austria's government, major banks and insurance companies announced a plan Tuesday to bail out BAWAG, the bank that lost about 1 billion euros ($1.26 billion) in bad currency speculation deals in the Caribbean and is linked to the collapsed New York commodities brokerage Refco Inc.
|
|
|
Home Diagnostics files for IPO
May 2 2006 12:17PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Home Diagnostics Inc. has registered for an initial public offering of up to $115 million in common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
|
|
|
Eurotunnel shares suspended
May 2 2006 12:16PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Britain's market regulator suspended trading in Eurotunnel PLC on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the debt-laden company postponed publication of its 2005 earnings.
|
|
|
Spotlight directed at S. Korea tycoons
May 2 2006 12:15PM (CT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The arrest of Hyundai Motor Co.'s chairman in a bribery scandal has refocused attention in South Korea on the role of tycoons and the conglomerates they run as family empires.
|
|
|
Nacchio accuses prosecutors of misconduct
May 2 2006 12:12PM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - Federal prosecutors improperly influenced a grand jury before it decided in December to indict former Qwest Chief Executive Officer Joe Nacchio on charges of insider trading, Nacchio's attorneys alleged in court documents.
|
|
|
Credit Suisse reports rise in 1Q profit
May 2 2006 11:58AM (CT)
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - Credit Suisse Group said Tuesday that first-quarter net profit rose 36 percent, with its investment-banking unit benefiting from buoyant capital markets.
|
|
|
Digital camera sales lift Canon profit
May 2 2006 11:48AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Booming digital camera and color copier sales lifted Canon's net profit 16 percent in the first quarter to a record 108.3 billion yen ($942 million), keeping Japan's top precision equipment maker on track for a seventh year of record earnings.
|
|
|
Saudi minister says oil prices too high
May 2 2006 11:07AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Tuesday that currently high crude oil prices are of no long-term benefit to either producers or consumers and contribute to market instability.
|
|
|
Euro rises against dollar
May 2 2006 10:35AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The euro gained against the dollar on Tuesday after new European manufacturing data helped reverse an earlier dip in trading caused when the U.S. Federal Reserve's top official said that his remarks on interest rates had been misinterpreted.
|
|
|
EU: Emergency oil stocks at good level
May 2 2006 10:03AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union's emergency oil stocks are at "comfortable levels" and have been largely unaffectd by last year's releases, the European Commission said Tuesday.
|
|
|
BASF to acquire Johnson Polymer for $470M
May 2 2006 10:03AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Chemical company BASF AG said Tuesday it had agreed to buy resins maker Johnson Polymer, a subsidiary of Wisconsin-based JohnsonDiversey Inc., for $470 million in cash.
|
|
|
Nymex says Schaeffer voted chairman
May 2 2006 9:29AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Nymex Holdings Inc., operator of the New York Mercantile Exchange, said Tuesday that seat holders voted Richard Schaeffer chairman of the board.
|
|
|
MediaNews pays for most of 4 papers
May 2 2006 9:04AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - MediaNews Group Inc., a privately held newspaper publisher based in Denver, is shouldering most of the $1 billion cash expense for buying four newspapers from McClatchy Co., according to a regulatory filing.
|
|
|
Visteon Corp. moves to 1Q profit
May 2 2006 8:53AM (CT)
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. on Tuesday said it swung to a profit in the first quarter, even as revenue declined, helped by restructuring, improving base operations and growing global business.
|
|
|
Report: Job cuts down 8 percent in April
May 2 2006 7:51AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Fewer workers were told to hit the road last month. The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas says there were nearly 60,000 job cuts announced in April. That's 8 percent below March's level.
|
|
|
Immigrants flex economic muscle in boycott
May 2 2006 6:58AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With leaders of the national "Day Without Immigrants" calling for an economic boycott, many Hispanic-owned businesses closed for the day in the city's unofficial Latin quarter and throughout California, encouraging employees to participate in the massive protest marches.
|
|
|
IMF: China should keep raising rates
May 2 2006 4:40AM (CT)
HONG KONG (AP) - China should continue to raise interest rates, an International Monetary Fund official said Tuesday, just days after Beijing announced a rate hike to keep its booming economy from overheating.
|
|
|
Missouri River rise to go forth as planned
May 2 2006 2:17AM (CT)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A controversial move to save an endangered fish by artificially raising water levels on the Missouri River will go forward despite a lawsuit to halt it, the Army Corps of Engineers announced.
|
|
|
IMF predicts economic growth for Asia
May 2 2006 2:03AM (CT)
HONG KONG (AP) - Economic growth in Asia this year should hit 7 percent _ the same as in 2005 _ but the region could be threatened by high oil prices, tighter financial markets and bird flu, the International Monetary Fund said in a forecast released Tuesday.
|
|
|
Aztar: Columbia's $50/share offer superior
May 2 2006 12:43AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Aztar Corp. said late Monday that a $50 a share definitive offer from Wimar Tahoe Corp., doing business as Columbia Entertainment, is superior to Aztar's current agreement to be acquired by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.
|
|
|
Level 3 to pay $1.08 billion for TelCove
May 2 2006 12:42AM (CT)
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (AP) - In another sign of consolidation in the telecommunications industry, network operator Level 3 Communications Inc. agreed Monday to acquire privately held TelCove Inc. for about $1.08 billion in cash and stock.
|
|
|
Comcast purchases Susquehanna cable unit
May 2 2006 12:41AM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Comcast Corp. said Monday that it has completed the purchase of Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff's cable and high-speed Internet business.
|
|
|
|
|
|