| S&P turns negative Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P cut early gains to turn negative on Friday, putting it on track to extend a losing streak to four straight sessions. The index rose earlier in the session, and still remains on pace for its strongest quarter in more than two years. The S&P 500 remains up 2.8 percent in March and ahead almost 12 percent for the first quarter. If could be the best start to the year since 1998 and the index's best quarter since the third period of 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 8.02 points, or 0.06 percent, at 13,153.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1. ...
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| Consumer spending jumps but income growth tepid Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending increased by the most in seven months in February as households shook off a rise in gasoline prices, suggesting the economy may not have slowed as much this quarter as economists had thought. There is little sign that gasoline prices, which have jumped 62 cents since the start of the year are dampening spirits among Americans as the labor market strengthens. Consumer confidence touched its highest level in more than a year in March amid optimism over jobs and income. ...
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| Euro zone agrees to boost rescue capacity Posted:  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to raise their financial firewall to prevent a new flare-up of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, but it was unclear if markets and Europe's G20 partners would see the boost as sufficient. The 17-nation currency area agreed to combine its two rescue funds to make 500 billion euros of new funds available in case of emergency until mid-2013, on top of 200 billion euros already committed to bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. ...
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| RIM posts loss as new CEO begins to clean house Posted:  TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion posted a net loss and its first slump in BlackBerry shipments for its holiday quarter since 2006, as its new CEO announced the initial steps in a strategic overhaul and would not rule out an eventual sale of the company. RIM's shares dropped as much as 9 percent on Thursday after the company said it would no longer issue financial forecasts and was reviewing "strategic opportunities" such as partnerships and joint-venture licensing, and other ways to leverage its assets. ...
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| Apple, Foxconn set new standard for Chinese workers Posted:  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China. Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade workers' housing and other amenities. ...
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| Greek PM does not rule out new bailout package Posted:  MILAN (Reuters) - Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said on Friday Greece may need a third bailout package if the sweeping austerity measures demanded by its international creditors fail to stabilize its shattered economy and restore market confidence. It was the first time Papademos publicly confronted his people with the risk, already mooted by wary EU, IMF and German officials, that the austerity program might fall through if they don't try hard enough. His remarks were seen as an encouragement to support pro-bailout parties in a snap election expected on May 6. ...
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| Analysis: Saudi summer oil burn should decline this year Posted:  DUBAI/KHOBAR (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is likely to burn less crude in its power plants this summer thanks to rising output from dedicated gas fields and gas that would be associated with any increase in oil output to make up for lower Iranian production. Last summer the world's leading oil exporter burned an average of 730,000 barrels a day (bpd) of crude for electricity to keep the population cool in the hottest months from July to the end of September, official figures indicate. ...
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| Canada says to let the penny drop Posted: OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's puny penny coin, loved by some but an annoyance to many, will be withdrawn from circulation this year because it costs too much to make and is a pecuniary pest, the government announced on Thursday. "The penny is a currency without any currency in Canada," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters. Ottawa said the penny retained only one twentieth of its original purchasing power. It costs 1.6 Canadian cents to produce each one cent coin and stamping out the penny will save around C$11 million ($11 million) a year. ... |
| Analysis: HMO investors breathe easier about health law ruling Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Now that the Supreme Court has given a glimpse of how it will consider the healthcare overhaul, more investors in health insurance stocks are breathing easier about the eventual ruling. Wall Street is less worried about the worst-case scenario for insurers: that the court strikes down the individual mandate requiring people buy insurance, but keeps in place provisions that could force insurers to cover more sick, high-cost Americans. Investors also increasingly believe the whole law may be tossed out, analysts said, which could boost health insurer stocks in the near term. ...
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| Goldman to take India charm offensive to Delhi Posted:  MUMBAI (Reuters) - Executives of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs are due to take their Indian charm offensive to the capital, New Delhi, on Friday, sources said, after courting business leaders and holding their first annual board meeting in the country. The Goldman board held the meeting in Mumbai on Thursday against a deteriorating economic and political backdrop in India, where business is slow, economic growth has cooled and regulation has become a minefield for foreign investors. ...
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| Analysis: Brazil commodity exporters under friendly fire in "currency war" Posted:  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - In its latest bid to slow dollar inflows in a "global currency war," Brazil has dealt an unexpected blow to its own commodity exporters, choking off medium-term trade financing at a vulnerable time for the sector. Brazil - a source of much of the world's sugar, coffee, soy, beef and iron ore - has imposed a series of taxes on foreign capital over the past year to slow what President Dilma Rousseff called a "tsunami" of cheap money flowing from the rich world. ...
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| Eurogroup postpones ECB seat deal in row over leak Posted:  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A meeting to decide who will be the next chairman of the powerful Eurogroup and who will take up an executive board seat on the European Central Bank broke up in angry disarray on Friday, prompted by a loose-lipped finance minister. Jean-Claude Juncker, current chairman of the Eurogroup, which steers 17-nation euro zone, ended the meeting early and walked out before finance ministers, central bankers and European Commission officials even discussed the jobs. He was not present at a later, larger meeting of European Union finance ministers when it started. ...
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| Consumer sentiment highest in over a year Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer confidence rebounded to its highest level in 13 months at the end of March as optimism about jobs and income overcame higher prices at the gasoline pump, according to a survey released on Friday. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final March reading for the overall consumer sentiment index rose to 76.2, the highest since February 2011, from 75.3 in February. The final March figure rose from a preliminary reading of 74.3 and was above economists' median forecasts of 74.7. ...
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| Sun Hung Kai dives as billionaire Kwok brothers arrested Posted:  HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties on Friday, after the billionaire owners of Asia's largest real estate developer were arrested on suspicion of corruption. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested Raymond and Thomas Kwok in the agency's biggest investigation since it was set up in 1974 to root out what was seen as widespread corruption in the government and police. Rafael Hui, a former No.2 official in the government, was also arrested, according to media reports. ...
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| BHP iron ore chief quits amid expansion Posted:  MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton's veteran iron ore chief, Ian Ashby, is stepping down after 25 years with the world's biggest miner, it said on Friday, clearing the way for a new leader to complete the company's long-term $11 billion iron ore expansion. BHP's energy coal head, Jimmy Wilson, 50, will take over the reins of the iron ore business, BHP's biggest revenue earner and most profitable arm over the past several years. ...
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| February personal spending posts largest gain in 7 months Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending in February increased by the most in seven months even as income rose modestly, which could prompt analysts to scale back expectations of a sharp pull back in economic growth this quarter. The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending rose 0.8 percent, as households probably stepped up purchases of motor vehicles, despite a spike in gasoline prices. January's spending was revised up to 0.4 percent from a previously reported 0.2 percent gain. Economists polled by Reuters had expected spending, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. ... |
| Honda recalls 554,000 SUVs over headlights Posted:  (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd is recalling about 554,000 sport utility vehicles in the United States to inspect for faulty wiring in headlights. Honda said in a statement that the recall affects CR-V SUVs from model years 2002 to 2004 and Pilot SUVs from model year 2003. The Japanese automaker will inspect and replace parts of the headlight wiring system that could fail, causing the low-beam headlights not to work and increase the risk of crash. No injuries or crashes have been reported relating to the issue, Honda said. ...
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| Air France CEO says not planning cap hike Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - French airline Air France is not considering a capital increase, Chief Executive Alexandre de Juniac said on Friday, after a newspaper reported earlier this week that auditors had given executives two years to recapitalize the carrier. "A capital increase is not at all on the agenda," Juniac told Reuters when asked about the La Tribune report which said Air France would be forced to tap shareholders for fresh funds because of expectations it would fall below a French accounting threshold. ...
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| Euro zone agrees 800 billion euro firewall: Austria Posted:  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to boost the currency bloc's debt crisis firewall to roughly 800 billion euros ($1.06 trillion), Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said on Friday. After what sources called a heated discussion, the 17 countries sharing the euro agreed on the lowest common denominator favored by countries such as Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, where public opinion is against more money for bailouts, EU sources said. ...
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| Qantas raising fares to tackle high fuel cost Posted:  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it was raising domestic and international fares for the second time in as many months to partially offset high jet fuel prices. Domestic fares and international fuel surcharge will increase by between A$7 and A$30 ($7.2 to $30.1) a ticket depending on the sector, Qantas said in a statement. Domestic fares will go up on April 5 and international fuel surcharges on April 12, the airline said. ...
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| Exclusive: Top natgas trader Coolidge returns 25 percent of fund to investors Posted:  (Reuters) - Star natural gas trader David Coolidge is returning a quarter of Velite Capital's assets to investors, seeking to prevent his Houston-based hedge fund from growing too big for the narrow gas market as prices plunge to 10-year lows. Hoping to avoid the fate of cross-town rival John Arnold, who gave back $1 billion of capital last year after posting his first annual decline ever, Coolidge told investors this week that the transfer would occur on the first trading day of April. One investor estimated the refund at about $400 million. ...
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| U.S. nears sanctions phase in Airbus trade spat Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is expected to ratchet up pressure on the European Union to end subsidies for Airbus by moving at the World Trade Organization toward retaliation on European goods, an industry official and other sources said. "I'm hearing that the USTR will take the next step soon," an industry official said, referring to the WTO process for obtaining permission to retaliate, referring to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. An EU plan in December for ending subsidies declared illegal by the WTO had failed to satisfy either Boeing or the U.S. ...
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| Inflation key as Fed looks ahead Posted:  WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Containing inflation will be critical when the time finally comes for the U.S. Federal Reserve to reverse its ultra loose monetary policy, two top Fed officials said on Thursday. With inflation hovering near the Fed's 2.0 percent target, the focus for U.S. policymakers has been kick-starting economic growth and lowering the 8.3 percent unemployment rate. Still, there are lingering concerns that the central bank's unprecedented actions have sown the seeds for a possible big jump in prices. ...
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| Murdoch's media empire strikes back Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch on Thursday declared war against "enemies" who have accused his pay-TV operation of sabotaging its rivals, denouncing them as "toffs and right wingers" stuck in the last century. Reports by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Financial Review newspaper this week said that News Corp's pay-TV smartcard security unit, NDS, had promoted piracy attacks on rivals, including in the United States. ...
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| House budget chair questions Pentagon budget cuts Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon budget for next year is dishonest and generals who have endorsed it on Capitol Hill are not giving Congress their "true advice," a senior Republican lawmaker on budget matters said on Thursday amid rising rhetoric over looming defense cuts. Representative Paul Ryan, head of the budget committee of the House of Representatives, said the defense budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress last month was driven by spending constraints and not by the new U.S. military strategy unveiled in January. "We don't think the generals are giving us their true advice. ...
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| Euro zone set to boost debt-crisis firewalls Posted:  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are likely to agree to temporarily almost double their financial backstops on Friday as one of the final moves to end the sovereign debt crisis, although Germany continues to favor a smaller increase. The 17 countries sharing the euro have already agreed to adopt balanced-budget rules in an effort to convince markets that euro zone public finances would be sustainable. They also agreed to slap fines on countries that run excessive budget deficits or have large imbalances in their economies. ...
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| U.S. court presses Dow Co in tax credit case Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - An appeals court heard arguments from Union Carbide and the U.S. government on Thursday as the company fought to use a tax credit retroactively for research it did in the 1990s to improve manufacturing processes. A decision in favor of Union Carbide would widen the scope of the research and development tax credit, part of the corporate tax code that costs U.S. taxpayers roughly $7 billion a year. Union Carbide is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co. The case involves process improvements researched in 1994 and 1995. ...
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| Goldman to take India charm offensive to Delhi Posted: MUMBAI (Reuters) - Executives of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs are due to take their Indian charm offensive to the capital, New Delhi, on Friday, sources said, after courting business leaders and holding their first annual board meeting in the country. The Goldman board held the meeting in Mumbai on Thursday against a deteriorating economic and political backdrop in India, where business is slow, economic growth has cooled and regulation has become a minefield for foreign investors. ... |
| Unemployment rates fall in 29 US states Posted: Unemployment rates fell last month in most U.S. states, including in some hit hardest during the recession. |
| Obama signs stop-gap transportation bill Posted:  President Barack Obama has signed a three-month extension of a transportation bill to keep federal highway and transit aid flowing. The move prevents a widespread shutdown of construction projects.
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| Euro up vs dollar as Europe raises bailout fund Posted: The euro is rising against the dollar after the 17 nations that use the euro added to their bailout fund for countries troubled by debt. |
| Toyota raises prices on 5 models Posted: Toyota says it is raising prices on five Toyota and Scion models by up to 1.5 percent. |
| Alabama club starts 'Food Stamp Friday' promotion Posted: A nightclub in Alabama's capital city has come up with a unique theme night involving food support for needy families. |
| Stocks rise, extending best start since 1998 Posted:  Stocks are up at midday after the government reported that consumer spending grew last month.
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| Conn. woman gets 8 years for $6 million bank fraud Posted: A Naugatuck woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for participating in a scheme to defraud Webster Bank and Bank of America Corp. of $6 million. |
| New CEO at IBM revives Augusta membership debate Posted:  As a club that prides itself on tradition, Augusta National again is in the middle of a membership debate it thought it was done with nearly a decade ago.
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| Man accused of stealing thousands of movie posters Posted: Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged a San Fernando Valley man with stealing more than 3,000 movie posters worth more than $450,000, including posters for "The Hunger Games." |
| Stocks rise as consumers boost spending Posted: Stocks mostly rose on Friday after the government reported that Americans spent more in February even though their incomes barely grew. The gain extended the strongest start for the stock market since 1998. |
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