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Growth in health care spending stabilizes
Jun 20 2005 11:54PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The growth rate in health care costs for privately insured Americans leveled off during 2004 but was still problematic because it outpaced the rate of inflation, according to a study released Tuesday.
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Japanese stocks rise on bargain hunting
Jun 20 2005 10:23PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's key stock index rebounded from early losses Tuesday morning as investors hunted for bargains in high-tech blue chips.
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P&G expects Gillette buy to curb income
Jun 20 2005 10:08PM (CT)
CINCINNATI (AP) - Procter & Gamble Co. expects its proposed acquisition with Gillette Co. to cut into profits for two years after the deal closes, then add to earnings in the third year, according to a regulatory filing Monday.
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Adelphia head, son sentenced in fraud case
Jun 20 2005 9:44PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - John Rigas, who turned a $300 investment a half-century ago into cable behemoth Adelphia Communications Corp., was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for his role in the looting and debt-hiding scandal that pummeled the company into bankruptcy.
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Saks offers noteholder 'consent payments'
Jun 20 2005 9:13PM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Department store retailer Saks Inc. on Monday offered to make payments to noteholders that agree to waive certain filing requirements to allow for the company's delayed annual report. Saks also announced a $658 million buy back of certain notes.
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Dolans seek to take Cablevision private
Jun 20 2005 8:44PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - After months of intense public scrutiny, the family that controls Cablevision Systems Corp. is offering to take the cable TV provider private, marking the latest dramatic turn for a company that has been riven by a family feud and mounted a fierce showdown with the mayor of New York.
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Oil prices hit nearly $60 a barrel
Jun 20 2005 8:43PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices marched to new heights near $60 a barrel even as the president of OPEC said Monday the group will consider raising its output ceiling by half a million barrels as early as this week.
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L.A. Times suspends 'Wikitorials'
Jun 20 2005 8:28PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A bold Los Angeles Times experiment in letting readers rewrite the paper's editorials lasted all of three days.
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Walgreens accused of race discrimination
Jun 20 2005 8:01PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Eleven black current and former Walgreen Co. workers in seven states sued the drugstore chain on Monday, accusing the company of discriminating against minority employees.
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Association of banks sues New York AG
Jun 20 2005 7:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge on Monday declined to issue a temporary restraining order against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer while the court decides whether Spitzer should be barred from investigating national banks' lending practices.
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Morgan Stanley hopes for verdict reduction
Jun 20 2005 7:38PM (CT)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Attorneys for Morgan Stanley are asking a judge to reduce the $1.45 billion verdict awarded to financier Ron Perelman in his fraud lawsuit against the firm.
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Microsoft online launches search feature
Jun 20 2005 6:46PM (CT)
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Catching up with rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. on Monday unveiled an improved search service that delivers results tuned to users' location.
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Federal appeals court limits Calif. law
Jun 20 2005 6:12PM (CT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A federal appeals court blocked a portion of California's landmark financial privacy law Monday, ruling that banks have a right to sell their customers' private information to affiliated companies.
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Ford Expedition wipers being probed
Jun 20 2005 6:07PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government has opened an investigation into a potential defect affecting windshield wipers on the Ford Expedition, officials said Monday.
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EchoStar appoints Michael Neuman as COO
Jun 20 2005 6:06PM (CT)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - EchoStar Communications Corp., the No. 2 direct broadcast satellite television provider in the U.S., said Monday that it appointed Michael A. Neuman as president and chief operating officer. Its shares rose in nearly trading.
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ImClone to submit Erbitux application
Jun 20 2005 6:04PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - ImClone Systems Inc. said Monday that it will submit an application in the third quarter seeking authorization to sell its Erbitux cancer drug as a treatment for head and neck cancer.
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CarMax 1Q earnings up but misses estimates
Jun 20 2005 6:02PM (CT)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Car retailer CarMax Inc. on Monday said its fiscal first-quarter profit grew 13 percent but missed expectations as sales were hurt by a loss of momentum in April and May. The company also issued cautious second-quarter guidance, as well as a long-term sales outlook.
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Leading indicators decline in May
Jun 20 2005 5:46PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A closely watched gauge of future business activity fell more than expected in May, indicating slower economic growth may lie ahead later this year, a private research group announced Monday.
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General Electric receives federal subpoena
Jun 20 2005 4:29PM (CT)
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) - General Electric Co. said Monday it has received a subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York seeking documents related to its insurance business.
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Coke to examine overseas labor practices
Jun 20 2005 4:18PM (CT)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - The Coca-Cola Co. says it is willing to examine its labor and business practices in India and Colombia to keep $1.3 million worth of contracts with the University of Michigan.
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Real estate speculation pushing up prices
Jun 20 2005 4:17PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Home builder Marsha Elliott is selling two units in a brand new stucco and stone duplex. But the buyer isn't planning to move in or rent.
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Monday's commodities roundup
Jun 20 2005 4:12PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude oil futures rose to record highs Monday, with the front-month contract setting an all-time high of just under $60 a barrel.
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Amdocs to acquire Chinese software co.
Jun 20 2005 4:11PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Billing services provider Amdocs Ltd. on Monday said it has agreed to acquire a privately held customer care and billing software company in China for $30 million.
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Heinz buys Lea & Perrins, HP Foods units
Jun 20 2005 4:06PM (CT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) - H.J. Heinz Co., the nation's largest ketchup maker, agreed Monday to buy the HP Foods and Lea & Perrins sauce divisions from France's Groupe Danone for $852 million, in a move that one analyst says positions Heinz to possibly gain global control of the sauce market.
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Interest rates mixed in Treasury auction
Jun 20 2005 3:38PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction as rates on three-month bills fell while six-month bills rose to the highest level in nearly four years.
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Wyeth cuts sales staff to primary-care drs.
Jun 20 2005 3:36PM (CT)
MADISON, N.J. (AP) - Pharmaceutical company Wyeth this month began reducing the number of salespeople who call on primary-care doctors, a spokesman said Monday.
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Marketing prof convicted insider trading
Jun 20 2005 3:31PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal jury on Monday found a well-known marketing professor guilty of insider trading and conspiracy for tipping off friends about a merger in an insider trading deal that netted them $880,000.
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Barnes & Noble expects record Potter sales
Jun 20 2005 3:30PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced Monday that pre-orders for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" have topped 750,000 copies, well ahead of the pace of the last Potter book, which came out two years ago.
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Tobacco ads to be kept from some magazines
Jun 20 2005 1:55PM (CT)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Tobacco ads in school library editions of Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated magazines will be eliminated under a nationwide agreement announced Monday.
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Cuba revokes licenses of some workers
Jun 20 2005 1:08PM (CT)
HAVANA (AP) - Cuba's communist government has revoked some 2,000 licenses from self-employed workers across the island, part of a campaign to reassert state control over the economy, local media reported this week.
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Companies seek foothold in heartland
Jun 20 2005 12:44PM (CT)
WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) - After two rounds of layoffs, Ellen Wagner still had a job _ training the programmers brought in from India to replace her co-workers. But frustrated and tired of resisting the changes, Wagner decided to take a bold step.
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Varig confirms end of talks with TAP Air
Jun 20 2005 12:40PM (CT)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A top official at Brazil's debt-laden Varig airlines confirmed Monday that Portugual's TAP Air had ended negotiations to buy a 20 percent stake in the troubled carrier.
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London shares are lower
Jun 20 2005 12:21PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Share prices were lower on the London Stock Exchange Monday.
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Study: Some biotech regions gain on leaders
Jun 20 2005 12:10PM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Boston and San Francisco remain the powerhouses of the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, but the Philadelphia and New York regions, which split New Jersey's cluster of drug companies between them, are closing in, a think tank's analysis shows.
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Venezuela begins exporting fuel to China
Jun 20 2005 11:17AM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela has begun exporting fuel to China under a trade agreement aimed at boosting trade between the oil-rich South American nation and Asia's energy-hungry, economic powerhouse.
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MTV Networks acquires Neopets Inc.
Jun 20 2005 11:12AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - MTV Networks on Monday said it acquired NeoPets Inc., owner of the popular teen Web site Neopets.com., for an undisclosed sum.
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Switzerland wants free trade pact with U.S.
Jun 20 2005 11:11AM (CT)
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - Switzerland wants a free trade agreement with the U.S. to remove average import duties of 4.5 percent on Swiss processed goods, Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said Monday.
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OECD report: Russia is 'a weak state'
Jun 20 2005 10:53AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia must forge ahead with significant administrative, judicial and economic reforms if it is to make a clean break with its business-stifling Soviet legacy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday in a toughly worded report.
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Russia delays reform of power monopoly
Jun 20 2005 10:44AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Breaking up Russia's sprawling electricity monopoly _ long seen by investors as the litmus test of the government's approach to economic reform _ will take half a year longer than planned, the company's head said Monday, the ITAR-Tass agency reported.
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Earnhardt team, insurer reach settlement
Jun 20 2005 9:31AM (CT)
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) - The race team of the late Dale Earnhardt said Monday it reached a confidential settlement with an insurer who had refused to pay the stock-car driver's life-insurance policy, ending a nearly monthlong trial.
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Ex-chairman of Chinese banking being probed
Jun 20 2005 9:22AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - One of China's biggest state-owned banks said Monday its former chairman is under investigation by the ruling Communist Party but didn't say what he was suspected of.
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Heinz buys two Danone units for $852M
Jun 20 2005 9:21AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - H.J. Heinz Co., the United States' largest ketchup maker, has agreed to buy the HP Foods and Lea & Perrins sauce divisions from France's Groupe Danone for $852 million, the company said Monday.
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Scrushy jury gets a day off
Jun 20 2005 9:02AM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Jurors in the fraud case against fired HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy took another unscheduled day off Monday, further delaying deliberations in a trial that began in January.
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Indian stocks rise to a record high
Jun 20 2005 8:10AM (CT)
BOMBAY, India (AP) - Indian stocks rose to a record high Monday on news that the country's most powerful business family had settled a monthslong dispute by splitting Reliance Group 's diverse businesses between two brothers.
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Norwegian union threatens strike at fields
Jun 20 2005 6:13AM (CT)
OSLO, Norway (AP) - A Norwegian union threatened a strike at offshore oil fields that could cut nearly one-third of the nation's production of roughly 3 million barrel per day unless talks that began Monday settle a new contract.
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China announces plan to cut gov't stake
Jun 20 2005 5:38AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - The Chinese government plans to sell off stakes in 42 major state companies and convert them into shares that can be publicly traded, state media said Monday. Chinese stocks rallied on the news.
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Qantas Airways not considering merger
Jun 20 2005 4:32AM (CT)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's largest airline Qantas Airways said Monday it is not considering a merger with Singapore Airlines, despite the Australian trade minister raising the prospect.
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Scientists aim to tame hog farm stench
Jun 20 2005 1:22AM (CT)
MONTMORENCI, Ind. (AP) - When a west wind blows, Linda and Perry Trader's southern Indiana home is bathed in the stench of a nearby hog farm _ a stink so foul they often retreat indoors, abandoning their backyard and swimming pool.
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