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Japanese stocks slip, dollar rises vs. yen
Sep 15 2005 11:53PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks slipped Friday morning following the Nikkei stock average's new four-year high set the day before as investors took profit ahead of a long weekend. The dollar rose against the yen.
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Sony denies plan to sell financial business
Sep 15 2005 11:37PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp. said Friday that it has no plans to sell off its financial business, denying a report that the company is considering such a sale.
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Scrushy questions HealthSouth's leadership
Sep 15 2005 9:33PM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - HealthSouth Corp.'s former CEO, Richard Scrushy, accused the company's new leadership of mismanagement Thursday and demanded access to company financial data.
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White employees join Whirlpool lawsuit
Sep 15 2005 9:23PM (CT)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Ten white employees at a Whirlpool Corp. factory have joined a $50 million federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against blacks at the facility.
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Krispy Kreme exec McAleer to leave post
Sep 15 2005 8:35PM (CT)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said Thursday the son of one of the company's earliest franchisees will leave his executive position this month to pursue personal interests.
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Stun gun maker fires accounting firm
Sep 15 2005 8:25PM (CT)
PHOENIX (AP) - Stun gun manufacturer Taser International Inc. announced Thursday that it has fired its accounting firm, nearly three months after the company restated its 2004 earnings to correct miscalculated tax amounts related to employee stock options.
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Timken workers approve four-year contract
Sep 15 2005 8:12PM (CT)
CANTON, Ohio (AP) - Workers at Timken Co. approved a four-year contract Thursday that would save half the jobs at three plants the specialty steel and bearings company had planned to close.
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Insurers sued over hurricane coverage
Sep 15 2005 8:00PM (CT)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi on Thursday sued insurers to force them to pay billions of dollars in flood damage from Hurricane Katrina, saying standard insurance polices have led homeowners to believe they are covered for all hurricane damage, whether from high winds or storm surges.
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Oil prices fall amid signs of less demand
Sep 15 2005 7:43PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil prices slipped below $65 a barrel on Thursday as traders took profits amid signs that petroleum supplies were recovering and the recent price surge had deflated demand.
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Vioxx judge reprimands Merck lawyer
Sep 15 2005 7:19PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Threatening to declare a mistrial, the judge hearing a product liability suit over painkiller Vioxx reprimanded manufacturer Merck & Co.'s lead lawyer Thursday for violating an order barring comments about lawyers in front of the jury.
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Schwab drops account service fees
Sep 15 2005 7:10PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Emboldened by its highest profits since the dot-com boom, Charles Schwab Corp. is dropping its remaining account service fees in the latest step back to the stock brokerage's low-cost heritage.
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Marsh & McLennan executives indicted
Sep 15 2005 7:09PM (CT)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight former executives at Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. were charged with felonies in indictments unsealed Thursday in New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation of bid rigging and price fixing in the insurance industry.
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Crude-oil futures in New York edge lower
Sep 15 2005 6:23PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil futures in New York edged lower Thursday, as concerns about slackening petroleum demand revisited the market.
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Analysts: American, Continental stronger
Sep 15 2005 6:06PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Unlike two carriers that filed for bankruptcy this week, American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, has already cut wages sharply, eked out a small profit and piled up more than $3 billion in cash.
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Ex-FEMA chief Witt lobbies for insurance
Sep 15 2005 5:47PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - As ex-federal disaster chief James Lee Witt advises Louisiana's governor on hurricane recovery, he is also working for an insurance company lobbying Congress to create a fund to ease insurers' burdens from disaster claims, records show.
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MasterCard estimates IPO value at $2.45B
Sep 15 2005 5:21PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Credit-card company MasterCard Inc. Thursday provided details on its planned initial public offering, estimating its value at $2.45 billion.
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Retail money market mutual funds rise
Sep 15 2005 5:20PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose by $805.5 million in the latest week to $818.33 billion, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
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Longer-dated maturities lead prices lower
Sep 15 2005 5:18PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Longer-dated maturities led Treasury prices lower Thursday in a session chock-full of economic data, including a couple of post-Katrina manufacturing surveys that sparked some inflationary concerns.
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Valero's board approves stock split
Sep 15 2005 5:17PM (CT)
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Oil-refining giant Valero Energy Corp., whose share price has tripled since last September, said Thursday its board of directors has approved a 2-for-1 stock split and an increase in the company's quarterly dividend by a penny per share.
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Unions drop objections to US Airways plan
Sep 15 2005 5:16PM (CT)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A bankruptcy judge heard final arguments Thursday on US Airways Group Inc.'s plan to emerge from Chapter 11 protection and merge with America West Airlines.
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SEC rules against Raymond James
Sep 15 2005 5:12PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge on Thursday ordered Raymond James Financial Inc.'s financial-services unit to pay a $6.9 million civil penalty for failing to supervise an employee who allegedly bilked investors out of $16.5 million.
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Jobless claims surge in wake of Katrina
Sep 15 2005 5:04PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hurricane Katrina triggered the biggest one-week surge in jobless claims in nearly a decade and analysts warn that's likely just the beginning of the bad economic news ahead as the nation starts paying for the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.
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Intel to invest $345M at two U.S. plants
Sep 15 2005 5:00PM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Trying to meet demand for its chip sets and other products used in computers, Intel Corp. said Thursday it plans to invest $345 million to beef up the capacity of its manufacturing plants in Colorado and Massachusetts.
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Fiat to gain $862M from debt conversion
Sep 15 2005 4:54PM (CT)
TURIN, Italy (AP) - Fiat SpA said Thursday it expects to post a one-time gain of about 700 million euros ($862 million) as key creditors are obliged to convert 3 billion euros ($3.69 billion) into new equity in the Italian industrial group.
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Textile industry seeks quota extension
Sep 15 2005 4:53PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. textile manufacturers on Thursday petitioned the Bush administration to extend quotas it had imposed on Chinese clothing and textiles to stem a flood of imports.
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Newell Rubbermaid to slash 5,000 jobs
Sep 15 2005 4:47PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - Newell Rubbermaid Inc., maker of plastic products for the home and office, on Thursday announced a three-year plan to streamline manufacturing and cut overhead, including laying off 5,000 workers.
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Report: Motorola looking to sell unit
Sep 15 2005 4:45PM (CT)
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) - Cell-phone maker Motorola Corp. has hired J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to pursue the possible sale of its 5,000-employee automotive products unit, a published report said Thursday.
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Latin American exporters see opportunity
Sep 15 2005 4:37PM (CT)
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - From Mexican cement to Brazilian plywood, Latin American makers of construction materials see a business opportunity in the rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina _ and a chance to breach trade barriers that limit U.S. sales of their goods.
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Temporary housing offered to evacuees
Sep 15 2005 4:36PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Fannie Mae said Thursday it plans to turn over 1,500 foreclosed single-family homes to federal emergency officials as temporary housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
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Investment-bank Bear Stearns beats targets
Sep 15 2005 4:29PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Investment-bank Bear Stearns Cos. said Thursday that an upswing in underwriting and merger-and-acquisition activity helped it post a 34 percent rise in third-quarter profit, but the company's stock fell because the results paled when compared with rival Lehman Brothers, who on Wednesday reported its third-quarter profit grew by more than twice that rate.
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Yellow Roadway finalizes China deal
Sep 15 2005 4:27PM (CT)
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - Transportation firm Yellow Roadway Corp. said Thursday it had finalized its deal to buy half of the second-largest air freight importer in China.
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ATA pilots delay vote on ownership deal
Sep 15 2005 4:23PM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - With a strike threat looming, a vote on a new contract that would give the pilots of bankrupt ATA airlines partial ownership of the company has been delayed, the pilots' union said Thursday.
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Judge dismisses utility lawsuit
Sep 15 2005 4:16PM (CT)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A lawsuit filed by eight states aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from some of the country's largest power producers was dismissed by a federal judge Thursday.
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Dana cuts profit outlook due to costs
Sep 15 2005 4:09PM (CT)
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Soaring energy and steel costs forced Dana Corp. on Thursday to cut its profit outlook for this year in half, the latest sign that trouble within the auto industry is hurting the nation's biggest parts suppliers.
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U.S. takes action against bank in Macau
Sep 15 2005 3:28PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration took action Thursday against a bank in the Chinese enclave of Macau for what it said were lax money-laundering controls, alleging the bank helped North Korean customers distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities.
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Brazil launches carbon credits exchange
Sep 15 2005 2:16PM (CT)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Brazilian officials announced the creation Thursday of an exchange where companies can buy and sell carbon credits in order to meet emissions limits under the Kyoto protocol.
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IEA emergency oil stock release unchanged
Sep 15 2005 1:46PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - The International Energy Agency decided Thursday not to extend the 30-day emergency release of oil stocks it put in place after Hurricane Katrina swept through the U.S. Gulf Coast, but called on OPEC to raise production and build up capacity.
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Banca Popolare Italiana OKs stake sale
Sep 15 2005 12:46PM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Banca Popolare Italiana Scarl has approved the sale of its stake in fellow Italian bank Banca Antonveneta SpA to Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV for 2.55 billion euros ($3.14 billion), ending a bitter six-month takeover battle.
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Rates on 30-year mortgages increase
Sep 15 2005 12:08PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for the first time in five weeks as investors awaited word from next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve on the future direction of mortgage rates.
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Hyundai recalls 240,000 Elantra sedans
Sep 15 2005 12:01PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it would recall 240,000 Elantra sedans because the computer that operates the air bag system could confuse a child seat for an adult in the front passenger seat.
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Lawyer: Former exec and Wal-Mart had deal
Sep 15 2005 11:48AM (CT)
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A lawyer for Wal-Mart's former vice chairman claims his client signed an agreement when he retired that forgave him for anything he did while employed by the retailer.
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SEC expected to give cos. another reprieve
Sep 15 2005 11:38AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Securities regulators are expected to give smaller U.S. public companies an additional one-year reprieve from a key part of the anti-fraud law enacted after the series of corporate scandals in 2001-2002.
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Union: GM's Brazil unit plans to cut jobs
Sep 15 2005 10:49AM (CT)
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - The Brazilian unit of General Motors Corp. plans to cut 600 jobs at one of its local units, the metal workers union said Thursday.
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Poland cuts gas tax to ease consumer woes
Sep 15 2005 10:45AM (CT)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland on Thursday became the first European Union country to cut its excise tax on gasoline in response to high oil prices, a decision that has already eased costs at gas stations.
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Exec arrested in Infineon investigation
Sep 15 2005 10:44AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - A German prosecutor said Thursday the president of Swiss BF Consulting AG was arrested in the investigation into bribery allegations involving two former workers for Infineon Technologies AG and its sponsorship of motor sports.
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Greenspan renews mortgage giant concerns
Sep 15 2005 10:43AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The multibillion-dollar holdings of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be reduced because their huge debt raises a potential danger to the U.S. financial system, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says.
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Gazprom to reveal short list for gas field
Sep 15 2005 10:41AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - The world's biggest energy companies will come a step closer to knowing which of them will help tap a giant gas field in Russia's Arctic waters, with the long-awaited announcement Friday of a five-company shortlist of potential partners for gas monopoly Gazprom.
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Report: BAE accused of paying Pinochet
Sep 15 2005 9:40AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Europe's largest defense contractor, BAE Systems PLC, has paid more than 1 million pounds ($1.8 million) to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, The Guardian newspaper reported Thursday.
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Newmont optimistic about settling suit
Sep 15 2005 9:21AM (CT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Newmont Mining Corp., the world's largest gold producer, is optimistic about settling a $133.6 million lawsuit over alleged pollution at an Indonesian mine, saying Thursday it hopes to wrap up discussions with the government ahead of a scheduled trial next month.
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Amtrak postponing its planned fare hikes
Sep 15 2005 9:15AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amtrak said Thursday it is postponing its planned fare increases to conclude additional briefings with public officials and other interested groups.
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Blockbuster weighs online video-on-demand
Sep 15 2005 9:07AM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Movie-rental giant Blockbuster Inc. continues to take small steps toward a rollout of online video-on-demand in the United Kingdom while rival Netflix Inc. plans a small-scale test in the United States this year.
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Companies to develop drug to kill E.coli
Sep 15 2005 9:05AM (CT)
BANGALORE, India (AP) - U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. plans to work with an Indian firm to develop a drug that uses benign viruses to kill the deadly E. coli bacteria in cattle, the Indian company said Thursday.
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Indian retail fair draws global interest
Sep 15 2005 9:05AM (CT)
BOMBAY, India (AP) - Major U.S. retailers came to India on Thursday with a simple message: It's time for the South Asian giant to let foreign stores set up shop.
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French official renews oil-tax threat
Sep 15 2005 8:58AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - French Finance Minister Thierry Breton raised the pressure on oil companies Thursday to cut pump prices and boost investment _ or face a new windfall tax on their earnings.
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Kroes: EU inquiry may lead to changes
Sep 15 2005 8:43AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - A European Union antitrust inquiry into retail banking may lead to changes in the way European banks are regulated, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Thursday.
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EU court reduces DaimlerChrysler fine
Sep 15 2005 8:13AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union's Court of Justice reduced an antitrust fine against automaker DaimlerChrysler AG on Thursday to 9.8 million euros ($12 million) from 71.8 million euros ($88.2 million), annulling a decision by EU regulators that it violated competition rules in Germany and Spain.
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Germany's Lufthansa to up fuel surcharge
Sep 15 2005 8:05AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German airline Lufthansa AG said Thursday it would more than triple the fuel surcharge its passengers pay on long-haul routes because of rising fuel prices, from 15 euros ($18.42) to 52 euros ($63.87) per flight.
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Lower house approves Telstra share share
Sep 15 2005 7:58AM (CT)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's lower house of parliament passed legislation to sell the government's controlling stake in Telstra Corp. on Thursday, clearing the way for the privatization of the former state-owned telecommunications monopoly.
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Higher cost of framing materials may drop
Sep 15 2005 7:21AM (CT)
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The prices of two-by-fours used to frame new homes have risen sharply in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and that will boost the cost of building new homes or making renovations to older ones.
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Wal-Mart names new president for unit
Sep 15 2005 7:16AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Wal-Mart International has appointed David Wild president and managing director of Wal-Mart Germany, replacing Kay Hafner, the company said Thursday.
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Google offers stock at $295 per share
Sep 15 2005 7:03AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. priced a follow-up stock offering of 14.16 million shares at $295 late Wednesday, offering investors a slight discount from the online search engine leader's recent market value.
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Katrina brings financial plight to focus
Sep 15 2005 6:33AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hurricane Katrina has brought into focus the financial plight of many blacks along the Gulf Coast as well as illustrating the differences in how minorities and whites use and are treated by banks.
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China not planning more yuan revaluations
Sep 15 2005 4:43AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - China will not adjust its currency's exchange rate through another revaluation, a senior central bank official said Thursday, responding to questions about speculation over such a move.
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Illinois pizza farm draws tourists
Sep 15 2005 3:36AM (CT)
DOW, Ill. (AP) - Walt Gregory found a way to make dough harvesting pizza. The retired insurance agent and his business partner have carved up quite a tourist draw near the Mississippi River town of Alton, educating people with a half-acre circular plot divided up like the slices of a huge pizza.
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China boosts investment in construction
Sep 15 2005 1:51AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - China's urban investment in property, construction and other fixed assets surged 28.5 percent in August over a year earlier, despite government efforts to curb such spending.
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Google suit sent back to state court
Sep 15 2005 1:12AM (CT)
TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) - A federal appeals court says a class-action lawsuit alleging "click fraud" by Google Inc. and other Internet companies should be heard in state court rather than in a federal courtroom.
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