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Houston refining industry at a standstill
Sep 22 2005 9:34PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Drivers, homeowners, airlines and businesses will end up paying higher fuel bills if Hurricane Rita magnifies the damage last month's Hurricane Katrina inflicted on the oil-refining industry.
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Calpine blocked from escrow account funds
Sep 22 2005 8:05PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Calpine Corp. said Thursday that it can't withdraw $400 million from an escrow account because of a dispute with its bondholders, delivering the latest blow to the troubled power merchant's drooping finances.
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Alcoa issues profit warning; stock falls
Sep 22 2005 8:00PM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Alcoa Inc. said late Thursday its third-quarter earnings will fall far short of Wall Street's expectations, a warning that sent the company's shares tumbling in after-hours trading.
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Symantec to acquire WholeSecurity
Sep 22 2005 7:19PM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Security software maker Symantec Corp. said Thursday it plans to buy WholeSecurity Inc., a privately held firm that specializes in identifying viruses, worms and other malware by their behavior.
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Palm earnings fall 7.1 percent in 1Q
Sep 22 2005 6:58PM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Handheld computer maker Palm Inc. said Thursday its profit fell 7.1 percent in the first quarter due to sagging sales of digital organizers and higher costs, although the company also saw 25 percent revenue growth driven by white-hot sales of the Treo smartphone. Company executives also disappointed Wall Street by offering a lower-than-expected forecast for the second quarter.
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Oracle 1Q profit matches expectations
Sep 22 2005 6:12PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Oracle Corp.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings matched analyst expectations as the business software maker continued to digest its recent acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. and prepared to devour another longtime nemesis, Siebel Systems Inc.
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Texas beef counties may lie in Rita's path
Sep 22 2005 6:11PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - There is bad news for beef producers but some relatively good news for cotton and rice growers in the path of Hurricane Rita.
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Bank of America building sold for $1.05B
Sep 22 2005 5:58PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A New York property owner agreed Thursday to pay $1.05 billion to purchase the Bank of America building, a staple of this city's skyline.
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Money funds rise in latest week
Sep 22 2005 5:52PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose by $229.8 million in the latest week to $818.56 billion, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
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Former Tyco execs arrive at N.Y. prison
Sep 22 2005 5:35PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, the former Tyco International executives convicted of stealing $600 million from the company, arrived at a prison Thursday and were given ID numbers, prison-issued clothing and a brief orientation about life in the New York correctional system.
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7-Eleven recommends rejection of buyout
Sep 22 2005 5:27PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Directors of 7-Eleven Inc., the world's largest convenience-store chain, have recommended that shareholders reject a buyout offer from majority owner Seven-Eleven Japan Co., saying the offer isn't good enough.
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Oil prices ease as traders await Rita
Sep 22 2005 5:25PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude oil prices slipped Thursday after racing past $68 a barrel earlier in the day, as traders waited to see if a weakened Hurricane Rita will bring another round of devastation to the Gulf Coast, disabling refining capacity and driving fuel prices higher.
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GM rolls out new plan to cut some costs
Sep 22 2005 5:17PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. presented suppliers Thursday with a new plan the automaker hopes will improve its relationship with them while cutting its purchasing costs.
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Wachovia to buy Union Bank business
Sep 22 2005 5:16PM (CT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Financial services company Wachovia Corp. plans to buy the international banking business of Union Bank of California for as much as $245 million in cash to shore up its business in several Asian cities, including New Delhi and Hanoi.
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India co. to sell generic drugs in Canada
Sep 22 2005 5:15PM (CT)
TORONTO (AP) - India's largest drug company announced Thursday it was entering the Canadian generic drug market with the launch of a subsidiary called Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.
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PG&E's top executive to step down in Dec.
Sep 22 2005 5:13PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s top executive, Gordon Smith, will leave the company in December, ending his tumultuous eight-year stint at the helm of Northern California's largest utility.
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DRS Tech to buy Engineered Support Systems
Sep 22 2005 5:11PM (CT)
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (AP) - DRS Technologies Inc., a supplier of computers and other equipment for the military, is buying defense contractor Engineered Support Systems Inc. for almost $1.9 billion in cash and stock, the companies said Thursday.
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Thursday's Commodities Roundup
Sep 22 2005 5:08PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil futures fell Thursday, as Hurricane Rita weakened and followed a track running east of the Houston-area refineries.
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General Mills 1Q profit climbs 38 percent
Sep 22 2005 5:01PM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - General Mills Inc. surprised Wall Street with a 38 percent jump in its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, but the nation's second largest cereal maker said it expects higher fuel prices to pressure earnings for the rest of the year.
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Sony seeks turnaround with job cuts
Sep 22 2005 5:01PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp.'s Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head the Japanese electronics and entertainment company, promised a decisive turnaround Thursday centered on cutting jobs, closing plants and shedding unprofitable businesses.
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Rite Aid swings to 2Q loss on higher costs
Sep 22 2005 5:01PM (CT)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Rite Aid Corp., the nation's third-largest drugstore chain, on Thursday reported a second-quarter loss, reversing its profit from a year ago due to sluggish sales growth and higher costs.
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KB Home raises outlook after profit rises
Sep 22 2005 4:58PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - KB Home, one of the largest homebuilders in the nation, said Thursday its third-quarter profit nearly doubled, beating Wall Street estimates, on strong revenue growth and improved margins.
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HealthSouth whistleblower gets 27 months
Sep 22 2005 4:56PM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The main whistleblower in the accounting fraud at HealthSouth Corp. got the longest sentence so far in the case, while another former executive received probation Thursday.
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Boston Scientific settles with ex-partner
Sep 22 2005 4:55PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Boston Scientific Corp. has agreed to pay $750 million to its former partner in a settlement that ends a bitter contract dispute over the sale of heart stents.
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Guidant recalls thousands of pacemakers
Sep 22 2005 4:51PM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Guidant Corp. issued recalls or safety advisories for almost 170,000 of its top-selling pacemakers on Thursday following a two-week federal inspection of its cardiac unit.
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Avion Group orders 4 Boeing 777 freighters
Sep 22 2005 4:50PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - Avion Group, an Icelandic company that leases and operates airplanes for other carriers, said Thursday it would buy four Boeing 777 freighters and retain purchase rights for two more.
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Bonds tread water, market frets over Rita
Sep 22 2005 4:34PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Prices on U.S. Treasury bonds ended little changed Thursday as traders and investors pared back activity to track Hurricane Rita.
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Sprint Nextel: Merger ahead of schedule
Sep 22 2005 4:25PM (CT)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday increased the expected cost savings from its recent merger by $2.5 billion to $14.5 billion.
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Saudi minister predicts drop in oil prices
Sep 22 2005 4:24PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Thursday rejected suggestions of an oil shortage and said prices should drop to $40 to $45 a barrel from well over $60.
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Martha Stewart CEO says magazine ads up
Sep 22 2005 3:50PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. continues to see a strong rebound in advertising at its flagship magazine, with ad pages projected to gain 48 percent in the third quarter _ but the company's biggest boost longer term may come from merchandising, Chief Executive Susan Lyne said Thursday.
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McDonald's sees minor effect of gas prices
Sep 22 2005 3:35PM (CT)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - McDonald's Corp. said Thursday rising gasoline prices in the United States had only a minor effect on its sales this summer.
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OSHA levies record fine after BP blast
Sep 22 2005 3:33PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - BP Products North America, the owner of a Texas refinery where an explosion killed 15 people in March, received a record $21 million fine Thursday from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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Delta plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs
Sep 22 2005 3:29PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - A mere eight days after filing for bankruptcy protection, Delta Air Lines Inc. signaled Thursday it wants to move quickly to reduce costs as it announced it will eliminate up to 9,000 more jobs, slash pay for executives and other employees and cut domestic capacity while adding more international flying.
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Federated merger another blow to papers
Sep 22 2005 3:09PM (CT)
CINCINNATI (AP) - Federated Department Stores Inc.'s takeover of May Department Stores looks like bad news for the newspaper industry, which already has been hurt by years of reduced department store advertising.
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Statistics expert testifies in Vioxx case
Sep 22 2005 2:58PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Even short-term use of the painkiller Vioxx can double the risk of heart attack and death, a medical statistics expert testified Thursday in a product liability trial, a finding that manufacturer Merck & Co. misrepresented.
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Greyhound to screen for illegal immigrants
Sep 22 2005 2:16PM (CT)
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Greyhound Lines Inc., the nation's largest intercity bus company, has threatened to fire employees who sell bus tickets to illegal immigrants under an internal policy that some Hispanic advocacy groups are calling an invitation to racial profiling.
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Berlusconi's gov't hurt by resignation
Sep 22 2005 2:03PM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government suffered a serious blow Thursday as its respected economy minister resigned amid a standoff with the Bank of Italy chief, prompting the center-left opposition to call for early elections.
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Moscow court rejects oil tycoon's appeal
Sep 22 2005 2:00PM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - A Moscow court rejected an appeal by oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky of his conviction on fraud and tax evasion charges Thursday, but reduced his prison sentence from nine years to eight years in an abrupt ruling.
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Compromise sought on farm trade deadlock
Sep 22 2005 1:52PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - U.S. and European trade negotiators said Thursday they were ready to make further compromises to resolve a trans-Atlantic standoff on agriculture that is threatening global trade talks.
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Rates on 30-year mortgages up for 2nd week
Sep 22 2005 1:18PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rates on 30-year mortgages rose a second straight week as financial markets reacted to the decision by the Federal Reserve to keep pushing interest rates higher because of worries about inflation.
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Brazil accuses U.S. on cotton subsidies
Sep 22 2005 12:43PM (CT)
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil accused the United States Thursday of failing to comply with a World Trade Organization decision requiring steep cuts in government subsidies for American cotton producers, and said it will seek permission to impose retaliatory trade measures.
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Insured, insurers battle over hurricane
Sep 22 2005 12:07PM (CT)
MOSS POINT, Miss. (AP) - The insurance adjuster took one look at the mildewed walls and buckled floors in Jerry and Cynthia Wilson's water-logged home and issued an immediate ruling: the wreckage caused by Hurricane Katrina wasn't his company's responsibility.
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Chavez: gov't will nix mining licenses
Sep 22 2005 11:43AM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government will cancel all mining licenses and stop issuing new ones to foreign companies.
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Birmingham Post-Herald to close Friday
Sep 22 2005 11:20AM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The Birmingham Post-Herald, the afternoon daily in Alabama's largest city for the past decade, is folding Friday after a 55-year run.
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Equitable Life drops suit vs. Ernst & Young
Sep 22 2005 10:51AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Insurance company Equitable Life said Thursday it has dropped a $3.7 billion lawsuit against accounting firm Ernst & Young in which it had claimed its former auditor was negligent for not warning Equitable Life that it was near collapse.
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Sony to trim 10,000 jobs in restructuring
Sep 22 2005 10:09AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp. said Thursday it will cut about 10,000 jobs, close 11 plants and shrink or terminate 15 unprofitable operations in an ambitious restructuring bid to revive its stumbling electronics business.
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Fiat, Tata Motors consider alliance
Sep 22 2005 8:50AM (CT)
ROME (AP) - Fiat SPA and India's Tata Motors Ltd. said Thursday they are considering forging an alliance that would include production and distribution of automobiles for India and other markets.
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Bangalore plans to fix infrastructure
Sep 22 2005 8:48AM (CT)
BANGALORE, India (AP) - Under pressure from business leaders, authorities in Bangalore, India's technology hub, on Thursday detailed new plans to spend billions of rupees (millions of dollars) to improve the city's potholed roads and sporadic electricity supply.
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Portugal asks EU to look into energy merger
Sep 22 2005 8:18AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Portugal has asked EU regulators to look into a hostile 22 billion euro bid by Spain's Gas Natural for Spanish electricity company Endesa, the EU head office said Thursday.
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Pernod Ricard profit hit by Allied buyout
Sep 22 2005 8:10AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - Pernod Ricard SA, the wine and liquor company that makes Martell cognac and Chivas Regal, said Thursday its profit fell 7.2 percent in the first half due to costs associated with its acquisition of British rival Allied Domecq PLC in July.
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Nissan on track to boost annual sales
Sep 22 2005 7:59AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Nissan Motor Co. will meet a widely publicized goal of boosting global annual sales by 1 million vehicles, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Thursday, completing a dramatic turnaround for the once-troubled automaker.
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Jobless claims related to Katrina surge
Sep 22 2005 7:42AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Americans thrown out of work by Hurricane Katrina shot up by 103,000 last week, bringing the total seeking jobless benefits because of the storm to 214,000, the government reported Thursday.
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Cabinet gives Japan economy good appraisal
Sep 22 2005 6:33AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's government gave the world's second-biggest economy an upbeat appraisal Thursday, upgrading its outlook for business investment and saying that household spending is increasing at a healthy pace.
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Judge OKs $6.1B in WorldCom settlements
Sep 22 2005 5:23AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Former WorldCom Investors can now claim back some of the billions of dollars they lost in a massive accounting fraud, after a federal judge approved legal settlements of "historic proportions."
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Honda unveils new hybrid Civic
Sep 22 2005 5:16AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Honda Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled a new hybrid Civic, powered by a gasoline-electric engine, that it hopes will get attention from drivers fed up with surging gasoline prices.
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Morgan Stanley profit plummets in 3Q
Sep 22 2005 2:12AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Morgan Stanley said Wednesday its profit fell 83 percent in the third quarter as the Wall Street firm took a $1 billion charge to write off the value of its aircraft financing business. Its results without the charge surpassed Wall Street's expectations.
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McDonald's plans partial IPO for Chipotle
Sep 22 2005 2:10AM (CT)
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) - McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food company, said Wednesday it intends to spin off a minority stake in its Chipotle Mexican Grill brand in order to fuel its growth and create value for its shareholders.
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CEO: Oracle to slow shopping spree for now
Sep 22 2005 2:07AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison said Wednesday the business software maker probably won't make another major acquisition for at least another year to give the company ample time to assemble all the pieces snapped up during a recent $18 billion shopping spree.
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California farmers try to save raisin crop
Sep 22 2005 1:39AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An early thunderstorm soaked California's vineyards, threatening the nation's raisin crop even as many farmers missed the deadline to qualify for crop insurance.
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Venezuela invests $900M to produce ethanol
Sep 22 2005 12:54AM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela plans to invest $900 million over the next five years to plant sugar cane and build processing plants to produce ethanol, President Hugo Chavez said.
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Intrawest shares make big comeback
Sep 22 2005 12:38AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Intrawest Corp.'s shares have made a big comeback this year after the world's largest ski-resort operator got hit by the worst snow season in decades at its flagship Whistler Blackcomb Mountain near Vancouver.
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Ford plans to boost production of hybrids
Sep 22 2005 12:16AM (CT)
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Gas-electric hybrid engines will be available in half the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup by 2010, Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said Wednesday.
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