Yahoo! News: Health News

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• Concerns about jobs and consumers take toll on stocks (Reuters)
• Surprise rise in jobless claims casts pall on economy (Reuters)
• Mortgage rates hit record lows (Reuters)
• BP starts cementing Gulf oil well (Reuters)
• Retail sales tepid as frugality returns (Reuters)
• OfficeMax guides Q3, year down (Investor's Business Daily)
• Barclays and Commerzbank profits fail to impress skeptics (Reuters)
• Papermaker Norske Skog posts widened Q2 loss (AP)
• Zurich Financial sees Q2 profit halved to $707M (AP)
• Senate approves higher gov't mortgage fees (AP)
• Russia bans grain exports amid drought (AP)
• Gordmans Stores shares rise in market debut (AP)
• Mortgage rates drop to lowest level in decades (AP)
• Investors ask oil majors for offshore drilling safety plans (Reuters)
• UN panel: New taxes needed for a climate fund (AP)
• Obama boasts saving auto industry 'on the brink' (AP)
• Stock Picks: Allstate, Pfizer, Sirius XM (BusinessWeek)

Concerns about jobs and consumers take toll on stocks (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:49 AM PDT Reuters - Stocks fell on Thursday as persistent concerns about unemployment and consumer spending were underscored by an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims and July retail sales that were mostly weaker than expected.

Surprise rise in jobless claims casts pall on economy (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:37 AM PDT Reuters - New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to the highest level since early April, highlighting a weak labor market and the fragile economic recovery.

Mortgage rates hit record lows (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:56 AM PDT Reuters - Mortgage rates fell in the past week to the latest in a series of record lows amid concerns about the state of the economy, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac.

BP starts cementing Gulf oil well (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:25 AM PDT Reuters - BP started pumping cement on Thursday into its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well as it moved to permanently kill the source of the world's worst marine oil spill.

Retail sales tepid as frugality returns (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 06:59 AM PDT Reuters - Retailers posted July sales below analysts' expectations in the latest sign that skittishness about high unemployment and the economy in general are causing consumers to cut spending and focus on essentials.

OfficeMax guides Q3, year down (Investor's Business Daily) Posted: 03 Aug 2010 03:26 PM PDT Investor's Business Daily - The office supply retailer swung to a Q2 profit of 12 cents a share, beating views of a break-even quarter, helped by lower costs. Revenue edged down 0.3% to $1.65 bil, missing views of $1.67 bil. Same-store sales fell 0.3%. OfficeMax sees Q3 sales below prior-year sales of $1.83 bil, vs. views of $1.86 bil. The company also sees full-year sales at or below 2009's $7.21 bil vs. views of $7.29 bil. Shares dived 12.7%.

Barclays and Commerzbank profits fail to impress skeptics (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 04:15 AM PDT Reuters - Higher than expected profits from Barclays and Commerzbank failed to dispel concerns over the underlying health of Europe's top banks on Thursday.

Papermaker Norske Skog posts widened Q2 loss (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:01 AM PDT AP - Norwegian papermaker Norske Skog said its second-quarter net loss widened 62 percent to 874 million kroner ($146 million) from 538 million kroner in 2009, due to lower paper prices, higher costs and changes in currency values.

Zurich Financial sees Q2 profit halved to $707M (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:57 AM PDT AP - Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services Group reported a 51 percent drop in the second-quarter net profits to $707 million as earnings were hit by payouts for weather-related losses and the earthquake in Chile.

Senate approves higher gov't mortgage fees (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:33 AM PDT AP - Higher monthly fees are coming for consumers who take out home loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the primary source of mortgages for first-time homebuyers.

Russia bans grain exports amid drought (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:53 AM PDT AP - Russia banned grain exports for the rest of the year on Thursday after a severe drought and wildfires destroyed 20 percent of its wheat crop. The price of wheat, which has already jumped 70 percent on world markets this summer, rallied further on the news.

Gordmans Stores shares rise in market debut (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:45 AM PDT AP - Shares of discount retailer Gordmans Stores are rising in their market debut Thursday.

Mortgage rates drop to lowest level in decades (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:47 AM PDT AP - Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level in decades for the sixth time in seven weeks, offering the most attractive opportunity for those who qualify to refinance or purchase a home.

Investors ask oil majors for offshore drilling safety plans (Reuters) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:55 AM PDT Reuters - A group of investors including the two largest U.S. public pension funds asked 27 top oil and gas companies on Thursday to disclose what they have done to make their offshore drilling safer in the wake of the BP oil spill.

UN panel: New taxes needed for a climate fund (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 07:12 AM PDT AP - British economist Nicholas Stern says a U.N. economic panel is discussing carbon taxes, add-ons to international air fares and a levy on cross-border money transfers as ways to raise $100 billion a year to fight climate change.

Obama boasts saving auto industry 'on the brink' (AP) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 08:43 AM PDT AP - President Barack Obama is crediting his politically risky bailout of the the U.S car companies with turning around an "industry on the brink."

Stock Picks: Allstate, Pfizer, Sirius XM (BusinessWeek) Posted: 05 Aug 2010 05:08 AM PDT BusinessWeek - Allstate: Credit Suisse equity analyst Vinay Misquith reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Allstate , the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, on Aug. 3, with a price target of 41.

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