News For Thursday Jul 24, 2008 News For Thursday Jul 24, 2008

Business Business

Dow Chemical reports decline in 2Q profit - Added 6 weeks ago

Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday that despite record sales and two double-digit price increases unveiled in the second quarter, its profit for the period fell 27 percent, in large part because of sharply higher costs for...

Bleeding cash, Ford looks to Europe for help - Added 6 weeks ago

Bleeding cash and with its very survival uncertain, Ford Motor Co., an icon of American automaking, will try to import some of its success from across the Atlantic. Ford reported its worst-ever quarterly loss Thursday...

Qualcomm earns outlook falls short of expectations - Added 6 weeks ago

Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips that run cell phones, issued fourth-quarter and full-year earnings guidance Thursday that fell short of Wall Street targets, but the stock soared on a broad-ranging legal...

National City posts $1.8B loss for 2nd quarter - Added 6 weeks ago

Regional bank National City Corp. on Thursday reported a $1.76 billion loss for the second quarter, as mortgage loans soured and it took a big charge related to previous acquisitions. Over the past year, mortgages have...

Xerox 2Q profit declines 19 pct, but meets views - Added 6 weeks ago

Xerox Corp.'s second-quarter profit skidded 19 percent, but matched Wall Street's forecast, as the office-equipment maker was hurt by restructuring charges while its cash-cow supplies and services business hummed along...

Newmont Mining swings to 2Q profit - Added 6 weeks ago

Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world's largest gold producers, said Thursday it turned a profit in the second quarter as it sold more gold at higher prices. The results were essentially in line with expectations and...

Stocks tumble after sales of existing homes fall - Added 6 weeks ago

Wall Street abruptly ended an earnings-driven rally and closed sharply lower Thursday after a steeper-than-expected decline in existing home sales and worries about the financial sector chilled the market's recent...

Ford, Daimler, Hyundai profits fall; Renault up - Added 6 weeks ago

Ford Motor Co. posted its worst quarterly loss ever Thursday in a roiling global auto market that also saw profits fall at Daimler AG, Hyundai Motor Co. and AutoNation Inc. Renault SA reported a profit increase in the...

Ford, Qualcomm, Amazon, Southwest are big movers - Added 6 weeks ago

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Ford Motor Co., down 92 cents at $5.11 The struggling automaker posted its worst quarterly...

Oil gains ground but natural gas continues slide - Added 6 weeks ago

Energy market investors managed to win back modest gains Thursday following oil's big drop a day earlier, but again drove natural gas prices sharply lower as a three-week sell-off of that fuel continued unabated. ...

Treasurys rally after housing report, stock tumble - Added 6 weeks ago

Treasury prices rose Thursday after the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes fell in June to the lowest level in a decade and stocks snapped a two-day rally. The group said...

Kimberly-Clark 2Q profit falls 10 percent - Added 6 weeks ago

Sharply rising gas and raw materials costs led to a 10 percent drop in second-quarter profit at Kleenex maker Kimberly-Clark Corp., which said Thursday it may raise prices again in the U.S. and other markets. Chief...

AP told 3 bidders make final cut to buy Cubs - Added 6 weeks ago

Tribune Co. is inviting at least three potential buyers who each submitted bids for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field near or above $1 billion to participate in a second round of proposals, according to a person...

Copper slumps to 5-week low on weak Chinese demand - Added 6 weeks ago

Copper prices tumbled to a five-week low Thursday on expectations that falling demand from China and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will lead to a surplus of the metal. Other commodities traded mixed, with crude...

Agriculture futures mostly trade higher on CBOT - Added 6 weeks ago

Agriculture futures traded mostly higher Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for September delivery rose 4.5 cents to $7.8775 a bushel; December corn added 1.5 cents to $5.92 a bushel; December oats gained...

The slump persists: Home sales tumble across US - Added 6 weeks ago

Sales of existing homes tumbled more sharply than expected in June, pushing activity down to the lowest level in more than a decade. With an already huge glut of homes on the market, median prices fell compared to a...

Banks step up Fed borrowing, Wall Street passes - Added 6 weeks ago

Banks stepped up their borrowing over the past week from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program, while Wall Street firms didn't draw such loans. A Fed report released Thursday said commercial banks averaged...

Jobless claims jump as housing market gets weaker - Added 6 weeks ago

Two cornerstones of the economy _ jobs and housing _ sank to new depths Thursday, with unemployment claims bolting higher and home prices recording one of their steepest drops on record. The bleak reports underscored...

Bristol-Myers, Eli Lilly post strong 2Q results - Added 6 weeks ago

Like other major drugmakers, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. saw benefits from the weak dollar in the second quarter, as sales grew at a faster rate overseas, but both also posted improvements in their...

Ford posts $8.7 billion loss on asset write-downs - Added 6 weeks ago

Ford Motor Co. posted the worst quarterly performance in its history Thursday, losing $8.67 billion in the second quarter. The company also said it will retool two more North American truck and sport utility vehicle...

NY AG sues banking giant UBS for securities fraud - Added 6 weeks ago

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued banking giant UBS for fraud Thursday, accusing the company of marketing tens of billions of dollars of auction-rate securities as safe even when they knew the investments were...

Calif. requires ships to cut pollution off coast - Added 6 weeks ago

California air regulators on Thursday approved the nation's toughest rules to reduce harmful emissions from ocean-going ships headed into the state's ports. The regulations require domestic and foreign cargo ships,...

All types of mortgages see rate increases - Added 6 weeks ago

Mortgage rates shot up this week with 30-year mortgages climbing to the highest level in nearly a year, reflecting concerns in financial markets about the troubles at corporate giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ...

Senators urge crackdown on overseas tax havens - Added 6 weeks ago

Senators on a key tax panel demanded a crackdown on offshore tax havens in the wake of a new report that one building in the Cayman Islands is used as a business address for more than 18,000 companies. Congressional...

Optiver accused of energy price manipulation - Added 6 weeks ago

Federal regulators accused a Dutch trading firm, its chief executive and two other top employees Thursday of manipulating energy futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading...

Summary Box: Kimberly-Clark 2Q earnings fall - Added 6 weeks ago

PROFIT FALLS: Kimberly-Clark's second-quarter profit fell 10 percent as it struggled to keep up with rising costs for energy and raw materials. INFLATION RISES: The company predicts its cost inflation to rise by $900...

Federal minimum wage rises to $6.55 today - Added 6 weeks ago

About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to...

Tenn. Supreme Court rules against automaker - Added 6 weeks ago

The state Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's decision to award a couple $13 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler Corp. The lawsuit said 8-month-old Joshua Flax was riding...

Grocery chain Kroger removes jalapenos - Added 6 weeks ago

The nation's largest traditional grocery chain has removed jalapeno peppers from its stores as a precaution. Kroger Co. spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Thursday it decided to halt jalapeno sales after the U.S. Food and...

Southwest 2Q profit up, sales rise 11 percent - Added 6 weeks ago

Southwest Airlines Co. earned a profit in the second quarter and beat Wall Street expectations by continuing to rely on financial deals that lowered its fuel costs. Revenue increased by 11 percent, as Southwest raised...

Dollar trades mixed; gold rises in Europe - Added 6 weeks ago

The U.S. dollar was mixed against other major currencies in European trading Thursday. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.5672, down from $1.5681 late Wednesday in New York. Later, in midday New York trading Thursday,...

Summary Box: Xerox 2Q profit falls 19 pct - Added 6 weeks ago

THE EARNINGS: Xerox Corp.'s second-quarter profit fell 19 percent, but matched Wall Street's forecast, as restructuring charges weighed on the office-equipment maker. The Norwalk, Conn.-based company's cash-cow supplies...

France steps back from 35-hour work week - Added 6 weeks ago

French lawmakers took a step toward ending the country's decade-long experiment with a 35-hour work week, passing a bill that gives companies greater latitude to extend working hours. The new law, approved late...

Occidental Petroleum 2Q profit sets record - Added 6 weeks ago

Oil producer Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 62 percent, as record crude prices and higher production boosted results. The Los Angeles-based company earned a record $2.29...

Newmont Mining swings to 2Q profit - Added 6 weeks ago

Newmont Mining Corp., one of the world's largest gold producers, said Thursday it turned a profit in the second quarter as it sold more gold at higher prices. The results were essentially in line with expectations and...

Wachovia's CEO buys 1 million shares - Added 6 weeks ago

Wachovia Corp.'s President and Chief Executive Robert Steel has bought 1 million shares in the nation's fourth-largest bank, according to a regulatory filing late Wednesday. Steel spent about $16 million on shares...

International boosts 3M 2Q results - Added 6 weeks ago

3M, maker of Post-its and Scotch tape, said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose slightly on double-digit growth in international markets. St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Co. earned $945 million, or $1.33 per share,...

Lilly 2Q earnings rise 44 pct as sales increase - Added 6 weeks ago

Drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. posted a 44 percent increase in second-quarter earnings as sales growth was helped in part by the weaker dollar. Lilly reported net income of $958.8 million, or 88 cents per share,...

New layoff filings jump as companies retrench - Added 6 weeks ago

The government reports that the number of newly laid off people filing claims for unemployment benefits bolted past 400,000 last week as companies trimmed their work forces to cope with a slowing economy. The Labor...

AutoNation 2Q profit tumbles on sales drop - Added 6 weeks ago

AutoNation says its second-quarter profit tumbled 33 percent as its sales fell on a drop in vehicle demand. The nation's largest automotive retailer says it earned $51.8 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with...

Insurance tests raise questions about some pickups - Added 6 weeks ago

The latest crash tests by the insurance industry raise safety questions about small pickups, which are drawing more interest because they get better mileage than larger trucks. The Insurance Institute for Highway...

E.W. Scripps 2Q profit drops 48 percent - Added 6 weeks ago

E.W. Scripps says second-quarter profit fell 48 percent on a sharp revenue decline at its newspaper properties and costs related to splitting off its digital businesses. Scripps's results include for the final time its...

Credit Suisse profit falls 62 pct - Added 6 weeks ago

Credit Suisse Group's profit skidded 62 percent from a year ago, but was a major improvement from the loss it posted in the first three months of this year. Switzerland's second largest bank said it earned 1.22 billion...

Medco 2Q profit up 22 percent on new deals - Added 6 weeks ago

Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions said Thursday its second-quarter profit climbed 22 percent as it won new clients and prices for brand-name drugs increased. Medco Health Solutions Inc. earned $262.7...

Visa survey shows foreign travel remains popular - Added 6 weeks ago

The weak U.S. dollar has not dissuaded Americans from planning trips abroad this year, but they may be heading to destinations closer to home, according to a survey released Thursday by Visa Inc. Two in three...

Daimler's 2Q profit slips to nearly $2.2 billion - Added 6 weeks ago

Car maker Daimler AG said Thursday its second-quarter profit slipped mainly on charges related to its stake in Chrysler LLC, and blamed its reduced full-year earnings outlook on a slowing global economy and higher...

AP Executive Morning Briefing - Added 6 weeks ago

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Thursday, July 24, 2008: Visa survey shows foreign travel remains popular NEW YORK (AP) _ The weak U.S. dollar has not dissuaded Americans from...

Japanese shares rise on Wall Street gains, oil - Added 6 weeks ago

Japanese shares rose for the third straight session Thursday, lifted by further gains on Wall Street and a continuing slide in oil prices. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index increased 290.38 points, or 2.18 percent, to...

Hyundai Motor profit slips as sales rise - Added 6 weeks ago

South Korea's Hyundai Motor said Thursday that its second-quarter net profit declined nearly 11 percent despite higher sales, and vowed to fight high oil prices by aggressively exporting more fuel efficient vehicles. ...

Canon reports 13 percent drop in profit - Added 6 weeks ago

Canon Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell 13 percent from a year ago as a stronger yen chipped away at the value of booming overseas sales of color copiers. The Japanese camera maker recorded a 107.84...