Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Yahoo! News: Health News

Yahoo! News: Health News


Wall Street drops on euro zone, fading Fed stimulus odds

Posted:

Traders work at the post following the IPO for fuel shipper GasLog Inc. on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dropped on Wednesday for the second consecutive session as minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting published Tuesday suggested further monetary stimulus was unlikely and a disappointing Spanish debt auction reawakened euro zone concerns. Spanish borrowing costs jumped at bond auctions, sparking worry about a recurrence of a euro zone debt crisis and highlighting recession worries in the region. The PHLX Europe sector index lost 3 percent. ...


Businesses add jobs, service sector growth dips

Posted:

American University students walk among recruiting booths during a career job fair at American University in WashingtonNEW YORK (Reuters) - Businesses added more than 200,000 jobs in March, giving fresh evidence of continued improvement in the labor market, data showed on Wednesday. The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added 209,000 positions last month, slightly above economists' expectations for a gain of 200,000 jobs. Analysts said it did not change their forecasts for the government's more comprehensive labor market report for March due on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment. Separate data showed a measure of employment in the vast U.S. ...


Draghi dismisses ECB exit talk as premature

Posted:

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi attends the monthly news conference in FrankfurtFRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed a German-led push for the bank to start planning a retreat from emergency crisis-fighting, but stressed it was keeping a close eye on price pressures. After holding interest rates at a record low of 1.0 percent of Wednesday, Draghi said "downside risks to the economic outlook prevail" and the ECB would need time to see the full impact of bumper funding operations it has used to help banks. ...


Yahoo to lay off 2,000 employees

Posted:

File photo of a Yahoo! signs siting out front of their headquarters in Sunnyvale(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will lay off 2,000 people, or 15 percent of its workforce, in its deepest round of job cuts in years as new CEO Scott Thompson tries to drive innovation within a leaner, more agile company while saving hundreds of millions of dollars. Wall Street was again dubious the move would drive growth, which flagged under two previous CEOs who failed to find an answer to the likes of Google and Facebook, even as Thompson said he was intensifying the company's focus on its core businesses. ...


Services sector slips in March: ISM

Posted:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slipped in March after hitting its highest level in a year the previous month, as a gauge of new orders declined, according to an industry report released on Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its services sector index fell to 56.0 last month from 57.3 in February, shy of economists' forecasts for 57.0. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The new orders index declined to 58.8 from 61.2, though the employment index improved to 56.7 from 55.7. A measure of prices paid was dialed back to 63. ...

JPMorgan to pay $20 million to settle Lehman case: CFTC

Posted:

A sign is seen outside the JPMorgan office in Los AngelesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay $20 million to settle charges that it unlawfully handled customer segregated funds at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The CFTC's order also requires JPMorgan to implement reforms to ensure the proper handling of customer segregated funds in the future and to release customer funds upon notice and instruction from the CFTC. A JPMorgan spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment. Lehman spokeswoman Kimberly Macleod declined to comment. ...


Fiat sees Europe 2012 car sales down for fifth year

Posted:

TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - European new car sales will decline for the fifth year in a row in 2012 to 13 million units, Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Wednesday, predicting stabilisation and the beginnings of a recovery only at the end of the year. That would compare with 13.1 million cars sold in Europe last year, and almost 16 million cars sold in 2007, before the start of the financial crisis, according to figures from lobby group ACEA. ...

Monsanto posts record Q2, sales jump 15 percent

Posted:

(Reuters) - Global agribusiness company Monsanto Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, as the company said early U.S. spring planting and a 15 percent sales jump boosted its full-year outlook. Shares sagged after an early jump amid a general market slump and as the company said results for the second half of the year would likely be flat. Still, the company was on pace for a strong year, said Monsanto Chairman Hugh Grant. ...

EU makes new bid to end deadlock on bank capital

Posted:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU countries are making a fresh attempt to break the deadlock over new bank capital rules and ministers are due to meet on May 2, officials and diplomats said, accelerating efforts to find agreement on measures crucial for lending and the economy. The European Commission has proposed new standards for the amount of capital banks across the 27-state European Union must hold to cover risks. ...

Geithner says U.S. far behind on housing finance reform

Posted:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies before a House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on the FY2013 at Capitol Hill in WashingtonCHICAGO (Reuters) - The United States is far behind on reforming the country's housing finance system, where the government's mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide funding for the bulk of U.S. home loans, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday. "The biggest source of unfinished business in the financial reform effort is in the housing finance area," Geithner told the Chicago Economic Club. The Obama administration has proposed to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages and repackage them as securities for investors. ...


Insight: Lost in translation: U.S. refining model floors Petroplus

Posted:

The Petroplus refinery is pictured in Cressier near Neuchatel, in this file picture taken May 12, 2011CORRINGHAM, Britain (Reuters) - Flush with success in building up his oil refining business in the United States, New Yorker Thomas O'Malley was confident he could repeat the trick in Europe at the helm of Petroplus. Now the man nicknamed the "godfather of refining" has gone, Swiss-based Petroplus is in administration and only one of its five refineries has avoided at least temporary closure. The future of all five remains in doubt, threatening thousands of jobs in central and northern Europe. ...


Trump scion says India top focus for realty mogul

Posted:

MUMBAI (Reuters) - American property mogul Donald Trump targets India above other emerging economies, his son and business partner said, as the flamboyant tycoon looks to crack a notoriously tough real estate industry with his brand of luxury homes and hotels. Trump's eponymous real estate group expects to sign multiple deals for Indian residential projects and hotel contracts over the next five years, despite a market riddled by regulatory uncertainty and bureaucratic red tape. ...

Europe's banks face $323 billion capital hole

Posted:

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's top banks would have had to raise 242 billion euros ($323 billion) or more to achieve minimum capital ratios if tougher rules that are coming in for the industry had been in force last year. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said on Wednesday that if the Basel III capital rules had been in force at the end of June then 27 of Europe's top 48 banks would have had a minimum core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio of less than 7 percent of assets, which is the target level for banks to meet when new rules come into force. ...

Regulator to penalize JPMorgan over Lehman demise: NYT

Posted:

A sign is seen outside the JPMorgan office in Los Angeles(Reuters) - A U.S. regulator is set to penalize JPMorgan for actions linked to the demise of investment bank Lehman Brothers at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the matter. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is expected this week to file a civil case against JPMorgan. The bank is expected to settle the Lehman matter and pay a fine of about $20 million, the paper said. Such a move will be the first federal enforcement case resulting from Lehman's downfall, the New York Times said. ...


Spanish debt yields rise as deficit problems mount

Posted:

MADRID/LISBON (Reuters) - Spanish borrowing costs jumped at bond auctions on Wednesday, spreading fear in wider European markets and overshadowing a successful step back into debt markets by neighboring Portugal. Spain sold 2.6 billion euros of debt, at the low end of its target range, with a bond maturing in 2020 yielding an average 5.338 percent, up from a forecast 5.2 percent and 5.156 when it was last sold in September. Portugal sold 1 billion euros of 18-month T-bills, its longest dated debt since the European Union and International Monetary Fund bailed the country out, with a 4. ...

ECB holds rates to balance inflation, recession fears

Posted:

Draghi President of ECB talks with Shiarly Minister of Finance of Cyprus before the Ecofin Finance Minister meeting in Copenhagen.FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank held its main interest rate at 1.0 percent on Wednesday as persistently high inflation offset pressure to respond to the euro zone's shaky economic recovery. The ECB also said the interest rate on its deposit facility would remain at 0.25 percent, and the rate on the marginal lending facility would stay at 1.75 percent. ECB President Mario Draghi will explain the Governing Council's decision at a 8.30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) news conference. ...


Euro zone sales disappoint, prospects poor

Posted:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Shoppers in the euro zone cut back on their spending in February as households faced stubborn inflation, growing unemployment lines and pay freezes across the public and private sector. Retail sales in the 17 countries using the euro fell 0.1 percent month on month, Eurostat said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales volumes to be unchanged. In an indication that household demand will do little to revive the subdued euro zone economy as it heads into recession this year, retail sales were down 2.1 percent on an annual basis. ...

Exclusive: Glencore unit ramps up metal stores in Dutch hot spot

Posted:

Swiss commodities trader Glencore's logo is seen in front of its headquarters in BaarLONDON (Reuters) - A warehouse company owned by commodity trader Glencore is rapidly expanding its lucrative storage facilities at a Dutch port that has become a hub for storing aluminum, a metal increasingly used by bankers and traders as a financing tool. The move in warehousing comes as banks and trading houses face increased scrutiny for speculating on commodity prices while at the same time owning sheds that store a fundamental driver of price - metal stocks. "Really a lot of warehouses have been added in one year. ...


China's Wen urges breakup of bank monopoly as growth slows

Posted:

China's Premier Wen Jiabao waves as he arrives for a news conference after the closing ceremony of the NPC in Beijing(Reuters) - China's premier called the country's big banks a monopoly that needed to be broken to get money flowing to cash-starved private firms, as the nation's economy appears to have skidded to its slowest growth in three years. China's state banks make money "far too easily", state media quoted Premier Wen Jiabao as saying on Tuesday, in comments that reignited debate over the role of banking in cushioning the descent of the high-flying economy, the world's second largest. "Frankly, our banks make profits far too easily. ...


Fisker CEO revamps business plan amid Karma woes

Posted:

The Fisker automotive electric Atlantic sedan is seen during its unveiling ahead of the 2012 International Auto Show in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Fisker Automotive, a maker of plug-in hybrid sports cars, may build its second model outside of the United States if federal funds intended to pay for the vehicle's production fall through, the company's chief executive said on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy froze a $529 million loan awarded to Fisker in 2009 as part of an Obama administration program to spur advanced vehicle development. The bulk of that loan was slated to help Fisker build the new model, called the Atlantic, at a former General Motors Co factory in Wilmington, Delaware. ...


Spanish debt struggles after sale; ECB hold rates

Posted:

LONDON (Reuters) - Spanish bond prices fell on Wednesday after the government paid a high rate to borrow through medium-term bonds, a sign that resurgent concern over the country's fiscal problems was dampening appetite for its debt. Euro zone bonds markets showed little reaction after the European Central Bank held interest rates at a record low of 1.0 percent, as widely expected. Spain sold 2.6 billion euros of 2015, 2016 and 2020 bonds - at the low end of its target range - and the average yield rose on all three. ...

Cut-rate mansions anyone? Hamptons real estate recovering

Posted:

24 Ocean Ave, in East Hampton, New York, is pictured in this handout photo provided by Corcoran.NEW YORK (Reuters) - When a five-bedroom waterfront estate in the Town of Southampton went on sale in 2008 for $5.8 million, the price must have seemed reasonable. After all, second-home prices on the Hamptons, the summer playground for wealthy New Yorkers, had been rising steadily for six straight years. But the house, ringed with mahogany decks and including a vintage pool house, finally sold a few months ago for only $2.75 million, less than half the original asking price. "They weren't thrilled, let's just say that," realtor Marcia Altman of Brown, Harris Stevens said of the sellers. ...


Juncker coy on preferred Eurogroup successor

Posted:

Eurogroup Chairman and Luxembourg's PM Juncker attends a conference organised by EU40 in BrusselsVIENNA (Reuters) - Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker said he has a preferred candidate to succeed him as head of the influential Eurogroup assembly of euro zone finance ministers but is not yet prepared to name the person. "The one who should know does know," he said in an interview with Austrian radio broadcast on Wednesday, declining to give any more details before a decision due in the next few weeks. Citing a heavy work load and health issues, Juncker has said he will step down at mid-year from the post he has held for more than seven years. ...


Facebook launches patent counterattack against Yahoo

Posted:

An illustration picture shows the log-on screen for the website Facebook in MunichSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook fired back on Tuesday in its legal battle with Yahoo by accusing the Web pioneer of infringing 10 of Facebook's patents, according to a court filing. The counterclaim from Facebook, filed in a San Francisco federal court, comes after Yahoo a sued Facebook for patent infringement last month. The dueling claims mark an expanding web of patent litigation that has already caught up the smartphone and tablet sectors and high-tech stalwarts such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. ...


Burger King to go public again

Posted:

A Burger King logo is seen in central Ankara(Reuters) - Hamburger chain Burger King said on Tuesday it plans go public through a deal with a London-listed investment firm, less than two years after it agreed to be taken private by private equity group 3G Capital Management LLC. The quick sale highlights a profit improvement at Burger King' Worldwide Holdings Inc, which operates more than 12,000 mainly franchise fast-food outlets around the world. ...


Analysis: Investors skeptical about genuine global-market recovery

Posted:

A general view of the DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchangeLONDON (Reuters) - After so many false dawns, long-term investors face the growing problem of how to recognize a genuine, sustainable recovery in global markets - whenever it eventually shows up. In the wake of one of the steepest first-quarter rallies in world equities in more than a decade, it's been tempting to hail the return of more "normal" times, where the cyclical ebb and flow of the economy dictates predictable investment patterns. But skepticism remains sky high, and it still doesn't feel right to many investors. ...


Moody's downgrades GE, citing GE Capital risks

Posted:

A General Electric Company (GE) logo is seen on a toggle switch package in New York(Reuters) - Moody's on Tuesday downgraded the ratings of conglomerate General Electric Co and its finance unit General Electric Capital Corp. each by a notch to reflect risks in GE Capital's funding model, and said risks still remain. Moody's said there are still remaining "material risks" associated GE Capital's funding model, even though the firm had improved its liquidity and capital levels since the credit crisis. It said the risk profiles of market-funded financial institutions like GE Capital are higher than was previously reflected in its ratings. ...


Analysis: Low cost era over for China's workshops to the world

Posted:

To match Analysis APPLE-FOXCONN/LABOURTAIPEI (Reuters) - Foxconn Technology's agreement to improve the lot of its 1.2 million workers in China who make Apple Inc's iPads and iPhones is a signal that China is losing its title as the world's lowest-cost producer of everything. It is not a pure economic argument, but an ethical one too that is gaining momentum following Apple's unprecedented decision to allow the largest investigation ever into a U.S. company's operations abroad. ...


Groupon sued by investor over revised results, IPO

Posted:

People enter and leave Groupon Inc corporate office and headquarters in Chicago(Reuters) - Groupon Inc , which runs the world's largest online coupon website, was sued on Tuesday by a shareholder who accused the company of misleading investors about its financial prospects and concealing weak internal controls. Just four days ago, Groupon unexpectedly revised its results for the fourth quarter, its first as a public company to a bigger net loss and said it had a "material weakness" in its internal controls, having failed to set aside enough money for customer refunds. ...


GMX shares spike on oil discovery

Posted:

Shares of independent oil and gas producer GMX Resources shot up more than 22 percent Wednesday after the company reported strong results from a well in North Dakota.

Geithner criticizes proposed GOP budget cuts

Posted:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner criticized Republicans for focusing too much on cutting spending and taxes and not doing enough to support economic growth.

Summary Box: Fiat aims for European break-even

Posted:

CEO LOOKS AHEAD: Fiat's alliance with U.S. carmaker Chrysler should allow its European business to reach break-even by 2014, CEO Sergio Marchionne told shareholders on Wednesday

Dollar rises to nearly 3-week high against euro

Posted:

A weak Spanish bond auction is driving the dollar to its highest level against the euro in nearly three weeks.

US service firms grow at steady pace, boost hiring

Posted:

U.S. service companies expanded at a healthy pace last month and stepped up hiring, more evidence that the economy is growing and adding jobs.

Stocks battered Fed's wait-and-see stance

Posted:

A man walks in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index fallen 135.95 points to 9914.44 in Tokyo Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Asian stock markets on Wednesday followed Wall Street into negative territory after the Federal Reserve voiced concern about U.S. job growth but appeared to refrain from taking steps to prop up the economy. The Nikkei index briefly slipped to 9,886.34, its lowest level in a month. Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed for public holidays. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)Stocks around the world took a pounding Wednesday as investors pared back any remaining expectations that the Federal Reserve would be pumping more money into the U.S. economy.


Recall news

Posted:

The following recall has been announced:

Oil drops below $102 on big US supply increase

Posted:

Oil dropped more than 2 percent Wednesday after the government said U.S. supplies of crude keep growing.

Obama signs insider trading ban by lawmakers

Posted:

President Barack Obama has signed legislation barring members of Congress, the president and thousands of federal workers from insider trading and profiting from nonpublic information learned on the job.

St. Jude will stop selling 2 heart device wires

Posted:

St. Jude Medical Inc. will stop selling two types of wires used in devices that treat heart failure because in some cases, conductive wires were sticking out of their insulation.

No comments:

Post a Comment