Yahoo! News: Health News

Weak global data drags Wall Street 1 percent lower
Manufacturing growth slows, labor market struggling
Best Buy raises quarterly dividend 6 percent
JPMorgan creates new asset management unit, reshuffles leadership
Chesapeake names ex-Conoco chief Dunham chairman
Closer Opel-Peugeot ties cloud BMW hybrid JV
FINRA fines Merrill $2.8 million for excess fees
Exclusive: ECB mulls scrapping rating rules for government bonds: sources
Euro zone business activity shrinks; U.S., China output slows
Spain pays new record for medium-term debt
Spain borrowing costs soar as EU ponders bank aid
Commerce Secretary resigns after crashes
Japan, Swiss set up tax deals with U.S. Treasury
Existing home sales fall 1.5 percent in May
Philly Fed factory activity contracts again in June
Top UK investor lobby slams Xstrata pay plan
Nasdaq challenges NYSE, D.Boerse in European futures
BP warns TNK-BP bosses, partners on governance: sources
Insight: Look, no hands! Augmented reality gets a grip
Exclusive: Gunvor co-owner eyes Glencore-style growth
U.S. manufacturing grows at slowest pace in 11 months: Markit
Fiat loses union case in long-running labor row
Opel CEO says will keep investing
Exclusive: ECB mulls scrapping rating rules for government bonds: sources
Outlook darkens as Europe sinks, China struggles
Xstrata puts PNG copper stake on the block
China Iran oil imports recover, recoup earlier fall
Air France to cut jobs as seeks recovery
Cabot to buy Dutch company Norit for $1.1 billion
China factories in eighth month of contraction: PMI
New Greek govt pledges to secure euro membership
Development banks commit $175bn to transportation
Court throws out FCC fines for cursing, nudity
Spain: auditors see bank bailout peak at $78 bln
High court throws out FCC fines vs. broadcasters
Oil price drops below $80 for 1st time since Oct.
Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record 3.66 pct.
Fears about global economy push dollar higher
Business events scheduled for Friday
Best Buy committed to change, CEO says

Weak global data drags Wall Street 1 percent lower

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday after a raft of data showed an overseas economic slowdown was adding to U.S. weakness. Energy and materials shares led declines on Wall Street, as U.S. crude futures slipped below $80 a barrel for the first time since October and copper tumbled 2.7 percent. Both the S&P energy sector index and the materials index lost about 2 percent. Data on Thursday showed business activity across the euro zone shrank for a fifth straight month in June and Chinese manufacturing contracted, while weaker overseas demand slowed U.S. factory growth. ...

Manufacturing growth slows, labor market struggling

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:24 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Manufacturing grew in June at its slowest pace in 11 months and the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell slightly last week, pointing to an economy mired in a soft patch. The weakening economic tone was also underscored by other reports on Thursday showing a gauge of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region tumbled to a 10-month low in June and a pullback in home resales in May. ...

Best Buy raises quarterly dividend 6 percent

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc said it will raise its quarterly cash dividend by 6 percent to 17 cents a share, consistent with the increase in each of the prior three years. The company said the first dividend at the new rate will be payable October 2 to shareholders of record as of September 11. Best Buy has been dealing with a slew of problems of late, with Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn abruptly leaving the electronics chain and its founder and chairman Richard Schulze resigning and exploring options for his 20.1 percent ownership stake. Shares of the company closed at $20. ...

JPMorgan creates new asset management unit, reshuffles leadership

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's asset management business has created a new unit, which will oversee $100 billion in assets under management and incorporate teams from the company's investment management and wealth management divisions. The new unit, called Asset Management Solutions, will be run by Seth Bernstein, former head of JPMorgan's global fixed income and currency business. He will report to Mary Erdoes, chief executive of J.P.Morgan Asset Management. ...

Chesapeake names ex-Conoco chief Dunham chairman

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:19 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp named former Conoco head Archie Dunham its new chairman, replacing Aubrey McClendon as it seeks to quell a shareholder revolt over a governance crisis. McClendon, who co-founded the company 23 years ago and built it into the second-largest natural gas producer in the country after Exxon Mobil Corp, continues as chief executive, but will report to a more independent board and an influential chairman who will likely rein in his free-spending ways. ...

Closer Opel-Peugeot ties cloud BMW hybrid JV

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:07 AM PDT

MUNICH/PARIS (Reuters) - A joint venture to make hybrid car components between France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and Germany's BMW was thrown into doubt by the prospect of deepening ties between the French auto maker and its European rival Opel. Opel Chief Executive Karl-Friedrich Stracke on Thursday said the alliance between Opel's parent company General Motors and Peugeot would now also include a cooperation between Opel and Gefco, Peugeot's car delivery group. ...

FINRA fines Merrill $2.8 million for excess fees

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:23 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Merrill Lynch must pay a $2.8 million fine for overcharging customers $32 million in fees, among other things, Wall Street's industry-funded regulator said on Thursday. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleged that Merrill Lynch, part of Bank of America Corp did not have an adequate supervisory system in place between April 2003 and December 2011 to ensure customers were billed properly, according to a settlement document in the case. About 95,000 customer accounts were overcharged as a result, the regulator said. ...

Exclusive: ECB mulls scrapping rating rules for government bonds: sources

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:34 AM PDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is discussing a medium-term plan to scrap ratings rules on euro zone sovereign bonds and instead set their value as collateral in lending operations on its own internal assessment, central bank sources said. With the ECB not yet ready to take over the technical but highly political responsibility for rating sovereigns, the bank's policymakers also agreed more immediate ways to help Spain and its banks at their meeting on Thursday. ...

Euro zone business activity shrinks; U.S., China output slows

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:06 AM PDT

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Business activity across the euro zone shrank for a fifth straight month in June and Chinese manufacturing contracted, while weaker overseas demand slowed U.S. factory growth, surveys showed on Thursday. The data darkened the outlook for the world economy, adding to fears that Europe's debt crisis and slower growth in the United States and Asia would cause downturns around the globe. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve extended a stimulus program to help boost growth and said it was ready to do more if Europe's debt crisis were to worsen. ...

Spain pays new record for medium-term debt

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:25 AM PDT

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs hit a new euro era high at a debt auction on Thursday, a few hours before it is expected to shed light on the dire state of its weaker banks and possibly make a formal request for European Union funds to rescue them. The auction proved the Spanish Treasury can still borrow on international markets, albeit at a high cost, and it made the best of solid demand by selling 2.2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in bonds, above the targeted amount. ...

Spain borrowing costs soar as EU ponders bank aid

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:51 AM PDT

MADRID/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Spain's medium-term borrowing costs spiraled to a euro-era record at an auction on Thursday, hours before an independent audit was due to reveal how big a capital hole in Spanish banks needs to be filled by a euro zone bailout. Euro zone finance ministers will discuss later in the day how to channel up to 100 billion euros ($126 billion) in rescue loans to Spanish lenders weighed down by bad loans from a burst property bubble. Many in the markets see the package as a mere prelude to a full program for the Spanish state. ...

Commerce Secretary resigns after crashes

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:56 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who has been under investigation for his role in two car crashes earlier this month, said on Thursday he was resigning to "prevent distractions" at the department he led for less than a year. "I have informed the President that I am resigning as Secretary of Commerce," Bryson said in a letter to Commerce Department employees. ...

Japan, Swiss set up tax deals with U.S. Treasury

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 07:04 AM PDT

WASHINGTON/ZURICH (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it had reached agreements with Switzerland and Japan to crack down on tax evasion by Americans, a move meant to help banks in those countries comply with upcoming U.S. tax regulations. The announcement expands the list of countries already cooperating with the Treasury to implement the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, a 2010 anti-tax evasion law. Treasury said in February it was negotiating with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain to set up government-to-government information-sharing deals. ...

Existing home sales fall 1.5 percent in May

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 07:13 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales fell in May and the median sales price rose only because of a drop in sale of lower priced homes, casting a shadow on the country's nascent housing market recovery. The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that existing home sales slipped 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.55 million units last month. That was in line with analysts' expectations. Nationwide, the median price for a home resale rose to $182,600 in May, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier and the highest since June 2010. ...

Philly Fed factory activity contracts again in June

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 07:43 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region contracted for a second month in a row in June to its lowest level in 10 months as new orders tumbled, a survey showed on Thursday. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its business activity index dropped to minus 16.6 from minus 5.8 in May, far below economists' expectations for a reading of zero, according to a Reuters poll. The forward-looking new orders gauge fell to minus 18.8 from minus 1.2. Both the activity and new orders indexes were at their lowest levels since August 2011. ...

Top UK investor lobby slams Xstrata pay plan

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 07:47 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The Association of British Insurers, an influential shareholder body, on Thursday condemned mining group Xstrata's plans to pay key executives large sums to ensure they stay on after its proposed merger with commodities trader Glencore . "The ABI is always skeptical about the effectiveness of retention payments," ABI head of corporate governance Andrew Ninian said after the body issued a rare "red-top" alert on Xstrata's pay proposals. ...

Nasdaq challenges NYSE, D.Boerse in European futures

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:36 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX , the transatlantic exchange, is to launch a European futures exchange early next year in a direct challenge to rivals NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse . The group said on Thursday it would set up NLX, a London trading venue offering listed derivatives contracts and backed by European clearing house LCH.Clearnet. "The new market will be a single platform for both short-term interest rate and long-term interest rate euro- and sterling-based listed derivative products," said Charlotte Crosswell, the Chief Executive of NLX. ...

BP warns TNK-BP bosses, partners on governance: sources

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:50 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - BP has said executives and fellow shareholders in its Russian oil joint venture TNK-BP should stop taking decisions which the British group believes need board approval, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The letter, sent to TNK-BP this week, exposed fraught tension between BP, Alfa-Access-Renova - the other co-owner of the Russian oil company, and its management following BP's announcement it may sell out. AAR, owned by four oligarchs, and BP joined forces in TNK-BP in 2003. ...

Insight: Look, no hands! Augmented reality gets a grip

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:38 AM PDT

FRANKFURT/HELSINKI (Reuters) - One day in March 2000, just days before the dot-com bubble began its journey back to earth, German engineer Thomas Alt first glimpsed the future of technology. "Do you know augmented reality?" his boss at Volkswagen asked. He did not. "Neither do I, but you are about to, because this will be your project," he said, dropping a stack of papers on his desk. For the next three years, Alt developed a technology that overlays text or graphics on real-life images and objects. ...

Exclusive: Gunvor co-owner eyes Glencore-style growth

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:22 AM PDT

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko wants his fast-growing oil trading house Gunvor to expand production and refining and get into other fuels to emulate top global players Glencore and Vitol. Gunvor bought its first oil refineries in Europe this year and Timchenko, a co-owner, said it would expand further both abroad and at home. He denied he had fallen out with Igor Sechin, Russia's former top state energy official who now runs its biggest oil firm Rosneft. ...

U.S. manufacturing grows at slowest pace in 11 months: Markit

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:02 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing grew in June at its slowest pace in 11 months and hiring in the sector slowed as overseas demand for U.S. products waned, an industry survey showed on Thursday. Financial information firm Markit said its U.S. "flash" manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 52.9 from 54.0 in May. The June reading was the lowest since last July although it stayed above 50, indicating expansion in activity. For the second straight month, weaker demand from Europe and large emerging markets such as China dented sales. Markit said U.S. ...

Fiat loses union case in long-running labor row

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:26 AM PDT

TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - A Rome labor court has told Fiat to hire 145 workers who are members of Italy's largest metalworkers union in the latest twist in a long-running dispute between the car maker and the union over changes to working conditions. The Fiom-CGIL union had said Fiat had excluded its members from recent hirings at the company's factory in Pomigliano, near Naples, which employs around 2,100 workers. Italian law bans discrimination against unionized workers. Fiat was not available for comment. ...

Opel CEO says will keep investing

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:30 AM PDT

MONTE CARLO (Reuters) - Opel, the European arm of General Motors Co , will keep up its product investments and will return to its mass-market roots, its chief executive said on Thursday, a week before he is scheduled to present a restructuring plan. "We will make a significant investment in Opel's product portfolio," Karl-Friedrich Stracke said at an automotive industry event on Thursday, contrasting this with economy measures at some rivals. "I noticed with interest that some of our key competitors have announced plans to cut product investment spending. ...

Exclusive: ECB mulls scrapping rating rules for government bonds: sources

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:09 AM PDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is discussing a medium-term plan to scrap rating rules on euro zone sovereign bonds and instead set their value when used as collateral in lending operations on its own internal assessment, central bank sources said. With the ECB not yet ready to take over the technical but highly political responsibility for rating sovereigns, the bank's policymakers will also discuss more immediate ways to help Spain and its banks at their meeting on Thursday, such as further widening the types of collateral Spanish banks can use. ...

Outlook darkens as Europe sinks, China struggles

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 03:31 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The downturn in the euro zone's private sector is becoming entrenched and Chinese factories are finding the going increasingly tough, business surveys showed on Thursday, painting a darker outlook for the world economy. June was the fifth consecutive month that activity across the euro zone has declined, dragging down heavyweights Germany and France and putting pressure on the European Central Bank to take further action to support the economy. "We are at the point where the economy is increasingly losing traction and it's hard at this stage to see what will give us a lift. ...

Xstrata puts PNG copper stake on the block

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 02:44 AM PDT

SYDNEY/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Global miner Xstrata Plc has put up for sale a stake in the Frieda River copper project in Papua New Guinea, potentially worth more than $2 billion, as part of a review of its development projects worldwide. Like other major miners under pressure to conserve capital amid uncertainty over global growth, rising costs and falling commodity prices, world no.4 copper producer Xstrata has flagged it may slow down project spending. Xstrata has not yet decided whether to sell all or part of its 81.8 percent stake in Frieda River, an Xstrata spokeswoman said. ...

China Iran oil imports recover, recoup earlier fall

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 04:10 AM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's crude imports from Iran recovered in May to offset a first-quarter plunge in shipments to nearly half the annual average, after the two nations resolved a wrangle over the terms of annual oil sale contracts. Yet imports in the first five months fell a quarter from a year ago, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying China was slowly but surely taking action to cut reliance on Iranian crude. Total shipments for the year are expected to stay low as the country's top buyer rejected Tehran's offer of discounted oil. ...

Air France to cut jobs as seeks recovery

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 04:48 AM PDT

PARIS (Reuters) - French carrier Air France unveiled plans to cut more than 5,000 jobs by the end of next year as part of an effort to slash costs and debt to return to growth in the face of tough market conditions in Europe and political pressure at home. The job cuts come as the world's airline industry grapples with the need to consolidate because of limited growth prospects, rising costs and the effects of the euro zone debt crisis. ...

Cabot to buy Dutch company Norit for $1.1 billion

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 04:36 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Chemicals maker Cabot Corp said it will buy activated carbon manufacturer Norit NV for $1.1 billion as it moves its focus to higher-margin specialty chemicals. Cabot will buy Netherlands-based Norit from affiliates of British private equity fund Doughty Hanson & Co Managers Ltd and Dutch investment firm Euroland Investments BV. Norit was acquired by a group of investors led by Doughty Hanson in 2007. ...

China factories in eighth month of contraction: PMI

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 03:39 AM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory sector shrank for an eighth straight month in June as export orders sentiment hit its weakest level since early 2009, according to a survey that indicates the country's economic trough may extend well into the third quarter. The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest monthly indicator of China's industrial activity, fell to a seven-month low of 48.1 in June from a final reading of 48.4 in May. ...

New Greek govt pledges to secure euro membership

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:17 AM PDT

Greece's new conservative-led coalition government on Thursday pledged to try and revise the country's austerity commitments to its creditors, but insisted that would not endanger ties with the rest of Europe or Greek use of the euro currency.

Development banks commit $175bn to transportation

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:16 AM PDT

The world's largest development banks say they are investing $175 billion over the next decade to support cleaner transportation systems.

Court throws out FCC fines for cursing, nudity

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

The Supreme Court unanimously threw out fines and sanctions Thursday against broadcasters who violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast television.

Spain: auditors see bank bailout peak at $78 bln

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:13 AM PDT

Independent auditors have calculated that Spain's troubled banks could need as much as €62 billion ($78.76 billion) in new capital.

High court throws out FCC fines vs. broadcasters

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:12 AM PDT

Oil price drops below $80 for 1st time since Oct.

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:10 AM PDT

The price of oil has dipped below $80 a barrel for the first time since October.

Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record 3.66 pct.

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:10 AM PDT

The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low for the seventh time in eight weeks. Cheap mortgages have helped drive a modest recovery in the weak housing market this year.