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Boeing workers OK contract, end strike
Sep 29 2005 11:56PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - Machinists at Boeing Co. approved a new labor contract on Thursday, ending a four-week strike that shut down the company's commercial airplane assembly plants.
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Oil prices fall to $66.57 a barrel
Sep 29 2005 11:55PM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices eased Friday as traders monitored the slow pace of recovery on the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricane Rita and its possible long-term impact on Northern Hemisphere winter fuel supplies.
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Magazine for American Indians debuts
Sep 29 2005 11:29PM (CT)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Frank Dayish Jr. was raised on the nation's largest American Indian reservation and knows about the living conditions _ no running water or electricity in some homes, dirt roads and few places where people can find work.
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Harrah's teams with SMG to build casino
Sep 29 2005 11:26PM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Las Vegas gaming heavyweight Harrah's Entertainment Inc. upped the stakes in its bid to build one of Singapore's two casinos by announcing it has teamed up with Philadelphia-based SMG, the world's largest operator of convention centers.
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Guidant stock falls on news of FDA probe
Sep 29 2005 10:50PM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Shares of the beleaguered Guidant Corp. tumbled Thursday following a report that the medical device maker might be the subject of a criminal investigation by the Food and Drug Administration.
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Japanese stocks mixed; dollar down vs. yen
Sep 29 2005 10:43PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks were mixed Friday morning, as a drop in the jobless rate and higher industrial production figures further brightened Japan's economic outlook. The dollar fell against the yen.
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China to expand anti-money laundering plan
Sep 29 2005 9:08PM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - China will increase efforts to combat money laundering activities, state media said Friday, as part of a campaign to rein in corruption.
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2 hedge fund execs plead guilty to charges
Sep 29 2005 8:38PM (CT)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Two top officers of the scandal-ridden Bayou hedge fund suddenly emerged from hiding Thursday and admitted engaging in a fraud that totaled hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Bankruptcy bill may not produce payoffs
Sep 29 2005 8:35PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The new bankruptcy law makes it harder for consumers to walk away from credit card debt and other loans they're having trouble paying.
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Japanese bank to be world's biggest
Sep 29 2005 8:34PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Buying a scandal-tainted bank plagued by four straight years of red ink hardly seems like an auspicious way to cement a turnaround.
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Northwest workers may face Nov. pay cut
Sep 29 2005 8:33PM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Northwest Airlines Corp. workers could be facing a late-November deadline for pay cuts, the head of the bankrupt carrier's pilot union said on Thursday.
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GE to buy IDX in $1.2 billion deal
Sep 29 2005 8:31PM (CT)
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - General Electric Co. said Thursday that its health care unit would buy IDX Systems Corp., which produces software for hospitals and doctors' offices, in a deal the companies valued at $1.2 billion.
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Pepsi 3Q profit slides, but shares up
Sep 29 2005 8:31PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - PepsiCo Inc., the soft drink and snack foods maker, said Thursday its third-quarter profit dropped because of a charge related to repatriation of overseas earnings, but its results without the charge beat Wall Street estimates as its revenue rose at its fastest pace since late 2001. PepsiCo shares rose nearly 3 percent.
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WebMD stock rises rapidly after IPO
Sep 29 2005 8:29PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The stock of health information Web site WebMD Health Corp. rose as much as 71 percent in its first day of trading, Thursday.
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Japan's unemployment improves to 4.3 pct.
Sep 29 2005 7:21PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's unemployment rate improved to 4.3 percent in August, the government said Friday, in the latest bright sign for the economy that is also seeing healthier growth and surging stock prices.
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Panel considers joining credit card cases
Sep 29 2005 6:46PM (CT)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - The federal courts should consolidate 14 lawsuits from merchants seeking to force some of the nation's leading credit card issuers to lower their fees, defense attorneys argued Thursday in a hearing before a seven-judge panel.
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Preparations continue for Vioxx trial
Sep 29 2005 6:17PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Lawyers in the nation's first federal trial involving Merck & Co.'s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx discussed routine trial preparations in the case's new home of Houston on Thursday.
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Inventor of Valium, other key drugs dies
Sep 29 2005 6:10PM (CT)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Leo Sternbach, the inventor of a revolutionary new class of tranquilizers that included Valium, considered the first blockbuster drug, has died at his Chapel Hill, N.C., home. He was 97.
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Money funds fell in latest week
Sep 29 2005 5:56PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell by $2.20 billion in the latest week to $816.35 billion, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
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Cardiologist testifies in Vioxx suit
Sep 29 2005 5:33PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Two heart specialists testified Thursday that a man suing the maker of Vioxx over his heart attack had a healthy heart before being stricken, and that the painkiller may have been the cause.
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American Greetings reports lower profit
Sep 29 2005 5:24PM (CT)
CLEVELAND (AP) - American Greetings Corp., the nation's No. 2 maker of greeting cards, said Thursday that second-quarter profit fell by more than half and cited weakness in its international operations.
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Ford will pare down number of suppliers
Sep 29 2005 5:20PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - In an effort to cut costs and improve its strained relationship with suppliers, Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it plans to pare down the number of suppliers it uses and give the remaining ones bigger, longer-term contracts and more involvement in the design process.
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Hershey switches marketing firms
Sep 29 2005 5:18PM (CT)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Hershey Co., the nation's largest candymaker, has tapped a new company to market its chocolate bars and is parting ways with two longtime marketing firms, saying Thursday it hopes to reach new customers in new ways.
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Katrina may cost Chevron $350 million
Sep 29 2005 5:10PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Chevron Corp.'s shares reached a new 52-week high Thursday as investors shook off the news that $350 million in third-quarter profit evaporated in Hurricane Katrina and bet the aftermath's higher energy prices will offset the oil company's short-term pain.
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Treasurys slump on joblessness data
Sep 29 2005 5:01PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Treasurys exited active trade Thursday near their lows of the session after data on joblessness helped reverse gains booked in the previous day.
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Pa. plant to turn waste coal into diesel
Sep 29 2005 4:46PM (CT)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The nation's first commercial plant to convert waste coal into zero-sulfur diesel fuel and home-heating oil will be constructed in Pennsylvania, state officials said Thursday.
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Thursday's commodities roundup
Sep 29 2005 4:37PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Gasoline and heating-oil futures settled lower Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while front-month crude oil posted gains in choppy trading ahead of contract expirations on Friday. Natural gas hit a record high.
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AIG answers lawsuit seeking $15 million
Sep 29 2005 4:13PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - American International Group Inc. has asked a court to force a company led by its former chief executive, Maurice R. Greenberg, to relinquish nearly $18 billion in stock set up to benefit AIG executives.
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Spitzer seeks records in mutual funds case
Sep 29 2005 4:11PM (CT)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer wants records and testimony from J. & W. Seligman & Co., claiming the mutual fund company owes investors $80 million in compensation for improper market timing trades.
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Global Partners up following IPO
Sep 29 2005 3:54PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The initial public offering of petroleum products distributor Global Partners LP on Thursday posted a double-digit percentage opening gain.
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OfficeMax picks Naperville for its new HQ
Sep 29 2005 3:53PM (CT)
ITASCA, Ill. (AP) - OfficeMax Inc., the nation's third-largest office products retailer, said Thursday it has chosen the Chicago suburb of Naperville as the site for an expanded corporate headquarters, just southwest of its current base.
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HIP, GHI say they will merge
Sep 29 2005 3:51PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Group Health Inc. and HIP Health Plan have agreed to a merger that will create the largest health insurer in New York state, with revenues of more than $7 billion a year, the companies said Thursday.
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Kaiser, unions reach five-year contract
Sep 29 2005 3:40PM (CT)
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Kaiser Permanente and its unionized workers announced a five-year contract Thursday covering 82,000 employees in eight states and Washington, D.C.
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Family Dollar Store earnings slide
Sep 29 2005 3:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Family Dollar Stores Inc. said profit in the latest quarter fell 30 percent as surging gasoline prices hit lower-income consumers and expenses rose.
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E-Trade to buy JPMorgan's BrownCo for $1.6B
Sep 29 2005 3:28PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - E-Trade Financial Corp. on Thursday said it will buy BrownCo from JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.6 billion, a move that intensifies its rivalry with Ameritrade Holding Corp. for dominance in the online brokerage market.
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GM, lawmakers critical of Japan practices
Sep 29 2005 3:09PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, and some U.S. lawmakers are criticizing Japan for what they call discriminatory and arbitrary government policies that threaten free trade between the two countries.
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Kia recalling more than 70,000 LD Spectras
Sep 29 2005 2:35PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Kia Motors America Inc. said Thursday it was recalling more than 70,000 LD Spectra sedans because the computer operating the air bag system could confuse a child seat for an adult in the front passenger seat.
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Gazprom to submit legal recommendations
Sep 29 2005 1:59PM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Gazprom said Thursday it was on course to lift restrictions on ownership of its stock by the end of the year, a long-awaited move that will open up access for foreigners to shares in the biggest natural gas producer in the world.
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Rates on 30-year mortgages increase
Sep 29 2005 1:38PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rates on 30-year mortgages jumped this week to the highest level in five months, reflecting financial market anxieties about inflation.
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CEO: High-end home prices likely to dip
Sep 29 2005 1:01PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Prices for luxury homes in hot housing markets such as Boston's will likely decline over the next few years, the head of home mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.
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Jury finds J&J violated patent
Sep 29 2005 12:01PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - Johnson & Johnson violated a patent for an implant used in breast cancer detection that was held by two Florida breast cancer specialists, according to a federal jury who ordered the company to pay the pair $2 million.
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LSE reports strong new issue activity
Sep 29 2005 11:24AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - The London Stock Exchange PLC said Thursday reported the strongest new issue activity in three years in the five months ended in September.
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German jobless rate declines in September
Sep 29 2005 11:10AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Germany's unemployment rate dipped to 11.2 percent in September, according to government figures released Thursday.
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New $10 bill gets a colorful makeover
Sep 29 2005 10:31AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hooray for the red, yellow and orange! Those are the colors featured on the newly redesigned $10 bill, the third currency denomination to add splashes of color to the traditional green of U.S. currency.
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Lilly to add warning to Strattera label
Sep 29 2005 10:22AM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Eli Lilly and Co. said Thursday it will add a black-box warning to its attention deficit medication Strattera that the drug could increase suicidal thoughts among youths.
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U.S., China fail to reach textiles deal
Sep 29 2005 10:17AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and China have failed to reach agreement on a deal to limit a flood of Chinese clothing and textile imports coming into the United States. Negotiators said Thursday that the talks would resume next month.
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Exec: oil prices linked to capacity boost
Sep 29 2005 10:11AM (CT)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Higher oil prices and increased profits will give oil companies the incentive and leverage to make billions of dollars in new investments to expand refining and production, Royal Dutch Shell's chief executive said Thursday.
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U.S. beef official: Japan will take time
Sep 29 2005 9:44AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Amid mounting tension over Japan's ban on American beef, the head of the U.S. Meat Export Federation warned Thursday it would take years to regain lost market share even if Tokyo did reopen its markets.
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Japan central bank chief hints at change
Sep 29 2005 9:22AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's central bank chief said Thursday there's a growing chance the bank may change its monetary policy during the fiscal year starting next April, but said that any shift must be gradual.
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DaimlerChrysler details Mercedes cuts
Sep 29 2005 8:27AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - DaimlerChrysler AG said Thursday that the bulk of its planned job cuts at the Mercedes Car Group in Germany will take place at plants in Sindelfingen, Bremen and Untertuerkheim as details of its plan were released to workers.
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Samsung plans to invest $33B on chip plant
Sep 29 2005 8:23AM (CT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest maker of computer memory chips, announced Thursday it plans to invest $33 billion over seven years to build a chip research and development facility and eight manufacturing lines south of Seoul.
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Indonesians protest fuel price increases
Sep 29 2005 8:12AM (CT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Thousands of demonstrators rallied across Indonesia on Thursday to protest fuel price increases, some blocking roads with burning tires and throwing stones outside a house belonging to the vice president.
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Porsche increases its stake in Volkswagen
Sep 29 2005 8:11AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Luxury automaker Porsche AG has increased its stake in Volkswagen AG to 10.3 percent, a spokesman said Thursday, as it moves to acquire a 20 percent stake in Europe's largest car maker.
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India airport worker strike disrupts travel
Sep 29 2005 7:45AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - Waving red flags, thousands of striking airport workers protested Thursday across India, disrupting air travel and forcing airlines to cancel dozens of flights.
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French PM pledges more budget tightening
Sep 29 2005 7:43AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin pledged Thursday to further tighten public spending in 2007 _ an election year _ to bring France's budget deficit within EU limits.
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A.P. Moller-Maersk cleared to buy oil sites
Sep 29 2005 6:59AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - EU regulators on Thursday cleared Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S to buy the majority of Kerr-McGee Corp.'s North Sea oil assets.
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Saab to recall nearly 300,000 cars globally
Sep 29 2005 5:41AM (CT)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Saab plans to recall almost 300,000 cars worldwide because of a problem with the ignition system, a company spokesman said Thursday.
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Hannover predits Rita costs will hit $181M
Sep 29 2005 4:40AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Reinsurer Hannover Re AG said Thursday that its exposure to Hurricane Rita would likely total 150 million euros ($181 million) and would not affect its overall profit forecast for this year.
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EU: China textile accord was 'best deal'
Sep 29 2005 4:29AM (CT)
STRASBOURG, France (AP) - The European Union's new agreement to cap Chinese textile imports was the best deal possible, the EU commissioner in charge of taxation and customs issues said Thursday.
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Overdue credit card bills hit record high
Sep 29 2005 4:13AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Charge it! That familiar refrain is producing an unwanted response for more Americans: Your bill is overdue! Surging energy prices, low personal savings and the higher cost of borrowing have combined to produce a record level of overdue credit card bills.
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Dairy price support program set to expire
Sep 29 2005 4:11AM (CT)
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - When milk prices hit historic lows three years ago, a federal dairy price-support program helped farmer Dexter Randall and others weather the cycle.
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GE buying 7 percent stake in Chinese bank
Sep 29 2005 3:58AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - General Electric Co. plans to buy a 7 percent stake in China's Shenzhen Development Bank in the latest foreign strategic investment in China's increasingly competitive banking market, reports said Thursday.
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Gazprom to buy Sibneft stake for $13.01B
Sep 29 2005 1:32AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - MOSCOW (AP) _ Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom struck a deal Wednesday to pay $13.01 billion for control of the private Sibneft oil company, consolidating the government's grip over the strategic energy industry.
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Thousands strike at Indian airports
Sep 29 2005 12:28AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - Waving red flags, thousands of airport workers mainly belonging to communist-led trade unions on Thursday disrupted air services across the country to protest the government's decision to let private companies operate India's two largest airports.
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Bangkok's new airport will open next year
Sep 29 2005 12:25AM (CT)
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Bangkok's new international airport, plagued by everything from cobras to corruption, will be fully operational next year, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed Thursday before boarding a test flight into the facility.
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Service Corp. markets 'preneed' funerals
Sep 29 2005 12:02AM (CT)
WEST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) - During a turkey-and-gravy dinner here, a lively crowd of World War II and Korean War veterans heard a twist on the "early-bird special." Pay in advance for your funeral, the woman said, and your family gets a free memorial case for the flag that drapes the casket.
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