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Oil prices slip, hover under $60 a barrel
Dec 5 2005 11:25PM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Crude oil futures fell slightly Tuesday in Asian trading after rising above $60 a barrel in the previous session as a snowstorm made its way across the U.S. East Coast, boosting demand for heating fuels.
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Verizon ends manager pension contributions
Dec 5 2005 11:15PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Verizon Communications Inc. announced Monday it would stop contributing to pension plans for managers, a move that would save about $3 billion over the next 10 years.
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Boston Scientific makes $25B Guidant bid
Dec 5 2005 11:04PM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Troubled Guidant Corp. drew a $25 billion offer from medical device rival Boston Scientific Corp., topping Johnson & Johnson's watered-down bid by more than $3 billion.
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Tokyo stocks dip as tech stocks drop
Dec 5 2005 9:57PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo's main stock index dipped Tuesday morning as investors took profits from high-tech stocks following their gains the day before. The U.S. dollar held steady against the yen, just under 32-month highs reached Monday.
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Toyota, Fuji Heavy OK Indiana plant deal
Dec 5 2005 9:56PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. and its new partner Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru brand cars, have agreed to make Toyota vehicles at Fuji's U.S. plant in Indiana, both sides said Tuesday.
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DreamWorks Animation names new president
Dec 5 2005 9:30PM (CT)
GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) - DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said Monday it has hired board member Lewis Coleman, a former vice chairman of Bank of America Corp., to be president.
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AFL-CIO plans worldwide labor rallies
Dec 5 2005 9:11PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The AFL-CIO is organizing rallies around the country and overseas this week to try to energize a labor movement that has been losing membership for years.
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Hines REIT plans $2.2 billion IPO
Dec 5 2005 8:44PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - The real estate trust sponsored by Houston-based multinational real estate development and management firm Hines is offering $2 billion in common shares to the public, according to a regulatory filing Monday.
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Widow: Husband healthy before heart attack
Dec 5 2005 7:43PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - A 53-year-old former college football player was "a big, strong, healthy guy" when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack after taking the painkiller Vioxx for a month, his widow testified Monday in the trial of her federal lawsuit against Merck & Co.
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Exxon Mobil, Libya's National Oil OK deal
Dec 5 2005 7:28PM (CT)
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday it has agreed to an exploration and production sharing pact with Libya's National Oil Corp. _ the company's first re-entry into that country since leaving in the early 1980s.
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Banker: Delta can emerge from bankruptcy
Dec 5 2005 7:09PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A Wall Street investment banker testified Monday that Delta Air Lines Inc. will be able to emerge from bankruptcy if it follows a plan to slash $3 billion in costs that includes a hotly debated $325 million cut in pilot wages.
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Potlatch names Covey CEO, president
Dec 5 2005 6:56PM (CT)
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Timber company Potlatch Corp. said Monday it has named Michael J. Covey its president and chief executive officer.
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NYSE plans to delist Calpine shares
Dec 5 2005 6:39PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The New York Stock Exchange said Monday it plans to delist Calpine Corp. in a move reflecting Wall Street's dismay as the debt-plagued power merchant considers bankruptcy.
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Lexar Media stock down on re-examination
Dec 5 2005 6:26PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Lexar Media Inc. stock fell Monday after a California court ordered a re-examination of the damages awarded the flash-memory maker as part of an ongoing dispute with Toshiba Corp.
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U.S. Treasurys attract further selling
Dec 5 2005 6:02PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Treasurys attracted further selling Monday, as investors reacted to the recent string of solid economic reports.
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Viacom begins trading separate shares
Dec 5 2005 5:47PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Viacom Inc. took another step toward splitting up Monday when shares of the new media companies it will become began trading on a preliminary basis.
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ConAgra Foods issues warning on 2Q profit
Dec 5 2005 5:46PM (CT)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - ConAgra Foods Inc. said its second-quarter earnings would be lower than previously expected because of higher fuel and energy costs and disappointing sales volume.
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China orders 150 Airbus single-aisle jets
Dec 5 2005 5:43PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - China ordered 150 Airbus single-aisle A320 airliners Monday, more than twice as many plane orders as the company's U.S.-based rival Boeing Co. snagged from China last month.
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Monday's commodities roundup
Dec 5 2005 5:39PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - March silver hit a contract high of $8.745 an ounce overnight as precious metals continued to draw fund buying on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Rates rise in weekly Treasury auction
Dec 5 2005 5:38PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction with the six-month bill climbing to the highest level in three weeks.
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Ameritrade sets date for Waterhouse vote
Dec 5 2005 5:38PM (CT)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Ameritrade Holding Corp. has set a special meeting Jan. 4 to secure its shareholders' approval to acquire TD Waterhouse Group Inc.'s U.S. retail securities brokerage business for an estimated $2.9 billion.
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Verizon weighs sale or spin off of unit
Dec 5 2005 5:37PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Verizon Communications Inc. may sell or spin off its phone book and online directories business to raise cash as it nears completion of its purchase of MCI Inc. and invests billions in rewiring its telephone network to deliver cable TV and speedier Internet access.
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Brook Mays to appeal First Act verdict
Dec 5 2005 5:31PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Retailer Brook Mays Music Co. Inc. said Monday it will appeal a jury's $20.7 million verdict for a musical instrument maker that claimed its products were falsely disparaged by Brook Mays.
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GMAC unit to sell up to $20B in auto loans
Dec 5 2005 5:29PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp.'s GMAC financial services unit said Monday it has agreed to sell up to $20 billion in U.S. auto loans to Scotia Capital, the corporate and investment banking arm of The Bank of Nova Scotia. Terms were not disclosed.
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E.W. Scripps lowers 4Q earnings forecast
Dec 5 2005 5:23PM (CT)
CINCINNATI (AP) - Newspaper and cable network company E.W. Scripps Co. on Monday lowered its fourth-quarter outlook, saying earnings will be hurt by losses at its Shop At Home unit and by the effect of Hurricane Wilma on its Florida operations.
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J. Jill Group to explore possible sale
Dec 5 2005 5:21PM (CT)
QUINCY, Mass. (AP) - Women's clothing seller J. Jill Group Inc. said Monday it will explore a possible sale of the company, but it did not directly respond to an unsolicited buyout offer from Liz Claiborne Inc.
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Yum Brands names Creed operations chief
Dec 5 2005 5:06PM (CT)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Fast-food giant Yum Brands Inc. said on Monday that it named the chief marketing officer of its Taco Bell unit as its new chief operating officer.
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Vodafone Group names John Bond chairman
Dec 5 2005 5:05PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Vodafone Group PLC said Monday that HSBC Holdings PLC Chairman John Bond will succeed Ian MacLaurin as chairman of the telecommunications company.
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Sears agrees to buy Sears Canada shares
Dec 5 2005 4:52PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Sears Holdings Corp. said Monday it agreed to buy the shares it doesn't already own in Sears Canada Inc. for $719 million, to help the retailer manage increasingly stiff competition in Canada.
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Monsanto boosts 1Q view on Roundup demand
Dec 5 2005 4:34PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Monsanto Co. said Monday it now expects to earn twice as much as previously projected for its latest quarter due to high demand for Roundup herbicide in Europe and the United States.
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Venezuela, Iran sign oil deposits deal
Dec 5 2005 4:32PM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela and Iran signed an agreement Monday to conduct a survey to certify heavy crude deposits in the oil-rich Orinoco river belt _ part of a project to vastly boost the South American country's proven reserves.
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Westin hotel chain to ban smoking indoors
Dec 5 2005 3:32PM (CT)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A major hotel chain is going smoke-free next month and will add $200 to the bill of anyone who violates the policy, an executive said Monday.
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SEC seeks to simplify accounting rules
Dec 5 2005 2:44PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday urged a cooperative effort to make accounting rules simpler, blaming the corporate scandals earlier this decade in part on the complexity of the current system.
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U.K. official downgrades growth forecast
Dec 5 2005 2:34PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - British Treasury chief Gordon Brown lowered his forecast for domestic economic expansion on Monday to 1.75 percent for the year, marking the slowest growth since 1992.
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Indonesia official cites Starbucks deal
Dec 5 2005 2:29PM (CT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The head of the reconstruction effort in Aceh said on Monday that support from private companies is key to rebuilding the Indonesian province hardest hit by the December tsunami.
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Nextest Systems files for IPO of up to $80M
Dec 5 2005 2:18PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nextest Systems Corp. has registered for an initial public offering of up to $80 million in common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Service sector expands at a slower pace
Dec 5 2005 2:17PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's service sector grew in November, but at a less-robust pace than in October and slightly slower than analysts expected, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.
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Judge clears settlement of NYSE suit
Dec 5 2005 1:53PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A New York state judge cleared the settlement of a lawsuit between the New York Stock Exchange and a group of critics of the terms of the Big Board's acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc., paving the way for a vote on the deal.
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Deutsche Bank to take over United Financial
Dec 5 2005 1:50PM (CT)
BERLIN (AP) - Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank, said Monday it has agreed to take over the remaining 60 percent of Russian investment company United Financial Group for an undisclosed sum.
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China places its biggest Airbus order ever
Dec 5 2005 1:34PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - China placed its biggest ever order for Airbus airliners Monday as the jet maker's parent company, European defense group EADS, said efforts to build a strategic partnership with China were beginning to pay off.
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NTL approaches Virgin Mobile about takeover
Dec 5 2005 1:26PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - British cable operator NTL Inc. confirmed Monday that it has approached Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile Holdings PLC about a takeover valued at more than 810 million pounds ($1.4 billion).
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Ex-KPMG partner settles SEC charges
Dec 5 2005 1:03PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former KPMG partner involved in the botched audit of Xerox Corp. has accepted a one-year ban on auditing the books of public companies.
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Noven Pharmaceuticals up on drug patch OK
Dec 5 2005 1:02PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc. stock rose Monday after a Food and Drug Administration panel on Friday backed Noven's skin patch for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
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Euro makes marginal gains against dollar
Dec 5 2005 12:43PM (CT)
BERLIN (AP) - The 12-nation euro rose slightly against the dollar Monday, though the U.S. currency hit a 32-month high against the Japanese yen.
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Fuji plant may manufacture Toyota cars
Dec 5 2005 12:27PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru automobiles, has agreed with Toyota Motor Corp. to manufacture Toyota cars at a plant in Indiana, a news report said Monday, but a spokeswoman for Subaru of Indiana said the report was premature.
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London share prices close lower
Dec 5 2005 12:24PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Share prices on the London Stock Exchange were lower at the close of trading on Monday.
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New competitors want slice of Pixar's pie
Dec 5 2005 12:01PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Genndy Tartakovsky is a 35-year-old man who still wakes up early on Saturdays to watch cartoons. He confesses: "I can't outgrow them."
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EU officials OK opening up rail services
Dec 5 2005 11:24AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union transportation ministers agreed Monday to open up national rail services to competition by 2010, and approved new passenger-rights rules in an effort to boost the number of customers.
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Amcast again files for Chapter 11
Dec 5 2005 11:08AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Auto-parts maker Amcast Industrial Corp., which emerged from bankruptcy four months ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again, according to court papers.
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Judge: Bennett consents to asset freeze
Dec 5 2005 10:42AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - One-time Refco Inc. top executive Phillip R. Bennett has consented to maintaining a freeze on more than $100 million in assets that he received from the sale of stock in the company's initial public offering in August, according to a court order made public Monday.
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EU: 'Open skies' talks with U.S. on hold
Dec 5 2005 10:38AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Talks on an "open skies" air-travel agreement between the United States and Europe are on hold until Washington provides details about how it will remove restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines, the British transportation minister said Monday.
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Insurers praise 10 cars for safety
Dec 5 2005 10:37AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ten 2006 passenger cars won praise from the insurance industry Sunday for offering top-of-the-line protection to passengers in front, side and rear crashes.
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Swisscom breaks off talks with Eircom
Dec 5 2005 10:36AM (CT)
BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Swiss national telephone carrier Swisscom AG said Monday it has broken off takeover talks with Irish telecommunications company Eircom Group PLC.
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Forecaster lowers ad spending estimates
Dec 5 2005 9:59AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A closely watched advertising forecaster lowered his estimate of 2005 ad spending Monday, saying marketers were much more cautious than he had anticipated.
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Boston Scientific offers $25B for Guidant
Dec 5 2005 8:49AM (CT)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Boston Scientific Corp. on Monday entered the competition to buy Guidant Corp., a competing medical device maker for which Johnson & Johnson has offered to take over for $21.5 billion.
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Sony offers early retirement plan
Dec 5 2005 8:15AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp. has started offering early retirement to workers as part of its plan to cut 10,000 positions worldwide, an official for the consumer electronics and entertainment company said Monday.
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U.S. private-equity firms buy Com Hem
Dec 5 2005 7:58AM (CT)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - U.S. private-equity firms Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners have agreed to buy Com Hem AB, a Swedish cable TV, Internet and phone-service provider, the company said Monday.
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BP, Temasek Holdings to take stakes in CAO
Dec 5 2005 5:31AM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Energy group BP PLC and Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. will pump funds into China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp. as part of a rescue package for the jet fuel importer, CAO said Monday.
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China to let foreign banks expand
Dec 5 2005 5:21AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China plans to follow through on pledges to let foreign banks expand their operations and do more local currency business, the country's top banking regulator said Monday.
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Farm bill discussed at farmers convention
Dec 5 2005 3:21AM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Some Illinois farmers are concerned that Congress could shave federal price supports and other money from the next farm bill because of costs associated with the Iraq war and Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
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Toshiba granted new trial in California
Dec 5 2005 3:05AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Toshiba has been granted a new trial in California in an ongoing legal dispute with Lexar Media Inc. over trade secrets for flash memory chips, the Japanese firm said Monday.
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Study: Ads in video games can be enticing
Dec 5 2005 3:01AM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ads in video games can have a major influence on whether people buy products and recommend them to friends, a new study by Nielsen Entertainment concludes.
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Levi Strauss heir Peter Haas dies at 86
Dec 5 2005 2:58AM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Peter E. Haas Sr., who took over the family owned Levi Strauss & Co. with his brother and helped build it into a socially conscious clothing empire, has died. He was 86.
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield to launch bank
Dec 5 2005 12:44AM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association wants to launch a bank that will administer its consumer-directed health plans, a responsibility currently shared by third-party financial institutions.
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Hurricane victims to get mortgage relief
Dec 5 2005 12:31AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Housing Administration will launch a program to pay the mortgages of up to 20,000 victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma for as much as a year.
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