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Jury awards $30.4M in lawsuit against Ford
Oct 3 2005 10:08PM (CT)
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A Texas jury awarded the family of a Brownsville teenager $30.4 million in damages and medical expenses Monday, finding that Ford Motor Co. was primarily at fault in the death of a 16-year-old who was killed in a March 2004 accident.
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Chesapeake to acquire Columbia for $2.2B
Oct 3 2005 10:07PM (CT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Chesapeake Energy Corp., the nation's third-largest natural gas producer, agreed Monday to acquire rival Columbia Natural Resources LLC for $2.2 billion in cash. Chesapeake also will assume $75 million in debt in the deal with Columbia's owner, Triana Energy Holdings LLC, which was formed by management of Metalmark Capital LLC, part of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.
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Japanese stocks rise; dollar gains
Oct 3 2005 10:04PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks rose Tuesday, rebounding from losses due to lackluster results from a quarterly corporate confidence survey. The dollar was higher against the yen and euro.
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Judge won't release ex-Tyco execs on bail
Oct 3 2005 7:23PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A judge on Monday refused to release former Tyco International executives L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz on bail while they appeal their convictions on charges of stealing some $600 million from the company.
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GM, Ford sales tumble in September
Oct 3 2005 7:22PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Sales of sport utility vehicles took a dive in September, dragging down U.S. automakers who were already expecting a consumer payback after a summer of employee-pricing discounts. Asian brands, which didn't offer employee discounts, felt less pain.
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IRS reaches agreement with insurance co.
Oct 3 2005 7:14PM (CT)
SAN DIEGO (AP) - An insurance company that sold disability insurance to doctors and drew scrutiny from federal tax auditors has agreed to cease operation and return $500 million to participants, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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MCI settles fraud suits with 16 states
Oct 3 2005 6:29PM (CT)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - MCI Inc. has agreed to pay $331 million to 16 states and the District of Columbia to settle accusations that it engaged in accounting fraud, the company and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said Monday.
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Cardiologist: Vioxx user had good arteries
Oct 3 2005 6:15PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - The wife of an Idaho postal worker who blames Vioxx for his 2001 heart attack told jurors Monday her husband took 50 milligrams of the popular arthritis drug the day she rushed him to the emergency room with chest pains.
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Three brokerages agree to pay $5.8M fines
Oct 3 2005 6:10PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Three brokerage firms have agreed to pay a total of $5.8 million to resolve regulators' allegations that they allowed improper trading in mutual funds by favored clients to the detriment of long-term shareholders.
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Sears Canada cuts 1,200 jobs
Oct 3 2005 5:42PM (CT)
TORONTO (AP) - Sears Canada Inc. is cutting 1,200 jobs as part of the department-store operator's promise to improve the productivity of its operations.
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Insurers market Medicare drug program
Oct 3 2005 5:41PM (CT)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Insurance companies are advertising in senior citizen centers and pharmacies, using all forms of media, including 50-year-old images from "I Love Lucy" as they begin marketing the massive new Medicare prescription drug program.
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Digital music market more than triples
Oct 3 2005 5:40PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - The digital music market has more than tripled in a year, and that has helped offset a continuing decline in sales of CDs and other physical formats.
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Northwest says deal near with AMEX
Oct 3 2005 5:30PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Northwest Airlines Corp. is close to settling a lawsuit with American Express Corp., lawyers for the nation's fourth-largest airline told a bankruptcy judge on Monday.
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Monday's Commodities Roundup
Oct 3 2005 5:01PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil futures in New York settled below $66 a barrel Monday, sinking to nearly a week's low after the United States and the Paris-based International Energy Agency said they may pour more oil supplies onto the market from emergency reserves.
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Rates on Treasury bills increase
Oct 3 2005 4:56PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels since 2001.
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Reliant Energy to sell N.Y. power plants
Oct 3 2005 4:34PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Reliant Energy Inc. on Monday said it agreed to sell its three New York City power plants to a group led by Madison Dearborn Partners and US Power Generating Co. for $975 million.
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GAO: Defrauded investors left in cold
Oct 3 2005 4:31PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Since 2002, defrauded investors have received only about 1 percent of the billions of dollars collected for them by securities regulators, congressional auditors have found.
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Gillette integration to reduce P&G profit
Oct 3 2005 4:13PM (CT)
CINCINNATI (AP) - Integrating Gillette Co. into Procter & Gamble Co. will reduce P&G's profit by 20 to 26 cents per share in the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, and by 12 to 18 cents the following year, P&G said Monday.
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Hartford gives break to cancer patients
Oct 3 2005 4:12PM (CT)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is cutting life insurance rates for some women with breast cancer, citing improved treatment and research that is helping more women survive the disease.
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NTL acquires Telewest to merge operations
Oct 3 2005 4:10PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - NTL Inc. is acquiring Telewest Global, Inc. in a $6 billion (5 billion euro) deal to create Britain's second-largest communications company, the two firms announced Monday.
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Donnelley to buy Dex for $4.2 billion
Oct 3 2005 4:09PM (CT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - R.H. Donnelley Corp. said Monday it is buying its larger rival Dex Media Inc. for $4.2 billion, creating the country's third-largest yellow pages company.
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Calif. fines UnumProvident $8 million
Oct 3 2005 4:07PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - California insurance regulators said Monday they settled a three-year probe of UnumProvident Corp., ordering the nation's largest disability insurer to pay an $8 million fine, reconsider thousands of claims and change the way it handles future claims.
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Saks lowers 1Q profit on legal reserve
Oct 3 2005 4:07PM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Saks Inc. on Monday reported delayed first-quarter earnings slightly lower than preliminary results it reported in May, a decline the department store operator attributed to a legal reserve it set up last month for a severance-related lawsuit.
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GE buys its first bank in Philippines
Oct 3 2005 4:04PM (CT)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - General Electric Co. agreed Monday to acquire its first bank in the Philippines as part of a broader strategy of stepping up its deals in fast-growing emerging markets in Asia.
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Despite Katrina, gamblers finding outlets
Oct 3 2005 4:04PM (CT)
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - For years, Wayne Hardin and his friends have made the trip from greater Atlanta to the Mississippi coast for gambling and golf. But now that Hurricane Katrina has shuttered those casinos, he and other gamblers have found new locations to place their wagers.
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Delphi hires Sherbin as new general counsel
Oct 3 2005 4:00PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Delphi Corp. said Monday it has hired a former executive of bankrupt auto-supplier Federal Mogul Corp. as its chief attorney, but didn't indicate whether it is moving closer to its own bankruptcy filing.
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AOL browser gets HP distribution deal
Oct 3 2005 3:51PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - America Online has inked a deal to distribute its Netscape Web browser with Hewlett-Packard Co. personal computers sold in the United States and Canada starting early next year.
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Antitrust suit vs. Baby Bells to proceed
Oct 3 2005 3:47PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court on Monday said an antitrust lawsuit against several of the nation's largest telecommunications providers over whether they conspired to exclude competitors from their home markets should be allowed to go forward.
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France braces for disruption from strikes
Oct 3 2005 3:35PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - A one-day strike that started Monday night was expected to cause widespread transport disruption in France, with reduced services on trains and the Paris subway and delays to flights.
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White Lily recalls cornmeal mix
Oct 3 2005 3:29PM (CT)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - White Lily Foods Co. on Monday announced a recall of self-rising cornmeal mix containing undeclared wheat flour that could cause an allergic reaction to sensitive consumers.
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Court denies bail for former Tyco execs
Oct 3 2005 3:12PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A judge on Monday refused to release former Tyco International executives L. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz on bail while they appeal their convictions on charges of stealing some $600 million from the company.
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Boots, Alliance UniChem agree on merger
Oct 3 2005 3:09PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - British drugstore chains Boots Group PLC and Alliance UniChem PLC announced a 7 billion pound ($12 billion) merger Monday that will give the combined company a stronger European presence as it competes with supermarket chains.
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Ameriprise shares fall in debut
Oct 3 2005 2:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Ameriprise Financial Inc. fell in the stock's debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, as the financial-services company embarked on its spinoff from credit-card and travel giant American Express Co.
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Times-Picayune to return to New Orleans
Oct 3 2005 2:39PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The Times-Picayune newspaper, which evacuated New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, announced Monday that it will resume printing in New Orleans within two weeks.
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Watchdog asked to probe oil subsidies
Oct 3 2005 2:34PM (CT)
OTTAWA (AP) - Environmental groups Monday asked Canada's auditor general to investigate the billions of dollars in federal subsidies that have gone to oil and gas companies.
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Miss. steel mill targets auto industry
Oct 3 2005 2:07PM (CT)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Crews started moving dirt Monday to prepare the construction site for an $880 million mill in north Mississippi that plans to produce high-grade steel for the automotive industry.
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Manufacturing sector expands in September
Oct 3 2005 1:54PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's industrial sector issued an upbeat but also worrisome assessment of itself Monday: While manufacturing expanded strongly in September, shaking off the impact of Hurricane Katrina, prices for raw materials surged, raising the likelihood of higher inflation and interest rates.
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Trump Entertainment buys option on site
Oct 3 2005 1:35PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Eager to get into the game in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump's casino company has bought an option on an 18-acre parcel in Philadelphia where it wants to build a slot machine parlor.
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New shares of Parmalat to trade Thursday
Oct 3 2005 12:02PM (CT)
ROME (AP) - The Milan Stock Exchange said Monday that new shares of Parmalat Finanziaria SPA would start trading Thursday in a step toward the dairy giant's recovery from a massive fraud scandal.
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Official: U.S., Oman reach trade agreement
Oct 3 2005 10:30AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and Oman have successfully completed negotiations on a free trade agreement that would eliminate virtually all trade barriers between the two countries, a senior U.S. trade official said Monday.
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KPN shares surge after Telefonica report
Oct 3 2005 10:15AM (CT)
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Shares in Dutch telecom Royal KPN NV rose sharply Monday after a published report said Spain's Telefonica SA was prepared to pay 20 billion euros ($24.1 billion) to acquire KPN.
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U.S. drug standard co. plans India hub
Oct 3 2005 9:04AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - An American nonprofit company that helps set drug standards in the United States wants to make its soon-to-open Indian laboratory a hub for certifying medicines manufactured in Asia, a company official said Monday.
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EU, Canada sign airline passenger data deal
Oct 3 2005 9:02AM (CT)
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Airlines flying from the European Union to Canada will be required to share information on passengers with the Canadian authorities to identify potential security threats.
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Wal-Mart expects same-store sales up
Oct 3 2005 8:42AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it expects to post September sales at the high end of its forecast, despite having to close more than a hundred stores during the month because of two hurricanes that slammed the Gulf Coast.
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Aker group orders offshore drilling rigs
Oct 3 2005 8:34AM (CT)
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Aker ASA on Monday said it had awarded a contract to build the world's two largest offshore oil drilling rigs designed to work in the harshest conditions.
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India business group: economy will grow
Oct 3 2005 8:33AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - The Indian economy will expand by 7.3 percent this fiscal year, the country's main business group estimated Monday, citing improved prospects for agriculture and continued buoyancy in the manufacturing and service industries.
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Report: UK house prices drop in September
Oct 3 2005 8:27AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - House prices in England and Wales fell 0.1 percent in September, the 15th consecutive monthly decline, the Hometrack property Web site reported Monday.
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Mitsubishi UFJ reports ATM glitch
Oct 3 2005 7:49AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - The trust-banking unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the world's biggest bank which debuted Saturday, said Monday that its automated teller machines had temporary system troubles on the first day of operations.
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NRG Energy to buy Texas Genco for $5.8B
Oct 3 2005 6:49AM (CT)
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. (AP) - NRG Energy Inc. agreed Sunday to buy privately held power generator Texas Genco LLC for $5.8 billion, in a deal that furthers consolidation in the electricity generation industry.
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Inspections at Northwest raise questions
Oct 3 2005 5:47AM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Reports filed by federal aviation inspectors during the first month of a strike by Northwest Airlines Corp.'s mechanics challenge assertions by executives that operations are running smoothly, according to a newspaper's review of the records.
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Calif. farmers monitor agriculture bills
Oct 3 2005 2:39AM (CT)
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - At a time of the year when many farmers turn their attention to the harvest, they also are keeping an eye on the state Capitol where the stroke of a pen can bring a bounty or a bust.
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