News For Friday Sep 5, 2008 News For Friday Sep 5, 2008

Business Business

Stocks mostly rise as investors snap up financials - Added 4 minutes ago

Stocks have ended an erratic session mostly higher, recovering from steep losses that followed a worrisome reading on the nation's job market. After an early selloff, investors began looking for bargains in sectors like...

Oil prices drop as jobs data add to demand worries - Added 22 minutes ago

Oil prices sank to a five-month low Friday as a jump in the U.S. unemployment rate signaled to traders that Americans might keep paring back their energy use to save money. The Labor Department said the economy lost...

Details about Altria, UST - Added 24 minutes ago

WHAT THE COMPANIES SAY: Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, called a New York Times report that it would buy rival UST Inc. for more than $10 billion "pure speculation." UST declined to comment. ...

Bank of America ready to settle securities probes - Added 25 minutes ago

Bank of America Corp. said Friday it is ready to settle federal and state investigations into sales of risky auction-rate securities, joining eight other big investment banks that have agreed to buy back a total of more...

Is the financial crisis over? Not so fast - Added 51 minutes ago

Oil prices are down, the dollar is up, and U.S. growth and exports have perked up a little. So is the global financial crisis winding down anytime soon? Top economists and business leaders meeting Friday at an Italian...

MISSING TITLE - Added 1 hour ago

AL home run leader Carlos Quentin has a broken wrist, and will have surgery, White Sox say. ...

Home loan troubles break records again - Added 1 hour ago

The source of trouble in the mortgage market has shifted from subprime loans made to borrowers with bad credit to homeowners who had solid credit but took out exotic loans with ballooning monthly payments. The Mortgage...

Jobless rate jumps to 5-year high of 6.1 percent - Added 1 hour ago

The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, dramatic proof of the mounting damage a deeply troubled economy is inflicting on workers and...

US oil and gas rig count down by 18 - Added 2 hours ago

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 18 this week to 2,013. Of the rigs running nationwide, 1,586 were exploring for natural gas and 416 for oil, Houston-based...

Continental to charge $15 for 1st checked bag - Added 2 hours ago

Continental Airlines Inc. said Friday it is charging some coach customers $15 for a first checked bag, matching a similar fee imposed by most other major U.S. carriers. A company spokeswoman said the fee would help...

Informa shares fall after it rejects takeover bid - Added 2 hours ago

Shares at Informa PLC, the London-based publisher of Lloyd's List maritime newspaper, fell almost 7 percent on Friday after the company rejected a reduced $3.4 billion takeover bid from a private equity consortium. ...

Agriculture futures open trading lower on CBOT - Added 3 hours ago

Agriculture futures traded lower Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for December delivery fell 31.5 cents to $7.455 a bushel; December corn fell 15 cents to $5.495 a bushel; December oats lost 4.5 cents to...

Review panel criticizes Great Lakes health study - Added 3 hours ago

Substandard science has hurt a federal agency's seven-year effort to document possible links between industrial pollution and health problems in the Great Lakes region, an independent review panel said Friday. The...

Dollar mostly higher, gold rises in Europe - Added 3 hours ago

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Friday. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.4281, down from $1.4331 late Thursday in New York. Later, in midday trading in New York on...

Altria calls reports on UST 'pure speculation' - Added 3 hours ago

Altria Group, which owns Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, said Friday that a report of its impending acquisition of UST was "pure speculation." Analysts said the deal makes perfect sense. The New York Times reported...

German industrial production fell in July - Added 6 hours ago

German industrial production fell 1.8 percent in July compartede with June, with the three main categories of output showing declines, the ministry of the economy said Friday. The government said capital goods demand...

Honda bringing back Insight nameplate for hybrid - Added 6 hours ago

Honda is bringing back the defunct Insight nameplate for a hybrid-only vehicle planned for the Japanese, European and North American markets early next year, as the automaker strives to play catch-up with rival Toyota...

World markets sink after Wall Street plunge - Added 6 hours ago

World stock markets fell sharply Friday in the wake of a sell-off on Wall Street amid mounting concerns about a slumping U.S. economy and its impact on global growth. Disappointing reports on U.S. retail sales and...

Assurant signs warranty accord with GE unit - Added 9 hours ago

Specialty insurer Assurant Inc. has agreed to acquire the warranty management business of General Electric Co.'s appliance and consumer electronics division. Under the formal accord with GE Consumer & Industrial,...

AP Executive Morning Briefing - Added 11 hours ago

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, Sept. 5, 2008: Asian markets plunge after Wall Street sell-off TOKYO (AP) _ Asian stock markets plunged Friday after more bad news on the U.S....

Wet summer brings mushroom boom to Northeast - Added 12 hours ago

There's a mushroom boom in the wet woods of the Northeast this summer. Hillsides bloom with black trumpets. Disc-shaped mushrooms called artist's conch sprout from tree trunks. Forests are laced with tasty chanterelles...

Boeing, machinists union meet with mediator - Added 15 hours ago

Representatives from Boeing Co. and the machinists union met with a federal mediator Thursday as the clock ticked on an unusual two-day contract extension after union production workers soundly rejected a contract offer...

Lloyd's of London push into emerging markets - Added 15 hours ago

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, signaled its intention to push its business in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America and oil rich countries in the Gulf, warning on Friday that a shift in...

Greenspan: Don't use Fed as a 'magical piggy bank' - Added 16 hours ago

Troubled by the Bear Stearns debacle, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is advocating a new way of dealing with government bailouts of companies whose sudden collapse could wreak havoc on the country's...

Prisons scramble to make digital TV switch - Added 19 hours ago

The big switch to digital TV has prison officials scrambling to keep one of the most important peacekeeping tools in prisons across the nation _ broadcast television. When the nation's broadcasters make the switch from...

Relief in New Orleans, punishment in Baton Rouge - Added 21 hours ago

The path of Hurricane Gustav offered New Orleans a reprieve, but 80 miles away where utilities say the devastation was the worst they have ever seen, the storm offered nothing but punishment. The region's top power...

Oil's climb forced companies to become leaner - Added 22 hours ago

Conventional wisdom had long held that some industries would collapse if oil topped $100 a barrel. As oil neared $150, sending costs higher for everything from jet fuel to plastic jars, the question was how many...

Comcast appeals FCC Web traffic-blocking decision - Added 22 hours ago

Comcast Corp. is appealing an FCC ruling that the company is improperly blocking customers' Web traffic, triggering a legal battle that could determine the extent of the government's authority to regulate the Internet. ...

Breeden details year of progress at H&R Block - Added 22 hours ago

A year after orchestrating a takeover of H&R Block Inc.'s leadership, Richard Breeden gave shareholders an update Thursday on efforts to rejuvenate the tax preparation giant, saying some success has been made but...

Treasury prices rise as investors flee stocks - Added 22 hours ago

Treasury prices rose moderately Thursday, as a plummeting stock market sent investors back into safer, fixed-income government securities. A Labor Department report showing that new applications for unemployment...

Stocks plummet after retail, unemployment data - Added 22 hours ago

Dejected investors sent stocks plunging Thursday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 340 points after retailers and the government added to a mountain of bad economic news and devastated hopes for a...

Ameritrade names new chief operations officer - Added 22 hours ago

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. named a new chief operating officer Thursday as the company prepares for Fred Tomczyk to become CEO next month. Ameritrade had announced in May that Tomczyk will move up from his current...

Gold prices fall for 4th day on stronger dollar - Added 22 hours ago

Gold prices extended their losses for a fourth session Thursday as the dollar pushed higher against the euro, prompting traders to pull money out of precious metals and other commodities. Silver and copper also fell. ...

Toll Brothers posts 3Q loss as revenue falls - Added 22 hours ago

Toll Brothers Inc. said Thursday it swung to a loss in its fiscal third quarter as weak demand for new homes forced the luxury builder to mark down the value of its land and unsold homes. But Chief Executive Robert...

Ethanol: energy's golden child dodges more darts - Added 22 hours ago

Ethanol's wild ride has brought it quickly from political golden child to scapegoat for everything from soaring food prices and world hunger to pork-barrel spending. This week, the Republican Party in its national...

Oil prices close at 5-month low on US gas report - Added 23 hours ago

Oil prices closed at their lowest level in five months Thursday as a lower-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline supplies gave traders more reason to believe that a cooling economy is forcing Americans to drive less. ...

Wal-Mart, Toll Brothers, Tyson Foods big movers - Added 23 hours ago

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange: NYSE Wal-Mart Stores Inc., down a penny at $59.78 The world's largest retailer said groceries and back-to-school items helped...

Banks borrow more from Fed; Wall Street takes pass - Added 23 hours ago

Banks borrowed more over the past week from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program, while Wall Street firms took a pass for the fifth week in a row. A Fed report released Thursday said commercial banks...

Agriculture futures end trading mixed on CBOT - Added 23 hours ago

Agriculture futures traded mixed Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for December delivery rose 2.25 cents to $7.77 a bushel; December corn rose 2.25 cents to $5.645 a bushel; December oats fell 9 cents to...

Oil operations resume, storms on the horizon - Added 23 hours ago

Even as thousands of workers returned to their posts in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Gustav's mild blow, other storms traveling across the Atlantic Ocean served as a reminder that the heart of hurricane...

Jobless claims jump is bad omen for economy - Added 23 hours ago

Jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, the government said Thursday, while companies responded to the slowing economy by producing more with fewer workers. It was not great news for American workers, who have seen...

Study: Rate of decline in house prices slows - Added 23 hours ago

Prices of single-family homes fell in the second quarter, but at a slower rate than in the previous three-month period, an economic analysis company said Thursday. The median price of a U.S. home slipped at an annual...

Slow August sales signal more weakness in retail - Added 23 hours ago

When it came to buying their children new jeans and trendy tops, parents held the line: They focused on basics at discounters and waited for the best deals, resulting in weak August sales at many stores. That's a bad...

A spotlight on August same-store sales figures - Added 23 hours ago

WHAT HAPPENED: The nation's retailers, particularly mall-based apparel chains, reported sluggish sales for August as consumers focused on buying basics and delayed making purchases amid economic worries. Among the few...

Summary Box: Jobless claims jump, productivity up - Added 1 day ago

JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP: The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose 15,000 to 444,000 last week. Economists expected that number to drop. PRODUCTIVITY UP: Meanwhile, productivity soared this...

London Taxi's famed black cabs made in China - Added 1 day ago

London Taxis are as British as bowler hats and Big Ben. But the latest models coming off this new assembly line are unlikely to ever touch an English road. At a sprawling factory in the lush green suburbs of Shanghai,...

Dollar mostly higher, gold rises in Europe - Added 1 day ago

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against most other major currencies in European trading Thursday. Gold rose. The euro traded at $1.4362, down from $1.4493 late Wednesday in New York. In afternoon trading in New York...

30-year mortgages dip slightly to 6.35 percent - Added 1 day ago

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a third straight week, dropping to the lowest level since mid-July. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.35 percent...

European, British central banks hold rates steady - Added 1 day ago

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England left their key interest rates unchanged Thursday, reluctant to move them lower as rising prices offset the fear of weaker growth and recession. In London, the Bank of...

MillerCoors faces legal battle in Ohio - Added 1 day ago

MillerCoors LLC is facing a court fight in Ohio over its attempt to trim costs by cutting beer distributorships. Beverage Distributors Inc. of Cleveland and AFP Distributors Inc. of Glouster in southeast Ohio have...